As members of staff and faculty, we were invited to attend Al-Jouf University’s graduation ceremony on the 15th of May, 2012. We were representing the university’s Preparatory Year Program (السنة التحضرية). Since our students are all in their first year, none of them were actually graduating, but some of our students were participating in the ceremony as members of Al-Jouf University Boy Scouts. Here is a video of the Scouts practising their routine:
The ceremony was held at the new university campus, located near Al-Jouf airport. The brand new campus is still a massive construction project, which looks more like a small city in the making than a university it’s so huge!
In attendance at the ceremony were all the bigwigs, including the university president, the deans and even a guest appearance from the prince of Al-Jouf himself! Both the president and the amir gave speeches congratulating the graduates.
After the ceremony had finished and the crowds of students made their way outside we managed to get a rare sample of a traditional Saudi dance, called the “Daha” (الدحة), which some students broke into spontaneously in their celebration. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a video of the dance, but here is an example of a typical “Daha”:
Here are some photos from the evening, which include several of my colleagues and fellow teachers. Click on a thumbnail to open the slideshow.
Nigel of Arabia 
Sadly that you guys had to leave.
P.S I knew you had a blog or a website of your own!
Mohammed Hatim