Memoirs of a Saudi Ph.D. student: A researcher interrupted

ONCE again I am whining because it’s my children’s vacations. The half term break appeared from nowhere to disturb me and ruin my entire routine. I am in the middle of the data analysis phase and only researchers are aware of the importance of this phase. One builds (at least I can write about myself) an intimate relationship with the so meticulously collected data. And when the data starts making sense and one starts feeling excited about the layers of meanings coming out one after another compelling the poor researcher to start daydreaming about getting his/her work published in journals or presenting it at conferences, the innocent faces of one’s children suddenly appears in front of the eyes pulling one back to the real world. Mom! Where are we going during our vacations?
And after trying to deny the fact that I need to amuse them because it’s their vacation and after I abolished the idea of letting them stay home to read books while I work (Had that been done to me, I would have definitely called it child abuse), I decided to take them to Glasgow, the famous Scottish shopping paradise, to visit my sister and discover the city. We also visited Edinburgh and I did not regret it.
The city is very elegant and quite different from other English cities and I can confidently say that Scottish people are among the friendliest people in the UK, although I struggled a lot to grab their accent but they were very polite and courteous. The other great thing we discovered was the amazing Glasgow Science Center where we spent a day full of fun and knowledge. The center sadly reminded me of the Jeddah Center for Science and Technology, which had been demolished recently.
Glasgow Center spans over three floors full of fun activities all linked to scientific facts, children’s actually try the models and discover the scientific facts themselves, and this way it sticks to their minds for long. What really amazed me was the floor dedicated for the human body (anatomy), in one part of it they presented the damage done to the body from smoking, and they actually allowed the children to try pumping air in two lungs, one of a smoker and another of a non-smoker and they saw themselves the difference.
In addition to other models that present latest discoveries in medicine. We really enjoyed our time and for a few moments I forgot that I needed to complete my analysis and present some findings to my supervisor. I wish myself the best of luck and for children to never have vacations again. It’s better for them to be kept at school.