The ShellFisherman of Thuwal

So, it remains 'wet' in our blog.

Also in the last few days it went underwater again:
On Friday for our first 'fun' diving trip - we booked it through the university. Although again to the same reef (Al Fahal) as last Wednesday for the check dive, but colorful fish, corals and something to see are always there :) The only annoying thing was the PADI-like 'blabla maximum 18m', always following the guide and all. Fortunately, he was pretty relaxed, so we couldn't do our own thing completely, but we dived afterwards without swimming in the group pool.

Occasionally, this diving has something for itself - you don't have to worry about anything, the equipment is provided by others, you occasionally get a coffee and nibble on some food, and at the end of the day, you relax, go ashore, don't have to clean up or clear up. This time we even saw two eagle rays! And lots of pufferfish nibbling on the corals ;-) (Both pictures are 'only' video screenshots, so excuse the quality..) The obligatory travel video will be available when we get back home.

Crispy pufferfish and eagle rays

Furthermore, the weekly 'getting out' is exactly the method to avoid feeling like in a golden cage in this 'gated community'. Because yes, we still really like it here - but still, the world here is a bit like 'Disneyland' (as Felix put it very aptly the other day).
On Sunday, we conducted the first diving survey for shell abundance. Quite a lot of work - as I said, it always looks so relaxed and beautiful when you see the colorful underwater pictures of the work. But on board, with time pressure and a lot of work, it often looks different - quickly stuff a few noodles between the dives and then stick your head underwater is no longer so 'rock'n'roll' at the latest on the third dive.

Buut, all in the service of science and besides, it could have really been worse for us ;-).

By the way, my diving partner Janna said that I whizzed around like a lightning bolt to lay out the transect - well, at least the photo turned out sharp:

Susann laying out the transect

The yield of mussels was not particularly large, by the way - an interesting finding - the killer mussels do not seem to feel comfortable on the outer side of the reef.. That is why, in one dive, with two teams in the water at the same time, we only found and measured 7 (!) mussels. You can imagine what a joke it was on board when Wallie (our skipper) raised the anchor and there was a big, fat mussel hanging on it :-)

All in all, we are still doing well - even though after a month (as is always the case in life) there are always frustrating moments. Many things just take forever here (I mentioned the 'chewing speed' in the last post) and are terribly complicated because of over-bureaucratization.
For example, we are currently 'fighting' for the refund of our diving fitness examination (which we had to do here again because the German, thorough G31 is not recognized). No one feels responsible for it - although it is clear to us - if diving is part of the work for the institute, it must pay for this examination. Generally speaking (which I did not seriously consider before), money is still an issue here - the fat years seem to be coming to an end.

But don't worry ;-) There are times when everything is great and times when many things annoy you. As long as everything balances out and we are satisfied in the end, everything is fine.

Aside from work and diving, we are already busy planning our Christmas holidays. We are going to Jordan: a few days in Amman and then to Aqaba. Petra, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, and of course diving in the Gulf of Aqaba! (Not exactly cheap the trip,.. but you can spend a little of the hard-earned money for it... You never know when you'll get the chance again).

Regarding 'evening getaways', there is also good news - we have finally found a nice place where you can sit comfortably by the sea in the evening with a beer or cocktail (of course, all of it non-alcoholic). The 'Pure', the beach bar/restaurant at one of the sport centers, had been hiding from us before - but now the mild summer evenings are secured!

And a few words in conclusion: we recently watched an interesting TerraX documentary 'The Arabs' - from the 'Peoples of the World' series. First of all, it is absolutely worth seeing.
Especially to get an idea of the incredible culture that once existed here regarding the acquisition, transmission, and collection of knowledge. This doesn't quite fit in my understanding of the conservative and - one could almost say - 'medieval' attitude of today.

I particularly liked the closing words, an alleged quote from Mohammed (I tried to research whether he really said this, it is not certain. Moreover, there are also people who say that 'scientists' are 'only' Koran scholars according to the following quote, etc.). Nevertheless, one must let these words sink in - in view of the current (re)developments:

'The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr'

In this sense, take care and see you next week!