"I have heard weird questions like, 'Do you guys bomb to go to heaven?' " said Mohammed Albishi, a Jeddah resident who was among the first of 17 university students to arrive in Pocatello earlier this year from the Middle Eastern kingdom. "I tell them, 'People who do that aren't Muslims - they're outlaws.' "

Following the attacks nearly five years ago in New York and Washington, D.C., some Arabic students left the United States. The number of Saudi students slipped from the 1981 peak of 10,220 to just 3,035 last year, according to the Institute of International Education.

Now, the U.S. State Department and the Saudi government are bolstering efforts to bring more students to U.S. universities, including in America's mostly white hinterlands, in hopes of cementing lasting bonds and easing tensions.

In Idaho, almost 90 percent of the population is white. The largest minority is Hispanic, at about 10 percent. Blacks make up less than 1 percent of the population.

''In Pocatello there were no Saudis, so we are trying to help our image,'' Mohammed Alwabl told the Idaho State Journal.

Saudi students at ISU - most are still studying English to improve their language proficiency - know they stand out.

For instance, Sarah Alabdulkarem, the only woman in the group, wears a hijab that covers her hair and all of her face, save a small slit exposing her eyes so that she can see out. She came to Pocatello with her husband, Ahmed, and her 11-month-old daughter.

Some people are curious to look under her hijab - especially the South Korean students, she said.

Idaho's largest religion is Mormon, at about a quarter of the 1.4 million population.

Last weekend, the Saudi group met with Mormon missionaries for an exchange of ideas.