Life as a non-sweat-er

I don't sweat. I never have. In fact, I can't.

“You’re so lucky!” is the initial reaction I get from almost everyone, especially those who perspire profusely. But once the full consequences of this reality sink in, jealousy often changes to pity. Or at least a look that seems to say, “Man, you're weird.”

Sweating is the body's major means of thermoregulation. Simply put, sweat cools a person down. So what happens when one, such as myself, lacks the ability to sweat? Well, simply put, one overheats and one faints.

My mother and at least one of my sisters are in a similar predicament. Fortunately, however, they don't have the same kind of un-sweat-related stories to tell as I do.

My first memory of heat-induced fainting happened in grade 5 at the track and field meet. I was in line waiting for my turn to compete in high jump. Not feeling well, I asked the supervising teacher if I could go sit down inside. He said ok and as I walked away my legs kind gave way. I must have been stumbling about because the teacher noticed and ran up to me in time to catch me as I fell. A lady from the refreshment stand brought me some cold orange drink and I sat on the cool concrete in the school building. It wasn't too long until I was feeling better but I opted not to participate in any more events that day. I still came home with the same award I would have if I had finished all the events: a purple participation ribbon.

The next incident occurred when I was 14 years old in Thailand. I was walking in a crowded market place in Chiang Mai in the middle of the day with my father. I started to feel light headed and my vision was cutting in and out. I lost my balance and stumbled into a stand selling watches. I heard someone yelling at me from somewhere off in the distance, but I sure didn't care. Somehow my dad dragged me into an air conditioned Burger King and plopped me down on a cool bench. While he was getting a Pepsi from the counter I lost control of my bladder - the most embarrassing thing I could think of at the time. After about twenty minutes I was able to walk again and dad and I headed back to our guest house, after a quick wash up in the bathroom.

In the summer of 2003 I volunteered with an organization in Bosnia teaching English. At the end of our time there, the team traveled to the sea to spend a few days relaxing and regrouping before heading home. We took a bus with no A/C and whose windows didn't seem to open. I was fine for a while but hours of sitting on a warm bus with no sweat to cool myself down took its toll. When the bus stopped, the group I was traveling with headed left but I stumbled to the right, in the direction of what looked like a bathroom. I ignored the lady who was asking for money to use the facilities and almost fell face first in the sink. I wet my hands, face, neck, feet...whatever I though would help. It cooled me down enough to make it to the hotel where I rested for the remainder of the day while my friends headed to town to do some souvenir shopping.

Unfortunately the stories don’t end there. One day in the spring of 2005 while Darren and I were dating I got a terrible sunburn, some of the effects of which can still be seen today. Not fully realizing the extent of the burn and the heat it caused to build up inside my body, that evening we went out to see Darren's buddy's comedy show. Despite the A/C and the ice from Darren's drink I was melting on my skin, I was hot. When the show was over I begged Darren to take me home although he wanted to stay and chat with his friends. On the way back to the car, -you guessed it- I passed out from overheating. The incident happened to occur in front of a Lebanese restaurant, so Darren dragged me inside. The hostess got me some cold water, some of which I drank and some of which was poured on my head. Just as before, it wasn't long until we were on our way again.

Then on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, Darren and I went on a jungle safari where we stopped at a traditional home. It was beautiful but hot inside. As the guide was explaining the way the people who lived there would have made bread and ironed their clothes I could feel myself getting faint. I excused myself and went and sat outside where there was a breeze. But it was too late and the blackness overtook me. This time, however, Darren knew what to do: a little water on my head and I was (almost) as good as new.

There was another small incident at a Conley family picnic. A group of us were playing volleyball. Apparently I was too busy attempting not to embarrass myself or frustrate the real volleyball players with my lack of skill to notice how hot I was getting. But once I realized the imminent danger I was putting myself in, I found a nearby bench under the shade of a tree with a cool breeze blowing and lay down until I was myself again.

I wish that were the last incident. We arrived in Doha around midnight on August 13, 2008. The next day we were awakened early and taken to the college to gather our paperwork and then bussed to a medical facility for blood work. The men and women have separate facilities for the medicals, and although we took separate transportation to these facilities, we had to wait for each other to go to the next place for blood typing. The men took a very long time and the women waited for them in the bus, which was air conditioned but only to the extent a stationary vehicle can be. Then we were transported elsewhere for blood typing and again waited on the packed bus. While I didn’t ever lose consciousness, by the time we arrived back at the college for lunch, I was too hot and weak to do anything but wet my face with the lukewarm tap water in the washroom and sit on the concrete floor to try to cool down. Thankfully the administrator took pity on me and sent me to the hotel to sleep while Darren checked out our accommodation and went shopping for household necessities.

That brings us to the present.

Needless to say, I have to be careful when and where I go in the heat. But I'm lucky that the problem of overheating which I face is easily overcome, with minimal side effects (lingering headache, fatigue...no big deal). I’m also lucky that it’s something that can be easily treated and even prevented, provided I’m surrounded by people who work with me (giving me water, finding me shade) rather than against me (panicking, gathering around).

Reading through the incidents it’s easy to see how I’ve learned to deal with the situation. My body warns me before it passes out (usually I bloat up, start to itch, and turn red), and I’ve learned to take precautions such as carrying water with me wherever I go and avoiding extremely hot situations.

I certainly do not want to be foolish and put myself in situations where fainting is inevitable. On the other hand, I do not want to live in fear or miss out on experiences because I might get too hot.

I'm still working on this balance. On our first full day in Jordan, Darren and I had a city tour of Amman and then we were taken to the nearby city of Jerash to see the Roman ruins there. It was cold in the morning - I was wearing the warmest clothes I had brought. But when we arrived at Jerash it was significantly warmer (partly due to the lower altitude, and partly because the sun had come out). Walking from the parking lot to the entrance (Hadrian's gate - which is quite magnificent) just about did me in. My body was flashing me some of its warning signs, so rather than take the 2-hour guided walking tour of the unshaded ruins, I opted to sit in the car with the A/C on and read my book/doze. I made the right decision, but every now and then I second guess myself, afraid that I'm giving in to fear. (ironic, no?)

