Keep Away, or Day 88 in Doha

It's not my fault. I was just working in the Student Activities/Club area when all of a sudden there was a male uprising.











It had something to do with a silver ball.

The dangers of programming that your professors never told you about.

On another note, I went to teach ESL for the Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) English Literacy program today, like I do every Wednesday for my Community Service Learning class. It is hard to take four hours out of my day to go, but the guys there make it pretty rewarding. I'll have to get pictures for the next time I go, in two weeks.

And I guess if you want to know about my feelings, I've been feeling exhausted and over-worked during the day, then in the evenings when I have time to work, I can't focus. It's a vicious cycle, and I try to break it during the weekends, but often am too burnt-out to get ahead.

But we'll make the valiant effort again. Here's to the beginning of the weekend!

It's Not 2012, or Day 87 in Doha

Wow. Today was just one of those days where the world is slowly ending, then suddenly collapses in on itself.

Then you realize, that wasn't the entire world after all.

The point is, I started looking at my workload for the next three and a half weeks before finals. That is only four weekends worth of time I have. And since four of my five classes have long-term final projects, and two of the five have finals that I will have to study for, my chest was already a bit tight.

Then, I got the news that a computer project I had slaved over for a month still didn't work. That was the straw, my friends. And I was in fetal position for a while.

When I crawled out of my hole (I know I'm mixing metaphors like crazy), I realized that the grade in that class doesn't matter, as long as I pass. I realized that I could pass, as long as I continued working.

And I realized that even if I didn't pass, even if I withdrew from the course days before the final, it still wasn't the end of the world.

So after Khaled and I taking a pizza break (and, after getting way to much food, we ate way too much food), I was back on track.

Aren't you glad the world isn't ending?

Eye of the Tiger, or Day 86 in Doha

Another day of classes and work. Oh, and it is Monday, so the Computer Science department hosts lectures with free lunch. My favorite day of the week.

I had to watch Persepolis for my Islamic Feminism class, and I would highly recommend it. Its a French-made animated autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian lived through a war and a revolution in Iran. The New York Times had good things to say about it, and the trailer shows the elegant style (and hints at the reasons that it won at Cannes).



If you want a special look, this is a scene after Marjane came back to Iran from Austria after being homeless and coming down with pneumonia. She grew depressed but then decided she would "get back on [her] feet... just a [girl] and a will to survive."

Evening ended with a ice cream pick-me-up with Abdalla and McDonald's. Somehow, McDonald's seems less evil over here... and more evil at the same time.

Abu Dhabi Time, or Day 85 in Doha

Today dawned bright and early, though my attempt at getting up to do work failed.

Well, sort of. When I arrived at uni, I looked at my watch... 8:30, that was strange. My class started at 9:30.

My alarms on my phone were still on Abu Dhabi time, which is an hour later. So my "plan" to get up early failed; actually getting up early succeeded.

A day of school, TAing, homework, and I got a bit of a break.

Cornell was hosting "Coffeehouse VI", an EC-wide talent show. Jessica showed off her singing chops, the CMU freshman band played, and then I had to leave for a meeting.

When I got back, I got a chance to nibble at the left-overs and watch a great rock cover band from Cornell.

The rest of the evening was spent coding.

Completely Covered to Covered in Sunscreen, or Day 84 in Abu Dhabi and Doha

This morning, it was a bit tough to roll out of bed at 9am to go see the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, but once we were out walking in the sun, it made a big difference. And it was worth it.

We met up with Debra, a friend of Maye and Omar's, who just moved to Abu Dhabi last month. We taxied to the mosque, just in time for the tour.

To get into the mosque, women are required to wear abayas, a black cloak, and a headscarf, called a shayla around here. It was my first time donning the abaya, and I had some difficulty getting the slippery headscarf to stay on my head.

Michael was wearing shorts, so they sent him back to put on a thobe too.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque just finished construction inside, after about 9 years of work. The gardens are still a construction site, but the dazzling white domes and minarets are blinding.

The tour, done by a guy named - what else - Mohammad, was very informative. The white marble (though very hard to look at in the sun), reflected the light so it stayed cool. The inlaid mosaics had stones from 21 different countries. The seven chandeliers, made in Germany for a cost of $3 million, had colors picked by the Sheikh himself. The carpet in the main prayer hall was shipping from Iran in about a dozen pieces, then stitched together to create the largest carpet in the world.

