I know it has been a while since my last blog and time just seems to have got ahead of me! November was a tough month for both John and I as we both got a nasty flu that was going around and it basically lasted several weeks.
The beginning of December brought a whirlwind of social activity with the Christmas season plus my boss moved back to Canada on December 1 leaving me as Acting Manager so my days have been incredibly busy since then. Added to all of that is the fact I started another online course in the third week of November towards my Certificate in International Development and it requires one essay per week with all the accompanying research so my spare time was spoken for. All this and we had to shop for Christmas and get everything done by December 15 as we left for a vacation in Jordan on December 16! Whew!
We are still enjoying our international experience and have now truly settled in and feel like it is our home. I finally found a few pieces of art I like so our walls won't be so bare. It was also nice to buy a Christmas tree to make it seem more like home and Kate chose all the decorations in silver and blue.
Qatar does a good job of ensuring Christian expats have all they need for Christmas. The stores were filled with Christmas decorations of all types and the food to go with it. We opted for one of the many hotel take out specials for our Christmas dinner as we just returned from Jordan at 9 pm on Christmas Eve. This take out included turkey and all the trimmings from soup to dessert which we just had to pick up at 4 pm on Christmas Day. As it was enough food to feed an army we were glad to have a couple of my colleagues come for dinner. The morning was quiet with just the three of us but still nice and, of course, it was a balmy 24 degree day. Some of our colleagues really miss having snow at Christmas. Personally I don't miss it one bit and neither do Kate and John!
Quick summary of the last couple of months:
- Kate and I did the Qatar Walk for Breast Cancer at the end of November. This involved walking 8 km along the Doha corniche which rings the bay
- John attended a week-long conference in Baltimore and then got delayed coming home due to a massive snowstorm on the US east coast. Better he had the jet lag than me
- I attended a variety show for women where college students performed various singing and dancing numbers (mainly Qatari women performing) and it was a wild night let me tell you! Men were forbidden as all the abayas came off to reveal stunning designer clothes and a chance to let loose. Some women I work with greeted me and I had no idea who they were cause I usually only see their eyes as the rest of their face is covered. You wouldn't believe that there wasn't a drop of alcohol served (of course) because there was a lot of screaming and stage dancing going on from the audience (except the Western women who all sat demurely and somewhat perplexedly in the audience). I couldn't shake the feeling that I had spent the evening at a Chippendale's performance except there were no men!
- John and I attended an international dinner in the main courtyard of the College where students served national dishes from their home countries and we were entertained by music from various cultures as well. Lots of great food!
- We also saw a fantastic Lebanese film about Christians and Muslims trying to leave peacefully together in a small town. This was showing at the Islamic Museum of Art down on the corniche and it won an award at the recent Doha TriBeCa Film Festival attended by Robert DeNiro and Antonio Banderas.
On December 16 we departed for a nine day tour of Jordan. This ranks among the best trips we have ever taken. Some highlights include:
- amazing and extensive Roman ruins at Jerash (ancient Antioch)
- hot springs and spa in the Jordan Rift Valley (facials for Kate and I, Indian head massage for John)
- the ancient city of Petra (unbelievable!)
- four wheeling around Wadi Rum in the southern desert with Bedouins (Kate got to drive - we figured she couldn't hit anything in the desert!)
- two luxurious night at a resort on the Dead Sea ( really cool not to sink!) with Dead Sea mud body wrap, spectacular views of Israel including Jerusalem and Bethlehem (fitting at Christmas)
- traditional Jordanian meal at our guide's house (I guess he liked us) and much more
John is heading up some interesting projects at work while getting involved with the Parent Council at the Qatar Canadian School.
Kate continues to love Doha, her school, and all of her new friends from various countries, bringing home the best report card ever (small classes really work for her) and growing up at an alarming rate (the Bedouin guide in Jordan thought she was 17... Sigh).
Penny continues to be Queen of all she sniffs and has a little terrier friend named Bertie who she enjoys meeting on her walks and who kept her company at the kennel while we were in Jordan. Our return from vacation was met with the usual glare which quickly dissipated once she was given a hot dog by way of compensation.
Other than that, the latest excitement in Doha for expats is the recent opening of The Pork Store (really just a little room off the liquor store) and we needed a license to buy alcohol and pork. But bacon tastes really good when you haven't been able to have it!
My commitment is to post some pictures in the next few days before things get busy with work again. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we wish you all Happy New Year!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