Two days later was THE day: Petra. Because of my experience at Jerash (and all the previous heat-caused incidents), I was afraid. But it turned out that for the entire tour of the main street I was actually cold. I was elated! I kept saying to Darren, “I’m freezing; isn’t that great!?”

We decided around 10:00 to climb the 1000 + stairs to the Monastery which was supposed to be breathtaking. I was fine for a while until the breeze quit and the sun moved higher in the sky, making the shade slowly disappear. All of a sudden I got scared. Thoughts such as, “What if I get too hot? What if I pass out? How will I get back down to ‘civilization’? This path is too narrow and steep for Darren to carry me down safely. How could I be so foolish to think I could climb this mountain?” went screaming through my head. But we proceeded, with caution. More than once I asked Daren to stop in a shady spot for me to sit a while. I dumped almost an entire bottle of water on myself on the way up. And at least twice I announced that I couldn't go any farther. But he persuaded me to continue, stopping whenever I felt I needed to.

I'm proud to report that I did make it to the top, where there was a cool breeze and plenty of shade. The sand that hadn’t seen the sun yet that day was cold and I buried my feet in it (feet are a good temperature regulator). While Darren ran around taking pictures of the site, I stood in the shade, sand up to my ankles, rejoicing to myself and being thankful. Although it sounds like nothing much, it was a big victory for me. I need to have positive experiences where I managed to do something ‘normal’ despite my abnormal heat sensitivities so that I have something to cling to next time – especially if I never, ever sweat.

Oh, and yes, the view was breathtaking:

Tourists and Tour Guides

Well, another semester has been put to bed. That's two down, seven to go until the end of my contract...not that I'm counting!

These last couple of weeks have been very laid back around the college. After administering and marking final exams, and taking care of all the administrative tasks that accompany the end of a school term, there was little work pressing. I did have some tweaking to do on my semester-long projects, and Darren has been meeting with his teammates for next semester, but we were able to spend a good deal of time with his parents and still get everything work-related accomplished.

Speaking of Darren's parents, we sent them off to the airport last night with a trustworthy driver. They should be arriving home in about 5 hours' time, I think. We had a very busy, very fun-filled week with them. A trip to the camel races, desert safari, overnight in a Bedouin camp, visit to a family farm, BBQ with Darren's boot camp crew, silk painting class, campus visit and 'job interview' for Doug, henna application, visit to the Islamic Museum, browsing at the Old Souq, trip to the Oryx sanctuary...it's hard to believe we fit it all in! We now feel like seasoned tour guides and we're ready to show our next guests around our city.

But first things first - Darren and I are heading to Jordan tomorrow for a week. Our private tour is booked and paid for and all we have to do is pack our bags. We've heard nothing but good things about Jordan and we're really looking forward to seeing Petra, sleeping overnight in Wadi Rum, and swimming in the Dead Sea. I don't know if we'll get a chance to head up to Mt. Nebo or not (it's not on our current itinerary) but I'm going to ask about it when we arrive in Amman.

When we get back we'll have a day to recover and do laundry before jumping into the Intersession. We're at work from May 3-July 14 before we get a break for the summer. It's getting hot here, so the coming months are sure to be a challenging ones. But I think we'll be up for it - after all, we will have just had a week of being tourists after a week of being tour guides.

Visit to a family farm

We're currently entertaining Darren's parents, whom two or our friends here are affectionately calling Momma C and Papa C. They've been here 4 days now, and we've already been able to do some things that few people who live in Doha get a chance to do, the most interesting of which was visit a Qatari farm/home.

There is a clear distinction between national and expatriot here. It's not that one doesn't accept the other, it's more like that's just the way it is. Qataris are very friendly and hospitable, but it's hard to get to know them well enough to be invited into their sphere. Darren's student was kind enough to invite him (and us with him) to visit their home. It was a lovely experience.

Among the highlights of the night were:

1. drinking fresh camel's milk - right from the udder!

2. enjoying a delicious home cooked meal: rice and killed-that-day lamb



3. talking with Darren's students' mother in the yard, where the men were not allowed (nor were cameras!)



It was a night to remember, and hopefully one that can be repeated. As we were leaving the mother made sure we knew we were welcome anytime. And we told them we'd gladly welcome them in our homes in Canada.

Although the invitations were genuine, we'll likely never see each other again. But I can guarantee you 'Momma and Papa C' won't soon forget the visit to the farm.

Judging Diving

The third weekend in March the FINA diving world series came to Doha. Neither Darren nor I had ever seen a diving competition so we decided to check it out. Of course it didn't hurt that admission was free!

I was extremely impressed with the athletes’ skill, determination, concentration, muscle structure…they’re amazing people! And just like when the WTA tour came to Doha, it was exciting to witness the competition. But the experience left a slight twinge of uneasiness within me.

Some sports are very objective: the first person to cross the finish line is the winner. But with judged sports, one can never be 100% sure that the winner is deserving of the honour.

Throughout the competition, Darren was trying to get some cool shots of the divers in mid air. After each dive was complete, as we awaited the scores to be announced, we would look at the pictures he had snapped. On a number of occasions we observed problems with synchronization or position that seemed to escape the notice of the multiple judges. Likewise, there were excellent dives, according to Darren’s camera, which were scored poorly.

I do not claim to be an expert in this area, and I’m not saying there definitely was unfair judging going on. But it does makes me wonder once again about the validity of judged sporting competitions, as well as the power of suggestion. Are judges truly blinded to errors when the competitor is the Olympic gold medalist? Or are they unable to see a perfect dive if the diver is only the 10th best in the world?

But all in all it was a great evening. And Darren did end up with some pretty neat shots:

I think it's cool how they're just suspended there in the air

Cubans perfectly in synch

Preparing for an armstand dive - amazing!

Just relaxin'! :)

Fall Vacation Planning

So we got our schedule for the 2009-2010 academic year today. Because of when the month of Ramadan lands in 2009, we're going to have some vacation time this fall.

Anyone got the same time off as us? We're always looking to have visitors here or to meet up with friends/family somewhere between Doha and Canada!

Here are our vacation dates for the fall semester:

September 18-26 – for Eid Al Fitr
November 24-30 - for Eid Al Adha
December 15 – January 2, 2010 – for Christmas (officially "Semester Break")

We haven't even though about where we'd like to go, so feel free to make a suggestion. By the end of this academic year we will have seen Dan & Marie in France, Hannah-Lee & Erik in Turkey, Steve & Naomi in Kuwait, and Alaina & the Dewburys in Zambia. For fall 2009, why not insert your name and another country?