We took some pictures and wandered a bit before heading back to Maye and Omar's and waking them up.

They ordered supplies for breakfast, and I got my first taste of "South Park," their passion. Those two and Michael were comparing favorite episodes and trivia about the show that makes from of everything that moves and everything that doesn't move.

It was beach time! I love the juxtaposition of being completely covered this morning with being able to walk around in a bikini just a few kilometers away and a few hours later.

The corniche in Abu Dhabi has beaches right along it, so we sat in the sun or the shade, then swam out to a sand bar where we could stand and watch the Air Race that was going on.

The races were fun to watch, and every so often the announcers voice from the VIP beach would drift down to us.

Michael told me later that some of the planes got disqualified for reckless flying, like being just a meter about the water. Others cut the inflated, giant cones that they we supposed to be navigating around.

Maye and Omar invited us back for a lunch-supper of pasta and steaks, and I got exposure #2 to "South Park."

It was about an hour and a half before Michael and I had to be at the airport to catch our flight back to Doha, and an urban planner from Abu Dhabi that I met on a plane highly suggested going to the Yas Hotel on Yas Island to check out the view. It was practically on the way to the airport, so we all piled in the car one last time and took a trip.

Yas Island is man-made, and centers around a Formula One racetrack. They are building "Ferrari World," which isn't open yet, and I'm not sure exactly what that is.

But this hotel was recently opened, though, as we found, there is still a bit of construction going on.

The sleek, modern design meant that when we took the elevator up to the first floor, we entered a positively blindingly white room, looking like something out of "The Matrix." We were shown through a few different bars and rooms, but got told that the roof wasn't completed yet.

Once we stepped in the elevator, Michael hit the top floor button anyway. A sneak up some stairs, and we got to see the pool on the roof and some workers doing construction.

The building is divided by a bridge, which crosses over the racetrack. We wandered through the bar above it, but the tilt of the glass made it hard to make out how people would watch the racing.

We got the car out of the garage (we had picked it up from valet parking, then parked it again because we had missed a section) and easily followed the signs to the airport.

A flight that I completely slept through (take-off, turbulence, landing) and a taxi ride later, and I'm back to sitting on my couch in Doha, blogging.

Michael and I were comparing notes on the weekend, and both of us loved the hosts we stayed with. Not only were they convenient, living close to where we wanted to be, but they were also incredible and toured around with us, allowing us to fit so much more into our weekend than I thought possible... first experience with couch-surfing, a complete success.

Falcon-kissing, or Day 83 in Al Ain, Oman, and Abu Dhabi

Again, you get another day-after post.

We attempted to start off yesterday (Friday) early, but slept in a bit. Haya, our CouchSurfing host, was free for the day, so we tempted her with talk of the Al Ain Palace Museum, and we were off. Since it was a Friday, the museum was closed until 3pm, so we headed to the base of Jebel Hafeet, a mountain (yes, finally something that isn't flat).

At the base was this great park, very green and unsustainable, but with a hot springs running through it. It was just after 10am, so cool enough to hike a bit up one of the crags. This didn't last long (it was still at least 90F or 33C) so we took a respite in the shade and kicked off our shoes to dip our feet in the iron-colored, hot-tub-hot water.

It was interesting talking to Haya about her travels. She's been east, west, north, south, everywhere and had knowledge about each place. And the places she hadn't been to, she'd hosted Couch Surfers from. There was a man, Lachlan, who was biking around Eurasia for seven years, and had been to over 100 countries. Then there was her adventures in Jordan with a Bedouin man. So much to chat about.

We drove up the mountain to look at the palace, built by one of the sheikhs for a summer home, since the breeze and the height cooled the air a bit. A hotel was at the top, and we got (very American) club sandwiches and fresh squeezed juice.

With a bit of time to kill, and some heat we wanted to avoid, Haya offered to drive us to Oman! We stopped at the first border (crossing over one of those one-way spike tracks that freaked out Michael and Haya), only to be told it was a locals-only crossing. Ten more minutes down the road, we got through the first checkpoint.

