Sunday, August 29, 2010

Turkey Central and Deep Fried Goodies

Last weekend began with dinner at a fabulous little place called Turkey Central. It started off as a perfect example of why it's fun to live in a place like "The Bin". My friend Alli and I decided that since it was Thursday and getting to Thursday this week was particularly difficult, we needed to go out to dinner. In typical--although usually not for me--girl fashion, we can't decide where to go, what we're "in the mood for" etc., but eventually, we land on Bejing Chinese (where I've already been). As I wait for her in the lobby, another Bin-mate of ours, Kaitlyn is waiting and tells us she and a couple friends are headed to Turkey Central (where I've never been). Then my friend Kari comes down and it's "Oh hey! Are you coming with us too???", in an excited manner. Finally Alli gets to the lobby, we fill her in and it's "Oh my gosh, I LOVE Turkey Central and I haven't been there since I got back!" I obviously wanted to go to this place that I'd heard nothing but great things about but had yet to try so....guess that's that! :)

This place is great. It's kinda like eating at a food court in the mall, but there's only one choice of restaurant. You sit at these big, well...folding tables, basically and the waiter gives you a paper menu that looks akin to any take-out menu you've ever seen. There was shwarma (see earlier posts or google for full definition) of all kinds, "salads" that I'll describe later, and get this, PIES! Not the fruit kind, but lamb, beef, chicken, egg/cheese. Sadly though, I go to order and they were out of pies :( In a nut shell, the food was AMAZING. I got something called the mixed grill: grilled chunks of chiken, lamb, beef, and then what can only be described as meatloaf of chicken and lamb, rolled into long tubes and grilled. Comes with more bread and OH...SO...YUMMY. The salads consist of what we would call a spread. On one plate, you'd get hummus, cucumber spread, and a purple one that caught my eye till I tasted it and realized it was actually red cabbage spread. It still amazes me that you can go to a place like this and get an incredible amound of delicious juices. To just say, "Hey, I'd like a glass of strawberry." is just a little crazy to me. But I did do that, added some lemonade, and it was fabulous. Side note: another popular one is called "lemon mint".

This weekend, I was introduced to two great things: the "twobie-newbies" party and Jimmy's wicked fry-daddy skills. The "twobie-newbie" party is a party thrown for the newbies by the twobies. Newbies being me and some other great people and twobies being those teachers who are starting, that's right their 2nd year at ASD. Hence: Twobies. Unfortunately, system kinda broke down and the parties were planned for the same night. Oh well! For this party, we went to a compoud where a lot of the couples live. The houses are just incredible, they served shwarma and homemade treats...good times. Jimmy's party is apparntly the kick-off of the year that everyone looks forward to and bonus: he lives in The Bin (love that short trip home). Jimmy is from Missouri and loves his southern food. He fried up some tater tots, which doesn't sound all that exciting at first, but hot out of the fryer? Gooooood eats! He also made some calamari (which I heard was terriffic also, but I don't do squid), and had music and dancing. It was so much fun just to hang out with my friends, let loose, and enjoy the weekend. 

I'll leave you with a wall post I received on facebook recently. This one comes from my 3 yr old nephew via my wonderful sister-in-law, Missy:  "Drew saw a pic of you on here and I asked 'Do you love Abbie?' and he said 'Yeah... why is she in DOHA??' He knows you are not in Vegas anymore!" He sure got that right! I melted...

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Garangao, Eed, and Slingbox!

Yesterday, I got to experience one of the best parts about the Ramadan season...The Garangao Celebration! This is a local children's celebration that happens around the time of Ramadan where kids and adults participate in a parade where they sing, play instruments (mainly drums), and instead of throwing candy at the parade watchers, we gave them candy as they passed by (side note: they love their sweets out here). The kids also dressed up in traditional muslim garb and they looked so adorable! My little gentlemen walked around in their "mini-sheik" outfits--holy cow! I couldn't believe how wonderful they looked. The singing and instrument playing filled the halls and the excitement on the kids' faces just can't be described. Good thing I have pictures! One thing I loved in particular was that there were a lot of non-muslim students in the parade as well. It was so nice to see the kids celebrate and come together. Check out the pics and videos on my facebook!


I also found out today that all the processing is finished and I'm officially a resident of Qatar! This allows me to have my passport back, thereby allowing me to leave the country (score!), and most importantly, buy a car! I've been renting this entire time and it gets pricey, so I'm excited to finally be able to get a car. One more step to feeling settled. 

The end of this week will mark the halfway point on my journey to our September break; otherwise known as Eed. The break will be a week long and much-needed! This will also be the first time that I'm in Doha, not working, and not doing anything school related. I'll finally have a chance to see the city and really relax. I feel like I've been going non-stop since I got here cuz oh wait...I HAVE! :) 

My last bit of exciting news came with the discovery of a marvelous little contraption known as the Slingbox. The slingbox, ladies and gentlemen, is a device that my parents will connect to their tv. It'll send a signal back to my computer and the software I've downloaded. I'll then be able to do the following: watch any channel live that my parents get through their cable, DVR any show that my parents get through their cable and therefore, most importantly, SEE MY HAWKEYES GAMES! The best part about that last one is that I can DVR them so that I don't have to be up till midnight or 1am on Saturday night (a school night) to see the games live. Don't get me wrong, I'd be totally willing but this is way better! I'll simply hook up my computer to my tv, open up the software and BAM! Go hawks, baby! Another funny thing about it is that if my parents are watching tv at the same time, I can only watch what they're watching at the time! So unless it's the middle of the night or I'm watching DVR, my parents and might still be fighting over the TV...or calling them to change the channel :) My friend Kristin (not Keeling) told me she calls her swingbox her "America Box". She used it in Hungary as well as here and she told me that whenever she misses the States, she turns on her America Box. I have a feeling I'll be doing the same, but I think I'll be caling it my "Iowa Box".