(By the way, if your name is included above, you're not disqualified. We'd love to visit with you again!)

Better late than never

A common complaint I hear is that in Doha you find out about cool events the day after they happen. A regular expression that accompanies the reading of one of the local newspapers is "Wow. I wish I had known about that!" In this way philharmonic orchestra concerts, horse races, and linguistic conferences -to name a few- have been missed.

I'm getting pretty used to the find-out-about-it-the-day-after way of life when it comes to local events, but somehow I only found out about World Water Day today. WORLD Water Day - this is something the entire WORLD knows about! I don't know how it happened. I tried to blame it on the time change - that when I was checking the news yesterday morning, it was still night time back in the West so the stories weren't up yet. Of course it's a lame excuse; I'm sure people have been promoting this UN-declared day for weeks now. But somehow I've managed to stay out of the loop.

Anyway, I'm glad to finally have learned about this day when the world's attention is drawn to a serious problem. Since moving to a desert country which has next to no natural fresh water, I've become acutely aware of the necessity of drinkable water.

Please don't misinterpret: I do not want for water in the slightest. On the contrary, in Qatar sea water is desalinated and distributed to each house, as well as poured into "green spaces" throughout the city. (It takes a LOT of water to grow grass and flowers in a desert!) Also, no one seems to encourages the drinking of tap water here, whether because of health risks or snobbery, so bottled water is consumed in enormous quantities. It's actually this abundance of water in a water-less land that has given me a deeper appreciation for the value of water and the inequity of its distribution around the world.

I'm glad there's a day when people are (re)confronted with the realities of life in the far reaches of the globe that the wealthy don't like to think about. I'm thankful for the water that I have easy access to. I'm saddened by the number of people who don't have access, easy or otherwise, to clean water. But I'm pleased that people seem to be taking an interest in rectifying the situation.

Darren and I decided months ago to support an organization that provides clean drinking water for people who need it. We still haven't done it. But in honour of World Water Day, I'm going to do the research, pick an organization and start our support, even if it comes a day late.

Couldn't have said it better myself

One of the writers at Qatar Visitor posted an article yesterday talking about Qatar and the economy. Well, it's actually about how lucky she (he?) is to be here in Qatar during the current economic situation.

As the author says, it's not that Qatar hasn't been affected by the recession, but it certainly has not been affected the way most other countries have. [According to this article, the economy of Qatar is actually expected to grow in 2009.] Because of this, it's easy for us expats to forget about the hardships many people are facing in our countries of origin.

When I hear about people losing their jobs and others struggling to make payments or keep their refrigerators stocked, I'm reminded of how fortunate Darren and I are to have such good, secure jobs (and all the benefits that come with those jobs).

I'm not naive enough to believe that the situation Darren and I are experiencing will continue forever, but at the moment we've been given an amazing opportunity in the midst of a lack of opportunities worldwide. It makes me feel grateful. It also makes me feel accountable. Not bad things to be feeling among so much obvious worldwide need.

(If you're interested, you can read the article here.)

Trip to Kuwait

We had such a great weekend away. The college gave us both Thursday and Sunday off this past weekend, so we took advantage of the break to reconnect with Darren's former youth pastor who is now living in Kuwait. When I say former, I mean former. The last time they saw each other, Steve and Naomi were childless; they now have 3 fabulous daughters, the oldest of whom is 13.

It wasn't a particularly busy weekend though we did see some of the sights. It was mostly a time to visit with friends (or in my case, make new friends), hang out with a family, and get glimpses of a city that's more or less just a bigger, more developed version of Doha.

Here are some highlights from our time in Kuwait, in no particular order:

• meeting a desert lizard up close and personally.
• laughing at the kids telling funny stories about things they'd said or done. My particular favourite was the national anthem Petra made up, "Kuwait, warm and cozy..."
• hearing Steve's amazing stories about his work in Kuwait.
• seeing some really neat sea creatures: sting rays, sharks, jelly fish, sea horses, clown fish, rock fish.
• eating purple yam cake. It doesn't sound delicious, but it was - at least to me. The boys didn't like it so much.
• sleeping in a room covered in teen pop star posters. I didn't realize how out of touch with today's youth I really am! :)
• seeing a white camel. I've seen lots of goldish coloured ones, but this was my first white one.
• going to Ruby Tuesdays. I know it's not very Middle Eastern, but it's hard to beat that salad bar!
• getting a better understanding of Darren's past. It helps that he told Steve and Naomi his life story since they'd last seen each other INDIVIDUALLY. So I got to hear it twice.
• attending a truly multicultural church service on a compound that simultaneously had services going on in different languages.
• watching Survivor as a family. I haven't seen that show since way back in the Africa season - 2000?
• playing euchre, and never losing miserably.
• having meaningful conversations with someone other than my Darren. Of course I love talking with him, but it's good to broaden the circle from time to time!

Darren will provide you with the fuller, more entertaining version of our trip in a few days. For now I'm getting ready to leave again - I'm heading to a conference in Dubai tomorrow night. While I'm anticipating another good weekend, it will be much different from our weekend in Kuwait.

Grandma's Birthday

Just in time for my Grandma's 80th birthday, I've discovered Hallmark's Smilebox application. Since she has recently become an Internet user, I've sent her the slideshow card. I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Dust

I've never been so interested in dust. I've never really thought about it, never tasted it, never worn sunglasses when the sun wasn't shining to protect my eyes from it...until now.

I really like Doha. I like my job, I like our accommodations, I like the fact that we don't need a car to get around, I like Qatar's proximity to interesting countries, I like most of the people I've met...I just like it here. One thing I'm not crazy about, though, is all the dust.

I experienced my first sandstorm a few weeks ago. It was a fairly normal Doha winter day. It was about 20 degrees outside, the sun was shining and there was a light breeze. I was sitting in the lunchroom, eating and chatting with my colleagues when all of a sudden the sky turned grey. It looked just like it does when a storm (rain or snow) comes rolling in back home.

It was the strangest thing; everything got dark, but this darkness was not accompanied by precipitation or thunder. It was simply that the sand was blocking the sun. For the first time since I've been here, the cityscape which we can see from campus completely disappeared. It was strange.

