“Wameed” -17th Photography Week at Photo Society SQU (20-24 April 2014)

  Once a year, the Photo Society Club of SQU holds a one-week photography exhibition on their campus.  I was invited by an Omani friend who knows how much I love photography. I’m glad I went as the photographs were gorgeous.  Let me share some of my favorites here with you in this post.  The exhibition is taking place at the main Conference Hall on SQU campus with photos located on the ground floor and the 1st floor.  This one is titled “Window of Simplicity” and was taken by A’Shima Nasser Al-Ghdmai, a student of the College of Arts and Social Sciences.  “Fisher” by Mohammed Bin Salim Al-Nahdi  This interesting piece is titled “Full of Hope” and was submitted by Lujaina Bint Qais Al Balushi.  “Sunset” by Mohammed Bin Salim Al Nahdi (Interesting that 2 of my favorite pics are from the same gentleman!)  “Radiance Morning” by Ahmed Bin Maqbool Al Maimani  One of several wonderful macro shots submitted by Talib Abdullah Al-Busaidi from the College of Engineering. This one is titled “Cordiality“.   “Above the Sky” by Munther Mohammed Al Waili from the College of Engineering  “Lkhwer Sands” by Ammar Yahya Al-Mashaikhi from the College of Economics and Political Sciences  Wow! I’d love to know the story behind this photograph!  It’s appropriately titled “The Explosion” and was taken by Yousf Rashid Al-Naabi from the College of Engineering.  This photo, “Hidden Things” is expected to win 1st prize which would put 40o OR in the winner’s pocket. (2nd prize -200 OR, 3rd prize -100 OR)  The photographer is Alla Thani Al-Bahri from the College of Engineering.  It’s hard not to appreciate this one when you consider the talent and planning behind such a shot. The promoters of the Wameed Exhibition used this photo for some of their promotional posters which tells you it’s up there as one of the top pics to beat.  “The Mountain Girl” by Balqees Khalfan Al Rashdi from the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences  “Sardine Season” by Anas Mohammed Al Dheeb from the College of Economics and Political Sciences  “Grip” by Uhoud Salim Al-Hadhrami from the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences  Mr. Abdullah Al Harthi, the ex-president of the Photo Society, who was very helpful showing guests like me around! 🙂  Every guest had the option of voting for their favorite picture.  It was a hard choice but I finally voted for sunset.  Guests to the Wameed Exhibtion have the option of getting their photo taken for only 500 baizas.  Yours truly with one of my old students, Sulaiman.  I think we’re going for the “gangsta’ look” here, haha! 😉  We only had to wait 2 minutes to get the photo printed!  Today (the 24th) is the last day of the exhibition.  Sultan Qaboos University has some truly talented photographers on campus! It was a pleasure to see such fine photography.

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to subscribe to SQUPhoto on youtube.  Here are 2 of their videos I enjoyed:

SQU Timelapse Electric Muscat

Dinosaurs Spotted in Oman!!!

   This dinosaur can be found on the campus of SQU (Sultan Qaboos University).  Al-Khoud is one of the few places in Oman (and the Middle East) where dinosaur remains have been found!  Most people have been brainwashed into thinking that dinosaurs lived MILLIONS of years ago and that “no living man has ever seen a dinosaur”.  Why is it then that pottery, cave paintings and artifacts of dinosaurs exist around the world when these creatures were supposed to have become exist millions of years ago?!?!  Here is a webpage with some of these artifacts: http://www.helsinki.fi/~pjojala/Dinoglyphs.htm  The word “dinosaur” was not even created until 1842.  So what were dinosaurs called before this?  “Dragons“! That’s right! And the Bible has a fascinating record of 2 of these beasts in the book of Job in chapters 40-41.  This dinosaur (and a slighty scarey “dinosaur roar”) awaits visitors as they enter one of the rooms of the Bait Al Baranda Museum.  This unfortunate lie awaits visitors as well.  Birds descendants of dinosaurs?! HOW ridiculous!!!   They have a few of these questions with muliple choice answers and  after you can find out what they assume the answers are if you choose to press the buttons.

So, if you are into dinosaurs, you might want to check out The Bait Al Baranda Museum in Muttrah.  For more on the dinosaur found in Al-Khoudh, read this: http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1872&Itemid=77  And more on ancient Oman history here: http://www.nizwa.net/env/fossile/fossile.html  For more on the links between dinosaurs and dragons, click here: http://www.koti.phnet.fi/elohim/theory_of_evolution17  For more on dinosaurs in the Bible, here: http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/behemoth.html

East Meets Middle East! (SMU’s Visit to SQU)

  On May 2nd, 45 of my students and I had the great privilege of hosting a group of 43 students from SMU (Singapore Management University).  SMU is one of only 3 universities in Singapore.  It is one of the youngest institutions; established in 2000.  It focuses mainly on fields of business, accountancy, liberal arts, social science and law.  For more information on SMU, you can check out their website at www.smu.edu.sg   It was so wonderful to see my students mingling with the Singaporean students.  Many of my students shared in our next class that it was the first time they had really interacted with people of a different culture. Awesome!  The SMU group were visiting Oman as part of a wider immersion program, called Business Studies Mission, covering all GCC countries.  This is to help students understand economic, social and political developments in our part of the world (the Middle East).  Ahmed making new friends!  Check out this short video of the Singaporeans singing to my students! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXee1Jle0Hc  “One Peope, One Nation, One Singapore!”  My student, Mariam, did a fabulous job presenting information about our university to the group from Singapore.  Here she is receiving a thank you gift!  Here is my other student, Salim, (also receiving a gift) who worked with Mariam on a presentation about Omani culture and university life to the group from SMU.  I couldn’t have picked better representatives!  Shais, on the right, really enjoyed the chance to meet people from Singapore.  Like many of my other students, he now has email buddies from another part of the world!  Osama, Sulaiman, one of the SMU students and Shais bonding outside before the group had to leave.  Mohammed and Mazen listen on as their new friend tells them about how fascinating he found Oman, our university and his new Omani friends!  We couldn’t have picked a better day for a visit as they happened to visit on “University Day” with a lot of things happening on campus!  For many students, the best part of the visit was taking them on short, private tours around campus and getting to know them better.  Edward, who is currently doing an internship here in Oman, and one of my precious students, Zahran  This picture was designed by my extremely creative and talented student, Osama.  I can’t thank my students enough for volunteering their time and energy to share a part of their lives with the group from Singapore.  They truly acted as great ambassadors of Oman and I am very proud of the hospitality and love they showed.  I am very blessed to have taught such interesting/incredible/bright engineering students this semester!  Life is SO good when you have a job you love!

An Enjoyable Stroll on the Campus of SQU (Sultan Qaboos University)

  Che, Chilin, Mabel and I decided to go check out Sultan Qaboos University in Al-Khoud, Oman, on the outskirts of Muscat.  It is the largest university of Oman, the only national university in the country  and the pride of its people.  This is the clocktower which greets visitors as you enter Gate 1.  There are 4 gates to the university. (This is a photo of a photo actually…) Mabel and Che with the clocktower in the background  This walkway is for females only.  Interesting, isn’t it?!  A closer look at the female walkway sign  Who’s that hiding behind the boat at the Faculty Club?  Flowers everywhere, beautiful architecture, walls adorned with artwork…these 14 photos are just a brief glimpse of the beauty of SQU’s campus.  If you’ve never been there, try to arrange a visit.  It’s quite the place!