Saturday, August 21, 2010

Celebrations & My Doha Kristin

The first (and usually the toughest) week of school is finished! In some ways I could say it flew by, but at the end of it, I gotta say that it seemed like a reeeeeeally long one. Long, but great :) 

As you faithful readers know, my week started out with some irate parents and vomit but as the week progressed, things really started to look up. Actually, by the end of the day things were even better...largely in part to the sweet letters and notes I found in my super-cool Hawkeye mailbox by my desk. My personal favorite went something like this: "I was really nervous about starting 5th grade, but all that went away when I found out you were my teacher and how funny you were." I got the lump. 

On top of all that, my incredible fellow teachers were a huge support to me this week, as always. They were constantly checking in to see how I was doing and willing to help me out in any way they could. And we had many chances to see each other in the seemingly never-ending string of meetings this week! By Thursday, I'd forgotten what it was like to send my students off to specials and actually have that time to be in my room and work! It's par for the course, but thank goodness it'll soon shake out and we'll be back to normal. This will especially be true when Ramadan is over. We have a special schedule during Ramadan that shortens classes and screws up an already confusing schedule. This week alone, my kids got ten minutes of extra recess, almost missed their foreign language class, and at one point we started math even though we had a tour with the principal! Ohhhhh good times! I'd also had the fun experience of looking down at the floor one day and seeing drops of blood. I followed said drops of blood to find one of my students, sitting on his chair with blood all over his shirt and a kleenex stuffed up his nose. Poor thing just didn't want to inconvenience me by telling me about his nose.

By the time Thursday rolled around, we were all exhausted but it had been a great week. I had learned the names of all my kids AND the names in the other class I teach. A solid victory in any school let alone at this one where some of the kids' names are Fahad, Ayah, and Shaskia. Gorgeous names, but not always easy to commit to memory :) After school let out, we got to party a little and relax at our principal's house as we celebrated surviving the first week of school. It was great seeing all the teachers that you never run into. We had a great time, especially when Katie and I went out to her car after the party to find a cat sitting on the roof of it...just chillin. Not an uncommon thing here. 

One of the third grade teachers that also lives in my building (affectionately known as "The Bin"), invited us up to her place for a while. I had met her a few times in passing but had never gotten to know her. Turns out, she's MAJORLY into sports, has all ten seasons of "The West Wing" & "Friends" and gets REALLY uppity (and a little loud :) ) when someone tries to argue against her love of the ACC, Twilight, football---the list is extensive. Anyone who knows me well should know what's coming. That's right ladies and gentleman, not only did I find a Vegas version of my best friend, but apparently God thought it fitting to provide me with a Doha version as well! So my Doha Kristin (who's name is Allison) loaned me the first season of "The West Wing" and invited me to come watch college football (via her Armed Forces Network connection) anytime! We're officially bonded for life.

When I finally had the motivation to do some laundry this weekend, I wasn't sure how it would go. I had to be especially careful about sorting because in Doha right now, cold water simply does not exist. There's hot and even hotter; a fact that unfortunately reared it's ugly had as I hissed and whimpered my way through my shower today. (It was a quick one.) So I go to check on my laundry about half way through the washing and realize the bottom of my new Hawkeye lounge pants are soaking wet. I look down and the drain is covered and piled up with suds! (I took a picture and put it on facebook but the suds died down by then) So I made a mental note to do laundry in capris from now on and the rest of the process went off without a hitch. Another hurdle conquered!

Unfortunately, the weekend went by all too quickly and the second week of school starts tomorrow. However, the brightest spot in my whole day was Skyping with Jerms and Missy and getting to see my babies. Drew and I ate red grapes together :) God bless you all! Time for bed.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Three Years Ago Today

As I wrote the date on my white board today, I realized that I recognized it (mostly, due to my weird/random memory). Three years ago today, August 18th, I was moving into my apartment in another desert city...Las Vegas. At first it didn't seem like a big deal, but then I started remembering what it was like to first move there, work there, live there. As crazy as it may seem, there are a lot of similarities between my move to Vegas and my move to Doha, and my life in Vegas prepared me for the move to Doha more than I realized.

First of all, the weather. It's ridiculously hot here :) I knew I was in for the heat and after living in Vegas, I knew I wouldn't be too shocked by it. What I didn't account for, however, was the humidity. I should have, considering Qatar is a small penninsula in the gulf...but I didn't. It's CRAZY-humid. Many days, I can literally leave the building and within 15 seconds have a thin coat of moisture on my skin. To my mid-western peeps, this is worse than any humid day in Iowa. On the plus side, the dry days are beautiful here and today I felt a fabulous little dip in the thermometer. Here's hoping it is just a lovely vision of things to come. 

In Vegas, I was also moving to a place that in many ways, may as well have been a forgein country to me. I had never really been anywhere (just like before moving to Doha), I'd never even visited Vegas (hadn't been to Doha either), and was starting a new job in a school where I knew no one. Thankfully, that last one wasn't the case in Doha. I'd never physically met Lauren & Jen, but I felt like I knew them. In Vegas, I was blessed enough to have my cousin Melissa to live with and to be my everything. She was a true angel, just as Lauren and Jen and my other friends are here. 

In Vegas, I dealt with a huge district, the quirkiness of an outdoor school, a massive new-teacher orientation program held in the convention center, making new friends, crazy drivers, noise, insane people, and many more things that have also been an adjustment here. My new school is on a new level, yes, but at the end of the day, kids are kids and teaching is still teaching. My friends and co-workers in Vegas taught me how to be a great teacher, but still have a life. That it's easier to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. How to not sweat the small stuff and enjoy the little victories in the classroom, even if it's only the fact that Johnny remembered to FINALLY write in his planner without being reminded. It's because of my teaching experiences, life experiences, DRIVING experiences (seriously, I can't believe I haven't been in an accident here yet) and co-workers/friends/angels in Vegas that I was prepared to make this move to Doha. It was in Vegas that I learned I can make a life and a home in a completely new place and not just survive it, but actually enjoy it.