The sandstorm lasted for a couple of days. The winds didn't blow things out of your hands and I didn't have to cover my face when I went outside like you see in movies when someone is stranded in the desert. But it sure was dusty!

It's not only during sandstorms that we deal with dust here.

Cars that remain stationary for a couple of days are soon covered with a layer of dust - at any time of the year. The day after furniture is dusted, it's dusty again. On windy days, such as today, it's inevitable that if step outside, you will get dust in your eyes. This is just part of our lives now. Shoes and sandals need regularly cleanings...as do feet!

Dust is certainly not the worst problem to have. On the contrary, it's given me a whole new appreciation for the washing of the disciples' feet passage. And also an appreciation for good dusting cloths. :)

Darren is the family duster. I'm the family vacummer. I'm not sure how we ended up with these particular jobs, but we know that when cleaning day arrives, after grumbling, Darren is responsible for his bathroom and the tidying/dusting, and I'm responsible for my bathroom and the vacuuming. But unless we do these jobs daily, there's always going to be dust.

I'm learning to live in an environment where there's a constant slight grit on the floor and where I'm careful not to brush up against too many things when wearing dark colours. It's all a part of my new found interest in dust.

I wonder to how many people worldwide dust is as common as rain or fog would be to me. It's funny how many things I am fascinated by that are commonplace to half of the inhabitants of this planet. It reminds me of how small my experience is in comparison with the global community. And there it is - finally a real benefit of dust!



Oh, for all you visual people out there, here's a video taken during the sandstorm I was talking about, courtesy of youtube.

Catching Up

Darren posted a new post today, which reminded me that I have a blog, too! :) It's been a couple of weeks since I've written, mostly because I haven't had much to say. That doesn't mean little has happened; I've just felt quiet.

To make up for it, here's the latest in the Great Doha Adventure:

Darren and I joined the QNHG at the Sheikh Faisel museum late in January. This guy has quite the collection of weapons, textiles, furniture, fossils, manuscripts...! The museum, which is a series of rooms and courtyards, is located outside of town in a farm-like area. After touring the collections, we walked around the grounds and got some good glimpses at his peacocks. Darren's patience behind the lens got us the picture you see. It was a lovely Friday morning...or was it a Saturday? I can't remember anymore.

In January we purchased "the Entertainer", a book full of coupons for local businesses. Last year's edition had a buy one get one free coupon for overnight desert safaris which we plan to partake in with our visiting family, and we bought it mainly for that. Unfortunately, this year's safari coupons are only for half day trips. It was disappointing, but we've been trying new restaurants because of the book. We had some great Indian food at "the mall" a couple weekends ago, as well as the most delicious chicken cannelloni at an Italian place. It's lovely to have regular little dates with my hubby.

I can now say I've seen an international hockey competition. Hockey teams from a number of Gulf countries came to Doha in January for the Desert Cup. Most of the players are Western expats, but there were a few Arab-looking names on some of the backs of the players on the Abu Dhabi team. I only watched one game, but at least I showed a little support. They play on the ice rink at one of the local malls.

Last Saturday I started a Palestinian embroidery class at the Doha campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. I've already made a bookmark, which I'm forcing Darren to use even though it has lace on it. The pattern I embroidered is one of the most masculine of all the patters I could have chosen from, so at least he's got that to hold on to. The class meets for 2 hours a week for about 5 weeks, and we do a small project each week.

Last weekend was the annual Terry Fox run here in Doha. It was actually part of the 2008 campaign, but since it's far too hot here in September, the Qatar run takes place in the new year. Darren purchased a pair of what we like to call "bouncy shoes" just for the occasion, although he promises me he will get his money's worth in terms of usage. I was going to walk the course, but decided against it when it turned out to be a warmer day than we'd been experiencing lately. Since there was no shade along the route I thought it best to make my donation, purchase my t-shirt and cheer on my friends. Darren completed the route twice - 1.7 km each. He usually runs more than that, but I think the bouncy shoes took a lot out of him!

Work itself has been actually quite busy lately, which isn't surprising considering we're at the midterm point. Things always seem to get busy around midterm. Both Darren and I are enjoying our students, although he often comes home and complains about how unruly his afternoon class is compared to his morning class. We attended the first annual TPP Student Recognition Ceremony last night. It's kind of like a graduation for students in the Trades Preparatory Program, who both Darren and I teach English to (yes, I know I ended that sentence about being an English teacher with a preposition). We enjoyed seeing the young men celebrating their accomplishment, and Darren particularly enjoyed the huge spread of a "lunch" catered by the Intercontinental Hotel afterward! I wish I had brought my camera; it was a nice experience. A few of my students received certificates, and I applauded them like a proud teacher.

Last week the college held an International Potluck fundraiser for rebuilding Gaza. We attended and left stuffed!! The students from various countries (Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, India, Syria, etc.) made or purchased food from their country which we got to enjoy. It was fantastic!! I can't remember the names of any of the foods I tried but there was not a single thing I didn't enjoy. There was also a Canada table, which held sweets (nanaimo bars, some muffin/cookie contraption that's popular out East, oatmeal cookies, butter tarts), and some other miscellaneous foods such as Greek salad (!?). It made me smile.

Darren has been faithfully attending Boot Camp three days a week at the college. A couple of Phys Ed teachers put it on and he really enjoys pushing his body to its limit with his workout friends. I, on the other hand, prefer more low key exercise. I'm continuing with my belly dancing classes on Monday afternoons and attend a water aerobic class 1-2 times a week. That's enough for me.

We've both become much more serious about our Arabic learning, though. We're almost finished a 4-week Arabic Basics course offered at the college and have learned a fair amount in that short time. Well, it was mostly review for Darren, but *I'm* pleased with what I've learned. My instructor is a math teacher at the college, born in Lebanon but raised in Canada, and she was really good. Darren was in another section but often snuck into my class after I told him about how much I was enjoying the course. Two of my colleagues who share an office with me are taking Arabic at VCU (where my embroidery class is) and so I've got a good group to practice my very limited vocabulary with. I also try it out on my students, which I think they appreciate. Oh, and just so you don't get any ideas about us coming home fluent, Arabic is by far the hardest language I've ever tried to learn. The hardest part is that I have no frame of reference for anything - not like learning a Latin-based language or even one that uses our alphabet!


