International Week at KAUST Schools

This past week in the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary schools here at KAUST, the kids celebrated International Week.  Each day, the kids learned about different countries and cultures and experienced different types of food from some countries at lunchtime.  One morning they enjoyed a pot luck with foods from all sorts of different cultures around the world.  The week culminated in a parade and assembly with all the kids from K1 (preschool) to 12th grade.

The kids gathered by country with their flag and paraded down one of the streets to a courtyard at the Harbor Secondary School.  The President of the University was there with other dignitaries from the community.  We listened to a couple of nice speeches - one in arabic and one in english - by a couple of students and then the names of all the countries represented were read off. 

The parade - just over the barricade is the Red Sea

The United States contingent

I just loved seeing all the different flags!

There were a total of 75 countries represented! It amazes me how that in this small community we can have so many countries and cultures!
I felt very overwhelmed at being such a small little part of it here and how lucky I feel to give my kids the opportunity to associate with so many different people.  As hard as it is sometimes for me to be here, it really is a good thing for us. 

Spencer carried one of the flags in the parade.

Some of our little preschool friends!

Megan played the drums with some of the other kids

in her class.

Lizzie with her teacher and a couple of her

good friends.

I think this is my favorite picture of the day.

I ran into our little friend Victoria and asked to take

her picture - she posed herself (I didn't ask her to

hold out her skirt) - she's such a cutie!!!