Harvey's Diary: 17 December 2007
Nice dinner last night at Qasr Nakheel, Palm Palace. The evenings of sharing meals are a big deal here, as there isn’t much else to do and these serve as R&R sessions for us all. I’ll miss this gang – good people trying to do good work in an environment that needs a great deal of rehabbing.
The past few days quite a few students have stopped me and said “heard you were leaving, sorry for that, and good luck.” Several have also said I know you only know me because you throw me out of the library, but I like you anyway – sweet, I think. I don’t teach here, so my contact with students is mostly as “library hall monitor,” trying to keep the decibels down to a reasonable level. For the most part, the students here are like those anywhere else but less experienced in an environment where they are responsible for their own work and behavior - good kids, mainly, just in need of a little discipline and guidance.
Today is last day at work. AUK will close down for Eid and then a winter break. Several colleagues already have traveled, with almost everyone else bugging out – and why not! I’ll make the rounds later today to say “bye” – I’ll still be around until 2 January so I’ll be able to tidy up office and leave stuff organized for Amna.