BYE-BYE

After two years and 133 posts it is time to conclude DC to Doha. I was wrong - thought I wouldn't enjoy blogging but I really have. It's a great place to journal one's life. As soon as I get my home office set up I plan to print out this blog, and start a new one on life in Virginia. If you want the new blog address please let me know via e-mail or comment. In the meantime - have a great day and thank you both for reading!

Cindy

HOME AT LAST!

The kids and I arrived at Dulles airport yesterday afternoon. Trip did not go smoothly - our United flight was cancelled, we were rebooked on a Lufthansa flight departing 2 hours later, that flight was delayed an extra hour so immigration paperwork could be processed. Erin got sick right after we landed at Dulles, had a mix-up and didn't find the friends who came to meet us at the airport. But we managed to get ourselves together and to our hotel. Everyone is fine today - we are very glad to be home!

MORE EUROPEAN VACATION

Castle on the Rhine River





Schnitzel and Weissbeer - Heaven!

Venice "Street" Scene

8:00 AM - Independence Day: Am blasting rock music out of the computer trying to get the family up! Have had a great time on vacation, but am looking forward to flying home tomorrow. See you soon!

CASTLES!

View from our Hotel Room



Neuschwanstein Castle



Hohenschwangau
Castle with
Neuschwanstein
in background




Linderhoff Castle

Been "castling" the past 2 days! Saw the boyhood home of Mad King Ludwig - Hohenschwangau and the 2 castles he built - Linderhoff and Neuschwanstein. Has been raining on and off for 3 days - but we don't care. One more day in Garmisch - Monday we leave for Venice.

ESCAPE FROM DOHA!

Linderhoff Palace


Erin & Spaghetti Ice

Rothenburg

Doha Escape Day finally arrived! We flew from Doha to Frankfurt, Germany on Tuesday. Picked up our rental car early Tuesday morning and drove up to Bad Nauheim and Friedberg - where we used to live all those years ago. With the exception of the closed Army base in Friedberg, the towns look pretty much as I remember them. Loved driving through the green fields outside Frankfurt, and had a real moment of bliss standing in the cool shadow of a tall, green tree at a roadside rest area. Ate a real schnitzel, and drank a real beer. Showed the kids how to use a french fry fork (remember those?), marveled that the Germans still used sandpaper for toilet paper, and got some spaghetti ice (Erin loved it!). After a night in Frankfurt drove south to the walled in city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Kids loved exploring the city - and the Medevial Crime Museum. Are now down south in Garmisch - visited Linderhoff Palace today - built by Mad King Ludwig. Palace is small, but built to copy Versailles and includes a grotto (cave) where private Wagner operas were staged just for the King (remember that Bugs Bunny cartoon - Kill the Rabbit? - heard all that music today). It is cloudy and rainy - can't see the Alps very well - but we don't care. We love the rain and all the green! Not sure yet what we will do tomorrow - depends on the weather. Having a great time!

PACKOUT PICS

Sea Crates

Moving Crew

Box City

Packout going well. The crew packed most of our stuff yesterday (Saturday) and today are weighing the boxes and crating them for the long voyage from Doha port (in the Persian Gulf) to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. Will take a minimum of 72 days for our sea shipment to arrive at our home in Virginia. We have 700 pounds going by air that should be there in about 3 weeks. Babycat is booked on the Qatar Air direct flight from Doha t0 Dulles - she flies on 20 July. We fly to Germany early Tuesday morning for a 12 day vacation (well needed and deserved!).

In case some are wondering, the current unrest in Iran is not affecting us at all. Iran and Qatar do not have much of a relationship: they are of different ethnic groups (Persian and Arab), speak different languages (Farsi and Arabic), and have different religious beliefs (Shia vs. Sunni Muslim). All is quiet (and hot!) here.

MOVERS

come today and tomorrow (Sat and Sun) - yikes!

The Gala and The Ball

That would be the Stars Ballet Gala and the Army Birthday Ball! Attended both events yesterday (Friday, June 12). Erin was, of course, lovely in the ballet gala - held at the Doha Sheraton. Andy and I attended the Gala in our Army Ball attire (tuxedo and ball gown), and rushed from the Sheraton to Camp As Saliyah and the Ball. Had a great time at both events!
Managed to spend today (Saturday) running errands and avoiding thinking about moving. Have started the air freight pile, though. Movers come on June 20.

ERIN WINS MATH AWARD

As one of the top math students in the 4th grade, Erin was chosen to participate in the Math Olympiad program at the American School. Today, at the end of year awards ceremony, she received an award for being in the top 50% of all Math Olympiad students worldwide! Well done!

Am working on our move now. Today got the news that the US is seriously considering quarantining pets shipped in from Qatar (why? there is no rabies in Qatar!). Not sure when the new regulations will take effect, but the pet relocator I am working with suggests we get our Babycat back to the US ASAP! Plan now is for Baby to fly as cargo on a direct flight from Doha to Dulles about July 19. I will be at Dulles to receive her.

This is the last week of school - exam week for Grant. Things are moving fast now, and we are very excited about coming home!

