In the land of Al Jazeera tv

A few months ago, I was invited by the Qatar Foundation to come to Qatar for a few days to take a closer look at Education City, a collaboration of American universities who have realized that this Gulf state is an excellent place to set up shop. Apparently Qatar is the richest country in the world, not only having the black gold (oil) but newly discovered natural gas reserves. All-expense trip to a neighboring country? Absolutely. It came at a good time too; it was really hectic at work and I could use a few days away from the students.

Qatar Airlines doesn't earn the title of World's five star airline by chance. The hour long trip was comfortable and the service was great. I met a counselor from another Kuwaiti school and we compared notes. The weather in Doha was significantly warmer than the freezing temperatures I left in Kuwait. After settling in to the hotel room and having some lunch, a few of us took a taxi down to the waterfront to admire the Museum of Islamic Art (which unfortunately was closed). The building was designed by IM Pei, who also created the pyramid at the Louvre. Qatar is bubbling over with cutting-edge architecture which is well-done, tasteful, and frankly amazing.

We walked through the Waqik Souk, a busting center of old-world styled storefronts and charming cafes. Later in the evening, I met more "counselors"; to be honest I was surprised at how many were not actually counselors but have been handed the role and trying to manage it. Sheesh.

The hotel food was surprisingly good with lots of fresh produce and fruits, although focusing mostly on artisanal desserts which is never a bad thing. There was a wide array of fish too which I loved (however one morning there was sushi and mackerel, which was too much to stomach at 6 am even for me).

Some of my first impressions of Qatar: Greener and cleaner than Kuwait. Fewer honking cars. Many more Africans from the Horn of Africa. Fewer abaya-clad women. It's easy to see that there is money here, but the buildings are incredibly tasteful and well-constructed. The Qatari government seems to highly value the arts with a new opera house, theater, museums, and live music venues. In fact, Doha is on track to be a major tourist destination. On our last morning, we listened to a practice session of the Qatar Philharmonic, and it could have been anywhere in the world.

Another place in which the ruling family is investing is in the realm education. Education City is comprised of six different universities: Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Northwestern, Georgetown, Virginia Commonwealth, and Texas A&M. Stunning architecture, state-of-the-art facilities, and beautiful grounds made this sprawling campus a remarkable place. I felt fortunate to see it for myself and for our top students, it's a phenomenal option.

It was a pleasant surprise to watch the State of the Union address early one morning on Al Jazeera, and have always appreciated their straightforward and inquisitive reporting.

Only an hour away, Doha was a delightful world away from Kuwait. The pint I ordered in the nearby hotel bar cemented the deal.

Not exactly a snow day but it starts with s

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. But today I had an unexpected amount of free time. The 10k race which twelve of us signed up for was cancelled late last night because of an impending sandstorm. I only found this out at 6 am as I was getting ready to leave, so it was back to bed for another couple of hours. The weather started out calm today but was quite cold (like below zero). Nevertheless, Maria and I bundled up and went for a brisk walk on the Hilton grounds, which was utterly invigorating. We got in at least six kilometers so felt ok about missing the race. Right now, it is definitely more windy and we are battening up the hatches. The windows in the apartment are not very tight and we are trying to do what we can to keep out the inevitable dust and sand.

I think another reason I have not felt like writing is that it has been a very long month, which in retrospect now seems like a blur. We returned from the US only a few days when we heard of the death of Russ' childhood friend which was very upsetting. Now we are facing the terminal illness of another friend. We are feeling sad a lot of the time.

Medically, Russ is working through knee pain. The good news is that he got his heart checked out and everything looks solid. We have had nothing but excellent experiences with the doctors and hospitals here, and for that we are extremely grateful. The level of expertise and state-of-the-art equipment is impressive and the people at school have also been very supportive of Russ' health.

I made tamales last weekend and invited a couple of friends over to join the process. Any kind of slow cooking takes stress down a notch. Which is why with some of my free time today, I took a couple of hours to bake pumpkin muffins and make a big pot of soup which we then devoured (with plenty of leftovers to spare). Russ on the other hand is busy with all sorts of projects - making shelves, installing a laundry table, hanging photos, and a couple other home improvements. He and Justin have been scavenging the construction site which is our neighborhood for good lumber and other pieces that might come in handy some place sometime. There are quite a few tools available in the building and always someone to lend advice and a hand.

Life here is good. We have found support from friends in our complex, and also from the church we have been attending. We had a really wonderful weekend, eating with different people, celebrating birthdays, and connecting with long-distance friends. If school was called because of a sand day tomorrow, it would be almost perfect.

On the twelfth day of Christmas

Emerging from the fog of horrendous jetlag, we are finding ourselves on the cusp of the weekend, congratulating ourselves on surviving three days of school. Actually, it was pretty quiet and the kids were rather subdued. My highlight - being invited up to the science department for lunch two days in a row. A few of the teachers gave an extra credit project to write up a recipe (as one would do a lab report) and then bring in the baked or cooked item. It was an expansive smorgasbord of savory and sweet foods especially made for the teachers in hopes of some extra points. Brilliant. A funny Egyptian dish that I have had a few times over the past four months - kushari - which consists of rice, lentils, macaroni, garlic, spicy tomato relish, and crispy fried onions. It is the epitome of white starch and the lentils do not redeem the dish. Like wonder bread though, it can create strange and wonderful cravings.

Many of the teachers were out this week, at the job fair in Bangkok interviewing with other schools for next year. ASK is pretty lenient about giving people time off to do that, I think.

Our visit to Dalton already seems like a long time ago. More so since we found out that one of Russ' friends suddenly died two days ago. Russ has been grieving with friends on the phone and longs to be back. It is a very sad day here.

We did have a good visit at home although time went by quickly. The second week was inevitably more busy, a whirlwind of activity and food, but incredibly fun. The nephews and nieces are so grown up.

A few thoughts on our flight home:
I think Homeland security pays more attention to bags leaving the country than to those arriving in the US. Priorities?
Turkish Airlines did a great job of making us poor sods in economy class feel like we were upgraded for about fifteen minutes. At midnight on New Year's Eve, each person received a dark chocolate mousse and small bottle of champagne (not even just sparkling wine). It made up for the delays leaving NYC and Istanbul.
In the "one of the better decisions I've made" shortlist is deciding to get a Diner's Club card so we can access the airport lounges. It makes layovers a hundred times better. I am a sucker for free drinks and snacks, but mostly it is just a more civilized way to get from A to B.
Russ' brother Fred is a saint for not only picking us up at JFK on a Friday at rushhour (with Steve) but taking us back down two weeks later.

So on the twelfth day of Christmas, we will later turn off the twinkling lights, pack away our small Christmas tree, and put away the the holiday music for eleven more months. We will however keep the seven foot tree in the hallway outside our apartment up for a little longer. It is covered with colorful birds and bulbs, and it makes me smile every time I look at it.