Most importantly, making the move to Vegas taught me two extremely important lessons: 1) relocating will always come with a crappy adjustment period where you have to ask directions to go everywhere, get used to a new bed and bedroom, you'll get lost many times, and where you seem insanely out-of-place no matter where you are and 2) the crappy adjustment period always comes to an end. That second one is a really big deal because knowing that I'll eventually feel at home where I am makes the whole move actually seem possible. Knowing I'll live through it and won't end up on the floor crying is a nice comfort as well.

I thank and praise the Lord for reminding me of all these things. I also want to thank all of my angels, past and present, you know who you are. It wouldn't be the same without you.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

First Day Hiccups

Today was the big day! My first official day at my new international school. I couldn't wait to finally meet all my kids and put faces to the names that I'd been looking at for almost a week. But as all of us teachers know, this glorious day can never come without it's hiccups and that was absolutely the case for me today. Luckily, all great teachers can laugh and roll with the punches and at the end of the day, those little hiccups always make for funny stories. (Insert Friends quote here, Krisitn. "Funny 'ha-ha' or....") So here we go...

Hiccup #1: Remember all of those lovely names I'd been looking at and wanting for? Well about 30 hours before the first day of school, I was informed about a struggling student I'd have in my class. As I was talking with the guidence counselor about her, I kept thinking, "Hmmm, that name doesn't sound familiar." But I figured I just wasn't remembering correctly. I figured wrong. Upon checking, I realized she wasn't on my class list and that when I was moved 3 weeks ago from a 3-person team to a 2-person team, the class lists didn't move along with me. So my list and another teacher's were swapped by mistake. These kids were placed in my class for specific reasons so it had to be corrected. (After, I might add, MANY people told me how sweet and great all the kids in the original class were!) Thank goodness I don't have to label a bunch of stuff like I did when I taught 3rd grade or I may have cried! I threw the old list away, printed out new names for the bulletin board, and formed new "team" signs for my classroom. Of course, the kids today were amazing and I already feel like they're my "kids" for the year. Ahhhh the joys of teaching!

Hiccup #2: So it's about 7:45 and I'm outside my door, greeting the kids, greeting the parents,---it's all going really well. One particular set of parents came in with their son, talked with me for a while, looked around, and went on their way. All would have been fine, but then they came back. Apparently, their son had some issues with other boy in his class last year and his parents had requested that they be separated. They weren't. And to top it all off, in my completely random way of putting kids into teams, these two boys ended up at the same table as well! A fact (among others) that his mother and father felt the need to point out to me as they got more and more worked up. At the point of being livid (as well as along the way to becoming livid), they informed me many times that they didn't blame me at all. I appreciated that cuz why would I think it's my fault when the dad kept pointing out that the boys are at the same table, not just the same class, while Dad's literally red-faced, slightly shaking, and a whole three inches from my face? Gee, I have no idea. (Personal bubble, people!) Mind you, at this point my day hasn't even technically started yet. Ahhhh the joys of teaching!

Aaaannd finally Hiccup #3: We've made it through the first ten minutes of class, through all the craziness of "Where do I put my folders?" and "I need to sharpen my pencil." (Pencil sharpening: the freakin bain of my teaching exhistence. Side note: found out at that precise moment that my $60 pencil sharpener isn't working.), I get around to showing the powerpoint I put together for my students. To my parents, siblings (& spouses), best friends, niece and nephew, you all made the cut! The kids are loving it, Drew and Paige are a huge hit, and I'm about halfway through when I hear a sound resembling coughing/clearing of the throat. I look over and one of my students who's new to ASD has his head down. It pops right back up, he looks at me, and we're good. Back to the powerpoint. About two slides later, I hear the same sound...only this time it's a tad bit jucier. About two seconds after that, the kid next to him shoots his chair away from the table and stands up cuz THAT'S RIGHT: new kid just blew chunks. He did a great job of pretty much keeping the mess in his lap, the kids were really nice about it, and he actually seemed a little "hey man, whatever" about the whole situation so I gotta give him props. I do find it ironic, however, that I made it through over four years of teaching both preschool and third grade before I had a puker in my room...and even then, it only happened once. But the FIRST FREAKIN DAY of 5th grade? BAM! Chunks. Ahhhh the joys of teaching! 

Despite all the hiccups, it really was a great first day. There will definitely be some challenges with a few of the struggling kids, but it a way, I'm glad to have them. It was a bit intimidating going to a school with such high academic standards and after my last job, I have really grown a heart for the kids who ones it doesn't all come easy to. This way, I get the best of both worlds. 

Thanks, Jen for literally kicking me out of work today and ordering me to go home cuz I was exhausted! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings :) G'night all!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Hooray for MegaMart & Pedicures!

This weekend (for me, Friday and Saturday), I had the pleasure of discovering a lovely gem known as MegaMart. This is one of many grocery stores in Doha, but what makes it special is the fact that they carry many US brands. It's a little bit like TJ Max...the good stuff is there, but you just have to find it :) At MegaMart, I found some fabulous treasures like: Yoplait yogurt (thick & creamy light even!), Velveeta Shells & Cheese, Frosted Shredded Wheat (my favorite!), REAL Diet Coke (w/the normal tab & everything!), 1 pound box of Aunt Jemima, & Kozy Shack Rice Pudding. These are small victories, yes, but significant ones as well...not to mention EXPENSIVE. If I could, I'd put up a little multiple choice quiz for all of you, but I have enough of those to conjur up in the next few months, so instead of making you guess, I'll tell you how much these treasures were. Yogurt- $1.90, Diet Coke (per can)-$1.02, Rice Pudding (4 pack)- $5.27, Shells & Cheese-$3.75, pancake mix- $2.67, and Mini-Wheats- $3.97 (on sale). So it's hit and miss with the products and the prices. Good thing I don't pay rent! There is also an amazing selection of produce from all over the world. It's fun looking at a pack of plums and knowing they're from Lebenon. I'm going to have fun trying out some new foods, but on this day, I wasn't feeling too brave :) By far the best thing I found when I was there was Scottish ice cream. It's called Mackie's of Scottland and it's made with what they call "double cream", which I think basically means it has double the fat content of regular cream. It's fabulous, that's all I can say. 