OH, IF THEY ONLY KNEW WHAT WE DO NOW....

From "The Spirit of Democracy" the newspaper of Monroe County, Ohio, date: 24 January, 1895:

"Pencil for Writing Letters
A new fashion that is just beginning to grow in vogue is that of writing letters in pencil rather than with pen and ink; and when once it is fairly established it is doubtful whether anything but legal documents and business papers that must be preserved will ever be prepared in the old style. Letters are generally shorter nowadays than they formerly were, are more hastily written, more frequent, and seldom worth keeping for any length of time. They are not the elaborate efforts of bygone days, that were often cherished for their intrinsic worth. The pencil, which is far more convenient than the pen, is, therefore, taking its place in the great mass of casual correspondence."

COMING HOME!

Great News! Got official word yesterday that we will be moving back to our home in Virginia. Now I am motivated to get ready for the move. See you soon!

QATAR QUESTIONS PART 2

1. Why isn't there a Yellow Pages or, for that matter, any type of phone book?
2. Regarding demoninations of the Qatari currency - the Riyal. There is a 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 Riyal bill. Why no 20 or 25 Riyal bill? Would make things a lot more convenient.
3. People don't use change (100 dirhams = 1 riyal but you rarely see a dirham coin, at stores they round up or down or give you candy instead of change) - why bother putting prices with dirhams?
4. Why not hire people who can speak/write in English to produce/edit the english language newspapers? (recent headline - "Non Communicable Diseases Spreading Fast" - had to read the article when I saw that - writer meant that more people in Qatar being diagnosed with diabetes, cancer, etc; Another headline - "Make Schooling Must For Arab Children" - suggested edit "Make Schooling Must for Arab Journalists")
5. Do the driving schools teach students that it is OK to go through a red light if there isn't a red light camera at the intersection? Experience suggests that they do.
6. What is the big deal with Magic Corn? Finally got some at the Mall - it's (no kidding) regular corn with a little seasoning on it.
7. Why is it so hard to find Ginger Ale or Root Beer? Yes, "ale" and "beer" are in the name but there is no alcohol.
8. Doesn't owning a white Land Cruiser make it harder to find your car in the parking lot?
9. Speaking of cars, those belt like things hanging inside the car - are you aware of their purpose?
10. Why do you think it is OK to allow your 12 year old son to drive the Land Cruiser from the mall parking space to the door to pick up the rest of the family?

GIRL SCOUT AWARDS CEREMONY

held yesterday at the American School. It was the last Girl Scout event in Doha for Erin and I (I take that back, our Leader Dinner is Tuesday night). We started the year with 14 girls in our Junior Troop, and ended with 12 - not bad. This spring our troop went through the first of the new Girl Scout "Journeys" - it is a great program. I got some nice gifts - a GS tote bag with the Qatar GS logo and my name in English and Arabic, a camel bone box and a picture frame. I won't miss Doha, the city, at all; but I will miss the wonderful people we have met here.

EAGLE SCOUT

Grant passed his Board of Review today - he is eligible for the Eagle Scout Award - whew! Not sure yet where we will have the Eagle ceremony, just relieved that all was successfully completed. (We may have here in Doha, or may wait until we get back to Virginia.)

1895

I have a little "job" transcribing obituaries from an old newspaper in Monroe County, Ohio. Am now in January 1895 and came across these news items that made me think of how things were done before modern conveniences, and chuckle.

"Our ice men last week harvested an excellent quality of ice seven to eight inches in thickness. Although our summer may be hot we are now assured of an abundance of natural ice with which to keep things cooled."

"St. Clairsville people subscribed money to purchase instruments for a brass band, but specified that the musicians must go out of town to practice."

On a more somber note, there are obits in this paper for 3 children of Dr. and Mrs. Pugh - all three died of diptheria within 2 weeks. These were the only children of this couple. I transcribe lots of obits for young people. Common causes of death are typhoid, diptheria, tuberculosis and scarlet fever. The good old days weren't so good.

YOU HAVE TWO COWS

my favorites! Got any good ones?

Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
Anarchy: You have two cows. They run away.
Aristocratism: You have two cows. You sell them and buy a really big one. With a pedigree.
Bureaucracy: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
Corporate Capitalism: You have two cows -- IN THEORY. But, ACTUALLY, you have shares in a mutual fund that includes a large agribusiness conglomerate which gives you the theoretical equivalent of ownership of two cows. This agribusiness proceeds to invest heavily in a slick "Got Milk?" celebrity campaign while moving aggressively into application of Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), a bioengineered hormone which is injected in the cows every other week to force the cows to produce more milk than their bodies normally would. rBGH is similar, although not identical, to a hormone that the cow naturally produces. Increasing levels of this hormone boosts milk production, causing a number of problems with the milk, among them, raising levels of pus, antibiotics residues and a cancer-accelerating hormone called IGF-1. Your shares rapidly rise in value as you watch your virtual herd grow to four, then eight, and eventually SIXTEEN theoretical cows . . . before the market finally crashes. Some years later you are diagnosed with cancer of the colon, too late, unfortunately, to treat it benignly because your HMO had cut back on screening tests as a cost-saving move in order to meet the high dividend expectations of the very same mutual fund your 401k was invested in. A colonectomy keeps you alive, for the time-being at least, but you have to wear a bag of shit strapped to your leg for the remaining years of your life. Still, at least it's a better quality of life than those factory cows lead . . . Maybe two cows WOULD have been enough . . .
Communism: You have two cows. The state takes both, and gives you a little milk... once.
Communism — Cuban: You no longer have any cows. They sailed to Miami. You still have no milk - but you do have Fidel.
Communism — Pure: You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.
Communism — Real World: You share two cows with your neighbours. You and your neighbours bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need". Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows drop dead of starvation.
Communism — Soviet: You have two cows. You count them and realize you have four cows.You drink more Vodka. You count the cows again and realize you have eleventy six cows. You drink even more Vodka. After a while, you realize that eleventy isn't a real number. You count the cows again and have two cows. You open another bottle of Vodka and try to drown the loss of eleventy four cows.
Democracy: You have two cows. A vote is held, and the cows win.
Democracy — British: You have two cows. You feed them sheeps' brains and they go mad. The government doesn't do anything.
Dictatorship: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.
Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes the cows, shoot you and sell the milk to your widow.
Feudalism: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
Libertarianism: Go away. What I do with my cows is none of your business.
Taliban: You have two cows. At first, the government makes them wear burkas, but later shoots them because "they are Hindu religious symbols."
United Nations: You have two cows. France vetoes you from milking them. The United States and Britain veto the cows from milking you. New Zealand abstains.
!Enron: You have two cows. You borrow 80% of the forward value of the two cows from your bank then buy another cow with 5% down and the rest financed by the seller on a note callable if your market cap goes below $20B at a rate 2 time prime. You now sell three cows to your publicly listed company, using a letter of credit opened by your brother-in- law at a 2nd bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more and this transaction process is upheld by your independent auditor and no Balance Sheet provided with the press release that announces that Enron as a major owner of cows will begin trading cows via the Internet site COW (cows on web).
French Corporation: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.
German Corporation: You have two cows. You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
Italian Corporation: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
Japanese Corporation: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them World-Wide.
Swedish: You need two cows. You buy them from IKEA and assemble them yourself (it's cheaper). The Volvo cows don't look as trendy, but they last a lot longer.
Swiss Corporation: You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge for storing them for others.
Qatar: You have 2 cows, you do nothing with them for years. Suddenly you realize that Dubai is milking its cows like crazy so you start milking the sh*t out of yours. Then you realize that nobody wanted the milk in the first place.
Cannibalism: You have 2 cows. They eat each other. You accept this.
Feminism: You have two cows. You wouldn't dream of calling them that.
Hinduism: You have two cows, you worship them.
Narcicism: You have two cows. Damn, I look good.
Pacifism: You have two cows. They stampede you.
Political Correctness: You are associated with (the concept of "ownership" is a symbol of the phallo centric, war mongering, intolerant past) two differently-aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender.

QATAR QUESTIONS

Qatar needs an OSHA



The Poo Pit!



Dust Storm

After nearly 2 years in Qatar I have unanswered questions:

1. (See first photo above) Why do you allow/require workers to climb tall structures without some sort of safety system? (I looked at this guy with my telephoto lens - he was not clipped on to anything. We see this sort of thing all the time.)

2. What is my address? Why do only a few streets have names?

3. Why does one get about 20 packets of ketchup with every pizza delivery from Papa John's, Pizza Hut and Dominoes? Does anyone really put ketchup on pizza? And, why when you get french fries from McDonald's, Burger King, etc; do they only give you one packet of ketchup?

4. Why does Starbucks open so late (8:30 am) in the morning?

5. Why does this place often smell like sewage? (see answer below)

6. Why, in a country of one million people is there not a sewage treatment plant? (see photo of me, above, at the poo pit. Sewage is flushed into large holding tanks then trucked to this pit and dumped in.)

7. Why won't you allow dogs in the (few) public parks?

8. Why do you build large office buildings with tiny parking lots?

9. Why don't you wear seatbelts?

10. Why are there so many half built buildings? (there is a mosque and a house across the street from our house that have been under construction since we arrived 2 years ago. Very rarely do we see any work on them.)

11. Why do most of the smaller stores close between 1 and 4 pm?

12. Why, on Friday, do the larger stores open for a few hours in the morning, then close and reopen at 4 pm? If you are trying to keep the holy day holy haven't you ruined that by opening in the morning?

13. Why are foreign laborers not allowed in the malls and souk on Fridays - their only day off?

WHITE POWDER CLOSES EMBASSY

Yesterday morning a letter leaking white powder was received at the US Embassy here in Doha. (No one in my family was present at the Embassy at that time.) The Embassy was locked down for most of the day while they determined that the powder was not hazardous. I understand the Embassy is open today.
Brings back bad memories of the anthrax scare in the US. My office mail went through the postal facility where the 2 postal workers died from anthrax. I didn't get any mail at the office for over a month. During that month they irraditaed and searched the mail. When I finally got that batch of mail it was brittle and yellow. I thought about keeping a piece of it as a part of history but ended up throwing all of it in the trash. Our mail at home went through a different postal facility but, in the panic of the times, I got the mail from the mailbox and opened it over the trash can outside. Anything not in an envelope or a bag (loose catalogs and junk mail) went right into the trash can. Outer envelopes and bags were put in the outside trash can and then I came in the house and scrubbed my hands.
But, back to the present. Still no word on where we are moving - should hear next week. Getting very busy here with end of the year concerts, farewell parties, dance recital rehearsals, etc; - keeps me running!

