The HISTORY ROCKS! KSA Tour begins

11/24, 5:06 pm KSA:

Marhaba! Last night was a good night...I was able to speak to my wife on the phone; it was so good to hear her voice because I miss her. I also slept about 5 hours so I am feeling gung-ho and ready to start the HISTORY ROCKS! 2007-2008 Tour in the KSA!

Unfortunately, this won't make much sense to if you are not one of my students. At the beginning of the year, on the Internet I found a drawing of Uncle Sam playing the electric guitar, so I copied the picture and created fake rock posters inviting students to the HISTORY ROCKS! 2007-2008 Tour. I will post a picture of my rock poster when I return to the States.

Today, I had breakfast in the dining hall, which consisted of cereal, orange juice, scrambled eggs, beef sausage and hashbrowns. I was going to have a traditional Saudi breakfast, but the line was too long to wait because we had to leave by 7:45 for our tours today.

Before, I get any farther in this blog, you need to know that Saudi Arabia does not allow tourism. So we are not considered tourists; rather, we are viewed as an American education delegation, and so we are treated accordingly. While we stay within the Saudi Aramco Compounds and Camps, we do not need security escorts. Our female travellers are not required to wear the abaya and hijab within the compounds or camps. The compound is not considered to be a conservative place in KSA. Jeddah, the city to where we will be traveling next, is more liberal than the compound, but Riyadh, the capital and our last destination city, is more conservative.

We rode by tour bus to the Saudi Aramco Exhibit Center, where we were greeted on the steps by executives and our tour guides. We were ushered into a large room where we were seated in couches and stuffed chairs and offered dates and cardamom coffee, which tastes like buttered coffee; it's very good. After our refreshments, we moved to a small auditorium and learned about the company.

The presentation was given by a woman, Hanadi Al-Falih, and this presentation is the same that is given to heads of state and executives in major companies. We learned that in 1932, KSA signed a contract with Standard Oil Company to begin field-testing to find oil, and when oil was found in 1938, the Arabian and American Oil Company, or Aramco, was created. Until 1973, KSA had no control over Aramco. By 1980, they had finished completely buying out the company, and changed the name to Saudi Aramco. This oil company is an industry leader, and is a major player in world oil supplies. It spurred modernization and growth in KSA, and gives much back to KSA. Saudi Aramco trains many professionals, and its 53-56,000 employees are teachers, doctors, lawyers, geologists, engineers, and the list goes on. We have been told, and witnessed, that Saudi Aramco's employees are its treasures.

We then toured the exhibition center, and I would have enjoyed spending more time there because there were so many hands-on activities and items to explore. There were elementary school boys there with their teachers, and they were excited and liked the exhibits.

After leaving the exhibition center, we traveled to Saudi Aramco's Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC). The presentation was very technical and explained how Saudi Aramco explored for oil. The system is highly-complicated and highly-exacting as it is able to have real-time data while they are drilling for oil and can make adjustments in real-time as well. When I picture someone drilling for oil, I have an image in mind of an oil rig that drills vertically into the ground. That is not the case as Saudi Aramco can drill vertically and horizontally in multiple-directions. They use 3D computer modeling systems to better locate and pump more oil than was previously impossible. I also learned that KSA has the largest oil and gas fields in the world.

We were then led into the supercomputer room, where there were so many supercomputers that it was very noisy from the whirring. Very few people ever get to enter the room as it is a security risk, and it was awesome to discover the information technology capabilities of the company.

We had lunch with Mustafa Al-Jalali, Vice President of Saudi Aramco Affairs. We had a salad, fish, a grilled tortilla, bread and hummus, chicken and rice, an eggplant dish, and four different types of dessert. We were also served "Saudi champagne"...sparkling cider. KSA is an Islamic country and alcohol is forbidden.

After lunch we were given a tour of the compound. They just recently converted their 27-hole desert golf course into an 18-hole green grass golf course. The desert course had no grass, but rather they used an oil-soaked sande for the fairways and the greens, but in this case we would have to call them blacks because of the color of the oil!

I am sorry there are no pictures for the day...my camera has been acting funny all day. It's not broken, but it keeps acting like the batteries are dead, so I will have to try replacing them. I borrowed my friend Aaron's camera to take photographs, and I will post the photos ASAP.

I feel very fortunate to have been accepted for this program. I am traveling with a great group of teachers; they have great ideas for lessons and how to teach their students. It is very cool to be traveling overseas for the first time in my life. I have gained a greater appreciation for my own country, and at the same time, watched as the world has shrunk before my eyes. Even though there differences in faith and beliefs, I am finding that people around the world have more in common than they have differences.

Tariq mentioned that government-to-government diplomacy does not work well. People-to-people diplomacy does work, and I am witnessing it first-hand with my own senses, and I can make my own opinions based on my observations. I enjoy sitting down and speaking with Tariq and the other people we have encountered and to listen to their opinions about September 11, or what they believe is right and wrong.

So, until next time on the same blog channel, remember to send me your emails with your questions!