Oman has a "free zone"-type area where our passports didn't get stamped and we didn't have to buy visas. So we cruised around, looking for a flag for Michael and other random shops to be it. After exiting a "foodstuffs" souq, we took a right, only to be at the border again. All of us were turned around, but I assumed that this was the other border crossing (the one we hadn't been able to go through).

We continued our haphazard journey, and found some refreshment at a "Juice Palace." Ordering off the menu, Michael got something with had a lot of fruit in it, and Haya got a mango, cream, and cookie concoction. The funny part was, neither of them were actually juice! They had actually ordered cut-up fruits instead. I had a bit of my juice, then we too tempted by Haya's, so we traded.

We finally could go to the now-open palace, so we headed back for the UAE and Al Ain. The palace borders an oasis, made up of a bunch of palm trees that I'm sure would have been a delight to walk through during the cool parts of the day.

The palace itself was built by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in the 1930s, before oil had been discovered in the region. He had requested that it be preserved as it was, showing the more humble beginnings of his emirate.

And it was very pretty and pretty simple. The walls enclosed quaint courtyards, dark bedrooms, and a tent with a seating area (majlis). I would love to have lived and entertained there.

As we exited, there was some exhibition of traditional song and dance. Two rows of en-thobed men with light cane-like sticks did a call and repeat sort of dance and chant with each other. The canes are so flimsy as to be useless as canes, but as dancing sticks, they looked pretty cool being lifted and moved along the line of men.

We got to Al Ain station, Haya dropped us off at our bus, and we thanked her profusely for being a wonderful Couch-Surfing host.

This bus was much easier to get on, but there was some complicated math. Here is a story problem for you:

Suppose you are on a full bus to Abu Dhabi, but a few people get off at scattered stops. Another bus breaks down, and you take on their nearly-full load of passengers as well.

Now supposed that this bus bumps into another that pulls in front of it, damaging the mirror and causing some scuffs and dents. This other bus is nearly full as well.

The final part of the problem is when, ten minutes later, a third bus arrives on the scene of the bump and allows about a quarter bus-full of passengers aboard. How many passengers got to their destination on time?

Well, we were less than half an hour late, so among the lucky ones, I believe. We took another taxi to find Maye and Omar, our hosts for that (last) night.

Maye took us on a walk along the Abu Dhabi corniche, opposite where we had been on Thursday. We got frozen yogurt (one of my passions that I picked up in California over the summer, and it tasted very delicious).

We also talked about how other Couch Surfers talk to Maye and Omar so they can "stay with the locals." Both of them are transplants from Egypt, so the customs of the Gulf are foreign to them as well. She mentioned one where men tap their noses together three times in greeting. Michael was a bit put-off by the facial proximity, but Maye said the origins lay in falcons (a revered and bred bird around here). When meeting another bird, they tap their beaks... a nose is a beak, right?

When we got back, Omar had woken up from his nap, and they were ready to take us to PJs, an Irish pub in a hotel nearby.

The loud music, proponderance of males, and older ladies going a bit crazy made me glad when we went to sit by the pool instead of at the bar. We had a good time, swapping stories and favorite drinks. An Irish car bomb was introduced to the table by Michael, and we were all happy as we were leaving.

We were all a bit hungry too. We headed for the co-op (their grocery store), then headed to McDonald's. With the amount of high-heeled, short-skirted women coming in the door, our choice was fairly typical for a 3am craving, and did us just fine until morning.

Of Cats and Crabs, or Day 82 in Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain

This post is coming a bit late (in the morning instead of the evening), but we arrived easily in Abu Dhabi yesterday, where Michael and I split up from Abdalla at the airport. Our CouchSurfing host for last night, Haya, lives in Al Ain, just a two-hour bus ride from Abu Dhabi, which we did at 8pm last night (the bus ride, that is).

Before that, we wandered into Marina Mall (though I didn't get to see the rain show... instead, we went up on the viewing tower) after failing at getting to Khalifa Park on a bus from the airport.