We've been spending more time on the roof during the beautiful winter days and evenings. One of the tenants of our building purchased a swing and canopy/tent and put them on the roof for us all to use. Since then we've had multiple gatherings up there - birthday parties, happy hours, a building-wide Valentine's Day party. Other times I'll just go up for an hour or two to read or just sit. We've really appreciated having some outdoor space here in the middle of the city, especially since there are not parks or green spaces nearby.

Also in the past couple of weeks I found out that my Professional Development request was approved; the college is paying for me to attend TESOL Arabia in Dubai the second weekend in March. So tickets had to be booked, purchase orders had to be collected, registration fees had to be paid...and each of these things took much more time than I thought they should. But I'm looking forward to the conference, and also to seeing Dubai. Darren plans to join me on Thursday evening after he's done work and we'll return to Doha Saturday night. I'll be in workshops and sessions during the day, but we'll have the evenings together to explore the city a little.

We also have a long weekend coming up Mar 5-8. Darren has arranged for us to visit his former youth pastor in Kuwait, and I can't wait! It's a short and relatively cheap flight - the flight was 58 Qatari Riyals (about $17) before taxes and fuel surcharges, which made the grand total for the two of us 956 QR (about $280). I'm really looking forward to the change of scenery, and meeting this family.

Back in Canada, Mom's recovering well, I think. It's slow but she's moving in the right direction. That makes me feel much relief! My dad turned 59 a few weeks ago. I don't think the gift we ordered for him has arrived yet, which is strange, but what can I do? One of my sisters - freshly returned from a vacation in Mexico with her husband and a weekend in Ontario to visit with mom - is enjoying a week in the Caribbean with her husband and three kids. I love that they can get away like that. My parents are currently at a conference in Arizona or some such southern state. I'm trying to get a hold of another sister to arrange flight plans for meeting up in Zambia this summer. Sister number three is contemplating whether to take a co-op-esque position in Cleveland this summer. It seems like sitting still is not in our blood, eh? Even Darren's parents are on the move; they've booked their flights to come visit us here in April!

So, as you can see, lots has been happening around here. And I've only just talked about the activities we've been taking part in; we've been growing in emotional, spiritual, and mental ways as well, but I think this is enough for one post.

Yikes! I've just realized what a long, rambly post this has become. I guess this is what happens when you stay silent for too long...or when you temporarily forget you have a blog.

Perspectives...

Yesterday morning I was walking across campus with 3 of my collegues (one of whom happens to be my husband but that is irrelevant for this story). We were heading to our office building after being dropped off at the bus stop.

It was a really foggy day - the kind of fog that you can actually feel in the air. It was so thick we couldn't see two car lenghts ahead of us. And the entire ground looked wet, although it hadn't rained in weeks.

One of the girls I was walking with, who comes from Newfoundland, said it felt like a typical Newfoundland morning. Darren commented that it reminded him of September in southern BC. I likened the weather to standing near Niagara Falls on a really misty day.

We were all right.

Then and there was created the Doha version of the story about the blind men and the elephant.

Get Well Wishes from Afar

It's been quite a week.

After the most amazing recovery from surgery I've ever seen my mom experience, she had some complications that put her back in the hospital for another surgery. With the time difference between Doha and Ontario, it was really hard for me to find out what was going on.

The sister who was present during the return to the hospital has little internet connection, another happened to be on vacation in Mexico, so it fell on the shoulders of the one working 12 days in a row in Edmonton to keep me updated as much as possible. Her updates were thoughtful, and her words reassuring, but it wasn't until I spoke with my father and heard him say that mom was going to be fine that I could relax a little.

My family has been spread apart for years. We're dispersed around the country -and even the globe- most of the time. So it's not unusual for me to be unaware of the day-to-day goings on of any one person's life. I find out after the fact that my sister had a cold or my niece had the flu. But whenever the sickness involved a hospital stay, I've pretty much always been able to travel a few hours to visit. I find it comforting somehow to talk in person with a family member post-operation.

I realized this week that that's not going to be so easy anymore. And I'm still coming to grips with it. Hopefully my family stays healthy from now on because it's much too stressful to know someone is sick but be on the other side of the world!

Learning English Obama-style

The other day I was going through my old teaching files looking for any activities that might help a colleague who is currently teaching advanced listening back home. In my 7 years at Niagara College I can remember only one semester when I did not teach at least one listening class. I loved teaching listening because I love developing materials and listening class relies on finding interesting and level-appropriate clips and then creating learning activities based on them.

I am doing something similar in my current position. I've been released from teaching part time to develop materials for a 'new' course. The major difference between this work and the level 4 listening prep I did back home is that instead of looking for clips that are simply of an adequate interest and linguistic level, all my clips now have to be related - in some way - to the oil industry. So I'm watching videos called "Fractional Distillation," "World Map of Peak Oil Production," and "What are fossil fuels?" It's been quite an education for me, but not quite as interesting as L4 listening at NC was.

Anyway, as I was doing some youtube searching the other day I noticed that no matter how deep into the website I got, I was always a single click away from watching Obama's inauguration address. This led me to think about how if I were still teaching listening in a general English (EAP) context, Obama's speech would be high on my list of videos to use. All the world is interested in the new US president and what he has to say, so the interest criteria is met. In terms of language appropriacy, presidential speeches are clearly spoken and are of a good rhetorical style for listening. Two for two! Unfortunately for me, he's not explaining how oil gets from the ground into your car, so I'll have to pass.

The next day I came across an article in a local daily which shows that apparently the Japanese had this thought long before I did. A book about learning English through the speeches of presidents has been published. So much for being original.

Now if only they'd publish a book about learning English by talking about the composition of crude oil, I'd be all set!

Morning confusion

I've been spoiled. And I can admit it.

Today is Friday. It is one of the two days a week that I don't have to wake up at 5:30 in order to be at work on time. Fridays and Saturdays are the only days I can get up after the sun. I look forward to these days, opening my eyes in a room filled with a warm, natural glow. And this being the desert, every day is like this.