As many good intentions as I had for going into school Friday so I could enjoy my Saturday, it didn't happen. Today I got there at 10:30 having only eaten a slice of PB on toast and some of my new yogurt :), and I figured my hunder would be good motivation not to let myself stay too long at work. That didn't happen either. Because it's the weekend, I couldn't eat at school and because it's Ramadan, I couldn't go get anything else to eat soooooo by the time I left at 5:00 today, I was a tad on the hungry side! I don't know how the Muslim community does it; no wonder they're flying frantically down the road almost running me over (more so than usual) after sunset...they want to go home and eat. I would too!

After about an hour of work today, my friend/fellow 5th grade team member Lauren and I went to go get a MUCH needed pedicure. It's the desert, it's had on your feet, and most of the time, I'm wearing sandles so to school so it's completely justified! :) We had a great time and my feet are no longer embarassing, ready to go for the first day of school. (P.S.- the color is called Sweet Temptation. I like that)

First day of school. I can NOT believe it's the first day of school tomorrow and that I've almost been here for two weeks. Seems like much longer in so many ways. It's great to have experienced teachers around me who pop in every now and then just to see how I'm doing and it's also great to have friends who are in the same boat I am. I can't say enough what a fantastic place this is. I still miss home and my family and babies terribly, but knowing I'd be away from them anyway if I'd have gone back to Vegas somehow makes it easier. Don't get me wrong people, as much as I love it here, please know that I'm still counting down the days 'till I come home for Christmas! Love you :)

Friday, August 13, 2010

Just for You, Jeromie :)

Today I went to a grocery store that I'd never been to before. 
The End.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Presents, Deliveries, and Olympic Swimming


Get ready folks, it's a long one...

The last couple days have been full of meetings, lesson planning, organizing, lots of special deliveries, and surprises. I've been busy getting my classroom set up and grouping all of my students into "teams". This year, there will be 5: Bears, Cubs, Cardinals, Packers, and Hawkeyes. I have tables, not desks, in my room this year and so far, about 20 students. Pictures to follow, of course.

On Wednesday, we had a grade-level meeting to discuss some things for the year and then it was like Christmas in August! Apparently, the 5th grade had done a fabulous job ordering supplies the previous year and there was a virtual cornucopia awaiting us. I swear the presents were coming into my classroom as quickly as I could get it put away in my cabinets! Just to give you an idea of how much we had, I met the high school photography teacher today while I waited to flag down the delivery guys (stay tuned) and she mentioned that her budget this year was a measly $200,000K... man that's rough. 

Today I learned more about the ins and outs of living in a foreign country with foreign outlets. Power strips are sold everywhere here and before I continue with this, I just felt like you readers should know that. Near my bed, one of the said power strips houses my ipod dock, lamp, hair dryer, and curling iron...that leaves 2 outlets to spare I might add and it's been set up like this for over a week. After I literally peeled myself out of bed this morning (I think I'm finally over my jet-lag), I shower and start getting ready only to have some malfunction occur in the middle of blow drying my hair. As of now, the outlet is useless. The good news is that the rest of the room is still alive and kickin'.  I've since taken a look at the fuse box but things are shoddily labeled and at one point I saw 3D (my apt) AND 3B (Katie's apt) listed so I thought it best to wait for the super. Go me. 

At work today, we started in the big theatre for a "Moodle" training/refresher course. Us newbies had the training and the old staff used a similar program, but I went anyway since I didn't get to use my account during the first training. (Issues too boring to discuss.) In this previous training, we were shown a "choice" feature. Moodle is basically a teacher website and the "choice" function allows the teacher to pose a question to the students and take a survey. The results are then displayed on a bar graph. Why do I tell you this, you might ask? Well in the middle of the first training, after showing us the "choice" feature, Dave Beatty the tech guy had US answer a question on his Moodle site. The question was "How are you feeling about your Moodle training?" Our choices varied from "sinking" to "treading water" to "Olympic Swimmer". Now, I was by no means feeling like a know-it-all in this training, but I felt I was picking up a lot and wanted to stay positive so I picked "Olympic Swimmer" just to be goofy more than anything. So fast-forward a week later and we're back in the theatre this morning for the refresher course. Behind Dave Beatty is a MASSIVE screen...basically movie theater size. He again starts showing people the "Choice" feature of Moodle and within about 30 seconds, a massive bar graph pops up showing the results and there I am...Abbie Taylor...with only ONE other person listed for everyone to see under the "Olympic Swimmer" category. So in front of the 200+ employees at ASD, Dave Beatty mentions that the other guy and myself (while waving in my direction therefore causing many people to turn) will take over the all-staff Moodle trainings in the future. Needless to say, my face was beet red and I was slouching quite low in my seat...and quite a few people stopped me later to mention it. I'm just glad that I changed my Moodle profile picture or my face would have also been up on the big screen.

So today was kinda like Christmas again (maybe I should switch the name to Hanukkah in August) since today was the day my tv AND mattress were both scheduled to arrive. I knew living in a foreign country that when the businesses say they'll deliver on a certain day at a certain time, that its not always an exact science...so I was prepared. I didn't go to the trouble of moving my mattress either cuz a) I didn't know if they'd actually come today and b) I didn't want to. So both the tv and the mattress guy call to say they're on their way (woo-hoo!) and ask for directions. I knew what I needed to tell them and through my crappy low-volume phone and language barriers, I was still able to tell them where to go and they seemed to know where my apt was at...well one of them did. The tv guy was good. The matress guy, however, was a different story and he called again for directions...it ended with me saying I'd wait down in the parking garage. Just so you know, it's really hot down there. So I'm sweating buckets and he calls AGAIN, still not knowing where to go. After a lot of "I'm sorry"s and "Can you say that again"s, he mumbled something indecipherable and hung up. This was after he asked me to wait downstairs. As I'm sweating down in the parking garage, some friends showed up. One offered to call the guy and thank goodness, cuz that was about the time the tv guy showed up! The next 15 minutes were a blur of directing "traffic", answering more questions I barely understood, and lots of rides up and down the elevator. In the end, it was all worth it since I have my tv now (that happens to fit perfectly in my entertainment center and my mattress is...well, heavenly. The only downfall is that some of my DVDs won’t play. The error on the screen says “wrong region” so down went both “The Sandlot” and “Pride & Prejudice”. *tear*