When we got on the bus at the airport on the morning (I know, this story is kind of going in backwards order), we got off after we saw the Grand Mosque. Thinking we could just easily walk to where we needed to go, we got out and were in some other green space. The heat (it was noon) dissuaded us from walking any further than through the park. As we were walking, Michael all of a sudden jumped a bit. A small, Chihuaha-like kitten had climbed on top of his shoes while we were walking, and it continued to trip us up. It was mewing at us as we finally walked fast enough to keep it at bay. It was heart-breaking!

We then took a taxi to Marina Mall (as mentioned about), then made our way onto a jetty called Breakwater. Marina Mall is a bit of a walk from Heritage Village (which is on Breakwater), but we made the walk in the afternoon heat anyway, getting to the end of the jetty where the large flagpole is. Michael found his necessary UAE flag, where as I just got a glimpse of a sandy-colored crab as I waded in the beach right along the Air Race course.

It was the closest we got to the planes all weekend. A few planes jetted past us and through the course, so Michael especially is very excited for tomorrow (Saturday) when the final races (and all the crowds) take place along the Abu Dhabi Corniche.

Our last stop before taking the bus to Al Ain was the Emirates Palace Hotel. Built for some crazy sum of money (something like $3 billion), it was very gold and shiny and majestic and stuff. We were planning on having dinner there, but in the end were too hungry to spend a lot of money on a little bit of food.

It worked out in the end. Our bus station was by Wahda Mall, which had a very large LuLu's (a grocery chain) in the basement. We ended up cruising the prepared food section and taking little tubs of a bunch of stuff. Michael had something like five different nationalities of food when it was all said and done.

So, I don't know if you all remember my rants and raves and ponderings and musings about being a girl, but this was one of those times when it is handy to be a female doing something that many females don't do. Public transportation is very kind for us girls, and for our male traveling companions, it would seem.

We got to the bus station, and the line was easily two or three busloads of people long. Michael and I diligently stood at the end of it, thinking that we weren't going to get to Al Ain until midnight, hours after we had told our host we would be there.

A man came up and said there was a woman's line, but I pointed at Michael and told him we were traveling together. The man came back a moment later, saying the typical phrase, "It's no problem", and when the next bus pulled up a few minutes later, we got in first with the other females and easily secured a seat. Michael saw the virtue in traveling with a girl right then.

We got to Al Ain two hours later, and managed to taxi our way to our host's complex. Our couch and bed in Al Ain were adequate, and today we are heading out for the day with our host!

Tastes of Home, or Day 81 in Doha

Today was the typical Wednesday, with the twist that I'm going out of town tomorrow, so need to so some last minute finishing up. Abdalla booked a taxi, Michael pointed out that I needed to bring a sheet for our CouchSurfing host, and I printed out exit permits, maps, and phone numbers. We are all traveling out on the same flight in the morning (early morning).

This afternoon, before I did my office hours for Technical Communications, I skipped over to Texas A&M for some "traditional" food, which, if I gather correctly, was cooked by some locals.

I ended up getting lasagna (I'm such a sucker for it) and this apple pie dessert. While the lasagna had a bit of cinnamon or something to give it a unique, good, but not American taste, the apple pie a la mode was delicious.

It also reminded me of home very badly. I guess some tastes just do that to you. So today was a bit bittersweet: homesick for the US but also getting ready to leave my Doha home for a weekend visit to Abu Dhabi.

I think I'll be able to update (and borrow our host's computer), but no guarantees, as usual when I'm traveling. Wish us a safe flight!

Here, There, Everywhere, or Day 80 in Doha

So something that I do rather obsessively when traveling is look at a map to orient myself. I like being able to know what is in the direction I am facing, and it is also helpful when actually trying to get somewhere.

The odd thing about being in Doha is because I never have to navigate (I don't have a car or the ability to drive), my knowledge of the city is not very deep. I can usually point out what direction the Corniche is in, and I know how to get to shawarma (well, only Hala Istanbul), and I could theoretically get to the west coast, but when it comes to areas and restaurants, my knowledge is lacking a bit.

Thankfully Jill, at Student Affairs, has created this awesome Google Map for all of us:


View Education City and Doha in a larger map

Speaking of Jill, she and a few of the other Student Affairs staff have been leading the Women's Leadership Program, and doing a good job of it. We had our final reception today, and I will miss having an excuse to chat with whoever showed up.