So imagine my confusion when I opened my eyes this morning to a dull, grey light. My mind couldn't process that fact that the clock said 7:28 but there was no yellow hue reflected on the walls. It took me a full three minutes of thinking and looking around to figure out that the clock was not incorrect; it's simply a grey, cloudy day.

It's not a problem - I can handle a cloudy day every now and then (oh the hardships I endure!). I just find it interesting how little time it took for me to get so accustomed to life here that the effects of a few clouds could disorient me so. I wonder if I'll ever get to the place where, like true desert dwellers, I long for a bit of cloud or a drop of rain.

Nah, probably not.

Staying connected without holiday gatherings

Yes, I'm still thinking and writing about Christmas. But in my defense, January is only half way over, and many people still have their decorations up!

Darren and I had a wonderful Christmas this year. We got to explore a country we'd never seen before and meet (or reconnect) with lovely people. We took a break from traditional Christmases - no decorations, no gift exchange, no productions, no TV specials, no family turkey dinners. Actually, our hosts in Ankara did have a Christmas tree and nativity scene set up and we had a lovely ham dinner with them and their friends, but *we* didn't plan anything traditionally Christmas-y.

It was our first Christmas away from our family. Since we've been marreid we've always done some traveling over the Christmas holiday - one year we went to Edmonton to spend time with my sister and her family, and another we went on a roadtrip to Florida. But we always saw our parents and siblings in Ontario when we got back.

It wasn't until I looked through pictures of our various family members' Christmases that I realized just how much I missed it. I'm pretty sure that what, specifically, I missed so much was the gatherings, not the traditions, although I can't be 100% sure about that.

Life doesn't stop, and it's easy to forget about that which you can't see. The immediate becomes the urgent. It also becomes the only. Unless we make an effort to stay connected to those we don't come into contact with throughout the day, those relationships fade away.

I think this is natural and good. Everyone has left something or someone. We've finished school, we've changed jobs, we've moved to different neighbouhoods, cities or countries. Even if these changes are extremely positive, it's always difficult to leave something behind. If we couldn't emotionally detach from things in the past, we'd be unable to cope with the present.

Over the years I've been through a number of (mostly positive) changes. As a result I became realy good at forgetting the past in favour of the present. There are tons of people I wrote to regularly for years and considered good friends whose last names I can't remember now. I'm not saying that's necessarily bad, but it's how it is.

Whether because of my experiences or personality (nature vs nurture), when I move on, I'm likely to truly move on. What this means is that I have to work harder at maintaining important relationships than the average person. I don't naturally think to call up an old friend or send a card to a relative. Instead, I've relied mainly on holiday gatherings to take care of that. But now it's too far for me to join in the special occasion get-togethers.

Darren's not much of a help. He loves reconnecting with people he hasn't seen in years, but he's not very good at maintaining familial ties. I'm actually the one who encourages him to call home on a semi-regular basis. The fact that I do this tells me I'm getting better. I find myself checking facebook more regularly to see if my Edmonton family is still up when I get out of bed on a weekend morning. And I have more regular skype dates with people these days. (Speaking of Skype, I'm so thankful for it!! Talking on the phone is good, but seeing the person while you talk makes turns it into a real visit!)

It will be interesting to see how we end up managing our time when we return to Canada for a visit this summer. There are lots of people we'd like to see spread all over the country. Perhaps we should have a big party - create a special occasion in order to get everyone together. Christmas in August, anyone?

Not so cold...sorry for the misleading post

Since I wrote that post about shivering in Doha, I've been less cold. Yes, the cross-campus walk from the bus to my building at 6:45am in 10 degree weather is chilly, but after that, the day gets beautiful. And since my current schedule allows me to go home while the sun is still shining fairly high in the sky, I've been getting a good dose of the warm.

Yesterday Darren and I took advantage of the lovely weather and spent a few hours at the Corniche reading and relaxing. And in honour of our dear Charles, we took some photos. Darren enjoyed playing around with the effects of the zoom lens, and I even got a chance to use the camera! Here are a few of my favourites:

Darren says we got a lot of nice shots of the same thing. He's right, but it was still fun! And it makes me miss you, Charlie-san!

And hopefully it also makes all our friends and family want to come and visit us next winter!!

Book Fair Musings

Back at the beginning of January, a couple of days after we returned home from Turkey and a couple of days before Darren was a working man again, we attended a book fair.

I guess this has been an annual event for a few years now, held at the Exhibition Centre about 15 minutes from our apartment by car (with no traffic). The venue was huge and it was filled with vendors selling nothing but books.

I'd say about 5% of the stalls had English books, and the majority of these were either textbooks, children's books, or EFL resources. That means over 90% of the books for sale were Arabic. At least among ESL teachers, Arabic speakers are known as good speakers but poor readers. The explanation has something to do with their rich oral culture and heritage. There also seems to be a lack of reading material published in Arabic, so besides the Quran and books that discuss the Quran, there isn't that much to read.

So was I surprised to find the Exhibition centre fairly packed with people shopping for books. And I was even more surprised that Darren and I were among the vast minority in terms of racial background. There were thobes everywhere!

I saw lots of Qataris leaving the fair with bags of books, and even more Qataris in the act of buying books - especially English children's books. As a teacher, I was quite pleased to see so many books being purchased. It's amazing the difference it makes to a person's reading and writing skills as an adult when they grow up in a literacy-rich environment.

As for Darren and I, we didn't really find anything fantastic. But there was a stall that was selling English books at 10QR a piece (about $3CAD). So we each picked up about 4 books - none of which we would have paid full price for, but which looked interesting enough to read. Once we're done we'll add them to the used book stash located in one of the lunch rooms on campus and maybe someone else will enjoy them too. Even if they don't I'm sure we'll get our three bucks' worth.

One of the books Darren selected and has begun to read is called "Why Geese Don't Get Obese...and We Do." It talks about the biological features that animals have in order to live in difficult environmental conditions (like how birds can breathe way up above the clouds where the air is thinner and why dolphins don't get the bends). He's been learning a lot of interesting information and trying to share it with me. Unfortunately, he likes to tell me what he has learned on the bus ride home when I'm in listen-for-main-ideas-only mode. Consequently, I'm not sure the book's as fascinating as he says but perhaps I'll give it a read for myself in the coming months before judging it harshly.

