Alright, so I just made it back from the US. How was it? It was great.

As part of my degree, I was to do a summer internship during the past summer. Among options around the world, I got accepted in Texas A&M university in College Station, Texas. Now that might not be the best location to spend your summer given the hot weather there, but it was a good university to do a useful research.

After getting done with all troubles related to getting my visa, I took a flight from Jeddah to Frankfurt, and then to Houston. It was a long flight, but expected. I stayed 4 hours in Houston airport .. you know, to get my name “cleared” and to be approved to get in the United States (even I went through a lot to get the visa). I took another flight to get to the city where I am about to spend 2 months, College Station.

At first sight, it was depressing, very hot, few people on the street, few shops, flat, and quite, but then I got used to that. People are very nice and friendly though which made my stay a bit enjoyable. Now, I was thinking that College Station is just like any other modern city where you don’t need a car to get around, and by God I was mistaken. I arrived on Friday, had a quick meeting with my adviser and then I went out trying to find an adapter for my phone charger. I had to walk for two hours under the sun to get that. Why? Because I had no phone, no taxis (unless you call), and no buses (no buses after 6 or in the weekends). The next day, I woke up early to get the bus to the super market and it was not a pleasant experience at all. Even with the buses you have to walk a lot to get from one area to another, hot, sunny, and too many small plastic bags.

Anyways, I started working on a computer science research project with a nice team that helped me a lot and I learned so much from them. I met also some nice people in the department, dorm, and the rec center. I even participated in a soccer league that we didnt win 🙁 , but it was so much fun.

That’s about it as far as College Station is concerned. Did I do some traveling? Do I have more stories from other cities and states? Indeed I do. I will follow this post up with another one for all the travels I made. Thanks for reading.