It's been a crazy but fun last couple of days, especially with the onset of Ramadan. During daylight hours, out of respect, we don't eat or drink in public. This will last for about a month and overall, it doesn't change things too much. When I'm outside on campus, I put away or cover anything I have in my hands. A big change for me is waking up early enough to eat my breakfast before I leave the apt since I usuallyeat it on the way to work :) Today in order to save time and keep things indoors, I took advantage of the--get ready for this--delivery service at the coffee shop! Yup! That's right. I just called a number and 5 minutes later, my   iced mocha was at my door. (Sorry, had to throw that in.) 

The first day of school is this Sunday, the 15th so I will be spending some quality time at school this weekend. Ironically, I feel more prepared and relaxed than I ever have going into this year. I don't know if it's the amazing staff or the higher grade level, but I'm feeling great. Here's prayin' that it lasts! Thanks again, my wonderful readers! I'm having a great time sharing these crazy happenings in my life and I hope I'll be able to keep it up as the year continues. Till next time...



Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Breakfast at "The Ritz"...kinda

Today we had an amazing all-staff breakfast provided by the school, via the Ritz Hotel. (Pics are on Facebook.) It was absolutely incredible to see a huge room filled with all ASD employees. Even more so was the fact that there were over 200 of them. This past week, it was easy to think that there were a lot of us new employees but compared to all the rest, we were a small group. We later learned that there was only a turnover of about 10% last year among teh employess of ASD. As far as international schools go, that's a pretty great stat.

By far the best part about the entire breakfast was meeting Lauren and Jen. They were great and as usual, concerned with how the rest of the newbies and I were doing and this told me yet again, that I made the right decision. It was quite an inspiration being around that huge group of educators who were all so passionate not only about teaching, but about ASD as well. Some are going into their 14th year here.

From there, I was able to work a while in my classroom and later we went out to lunch at Chili's! Many things were the same, but many things were different. The decor looked just like it does in the States, but they also had an upstairs playroom for the kids! The menu offered many of the same items but the iconic "baby back ribs" were, you guessed it, made of beef (beef bacon was on the menu too...good thing I never order ribs anyway :)

I finally have a good idea of what my school schedules will be like each day. I will teach two math sections each day: my homeroom class, and the homeroom class of the teacher next door to me. When my kids aren't with me for math, they'll be in the other teacher's room for reading. Alternating units of science or social studies, and writing will also be part of the job. It'll be a great mix of having my own students and switching classes.

It's hard to believe I will meet my students in just a few days! Tomorrow will be more of the same things: preparing my classroom and a few meetings. I will also find out exactly what sort of lessons I'll be teaching the first few weeks of school so all good things!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Small Victories and Shawarma

Today was an extremely productive one. While walking to get some coffee at school (from an acutally coffee SHOP, I might add...that's right, we have one at school and as of tomorrow, a Subway as well :)), it hit me all of the sudden that I'm actually starting to feel like I know my way around a little bit. That only took a week. Being at ASD reminds me a lot of my first time at UNI. I worried so much about getting lost or knowing my way around, but then all of the sudden I was learning short cuts and the best places to park. It's finally starting to happen here and thank goodness cuz this place is HUGE!

Even the driving and finding my way around my neighborhood is improving. I was able to leave school today, drive to the matress store (where I'd never been), on the first try no less, back to the mall to buy some groceries and get my tv (yes, it was a big purchasing day for me), then back-track it all the way back to my apt without turning around or getting lost ONCE. Those of you who've ever manuevered a new city know how huge this is...those of you living in Doha can appreciate it even more. You learn VERY quickly here that you don't find your way around by navigating streets...you use landmarks :) Thursday's a big day, since both my new matress (ooooo it's so comfy) and my new tv are both being delivered. Here's hopin that it actually happens! (My friend Kristen's tv is now 3 days late)

At school, I was able to finish unpacking my school stuff and start making some much needed to-do lists. I also received training in what will be our gradebook and therefore, FINALLY got to see my homeroom class list. 20 students so far...one of them is the son of a Sheik. Awesome. :) They are a pretty even mix of North Americans, Europeans, and Qatari natives. I can't wait to meet them.

We ended the day with a Shawarma lunch...complete with hummus/olive oil spread in a perfect wavy design on the tray. Basically, Shawarma (google or wiki it) is a wrap of grilled meet. The chefs had the meet on a huge skewer outside our cafeteria--that alone is a feat, considering it was about 112 degrees and 300% humidity---and they just shaved it off and rolled it up. It was fabulous! My good friend, May always gets recipes and sure enough, she came back with not only her 2nd shawarma wrap, but also a notebook with the marinade recipe of tumeric, lemon juice, garlic, cumin and salt/pepper (I think that's all of it). My brother will appreciate this: they put dill pickles in the shawarma :) Such a pleasant suprise...I'm seeing pickles more and more as I eat out here. I'll have to look into that, but I'm certainly not complaining.

As we ate, are wonderful new Director talked to us about it being our last day of orientation. It was absolutely unreal to listen to her read about all of the things we've done and gone through over the last 7 days including: getting picked up at the airport, caravaning to school, going to see our classroom for the first time, meeting our friends...I honestly began to get a little choked up. This week has been so special and memorable not only due to the incredible people I've met & relationships that I've already built, but because each day was a constant reminder that this truly was what God had planned for me. His hand has been on me throughout this entire process; in the little things like protecting me amongst all these crazy drivers, providing Nutella :) and big things such as giving me amazing friends and understanding people who have been there for me at every moment. ASD truly is a special place to be...and I haven't even started teaching yet! I'm grateful to our director, who I swear could double as my mother, for pointing out to us just how far we come in only a week.