I haven't cracked open any of my book fair purchases; I'm still trying to finish the book I started on the way home from Turkey. And I figure I should read the book I borrowed from a colleague back in September next. But I'm in no rush - we're in Doha until at least December 2011 -- 2 books fairs from now.

Larissa is taking a break from updating her status

Much has been written recently about the way technological advances have changed the way we as humans communicate with and relate to each other. What I've been affected by most recently is the increase in status updating on facebook. (I know I'm behind the times, but I'm not a twitter-er, so I can't comment on that).

When I first joined facebook a couple of years ago I loved rediscovering old friends. Now I use it to keep tabs on my friends. Honestly. There are only a few things I "check" on facebook: my inbox, my notifications, and my friends' statuses.

I have to admit, it's the status feature that is my favourite. I used to find it both annoying and odd that people would advertise their current state in a single line, but I find people are getting more creative and I've gotten hooked. I find out the most random things about my friends and acquaintances because of their status updates. Darren's even worse than me - he has an application that lists all his friends' statuses so he can read them and comment on those he deems comment-worthy (or teasing-worthy, Chrissy!)

I recently discovered - much to my horror - that due to this facebook status checking, I now *think* in statuses. I had this realization while brushing my teeth in our hotel room in Istanbul. I was just standing there, cleaning my teeth as Darren finished up a blog post about the day before. That's it - just standing there, brushing and thinking, "Larissa gets to experience Istanbul twice - once in real life and once through Darren's posts". Yes, I had a thought of myself in the third person. It freaked me out. So I stopped updating my status for a few days.

The same thing happened to me this afternoon as I was walking across campus toward the bus. For the second day in a row I got notification that "personal mail" had just been delivered for me. My personal mail is usually a QNB statement or a Q-Tel bill, but for the second day in a row I received a Christmas card!

After opening the card and reading it, I though "Larissa loves that Christmas just keeps on coming". Yikes! Status thoughts again! I guess it's time for another break from updating.

(But Larissa really does love that Christmas keeps on coming! Thanks for the Christmas cards, everyone!) ;)

Shivering in Doha

I know this sounds crazy to those of you currently living in Canada, but I'm freezing!

Don't be fooled by what you read on theweathernetwork.com. Between noon and 2:00 pm if you find yourself somewhere in the sunshine, it's the perfect weather. But before that sun gets to its highest position in the sky, and as soon as it starts to lower, it gets cold! Every morning when I wake up my first thought is "What clothes do I own that will keep me warm today?"

I was not prepared for this. I gave away almost everything that had long sleeves before coming here, and I brought only two pairs of pants. Needless to say, we've had to do some shopping here. Every time we go to the mall now I come home with a light sweater or some dress pants. The agenda for this weekend includes picking up a wool or felt coat and a sweatshirt hoody.

To combat the cold, I've been drinking a lot of tea. I drink tea when I'm sitting at my desk, when I'm walking to class, when I get home from work, when I'm watching Lost with Darren after dinner. As a result, I'm taking more trips to the bathroom, unfortunately one of the coolest places in our house. :)

Darren and I have it good, though. Because our apartment has south and west-facing windows, we haven't had to take our heater out of its box yet. Some of my colleagues turn on 3 heaters the moment they walk in the door after work or first thing in the morning. But the sun helps to maintain a liveable temperature in our place during the day, and at night I snuggle up with a blanket or a husband. We're very fortunate!!

I do give this warning to any of you considering a move to Doha: bring some warm clothes. My female colleagues are wearing turtle necks under suit jackets, others wear sweaters covered with a wrap/shawl. And I haven't seen a skirt in about 3 weeks. I have a towel in my office (which is supposed to be for when I go swimming) that I use as a lap blanket to keep myself comfortable at my desk.

I don't mean to complain. I actually like the current weather - or I will once I can dress appropriately for it. And before I know it spring will be here and I'll be dealing with heat again. So yes, it's cold, but it's a nice cold. ...Really.

Turkey Highlights

Now that I've got the carpet stuff off my chest, I can sit back and remember some of the highlights from our time in Turkey. Darren and I landed in Istanbul December 18th and spent 12 days exploring the country. We really just got a taste of Turkey, but it was a lovely taste.

In no particular order, I present the higlights from our Turkey 2008 trip:

History
We saw some really, really old stuff on this trip. I saw a statue (the one in the picture) of a man who was a contemporary of Daniel (the lions' den guy), and a rod that may have been around in Abrahamic times. It's hard for my mind to really understand how long ago that was, but I tried.

One of my favourite parts of the trip was visiting the ruins of Ephesus. It was very cool to walk through buildings and down streets that were once inhabited and used by people who lived in the time of Jesus (and even before). Many of the impressive sites (like the library and many columns) were reconstructed and had new concrete parts added to make them fit together just right, but this didn't take away from the experience for me. I'm constantly amazed by the architectural feats created before modern technology. As we walked up the gradual incline to the upper level of the Hagia Sophia, Darren and I marveled at how each piece of building material had to be carried up. Amazing.

Cats
Everywhere we went in Turkey we ran into cats. We started to call them by name such as Street cat, Market cat, Gold shop cat, Ruins cat, Palace cat, Ancient amphitheatre cat, Welcome cat (sitting outside our hotel door). Darren says he's going to make an entire photo album on facebook dedicated to Turkish cats. Usually we just looked at them and took their pictures, but by the end of the trip I started to make friends with the cats that talked to me.

Reuniting with Old Friends
After spending a week alone in Istanbul, Darren and I met up with friends of mine in the airport. Back in the 90s, Hannah-Lee and I worked at summer camp together and became good friends. I was actually one of her bridesmaids eleven years ago. Over the years we've both lived in various places (as diverse as Singapore, Chile, and Turkey) and it wasn't until facebook that we found each other again. Darren had never met Hannah-Lee or her husband Eric, but liked them instantly. It was so nice to get a small glimpse into their lives in Ankara. We saw where they live and work, and met some of their friends and colleagues.

H-L & Eric were so hospitable and generous. They included us in their Christmas celebrations, bringing us to a Christmas Day brunch with their friends and even taking us out to a wonderful Turkish restaurant on Christmas Eve after traveling for over a day to get home from Singapore. I was glad to see how much they love living in Turkey, despite the difficulties that come with living in a foreign land. It was also wonderful to catch up with what has been going on over the years and hear about their possible future plans.

