Coming Back to School

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Almusai's roommate, Neil Ball, 21, a junior from Logan County, W.Va., who has an Appalachian drawl, says their biggest problem has not been current events or differing tastes in wall décor--Ball put up a seductive poster of Jessica Simpson, Almusai a portrait of King Abdullah--but "probably my accent." Kenny Ison, 20, a culinary-arts major from Point Pleasant, W.Va., happily recalls how his roommate, Hatim al-Garzaie, 21, invited him to sit on a rug spread on the floor and dine with a bunch of Saudi students by digging into communal pans of rice and meat. Other nights there have been jam sessions; al-Garzaie turns off his PlayStation, plugs his oud into the amp and leads his fellow Saudis in songs from home. "Already," says Ison, "I've learned so much that I never thought I would, even at college."

As for al-Dehaim, some friends back home now ask whether they should study in the U.S. too. "It's a lot of work," he tells them. "But it's cool."

For first-person accounts from Saudi students at Marshall, go to time.com/students