Anyway, Jill's map started my love of make-your-own-Google-map. So for this weekend, I made one of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain (if we end up going there on a day trip).


View Abu Dhabi (and Al Ain) in a larger map

And then I started making one for my May trip. I'll be leaving Education City on May 7th, then making my way through a few of the Middle Eastern, non-Gulf countries, finally ending up in Istanbul on May 26th to take my flight back to the US. Here are some of the potential places:


View May Travels in a larger map


If you noticed, Damascus, Syria, is on the map. There is currently some travel warnings against going, however, these warnings have been around for years. So I'm guessing that as long as I have a travel partner and can get a visa, Damascus is a potential start to my end!

Woman, or Day 79 in Doha

Well, first off, I've yet to think of myself as a "woman." I'm still in that "young adult" stage, though "20-something" is starting to fit more and more...

But, it seems at many of the discussions I've been to, the talk has revolved around "us women."

The first example is the Women's Leadership Program. (We are having our final reception tomorrow.) At lunch for about five weeks, we chatted about the leadership qualities of women versus men, nature versus nurture, and, of course, the oppression of women.

The next example, which I mentioned yesterday, is my participation in an Islamic Feminism class. Women's rights are a daily topic, and this week, a internationally-known feminist theorist Leila Ahmed came to Doha to give some talks.

Yesterday, she presented a slightly dry presentation on female activists in North America. I personally just wanted to hear about her and her theories!

Today, my class, in addition to Student Affairs staff and other women from CMU-Q, were invited to a women-only dinner. I sat at her table, and she wanted to hear all about us. So the students at the table went around, talking about our majors, our hometowns, and having a little chat.

After the first course, the question-and-answer period started, bringing up diverse topics such as purity and sexuality, quest for identity, the return to the hijab, and why some women become activists.

One of the questions was about having a Pope-like figure for Islam. "More patriarchy?" was basically Dr. Ahmed's reply to that one. Then there was the question of identity: "I'll let you know when I figure it out, but it hasn't happened yet!"

On a different note, it dawned on me that not only are my final projects due in five weeks, but I am ending school in Qatar in five weeks! I've been doing a good job of reflecting throughout the semester, but it is still a shock to think that these people could be thousands of miles (and kilometers) away from me for the rest of our lives. I don't even know how to think about that. Human minds can't comprehend "a thousand miles!"

I'm starting up my Community Adviser duties for next year, e-mailing my staff and networking with the housefellows back in Pittsburgh. Now that I've been so disconnected for a quarter (a
"Qatar quarter", as it were), I need to get back in the loop fast!

My Stomach is Tight, or Day 78 in Doha

Tonight was the final "Distinguished Lecturer" of the semester-long series, and I finally got a chance to go.

Carnegie Mellon invites a speaker, than invites the whole of Doha to hear the and partake in a buffet at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel.

We walked in, and Rachelle had warned me about the flower arrangements... they were beautiful. As I was poking around, I realized that I haven't been to any of the beautiful hotels around Doha. I want to change that... even though they are imported gold, they are still a major of what visitors see.

The speaker was Leila Ahmed, and I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Instead, today, while hanging out with Khaled (instead of working as we should have been), I learned more about Farsi and Arabic. For example, there is no "I miss you" in Farsi; instead, they say, "My stomach is tight for you."

It took me a second to digest this (get it, digest?), and so first I equated it with hunger, like "I'm hungry for you." But Farsi has a different word for hunger.

I mean, it could be a show of expectation, or excitement. I mean, my stomach is tight after eating a delicious meal, but not so sure about how that relates.

Speaking of people I miss, I got to Skype with my parents and all my sisters tonight. After the hour-and-a-half-long conversation, I was speaking loudly and competing for attention. Right after (when I met up with Khaled), I was very loud and kept interrupting him to speak. I guess it is what you get in a family full of chatters.

Now, no more tight stomach... just droopy eyelashes.

Kivi Juice, or Day 77 in Doha

Spent the lovely day doing lovely work, hanging out with lovely people in the lovely weather. It was lovely.

