"Man, there is a crazy guy in the bathroom," he said to his American roommate. "We have to call the police!"
The roommate calmed him down and explained the guy was just one of their less inhibited neighbors preparing to take a shower.
Before graduating last month, Brnawi, a big teddy bear of a man, was one of about 140 Saudis studying at Wilkes University. Most, if not all, are here on the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, started in 2005 by the new monarch in an attempt to modernize the country’s work force. Nearly 23,000 Saudis studied in American universities in the 2010-2011 school year, up 43 percent from the year before, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, making it the fastest growing international group of students in the U.S.
The influx of students from the conservative Muslim nation can lead to some initially awkward experiences, such as Brnawi’s eye-opening bathroom incident.
"For some people that come straight from Saudia Arabia, this is a huge culture shock," said Felixa Wingen, the assistant director of international student services at Wilkes Unviersity and the advisor to the Saudi Interest Club.
The university helps students adapt by holding informational sessions on simple things like wearing gloves and boots in winter as well as on the more technical but equally important, such as how to winterize an a apartment or a car.
But Western entertainment and food have become so abundant in the Middle East in recent years that the adjustment period is much shorter than it once was, said Moataz Aldaraweish, a 27-year-old engineering student and the vice president of the Saudi Club at Wilkes.
Before leaving, "you can build an idea about what’s going on out there," Aldaraweish said.
In this case, "out there" is Northeastern Pennsylvania. Many of the Saudi students at Wilkes are attracted to the school by its engineering program. Another 73 students from the Persian Gulf nation attend the University of Scranton, which also offers some degrees in that field.
Engineers are needed to help the country build many of its ambitious projects, such as the industrial cities popping up around the Saudi desert as well as the Kingdom Tower, a $1.2 billion skyscraper that will stretch about 3,300 feet into the air, making it the tallest building in the world.
After graduation, most of the Saudis, in the U.S. on five-year student visas, will take their degrees and move home to work, returning the favor to a government which paid their full tuition and living expenses, said Abdulaziz Alakeel, a 24-year-old engineering student and the president of the Saudi Club at Wilkes.
"I think it’s our duty to work there," Alakeel said.
Wilkes does no recruiting in Saudi Arabia, but because the country’s family structure is so strong, the large student base is self-perpetuating, having been built up almost exclusively through word-of-mouth. One family has sent five different cousins to the university, while Aldaraweish followed his two younger sisters to the university. Female Saudi students, of which there are 24 at Wilkes, must be accompanied by a "legally acceptable male companion," according to the rules of the scholarship program. For most, that is a husband or a brother, many of whom are also studying.
The large group of Saudi students has formed the Saudi Club at Wilkes and takes weekend trips to places like Ricketts Glen State Park. Some have gained a taste for local cuisine, although even "Philly cheesesteaks," written in Arabic on menus, are available in restaurants in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Alakeel said.
Despite the tensions between the Arab and Western world, especially after the recent deadly attack on an U.S. ambassador and three Americans in Libya, Alakeel said issues with racism towards Saudi students have been minimal or nonexistent. The main problem Saudi students face is explaining where they come from to American students.
"They would guess you are from Mexico or India or something," Alakeel said, chuckling.
That interaction is an important part of the all-around higher education experience officials want to provide by diversifying the student base, Wingen said.
Graduates entering the work force "have to be able to interact with people from other cultures. One way to do that is to bring people from other countries," Wingen said of the large international population at Wilkes.
It works both ways. Brnawi, now 28, says he will return to Saudi Arabia having shed his "close mind," thanks to his four years in Wilkes-Barre.
And what would he think if he came across another naked guy walking around the bathroom showers now?
"It’s American culture," he said with a laugh and a shrug.