Tomorrow I'm officially not "new staff", but just "staff".  The entire faculty will get together for a "Ritz" breakfast; the dining hall looked like it was being set up for a wedding. Pictures to follow! What I'm most excited for is that I finally get to meet Jen and Lauren, who are two ASD teachers that I feel I already know. They've been there for me for every question or worry I've had in the last 6 months...they added me to their facebooks within two weeks of me getting hired, for cryin out loud! Yeah it should definitely be a good one :) G'night!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Boxes, Boxes and Bazinga!

I'll warn you right now, this post may not be all that exciting to you lovely readers but it is to me because today I finally got my BOXES!!! (In case you didn't gather that from the title.) They were actually here when I arrived, but were sent to another teacher at the school...gotta love that! What was great was that the school delivered the boxes to my classroom and my apartment so no heavy lifting for me :) As I opened them all up, two things occured to me: seeing all of your things from home actually can make you homesick and customs doesn't care AT ALL about your stuff. Everytime I took something out I was reminded of who gave it to me, where I got it, or where it was in my home. Good, but kinda sad. From sad, I moved on to frustrated at the state of which everything was in. Most of the boxes looked like they had been crushed and/or opened, searched through, and literally thrown back together. One of my boxes of teacher things was entirely SPLIT down one side. Biggest casualty of the entire trip? My Cranium game. Kristin, I'm relieved that you weren't here to see the destruction. It was in pristine condition when I sent it here (largely due to the fact that I never had an opportunity to play it) and now, well...the prognosis doesn't look good. A lot of duct tape and baggies will be involved. (Now that I mention it, I haven't seen duct tape here at all.) I haven't worked up the courage yet to look at the boxes with all of my framed pictures in them. Hold your breath and say a prayer please.

Today, I was also motivated enough to finally clear out some of my extra boxes and clutter in my apt-- things that accumulate from buying a toaster, hairdryer, drinking glasses, etc. (I now have quite the collection in the spare room.) It took a lot longer than I thought, but it was awesome to finally put some personal touches into this place. This much tile isn't exactly homey. My kitchen looks so fun now with utensils ready to use and really pretty, filled canisters sitting on the counter. My entertainment center now has pictures and books on top and the glass cabinet actually holds some movies and DVDs! It's slowly but surely becoming home.

Today at school, a fellow teacher gave me a wonderful gift...well wonderful for someone who has no tv. She gave me a website that allows me to watch a TON of various tv shows for free online. What's the big deal you ask? A lot of the tv sites that let you watch episodes you've missed don't work out here and it's been tough not to at least have some background noise. And I've really been missing my Big Bang Theory. This site was great, especially since I had a lot of down time today at work (too boring to explain). I watched a couple episodes, laughed as always at my pal Sheldon (who's catch phrase is "Bazinga"), and sorted through my boxes. These little touches from home are what I'm finding to be the key to not getting too homesick. Speaking of, I've left the best "little touch of home" for the end. I opened up the last box without having any clue as to what could be left to find when my eyes spotted something I'd been missing terribly since I left the States: two MEGA ROLLS of Charmin Ultra! I'd forgotten that I packed them...I'm so glad I decided to throw them in when I realized I had extra leftover in Vegas. This should easily last me 'till I get the big package from Mom in a couple weeks :)

Till next time...love you all!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Little Blue Pills & "Bacon" Made Out Of What???

Last night, I learned what happens when one gets too cocky----One doesn't get to sleep until 4 in the morning, and that was with the help of a lovely blue pill. There I was, thinking I'm pretty much over my jet-lag and enjoying the fact that I don't have to wake up early on Saturday morning. I surf the net a little, watched my recently purchased "New Moon", and then proceeded to finally go to bed around 12:30am. I figure I'll read a little and go to sleep. I should've known. I'm currently reading Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series and anyone who's read them knows that if I'm just begining to read at 12:30 am, I most likely won't be done for a while. That is, unless I have an uncanny ability to stop reading when it's gettin crazy-good. But I don't. So I was up for a while. Till 2:15, in fact. Now this isn't terrible since I can sleep in, but I'm still adjusting to the time change and it's not good for me to stay up so late when the next night, I have to be to bed early. Well not only did I not put down my book till 2:15, I also thought I was adjusting so well that I didn't need my little blue pills anymore. (Our HR person had JUST finished telling us that the 4th and 5th night, this night, would be the hardest to fall/stay asleep. I apparently didn't think I needed to worry.)  I bet ya'll know what happened...yup! I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 2 hrs later. For those of you who aren't wizzes at math, that's 4:15 am. Nothing like throwing off your sleep schedule just when it's begining to look normal. Even though I knew it wasn't the best idea, I HAD to get to sleep, so I pop my Tylenol PM at this early hour and was still "hungover", peeling myself out of bed at a little after 11am today. Teacher says: lesson learned.

