Back in 2018

Hello dear ones,

I don't even want to check when the last blog entry was.. In any case, it has been a few months.
I just couldn't bring myself to continue writing - because in the end, we are fine, but Felix's work situation is still not resolved and we are once again in the process of reorganizing and figuring out what's next.

But since all of that is too complicated to explain here in simple words, I won't go into details ;-)
Instead, I would rather talk about more pleasant things.

So, what has happened?
Last autumn, we went diving a few times - among other things, for the second time on a liveaboard at the Farasan Banks. We had already visited many of the dive sites in September, but there is always something new to discover.

Some people here at the university go there on a regular basis, but I think we will limit it to 2, maybe 3 times a year. It's quite expensive and the day trips from KAUST or Jeddah are usually sufficient.
Speaking of diving, last week I finally went underwater again for my project. I want to investigate whether and to what extent the different populations of Tridacna (my giant clam ;-)) on the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast are related to each other, i.e. genetically connected. So, I took tissue samples from a lot of clams at different reefs (don't worry, they can handle it and everything grows back).
I started with the reefs here at KAUST last week. If everything goes well, I will also go to the north of Saudi in early February to take samples at other reefs.

Originally, Felix and I were supposed to participate in an excursion in January. Everything was ready, packed, and we were almost loading the ship - then we received a message from the coast guard that we were not allowed to leave for 'safety reasons'. I have no idea what those reasons were - maybe a prince was planning to vacation on a private island in the area we wanted to go. Most of the time, you can't find out about such things here and just have to live with the consequences.
In our case, the trip was canceled. Currently, it looks like it will take place in April. However, it is quite annoying because I am supposed to plan and schedule my experiments for the next few years, and if there is constantly back and forth, it makes it quite complicated.

At home, in our little family of three, everything is going well. The little bird is as cuddly as ever and survived his stay with the host family over the Christmas holidays quite well.

When we picked him up, he was very happy and kept chirping and 'head bobbing' (the same motion used for regurgitating food for the young, and an absolute 'I love you' sign) all evening.
Just before Christmas, we finally bought him a new, much larger cage - now we don't have to feel so guilty when he has to sit in there for a few hours during the day.

                                      

Whether and when we will get a second little bird, we haven't decided yet. Since, as I said, everything is still uncertain, we naturally struggle with certain decisions.

Apparently, we have actually entered the world of the bourgeois, haha, and brought the Thermomix that my parents gave us as a wedding gift to Saudi. Well, it's not that bourgeois. But it's perfect for us because we can finally cook and bake delicious food for ourselves (finally some different bread than toast, yeah!) without having to buy any other kitchen gadgets.

Tomorrow evening, we will have some friends over for a barbecue, and I will put the Thermomix to good use for dips, bread, and salad.

So, what is Felix currently doing, you might wonder? In the past two weeks (since we returned from Germany), he has been volunteering again for the so-called 'Enrichment Program'. It takes place 3 times a year (twice as a short version in autumn and spring, and once as a long version in winter) and is not easy to explain. Simply put - during these two weeks, there is a specific theme (this year it's 'Man and Machine') and there are a lot of workshops, lectures, etc. As a student, you have to attend one of these Enrichment Programs in its entirety (that means full program for two weeks) in order to graduate.
But there are also cool things to try out - for example, Felix, our friend Celina, and I went to a virtual reality lounge this week and tried out various VR games, like skiing and boxing.

Now, the last story: the day before yesterday, I had the honor of having lunch with the German Consul General from Jeddah. Usually, diplomats are not allowed access to KAUST (don't ask me why, it's just the way it is), but occasionally, the university organizes special events where they invite a lot of consuls from different countries and show them around the university. The day before, I received a mysterious email, and during the lunch, there were only 4 students and the consul and his wife (from Germany, of course, there were also others from different countries).

It was somehow a cool thing, but also quite 'unreal' - like many things here, haha.

Instead of writing more now - the entry is already long enough ;-) I will now make a commitment to blog more regularly.
Until next time, greetings (also from Felix, of course)
Susann