HAPPY DAYS!

It's a feel - good day here today - lots of happy people around. Went to my yoga class this morning and the Indian teacher and students are very happy with the results of their national elections. My Sri Lankan maid came today - she is VERY HAPPY - it appears the 40 year civil war in her country is finally over. (I can't imagine a 40 year civil war - my maid is 39 so this war has been going on her entire life. Wow. Her sons are teenagers now - you can imagine how happy she is that they will not have to fight in this war.)
Hope all is well on your side of the world!

GRADUATION!

Never thought I would be graduating from anything at my age! Got word yesterday that I have sucessfully completed the National Genealogical Society's Homestudy Genealogy Course. It was a lot of work (16 genealogy research projects) but worth it - I learned a lot. Also, I was accepted into the National Institute on Genealogical Research's 2009 Summer Program - it is one week (July 12 - 17) at the National Archives in Washington, DC. I am really looking forward to attending.
Major dust storm here today. Bad time of year here - hot, windy and dusty.

BEAUTY CORNER

Our tiny backyard is in full bloom now! The oleander (white flowers) have a great fragrance. The bourganvillea is actually planted on the other side of the wall - it came over. Andy put up the sunshade, as you can see, to try and protect my tomatoes (back wall of photo) but they are starting to die from the heat.

Our maid made dinner for us last night - shrimp curry - it was so good! She also made some crepe like things out of coconut milk that were very tasty. Of course our propane gas tank ran empty while she was cooking. There are 2 back there and I swear we had one full one and one we were working on (we probably did have an extra full one - they are notorious for leaking!)Couldn't get a new cylinder delivered right away so she had to go to neighboring friends to finish cooking. I got one new cylinder this AM (won't buy two cause I am leaving).

Very dusty and windy outside today. Think of opening the oven and having a blast of gritty air hit you - not pleasant at all.

WEEKEND IN DOHA

Erin & Friends Lemonade Stand






Pie Making









Typical scene here! No spare tire, plastic seat covers, and rearview mirror at an angle so man can "watch himself" as he drives.





Still working on the "Moving Motivation." But had a pleasant weekend with pies (trying to use up stuff before we move - in this case it was Crisco), lemonade stand, a farewell party and street watching.

MOVING THOUGHTS

Having difficulty getting motivated to go through stuff in the house in preparation for moving. Am trying to break it down into a little each day. Yesterday I did my Girl Scout stuff, today I should do my closet. We are, once again, up in the air as to where we are moving. But I doubt having an exact destination would motivate me.
Am thinking about how lucky I am to have traveled so much. How many countries have I visited? - I haven't thought about it in a long time. So, here is my list, in chronological order: Canada, France, Germany (East and West), Austria, Switzerland, Monaco, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Iceland, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey (northern Cyprus), Venezuela, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai). Child Number One came along at Israel, Number Two at Venezuela. Of course my dear hubby has been to more places! Places I would like to visit include Mexico (OK, maybe not now, but someday), Australia, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Greece, Spain and Italy (will see part of Italy this summer). I better keep my passport up to date. And, just so you don't think I am a bad American, in the US I have been to every state except Alaska, Idaho, Washington and Vermont.
Got gas the other day - always an interesting experience. Here attendants pump your gas for you (are you old enough to remember that in the US?). Anyway - it was a broiling hot afternoon so I pulled up to the pump, put down my window, and turned off my car. Very busy gas station - 4 islands. Now, either I am the only one who turned off my engine (and air conditioner), or all the other people turned off their engines and kept their windows rolled up tight! Smoke out of tailpipes suggests the former. Out of curiosity I wrote down that I paid 62 Qatari Riyal for 77.5 liters of gas. That works out to 83 cents a gallon - wasn't all that long ago that gas in the US could be found for 99 cents a gallon.
Well I had better stop stalling and get to work.
Happy Mother's Day to All!

BIG SOCCER MATCH

Al Waab Street, Doha, Qatar

Caught these scenes driving home from the grocery store the other night. Apparently a big soccer match later that evening at the stadium near our house. (Qatar is full of large, elaborate, expensive, sports stadiums. The Qataris like to watch sports and sponsor lots of events here - not sure how much they play themselves.) These young men were apparently fans on their way to the match. They were weaving all over the road. If they saw me taking pictures they didn't care. Anyway, about 9:30 that evening I was in bed reading and heard what sounded like WWIII going on outside - fireworks over the stadium.

WHY?

Qatar has removed the only two female ministers from the Cabinet. There are 20 ministers in the King's cabinet - these are the only women ever to serve in Cabinet Minister positions. The state-run Qatar News Agency gave no reason why they were fired.

