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!