Alright, today was Tuesday, the last day of activity in the Kingdom for our group. Conventional wisdom said that I needed to pack up all my stuff, since upon completion of our day’s activities, we would be flying back to Riyadh. After arriving in Riyadh, we were supposed to stay in a hotel overnight until our flight left from Riyadh for Washington DC at 7:00 am. I had my laundry done the night before so that when it came time to pack, I would only have to role up my clothes and not waste space, since I have a lot of stuff to take home. We had to be ready to leave the hotel by 8:00 am for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. But after packing in like 20 minutes, since I didn’t get my laundry back until 7:30 am, I was on my way out the door with all my luggage when one of the other members of the delegation told me that we were actually not checking out now, but leaving our stuff in the rooms and coming back later. This excited me a lot, because this meant I wouldn’t have to travel in my suit!
Like I said, our only visit today was to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, or KAUST. People in Saudi Arabia actually just call it Kaust for short, not bothering with the full name, or the abbreviated letters. Kaust is the new crown jewel university of the Kingdom. It has only been open for one year, and is the size of an entire city. It is HUGE!
We had an official tour guide, and were shown a good deal of the campus’ new technology, including the most high definition computer screens in the world. we didn’t get to meet any officials at the university because the semester had just ended, and all the faculty had left on vacation.
The tour lasted a couple hours, and then we were off. Usually the drive from Jeddah to Kaust was about 2 hours. But when your driver is going about 180 kilometers per hour, you get there a little sooner. We got to the hotel around 12:30, and had the whole afternoon to ourselves. I’m proud to report that for only the 2nd time since the 4th grade, I took a nap that wasn’t related to working overnight. I was tired, and that nap did wonders. It also caused me to wake up very late, at 5:10, with only 20 minutes to pack up my suit and get dressed. I did get packed in time, and was definitely relieved that I would only be in jeans for the rest of my trip. I loved my time in Saudi Arabia, but I hated having to be in a suit literally all the time. I was so overjoyed to be in my jeans in public again.
Well, I’m typing this up from the airport. Our flight, which was supposed to leave at 8:45 pm, never took off. We had to get off the plain, and now we have to wait until 12:30 am to get back on and leave. Then our flight leaves from Riyadh at 7:00 am for the states. So this is the last post guys. Thanks for following me, those of you that did. When I get back, make sure to get a hold of my people, so they can schedule a day where I can give you a more thorough rundown of what it was like over there. Here are some completely random things that I picked up from being here:

Saudi’s like to smoke. A lot… Saudi’s are the nicest people in the world. they love Americans, and they are so happy to see us here… there is a lot of money to be made by investing in Saudi Arabia. There are a lot of opportunities in manufacturing, education, and finance… it is hot as holy hell here… Arabic coffee sucks, and so do dates… penguins are not the way to learn about leadership… Josh is a Mennonite… converse college isn’t that bad, it’s just the people are all psychotic… that’s all for now guys. Hopefully see you very soon.

Oh yeah: FEAR THE ZOMBIE CAMEL!!!!!!!!