After that somewhat rocky start to my day, it had no where to go but up. And it did! Today was the day the school arranged for us to go to the InterConn Hotel & Resort (fyi-I almost typed "hotel and casino" out of habit just then) on the shoreline of Doha. The pics are on facebook, but they don't do it justice. It was AMAZING! Great beaches, beautiful pools, comfy lounge chairs, SWIM UP BAR...just what the doctor ordered. It was a bit of a let down though to step into the Persian Gulf for the first time and feel like I was actually taking a bath instead. The water was insanely warm! I only swam for a few minutes because it was also insane hot outside and I needed to cool off. It was so much fun getting to know the old and new staff in such a casual setting. They were there with their familes just relaxing and having a great time. I got to see some of the swimwear that more traditional Muslim women wear. If you've seen Sex in the City 2, then you've seen it. If not, it looks like a really loose, really light and flimsy surfer suit. Covers from the ankles up to the neck. Some friends and I sat down to get some food and walking to the little bar/restaurant cabana (I guess that's what you'd call it), we noticed that one of the cabanas was-get ready for this- actually a STARBUCKS! I couldn't belive it! If you look at the pictures on my facebook page, look for the cabana with the typical "Starbuck's green" umbrellas and you'll see it. Crazy. It was also funny to see a burger on the menu complete with cheese and "beef bacon". I was curious to see what it tasted like, but not enough to order it. My chicken wrap was excellent though :)

That's all for today. I popped some PM before I started to write this blog and it's taking effect. Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone because here, my week starts on Sunday and ends on Thursday. (Muslim Holy Day is on Friday. It's a fabulous time to drive since no one's on the road.) I'm still not used to it. This will be a busy week as I continue with all kinds of training, finally meet with my team members, and get my room ready. It's exciting but also crazy to think that school starts in just a little over a week, so keep those prayers comin'!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Pricks and Flips

These last few days have been interesting learning experiences yet again. Yesterday (Thursday), was Medical Day! We had to get up and be at the school by 6:30 a.m. to get bussed around town in order to get our exams: chest x-ray, blood work, blood type, and eye. Those of you who've ever recieved medical care in any forgeign country know that it will always be an experence all its own...this was no exception. There were many odd and out-of the-ordinary aspects. First-men and women entered the hospital through sepearte entrances. Second- when you enter the hospital, you have to punch the little machine to get a NUMBER. Both the machine and ticket looked exactly like they do at the DMV! Even better, the first number it punched out for our group was 4062! Needless to say, it was gonna be a while; but then our angel of a security guard who met us at the door realized who we were and began to expidite the process, MUCH to the other waiting women's chagrin. (And we wonder why some don't like us....hmmmmm) Third- we had to hand over our passports to our two guides while we were there. This helped speed up the process, but it was still unnerving. There were also colored arrows on the floor to direct traffic like cattle to either exam (yellow), chest x-ray (green), or blood work (red)- I kinda found that funny. As we went through the process, it went pretty quickly. I just felt bad that we didn't have to wait and other people did; one woman was actually heard griping in Arabic with a few "America"s mixed in. From the hospital clinic, we drove to another clinic just to get our fingers pricked so they could run our blood types (I know...don't ask). A simple prick, no biggie. We go into the small building to find a men's waiting room to the right and a women's to the left. :) It was just us so we all stayed together. I wouldn't bother sharing this but I couldn't resist telling you that when it was my turn for the finger prick, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. I already had my blood drawn and I was done being poked. So I go in and remind myself that I'm being silly. I'm waiting for the lady to take out the little plastic punchy-thing that you can barely feel but what she actually brought out was about a 4 in. long, bringht, shiny needle! Out of the corner of my eye, I see her flick this thing up and then flick it back down so fast and hard that I jumped-actually jumped a few inches out of the chair. Not so much the pain as it was the sheer velocity of the needle that got me. Goooood times. Our last stop was a (get ready Alias fans) super-swank eye glasses store for our eye exams. These consisted of us reading four letters forward with the right eye and backward with our left eye...very thorough. 

It was a long but great day at school after that. I finally got to see my classroom, which looks great, and meet one of the other 5th grade teachers, Chad. My friend Katie and I drove home and after being there for a while, I decided I wasn't feeling up to going to the dinner that was being hosted for us that night. Everyone else left though so I was just gonna chill. In the midst of chillin, all of the sudden I hear a loud ringing-exactly like an old-school hallway bell- from the hallway. Turns out, the fire alarm is going off! Now, I had just cooked something in the kitchen and our stove has an on/off switch so I immediately panic. My Mountain View peeps know exactly why this is but for those of you who don't yet know, I kinda set off the school fire alarm one day by accident while toasting my pita bread :) Thankfully, the kitchen was fine, so I run to get my flip flops and go down the 3 floors to the parking garage. By this time, it's been a while so I was very surprised not to see anyone in the parking garage! So I go in to the lobby, see that the alarm was triggered from the 6th floor, and go back out to finally see two whole people waiting around. Turns out, these alarms are quite common but, and I quote, "most of the time" just false. Awesome. However my favorite part was finding out that the one time they had a real fire last year, the trucks couldn't fit all the way into the parking garage and so when they tried to get the hoses upstairs to the fire, it wouldn't reach. Again...awesome.

The day before some friends and I went on a shopping excursion to a store a lot like Pier One. All we had to do was pull out onto the main road for a while and go around the corner to the entrance of the mall. The mall is easy to find, but the entrance is an underground parking garage around the corner. We shop and all is good, but when we went to leave, my trusty navigation partner and I kinda left from the wrong entrance. This mall takes up about half a sqaure city block so leaving from the wrong exit can screw ya up big time. And it did. Needless to say, after a few turns and stops a red light (have I mentioned they're all on average 4 minutes long?), we finally realize where we are because we see our school on the right! The school isn't too far from the apartment but it's definitely much farther away than the mall, so we were waaaay off. 

Today, I got to sleep in (Yup! Finally slept through the call to prayer!) a little, because Friday is the start to the weekend here, and do some more shopping. It's amazing how clear the roads are on the Holy Day. I'm going to stop and take a video the next time I'm at this mall, because at Coldstone, there were 4 guys lined up in a row at the counter mixing, flipping, and tossing their ice cream mixes before serving..it was like flare bartending for the ice cream world! It was fabulous! I was able to buy New Moon at the Virgin Superstore so I'm gonna go watch it now-woo hoo! Love y'all!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Driving in Doha, Nutella, & Hot Water

