Day 7 - Museum, Bowling, and BBQ Jan 18

After a good nights sleep from our trip to Jeddah at night Kelly was off to help Bridgette in her preschool class while I worked a bit on Hancock classes which begin next week and managed the blog and photos.
Later we headed to lunch at Discovery Plaza and then off to the Museum of Science and Technology in Islam (http://museum.kaust.edu.sa/). The Museum's presence on campus is to expose researchers to the rich historical foundation on which KAUST was built. To quote their literature...

"The Museum celebrates the contributions of Muslim scholars to science and technology during the first Golden Age of Islam from the 650 to 1650. These Muslim scholars include amongst them the great scientists, inventors, engineers, mathematicians and teachers of that time, such as Jabir ibn Hayyan, Abbas bin Firnas, al-Kindi, al-Razi, al-Jazari and Taqi al-Din.

The Museum demonstrates how their contributions shaped the world as we know it today and how their pioneering work laid the foundation for modern civilization. The benefits of their work are all around us today."

The first thing we encounterd was a bunch of colorful pyramids suspended from the ceiling.

Entrance

Cool entry

Next up a cool mechanical elephant water clock.

Clock

"The Elephant Water Clock is an iconic example of one of al-Jazari’s pieces of fine technology. In addition to telling the time, it celebrates the universality of Islam by incorporating elements from Spain, Phoenicia, Egypt, Iraq, India and China."



Paddlewheel

"This dynamic scale model display depicts five famous water-raising devices made by Muslim engineers. These devices include al-Jazari’s Reciprocating Pump, One-Scoop Pump, Chain-of-Pots and Four-Scoop Pump, and Taqi al-Din’s Six-Cylinder Pump."

We then met Brigette for some family bowling. Here's Kelly bowling a strike!

We wrapped up the day barbequing some vegis and marinated beef and enjoyed a spirited conversation with two of Kyle's fellow engineers Karim and Osama both from Egypt. Their insights into their culture and the differences between Egyptians, Jordanians, and Saudis were very helpful in better understanding this Arabian world in which Kyle and Bridgette currently live.