Meeting New Friends
There's often a kind of natural bond between expatriates. We have something in common with each other (the drive to leave our comfortable lives to seek adventure and purpose in another country) that our family and friends at home don't always understand. We met a number of interesting people living in Turkey, and while we didn't get much time to talk, we enjoyed hearing parts of their stories and sharing parts of ours.

We also had the opportunity to have some conversations with Turks. Restaurant servers enjoyed talking to us, since business was slow in the winter. A random man on the street brought us up to a roof where Darren got some gorgeous pictures of Istanbul and told us all about the area (before taking us to his cousin's carpet shop!) One of the employees at the pension we stayed at in Selcuk (near Ephesus) spent hours talking to us about Turkish history, previous guests and his life and family. From my experience, I can confirm the warmth and friendliness of Turkish people.

Culture
Many people (expats in Qatar) say that Qatar has no culture. While I don't completely agree with this, I have a better understanding of where these people are coming from now. While in Turkey we felt like we were truly in a foreign land. In fact, Darren said to me as we ate at a small canteen-like restaurant filled with Turkish men, where we weren't exactly sure what we had ordered until it came, "This is very surreal." This kind of experience seems like it would be much more prevalent in other foreign countries than in our foreign country.

While in Turkey, both Darren and I drank a lot of tea. Darren doesn't usually like hot drinks, but he did very well 'swallowing' Turkish tea, and he even acquired a real liking for apple tea! I personally enjoyed the ritual cup of tea at the end of a meal, even if it was so strong it required two cubes of sugar in the itty bitty tea cups.

Food
We have about 6 Turkish restaurants within walking distance from our apartment. Most of them are just shwarma shops (doner, I guess I should say), but at least one of them has a decent selection of delicious and inexpensive Turkish dishes. But getting the real stuff in the homeland was wonderful. Darren and I each tried new and delicious dishes that we can't get here. I must say, I'm glad we were there in winter because Turkish food is very dense and hardy (hearty?)- good for cold, rainy or snowy days.

Photography
Before we moved to Qatar, we bought a fairly good digital SLR camera. I'm always encouraging Darren to take pictures with it, but he's often reluctant, not wanting to "babysit the camera" while we're out. But this trip he took the camera everywhere we went and got some really nice shots. He also got to try out some of the features of the camera. I like that he's developing this side of his creativity, and I also like having the pictures. I'm the kind of person who likes to have her photo taken, so it works out well.

Relaxation
This trip was very relaxed and low-key. We saw a lot of cool things, and had many wonderful experiences, but we didn't feel rushed at all. Because of the cold weather, most days we spent about 5 hours outside sightseeing, and then we'd return to our hotel room to warm up and rest. Darren would blog, I would read...it was lovely. We found a good balance between seeing the sights and resting.

Snow
As our plane was descending in Ankara, Darren pointed out the window and said to me "Look." I gasped. Snow! I had resigned myself to not see snow for a good while when we decided to move to the Middle East and visit Canada only in the summer. But it was so nice to have a few days when we could hear the crunch of snow beneath our feet. I think the world looks so beautiful covered in white. It was a very nice treat. (I certainly haven't missed it since being back in Doha, though!)

Christmas
This was our first Christmas away from our families. We both called home and talked to our parents and siblings, but we didn't see anyone in person. Darren was rather concerned about spending Christmas alone, so I'm so glad we were able to be with our friends (new and old) for both Christmas eve and day. Hannah-Lee even had a Christmas tree and nativity scene set up so it really felt like Christmas.

There's so much more...
If you're interested in a more detailed description of our time away, I invite you to check out Darren's very thorough (and entertaining) recounting of our trip. It starts here.

As delightful as our vacation was, I must say it's good to be home. Sleeping in my own bed, showering in my own bathroom, snuggling with my hubby on my own couch...these things can't be beat. But Turkey came close.

Remember the Carpets

If you are a regular reader of Darren's blog, then you know about the Turkish carpets we brought home from our recent travels. If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know about the discussions Darren and I have been having lately about reducing our consumption (especially in relation to Christmas, but also more generally). And if you're a thoughtful reader of both of these blogs, then you've probably noted the incongruence between these two things.

It begs the question: What makes two people who are trying to be conscientious consumers, and who had absolutely no intention of purchasing floor coverings (and who even said that to each other as they walked into the shop), spend an embarrassing amount of money on rugs?

A friend in our building suggested that maybe we had let our guard down since we'd been doing so well at buying less. Darren thinks it has something to do with my dislike for disappointing people, even pushy carpet salesmen who have spent an hour showing us rug after rug. I think we might simply have gotten caught up in the moment and not allowed our rational selves to operate in full.

We're usually very good at seeing through advertisers' schemes. We are well aware of the tacit claims made by our culture that our lives will be much improved if only we buy this or that product. But what we weren't familiar with was the Turkish "make friends with the potential customer before trying to sell them a rug" method. I think it caught us off guard. And we were sitting ducks.

Both Darren and I had trouble sleeping the night we bought the rugs, suffering from buyer's remorse. When we got back to Qatar, Darren made a few phone calls to see about cancelling the order. However, the rugs had already been shipped, and the very next day they arrived at our apartment.

Please understand me: I love our new carpets. They are beautiful and make our apartment - which has an institutional quality about it with the high ceilings, concrete floors and drab cement walls - feel more like a home. The one in the living room particularly is so soft and feels wonderful under my feet. It also gives our home a bit of a classy, grown up look, something which is quite appropriate for a couple in their 30s.

The problem is not that we don't like the products themselves. The problem is that:

1. We paid much more than we should have. I expect to be taken advantage of while on vacation, but I wish we had done some more research into carpets before making the purchase. By the end of the trip we felt much more prepared to decide on rugs that would be both functional and good investments. Unfortunately, the purchase had already been made.


2. We acted against our better judgment. This is the point I can't get over. It scares me how easily I can be persuaded.

But at the end of the day, we have two lovely handmade (maybe) Turkish carpets and a very good experience under our belts. Darren and I have vowed to use this as a reminder for the future. When we're in a place where we're being sold something we don't need or can't really afford (or don't want to afford), we will look at each other and recite our new mantra, "Remember the Carpets!"