Setting out on the first day began with my phone ringing off the hook! First, two people from the school called to make sure I knew the pick-up time. Second, a phone call from another teacher upstairs who needed a ride, and finally, a call from the principal making sure I knew who was picking us up to lead us to school. Needless to say, they take care of you at ASD and I didn't mind at all having someone in the car with me the first time I set out to drive in Doha. Now, knowing we're going to caravan to the school brought a lot of comfort and yet, knowing how insane the driving can be, my worst fear was loosing the caravan & getting lost. Everyone begins to pull out of their respective parking spaces and I'm in my CRV in the spot closest to the exit. As I wait, I realize I'll be the last one out. No big deal...or so I thought...We begin to pull out, but then realize (mostly due to the slow speed and the "rrreerrruuggh" sound) that the emergency break is still on; the rental car people left it that way.  So as the last car before me drives out of the parking garage, I try to lift the emergency break. A liiiiittle hard to do when you can't find it! So we're looking, looking...by the time we found it (thank you, Scott- it was on the FLOOR in the far left corner-who puts it THERE???), the entire line of six cars was no where in sight. Excellent start to the morning :) Thankfully I wasn't alone and we had a map.  After a few phone calls, I survived my first of many Doha roundabouts and we made it to school in plenty of time.

After orientation (won't bore you with the details of it, but good times and I got my laptop!), we set off in another caravan to this place called the Carrefour (it's like a Wal-Mart) led by a guy named Ryan who rivals the energy level of Lars Coleman or a room full of sugared-up 2 yr olds. We all head out and this time I'm able to stay with the caravan. All is well. It was also pretty entertaining watching Ryan hop in and out of his car at least four times on the way there and back--mid traffic, mind you--to run around his car, step out onto the shoulder, count the cars in the caravan, and get back in. It was like watching a teacher on a field trip. 

The Carrefour was fantastic and overwhelming. TONS of stuff to look at while you A) try to remember all that you need to get B) constantly divide every price that you see by four to convert the currency C) try to find the item that most resembles the American item you're looking for: ie- me trying to find cheese slices that are actually yellow, not white. All I have to say is, I about yelled out a "hallelujah!" in the middle of a muslim city when I found an entire 6 x 4ft shelving section dedicated to four different-sized jars of Nutella. Still made in Italy and still delicious! Once I had everything I needed, I made it through my first official Qatari money transaction, thereby squelching the fear that I'd be standing alone in the middle of the aisle, with a handful of Qatari Riyals, crying, with no idea what to do next. (This image may have cause a minor freak-out incident prior to leaving that resulted in me crying on the phone to my friend Amanda, but we wont go into that.)

That evening, we had some fantastic Arabic food a one of the teacher's houses. We had freshly baked pita bread, 3 kinds of hummus, vegetable spreads, grilled lamb and chicken... It was amazing!  Thankfully they didn't make us stay too late. I was able to get home early, try to call my parents for the THIRD time and miss them, take some Tylenol PM to keep me asleep, and go to bed. Oh, but not before I talked to the maintance guy again only to realize that I did have plenty of hot water, but had just been turning the knob in the wrong direction. (I swear I checked them both.) It was scalding and wonderful. 

Plenty more stories to tell involving getting lost, medical checks in a foreign city, and a fire alarm. But that will all have to wait :) Love you guys! P.S.- I have yet to sleep through the call to prayer...at least it's pretty.





Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Holy Bacon, Batman...I'm Here!

WOW! It's been quite an interesting last 3 days. For those of you who don't know, my journey to Doha, Qatar started in Cedar Rapids. From there, I flew to Chicago, then to Washington D.C. and finally, a 12 hour flight to Doha. Everything went pretty well, especially on the logistical end: no delays, no major travel catastrophies, I didn't lose my passport or work visa (which, lets face it, MANY of us had ligitamate concerns about), and we landed in Doha 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The down-side to the traveling was the unexpected bout of nausia and/or air sickness I felt. As it continued, the anxiety of being sick and traveling, along with the fact that reality was setting in and I was, in fact, getting on a 12 hr flight to a foreign land made it all that much worse. Thanks to my Father above, many many MANY prayers, a disgusting dose of chewable Dramamine, and listening to a certain nephew of mine sing "I like to move it, move it" I made it on the plane in good spirits.

Speaking of, the plane was AMAZING! A boeing 777 with my own screen to watch movies, tv, listen to music, etc and really good food (although I barely ate anything)! Thankfully, I slept through most of it and by the time I watched a few Big Bang Theory episodes (that's right!), we landed safely in Doha.

Describing what it was like to step off that plane would take writing skills that I know I don't posess. I will say this, though. It was all completely surreal. Another word that comes to mind is HUMID. No dry desert heat for me the day I landed, but thankfully, everyone says its rare for it to be so humid. 3 days here and I have yet to feel my greatly-missed desert heat :)

Customs was easy as pie and thankfully, no one stashed anything illegal in my stuff while I wasn't looking (we all know that'd be my luck). The fabulous workers at the airline piled up my 5 bags and I walked through the doors to the first familiar face I'd seen in 24 hours: one of the principals I met in February when I got hired. Words can't describe how wonderful it was to see him.

He took another teacher (who I didn't realize was on my same flight) and myself from the airport to my very own apartment! 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathroom, and don't even get me started on the square footage! The hallway alone would keep Drew-bug busy running for hours! I'll post pictures soon. Some cons of this beautiful place: dealing with foreign outlets= one heck of good time (especially since you average one per wall), my water as of right now is just a bit shy of hot (but maintenence will take care of it sooner or later/in a few weeks), my matress reminds me a lot of sleeping on plywood (thank goodness for my memory foam pad!), and the call to prayer every day at SUNRISE from the Mosque across the street (beautiful music, but way too early for my liking). It's been great to meet all the other new teachers in the building since it is used only by the school. We've been each other's support system, navigation guides, and shopping partners. 24 hours together and I already know I'm making lifetime connections.

I think I'll keep it at that for now. Mostly at school, it's been logistics and learning programs on our super cool new laptops :) I'm loving the keys with arabic on them and googling something only to find the results coming up automatially in arabic...good times! Thanks again to all of you for your love, support, and prayers. I couldn't do this without all of you and my Heavenly Father who's calmed my nerves and healed my jet-lag in record time! Love you all and I'll post again soon!