The Bucket List, or Day 2 in Doha

Man, I keep getting distracted around here. Just think what the school year is going to be like. Keeping a blog is hard, but I promise, a post a day will happen!

I mean, unless there is no internet in the awesome location I am going, or I decide to take my computer, or it breaks, or the tubes go down the drain...

So today was a very productive day. I mean, after I got up at 10am. Melissa was kind enough to drive me to the mall, which, amazingly enough, looks exactly like our malls in America. Differences: all store names were also in Arabic, there was a grocery store, more people in traditional outfits, and workers could clean your car while it was parked.

A quick grocery shopping trip, getting some semblance of food for at least the next few days, then ate some Subway at the food court (I had this chicken teriyaki on oregano with lettuce... I was very confused, and they didn't have what I was originally going to order.) We then stopped by to get some ID photos taken (since they are apparently needed at a lot of different places) and get me my SIM card.

After we picked up her son, got stuck in traffic, dropped her son off, and made it back to school... I put away my groceries and attempted to put in my SIM.

I was told I would get a screen on the phone that would ask for the unlock code (NCK code, so I can use my AT&T phone with other SIM cards) that I had gotten from AT&T customer service before I left.

Instead, I just got a screen that said, "Enter correct SmartChip."

Well, that's what the internet is for! One quick search, and <**<, and I was set. After plugging in my electronics into the converter I bought, I got my first phone call (awwww). So, funnily enough, when I went outside to give Melissa some paperwork, I saw the only two people I know around CMU too! One of which invited me to a badminton game. Never one to say no, off we when. So then, the evening consistent of semi-awkward conversations at random places (his home, the club, his home again) interspersed with pedal-to-the-metal driving. My favorite part was when his father treated me like his 8-year-old sister: giving me ice cream, then changing the TV to the Disney channel. My second favorite part was the curry. I was talking with Shakir as we were headed to burn some time at the sheesha (hookah) place before greeting more new students at the airport, when I started listing off some things I wanted to do in Qatar. So here it is, my bucket list:

• Take a picture in front of a "Warning: Camels" sign
• Ride a camel
• See the sunrise at Bandar (a park by the port)
• See the inland sea
• Go dune surfing/skiing/boarding
• Go dune bashing/buggying
• Smoke shisha
• Barbecue on the beach
• Take a "cross-country road trip" (the 1.5 hours to get to the west coast)
• Visit the Islamic Arts Museum
• Meet a student from every other school in Education City
  • VCU
  • Cornell
  • Texas A&M
  • CMU-Q
  • Georgetown
  • Northwestern
• See the night sky in the middle of the desert (close to the city, there is lots of light pollution)
• Go clubbing in Doha
• See the souk
• Eat Qatari food
• Go in a mosque
• See rain (we'll see!)
• Walk along the Corniche (seaside boardwalk)
• Go to the Pearl (man-made island)
• Ride a dhow
• Jet ski
• Visit the Al Jazeera station headquarters

I think those things can happen! And that's just my Qatar list... not even the Middle East one. I want to go up the tallest building in the world!