Have to wonder what this is all about - were these women simply not up to their jobs? Was this giving in to pressure from those who don't think any women are up to these sorts of jobs? That element does exist here (understatement!).

One wonders......

DANCE PARTY!

Indian Ladies Enjoying the Party!



Texas (still in USA?) Line Dance

Peru

Turkey

Japanese Ladies

Went to my last International Ladies Potluck Group event today. Was a real dance party - groups presented traditional dances from their countries (if I were here longer I would insist on the Virginia Reel for USA!). Had a great time - everyone there is always so friendly. Ate some great food - including an Indian dish that was a sort of crepe with spicy potato inside and a coconut sauce. Won a raffle prize - luxury manicure/pedicure at the Ritz Carolton. Hope I have time to use it.

BOTBALL

Competition Begins!

Closer view of one table

Quite a diverse crowd

Note construction cranes

Botball - different schools all got the same robot and parts, and had to program the robot to do certain tasks. Doha hosted the regional competition- schools from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt attended. The American School of Doha did well in the competition. Lost their first round, but won 3 more before being eliminated. They won a design award so the kids were happy.

There is still lots of construction at Education City - but the Carnegie-Mellon building is very nice.

COLBERT IN QATAR?

Here in Doha, we are anxiously awaiting Stephen Colbert's decision on which Persian Gulf nation(actually, Stephen, in this region it is called the Arabian Gulf!) he will visit. (Yes, this is how bored we are!) We are all hoping he will visit us here in Qatar. After all, Stephen graduated from Northwestern University - which coincidentally recently opened a campus here in Doha. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

(For those that have no idea what I am talking about, please visit: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/225498/april-22-2009/where-and-when-is-stephen-going-to-the-persian-gulf----qatar

Get here soon Stephen - it is getting really hot outside! Practicing holding hands with men is a great idea - don't want you to freak out when it happens to you. You may also want to brush up on your male to male kissing and nose rubbing. A good general rule here is - ignore anyone in black. Hope to see you soon!

MIDNIGHT AND STAKE

(Disclaimer: I did not name these cats. The kids did.) Midnight and Stake are the stray kitties we feed. They are feral - though Midnight is getting a bit friendly. The maid accidentally let Midnight in the house the other day - then had a devil of a time getting her to leave! Our cat, Baby, sits on the couch in front of the window and watches these two. Midnight and Stake are the daughters of another stray - "Joe Biden" - again I didn't name her! These sisters have been neutered (and I was so nervous because we took them in for it separately. These cats are always together - would be just awful for them to lose their buddy) but their mother - Joe - has not been neutered yet. Joe has another litter right now. As soon as those kittens are old enough want to take Joe in for neutering.

Who will feed these kitties when I am gone? I hope someone does!

Big weekend ahead. Compound Happy Hour Thursday night , big birthday party on Friday, and Grant's Botball tournament on Saturday. The tournament is at Education City and will consist of High Schools throughout Doha making robots and programming them to run a certain course and do certain tasks. Keep your fingers crossed for the American School to do well!

MY LITTLE ACCIDENT

Everyone is OK! Had a small car accident couple of days ago. I was taking a right out of our compound when a land cruiser suddenly decided to move into my lane. Our front bumpers barely kissed. The land cruiser stopped and so did I thinking, "Oh no, this will be an obnoxious Qatari male and this whole thing will be my fault." To my surprise a woman in a black abaya gets out. I get out - we walk towards each other at the side of the road - she grabs my hands and says, "I am so sorry - are you OK." I said Yes are you OK? She said yes but that she was shaking. (Don't know where this woman was from. She spoke English with a British accent. Could be India, or Indonesia - doubt it was Qatar. They generally don't allow their women to study abroad.) She looked at my car and told me there was a scratch. I looked - could barely see it. We looked at her car (which was not brand new - it looked like it had seen a few years - a few scratches and dings - again evidence this was not a Qatari) and, again, could barely make out a small scratch. We talked and agreed: this was an accident, important thing is no one was hurt, neither one of us wanted to call the police, we would go on with our lives - which we did.
A positive experience!

GIRL SCOUT FATHER DAUGHTER PARTY

Andy & Erin at Karaoke

Al Fardan Gardens 4

Erin Swimming with Friend

Was held on Saturday, April 18. I was the organizer this year, and we had a pool party at a local compound (not ours - our pool is too small). About 110 people attended. When planning this event last fall we were worried that mid-April would be too hot, and we have had some very hot days this April (today, April 20, is one of them). But, as it turned out, we were worried about rain on party day! It was overcast and warm (in the 80's) and we felt a few drops of rain but nothing to spoil the party. Overall it was a good event.

Planning events like this is challenging even in the US. But here we are dealing with different cultures (meaning - people who like to "haggle") and people who don't speak English very well. Had to really haggle for this party - the first price quoted me for the food (not drinks) and lifeguard was 50 QR per person (about $13.75). Was I told could bring a different food vendor if I wished - so I got a quote from a restaurant (that has catered for the school) for 25QR per person (about $6.85). After I shared that bid with the orginial bidder he came down to 30 QR per person and we settled on that - whew!

