Salutations to all viewers from last year as well as our new audience this year. Nazir Katbi here, live and ready to go from Saudi Arabia. I have to be honest and say that I honestly wasn't sure what to write, which is why I haven't blogged about anything thus far. The overall Saudi Experience has been relatively similar to the previous year, but inspiration struck me just as I was conversing with the new team on our apartment couches; this year's trip was about them.
The new team this year is fantastic. Each member's character and knowledge of construction has exceeded my expectations. It is obvious that these young men are students of Purdue University. I can only imagine what is going on in each of their minds right now. I, like you, am equally intrigued when I read through their blog posts, and equally surprised to go through their impressions. This year's group is special indeed, and I look forward to the upcoming weeks with them.
However, I'm not going to give you the impression that everything has been the same. In fact, while the "WoW" factor of being in Saudi has diminished a bit for me, the lecture presentations as well as the KSU job site have changed dramatically. This time last year, I was walking around gargantuan precast structures that seemed to be more distant from completion than Mike Mattern's fantasy home. Today, the buildings stand tall and beautiful; the facades have proven to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and interiors of such halls and the auditorium have finally come to fruition. It feels great to see something like that come together, and I applaud the FTR and SBG staff for erecting this twenty first century university in such a short period of time. I can't wait to a detailed job walk through some of the buildings I got top see last year!
But for now, I'll cut this short. We're about to head out to Jeddah today and will be scuba diving in the red sea tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't forget to take pictures of Professor Benhart's hairy chest, so stay posted on that. Over and out.
-Nazir Katbi
The new team this year is fantastic. Each member's character and knowledge of construction has exceeded my expectations. It is obvious that these young men are students of Purdue University. I can only imagine what is going on in each of their minds right now. I, like you, am equally intrigued when I read through their blog posts, and equally surprised to go through their impressions. This year's group is special indeed, and I look forward to the upcoming weeks with them.
However, I'm not going to give you the impression that everything has been the same. In fact, while the "WoW" factor of being in Saudi has diminished a bit for me, the lecture presentations as well as the KSU job site have changed dramatically. This time last year, I was walking around gargantuan precast structures that seemed to be more distant from completion than Mike Mattern's fantasy home. Today, the buildings stand tall and beautiful; the facades have proven to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and interiors of such halls and the auditorium have finally come to fruition. It feels great to see something like that come together, and I applaud the FTR and SBG staff for erecting this twenty first century university in such a short period of time. I can't wait to a detailed job walk through some of the buildings I got top see last year!
But for now, I'll cut this short. We're about to head out to Jeddah today and will be scuba diving in the red sea tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't forget to take pictures of Professor Benhart's hairy chest, so stay posted on that. Over and out.
-Nazir Katbi
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