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Nasra Adan (Zuboy) projected her dynamic photos from Saudi Arabia on the wall of our Optimum Learning Lab at Kump Education Center last Tuesday.
Her presentation, titled "Saudi Arabia, Not Just a Desert Country," amazed her audience with the beauty of the rapidly changing Saudi cities and magically sunlight in the countryside.
Nasra's show started with the blue-green waters of the Red Sea where her son swam near a sandy beach. Then we saw images of ancient houses with square, wooden, bay windows set away from building walls to cool Arabs as they slept with wind blowing through the rooms in earlier times. Many of these structures are being preserved and recognized as International Historic Sites.
Desert sunsets in Saudi Arabia are captivating. Clouds progress from yellow, to orange, to red like a billowing scarf in the breezes over a beige oceans of sandy waves capped with the imprints from yesterday's wind storms. A majestic Mr. Sun wends his way west without a word.
Camels may appear almost anywhere. They carry passengers on their backs over the dessert and along roads, or camels may be seen cooling themselves in ocean water when their keepers bathe. Some camels are worth a million dollars, and all add value to the lives of people who keep them.
Modern cities teeming with digital energy stand in stark contrast to the ancient Arab world of the past. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is the capital city with eight million people drinking desalinated water pumped from the Persian Gulf over three hundred miles away. Skyscrapers gleam with blue, green and yellow lights at night, and two towers are connected high in the sky over Kingdom Center.
To give us a taste of Arab foods, Nasra brought sweet dates and coffee flavored with cardamom ginger. Her photograph of an Arab coffee vendor sitting by the sidewalk portrayed a man offering pots of gracious hospitality to shoppers passing by at the market.
The traditions of helping travelers are still practiced in the desert of Saudi Arabia, and the treatment of women is becoming more liberal. When Nasra and her female friends took their children on a camping trip, their van got stuck in the desert sand, and a man passing by on the road helped them get their vehicle moving. Customs of kindness continue to transcend cultural differences.
Each summer Nasra and her young family visit her husband's parents, John and Ginny Zuboy, in Elkins during their vacation from schools in Saudi Arabia.
Her husband, Jacob Zuboy, is a consultant with an international educational testing service, and Nasra teaches essay writing to young Saudi women who are enjoying new-found freedoms in a rapidly changing culture.