Am starting to think about moving now! Just added it up - this will be our 11th move in 27 years of marriage. (For those that are interested: Akron to Oklahoma, Oklahoma to Germany, once while in Germany, Germany to Denver, Denver to Boulder, Boulder to Burke, Burke to Israel, Israel to Burke, a move within Burke, Burke to Doha, Doha to Burke.) Can you top that (would you want to?)

JULY 5

is the day we (the 2 kids and me) are scheduled to land at Dulles - hooray! Our tenants are moving out a month early - so we get our house back on July 15 - hooray again!

We leave Doha on June 23 and will spend the intervening time on vacation in Germany and Italy. Will spend 5 nights in Bavaria (Garmisch) - seeing Neuschwanstein castle, etc; then head down to Italy. For some reason, Erin wants to go to Italy, particularly Venice, in the worst way. I wonder if she read a book, or something that mentioned it? She can't tell me why - just that she wants to go. It's about a 5 hour drive from Garmisch, and Andy and I have never been there, so why not?

After a couple of nights near Venice we will drive back to Germany. Hope to see friends in Bad Nauheim - people I have kept in contact with but haven't seen in 23 years!

See you soon!

GREAT BIRTHDAY PRESENT!

Most people wouldn't like to see rain on their birthday - but here it is a great gift! 75 degrees on this birthday morning with a steady rain. Other presents include a box of my favorite coffee, hot chocolate, York peppermint patties, and a blouse from my parents (great stuff! For some reason we can't get those peppermint patties here - does peppermint oil have an alochol base maybe?), and an iPod stereo dock from Andy and the kids - love that iPod! Andy and I are going to The Sharq tonight for dinner - best seafood restaurant in Doha.

Have a great day!

RAIN AND ART

Rain in Doha!



Inner Courtyard of Museum









Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar

We got the rain - a few days later than forecast but we got it! Actually had quite a thunderstorm yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. Erin was fascinated by it - such a rare occurance here. It's funny how we don't think/worry much about rain here - all our "weather thoughts" are on how oven hot it is!

Andy returned on Friday morning from his trip to Thailand and India. He had a good trip. Brought Erin and I each a top from India - he did a great job picking them out. He may have to travel again before we leave, but my next trip should be the big one home! (I can't look out my front windows today. Neighbors across the street are packing out for move back to US and I am jealous.)

Andy and I toured the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha on Saturday. Not much in there, yet. Looks like lots of space to fill. The building (designed by I. M. Pei) is more interesting than the exhibits at this point.

I finished my bio of my great-grandmother, Alveretta Young Cox. A passing grade on this will be a successful completion of the National Genealogical Society Homestudy Course. Keep your fingers crossed!

RAIN TOMORROW?

Forecast states Qatar will have thundstorms tomorrow - 1/4 inch of rain. Wow! It is kind of late in the year for rain, but haven't had much this year. Time to get out the rain jacket.
Erin didn't have school today - elem. teacher conferences. She went to my yoga class with me - all of us learned that younger kids are A LOT more flexible. Then we tried our compound pool. The pool itself was still pretty cold, but the hot tub felt great!
Speaking of pools I am trying to set up our Girl Scout Father Daughter Event at a neighboring compound. Will be a pool party with food and games (bingo and other board games). It isn't til mid-April - shouldn't have to worry about rain.
Maybe I can post some rain pictures tomorrow!

ONE MORE DRIVING VIDEO

Today, quite by accident, I met the guy who made the Doha intersection video. I thanked him for it - told him it was hard to describe how people drive here - who would believe it? Seeing it makes all the difference. Anyway there is another video of his on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lExlCOp1BXc&feature=related I have driven this exact same route many times. Note all the construction. The traffic circle with the weird looking monument in the center is Sports Roundabout. The "mountain" is dirt excavated from a big hole on the other side (don't know why that hole is there).
On a more positive note they have fixed the front of our compound! Actually put all the bricks back so you don't go over a major bump and then through sand to get in the gate! Wow! Didn't think I would be here to see the day.

CAMPING AT ZIKREET

I need a break from camping! Have done it 2 weekends in a row now. Both were fine, but I'm not much of a camper to begin with.

Anyway, had fun at the Embassy Campout this past weekend. We went to Zikreet - which has some interesting rock formations. The "fort" on top of this "mushroom" rock is manmade - it was built as part of a movie set - don't ask me which movie it was all in Arabic! Lots of kids on this campout which made a great time for Erin. Grant had a buddy come during the day - the buddy and his family didn't spend the night so Grant went back home too. Andy cooked breakfast for the crowd - his best pancakes and real bacon!

Working on my last genealogy project now - a bio of my great-grandmother Alveretta Young Cox. Suggested length is 5 pages and at first I didn't know how I would fill that. But, once I got started I can see that it is easy to do! She was born 3 months after the close of the Civil War and had an interesting life (she had 7 children , including twin boys - lots of interest right there!).

I need to start working on dates for our move back to the US. Actually there is a slim chance we will not move back to the US, but will move to another overseas assignment. I had been waiting to book flights and such, just in case, but am tired of waiting. I will go ahead and make my plans to move - such plans can be changed. I am fine with moving just about anywhere - just want to leave Doha!

In the 90's here everyday now. Hope spring is coming your way!

GIRL SCOUTS OF DOHA

Girl Scouts at the Al Thani Farm - my scouts in red shirts

Had a great time this past weekend on the Girl Scout Campout. All 14 girls in my troop came - but since we also had a total of 5 adults helping with the troop we did just fine. The girls earned the Camp Together and Cook Outdoors badges. With that cooking badge we did lots of eating - I actually gained weight! Girls also went on a scavenger hunt, made an edible campfire, and learned how to start and put out a campfire from one of our Mom's (who is a certified firefighter). Weather was perfect - last year it was so windy that several of the tents had to be chased and tracked down! Peacocks roam wild on the farm - and aside from their lovely concert at 12:45 am Saturday morning they were a delight to see. My family is going camping again this coming weekend - Andy is guiding a group from the Embassy. Hope the weather stays nice for us.

Andy got a call yesterday from the police that he needed to come to the station to sign a statement regarding the accident. I went with him - out of pure curiousity. Unbelieveable! We get there at 7 pm. They ask us to wait 5 minutes - OK we sit in the waiting room. Every 5 minutes or so they tell us will be just a few more minutes. Then, after 20 minutes they move us into an office. After 5 minutes I peek out the door and see why - they are waiting on a Qatari woman who came in after us - can't take us before her but don't want us to see what is going on. Police guy #1 sees me peeking out the door (no doubt with a disapproving look on my face) - comes running over and says just a few more minutes. (Both of the police we dealt with did ask if our son was OK - I will give them that.) Statement from the Qatari that hit Andy is on the desk. 3 full pages of handwritten Arabic (Why so much? did guy give his life story? list all the important people he knows?) Finally police guy #2 comes in with a pad of paper and makes like he is going to take Andy's statement (I guess?). Anyway police guy #2 takes Andy's ID and basically freaks out - you are from the Embassy! Andy says yes - guy #2 runs out of the room and gets guy #1. Guy #1 then tells us that another police officer said Andy left scene of accident before police arrived - Andy (forcefully) tells guy #1 that he did not leave the accident until guy #1 got there - guy #1 says Yes, but - then tells us that they can't take a statement from Andy because he is from the Embassy (which they knew before). Guy #1 makes mistake of telling Andy accident was his mistake - Andy tells him it was not. Little exchange here where guy #1 insists (while smiling - I swear he was trying not to laugh) that accident was Andy's fault. Andy gets up and we leave. We were there for 40 minutes - for what?

So what did they really want? Were they going to ticket (shake down) Andy for leaving the scene before the police got there? Did they want Andy to sign a statement of apology for the Qatari that hit him? (sometime the Qataris insist on this) There are, on average, 70 traffic accidents a day in this country - don't these people have something better to do?

SANDSTORM!

March 10, 2009 - Sandstorm engulfing Riyahd, Saudi Arabia

The largest sandstorm in decades hit Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this past Wednesday. We caught the tail end of it Wednesday afternoon. Our storm wasn't nearly this dramatic - but still brought wide spread dust and haze (everyone was coughing!). My Girl Scout Council was scheduled for a 2 night campout - Thursday and Friday nights. Weather reports were conflicting - the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority was calling for another sandstorm "late Thursday." My troop decided to cancel our Thursday night campout, but go out on Friday (weather permitting). It was still a bit dusty and hazy on Thursday, but no new storm, so we went to the Royal Family's farm on Friday morning. Had great weather! I will post pictures of the campout tomorrow.

Math update - after reviewing the situation the school administration decided that the Honors Algebra 2 students (Grant) will have after school math sessions and will retake the semester exam at the end of March. I'm really glad - all the kids were demoralized after that exam, best to tutor and retest.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

ONE BRIDGE DOWN!

Grant and Crew installing a bridge at QAWS

Over the weekend Grant and his Boy Scout volunteers finished one bridge in his Eagle Project. Have posted a picture of them on the new bridge at QAWS (Qatar Animal Welfare Society). QAWS will always have a special place in our heart, as we got our little Baby Cat from there. The boys plan to finish and install the second (and last) bridge this coming weekend.

EAGLE PROJECT

28 February 2009

Building Bridges - Sandstorm

One Hour Later

Grant got off to a good start on his Eagle Project last weekend! These pictures are a good contrast - above the boys are taking a break from building the bridges. They are sitting in our compound, in our carport. About an hour later a "shamal" (sandstorm) blew in - you can really see the dust in the air.

Update on Math - met with Principal who told me they had never planned to do anything with the Honors Math Students (showed him e-mail from school director - with subject line of "Honors Math" stating action would be taken). I don't think they had looked at the Honors Exams - promised me they will do so and get back to me early next week. (I will be monitoring situation).

Lovely weather today - we have a compound BBQ to farewell one of the families. Next weekend is our Girl Scout campout. The girls are going to work on the Cook Outdoors badge so we will be teaching them to cook on a propane stove and in a Dutch Oven. I have the Dutch Oven duties and we'll be making desserts for every meal (apple crisp, peach cobbler, gingerbread and cinnamon rolls). Sounds yummy!

ON THE BROOM!

Well, well, well. It appears the Math Action Plan only selectively applies to Honors Classes. Grant has been assigned to a Math Tutoring Session - but the Honors Classes will not retake the semester exams. Plus, the Dept. Head will not be replacing the current teacher in Grant's Honors Algebra Period 6 class - she will only take over the Honors Period 1 class. Reason given for this is that she is teaching a Calculus Class in Period 6.
I meet with the Principal this afternoon.

MATH REVOLT!

Interesting times at the American School of Doha! High School kids had semester exams in late January. To say the kids did not do well is an understatement (in Grant's Honor Algebra 2 class the exam average was a C- his class was one of the high scorers). I asked Grant to show me the exam but he wasn't allowed to bring it home because they use the same exam every year. Parents started talking, the Adminstration stonewalled (I e-mailed Grant's teacher who, after 2 e-mails, shared that C- average and told me that both he and the Department Head felt the exam was appropriate) and a revolt occured.

In a nutshell, after parents realized it wasn't just their kid who did poorly the Administration brought in an expert to review the curriculum and the exams. Parents talked about this issue at a PTA meeting, then mobbed (standing room only) a School Board meeting. The Administration promised immediate action. Last Thursday at a High School Parent Advisory meeting the Admin presented their corrective action plan - briefly: 1) from this point on inquiry based math at HS level is out - will go back to direct teaching, 2) will conduct a complete review of Math curicculum PreK - 12 (elem still using inquiry based math - but that is another post), 3) there will be mandatory tutoring sessions for all High School math students - schedule will be posted on Monday (which was yesterday, and it wasn't), 4) semester exams will be sent home for review, 5) all students will retake the semester exam (new exam, of course) at the end of March and the better of the 2 grades will be used - will go back and recalculate grades, 6) optional math tutoring sessions offered during spring break, 7) the Honor Alg teacher will be replaced by the Dept. Head.
Side issues abound here: one algebra teacher is an engineer - never trained as teacher and is apparently lousy at it, one teacher doesn't like calculators (he is in his 70's - the slide rule era), kids are grading each other's homework and cheating, standardized math test scores are dropping from Elem - HS, middle and high school curiculums are not coordinated - placement in 9th grade is not as easy as it should be, etc;
Like said above, the first step that was to happen yesterday did not happen - will give it one more day before grabbing my broom.

GOOD NEWS!

Grant's Eagle Scout project has been approved! Now all he has to do is finish it. He is building two wooden bridges for QAWS (Qatar Animal Welfare Society). QAWS is located on a small farm outside Doha. The farm is surrounded by drainage ditches (the few things they grow are irrigated). They are using wooden planks to walk over the ditches. These bridges will be a big help.
We already have the wood for the bridges. Having scouts here on Saturday to start building. The school Friendship Festival is Friday -about 5,000 people expected to attend. I am in charge of the Silent Auction - over 100 items. Will be a busy weekend! At least it is a 3 day weekend for the kids - they have Sunday off (the weekend here is Friday and Saturday).

BETTER PICTURE OF GAS TRUCK FIRE!

Found a better picture on qatarliving.com. That large half-moon structure is a billboard (need large billboards here because people drive fast) and it was completely burned in the fire (see post below for details).

TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT!

Smoke from the gas truck fire, taken at our compound gate.

Can you stand more traffic stories? Again, everyone is OK.

Yesterday (Sunday, Feb. 22) afternoon a truck delivering gas to a gas station overturned and exploded in a major intersection close to the American School. Don't really know if anyone was hurt - hope not. They heard the explosion at school and went into "lock down" until they got the details. I was just about to leave for school (had Girl Scout Thinking Day) when a friend called and told me what had happened. Good thing she did - I didn't panic when I saw the smoke and I knew which way to go to avoid the backed up traffic.

Earlier in the day a Qatari started tailgating me (white Land Cruiser, young guy in white robe - the typical Qatari). I was in the left lane and he was so close I could only see his face in my rearview mirror. Traffic was heavy and I couldn't get over. Picked up camera - turned it on and pointed it back at him. (After what happened to Andy I wanted a video of him doing this - in case he back ended me). He backed off, I saw an opening and moved to the right. He came up beside me - I pointed camera at his car (often times they will then pull in front of you and slam on their brakes - if he did it I wanted it on camera). He sees camera and takes off - OK problem gone.
Oh no, I go up the road a bit and see him in the far right lane, going very slow. I get in right lane behind him- I want to go right into the mall. He goes slower - I go around him and pull into the mall parking lot - wanted to see if he would follow. He followed me - I went through mall parking lot and pulled back out onto main road - he followed (not tailgating, just following). I picked up my phone and put it to my ear like I was calling someone. I moved into left turn lane - he kept going straight - guess he figured I was calling the police and since I had him on camera being a jerk he would go be a jerk somewhere else. If he had kept following me I would have driven to the Embassy.
Leaving here in July - Never returning.