The major event of the night was dinner plans! The whole "plan ahead" thing never works out (people always manage to find excuses, right, Utsav and Carla?), but I managed to wrangle Salman and Tina out of their respective caves to come have dinner with Abdalla and me. The rest of those kids just chickened out.. they were ready for the fun we were going to have.

I've heard raves about Turkey Central, but Tina and I had never been, so restaurant choice was easy. They have a "mixed grill" plate with all different meats on it (very different from India and the lack of meats) that we all tried, in addition to some of the best hummus I've ever had and fries with Omani ketchup.

I also got a glass of kivi (kiwi) juice... The accent is funny to think about since the servers were speaking Arabic with Salman and Abdalla, who were both pointing out how Turkish they were. Tina and I couldn't tell Turkish Arabic from Egyptian or Khadeejeh (Gulf) if you had us at gun point.

Well, the raves were accurate; it was delicious. We saw a lot of tourist/ex-pat groups there, so I'm thinking it is one of those "clean but with a bit of culture" restaurant that are safe for "us white people." I wouldn't say it's the best or craziest restaurant I've been to around here, but now I know why people are obsessed with it.

Besides that, I pretty much stuck around EC, doing work and chatting with people.

One of my fears coming here this semester was that I was going to get disconnected from Pittsburgh, disconnected from my college friends, disconnected from my "old world." I definitely go through phases where I'm in a box, and I don't know what is going on with anyone back in Pittsburgh.

But then I emerge from those holes, and Skype with Alex for three hours and IM with Rosie for another hour and some, and I'm right back to being so glad about having friends and family that care about me wherever I am, whatever timezone it is. These support pillars mean that I can dare to grow and have adventures around here without worrying about the fall.

Speaking of adventures, just booked tickets to Abu Dhabi this weekend. A bit spur-of-the-moment, but such is life!

My New Crush, or Day 76 in Doha

After another lovely night of sleep (sorry I keep mentioning it, but one forgets how wonderful it is!), I woke up and spent the morning catching up, working on final projects, writing some postcards, turning in some homeworks early (gasp!)

This afternoon was the first Ultimate Frisbee scrimmage I've been to in a while. It is getting hot, so they booked the field from 4pm until 6pm, when there is a bit of a breeze and the lower 90s weather is decreasing down into the 80s (35C to 30C). I played pretty well; (Professor) Khaled kept making me run, but we won in the end.

After a very productive day, I was excited for my adventurous evening. The first "adventure" was going to the residence halls' event and making fried ice cream... I've always wondered how it works, and the secret is to wrap it in a slice of bread, then refreeze it, then fry the outer bread. So easy, so delicious, and so, so wrong.

Next was the search for dinner, which was quickly found when an event at CMU-Q had half of the members it was supposed to. A buffet was set-up, and I met some more random EC people (as I do fairly often), and hung out with Sidra, Zaid, Omer, Abdalla, Fatima, Maria... my inter-uni group that always entertains me.

Then, it was time for the event of the night... a Qatari football match! Two of the best teams in the country were opposing each other. (I didn't realize there was more than one team in Qatar...) Over 15,000 people turned out to the stadium, and it was definitely different than other matches or games I've been to.

First off, there was the price... 10 riyals is less than $3. Even very low-ranked baseball games are $5, so this was impressive for me (though not for Abdalla). Next was the cheering: it was very musical, with drums and horns and clapping. No spelling out words or cheerleaders, just beating and chanting.

Next, of course, was the concept of the "family" section. I was a bit at first that we weren't in the male section, where all the cheering was going on, but after ten minutes of their incessant cries (which were very clearly and loudly heard from our side of the stadium), I was glad we were a bit removed.

There was no halftime show, no loud peddlers selling peanuts (though there were quite ones selling candies and scarves), and no assigned seats.

There were, however, little bundles of squares of paper that, when something exciting happened, or just when one felt like it, one could toss in the air like confetti.

I wanted a packet, but never got a chance to buy one. It was halfway through the second half (and Abdalla had hinted a few times to leave, but I was still enjoying myself), and all of a sudden, a dark little boy, holding a packet of papers he has picked up from the ground, begins talking to me in Arabic.

I immediately turn to Abdalla to see what the little boy wants, and they have a conversation that ends with him giving Abdalla one of the papers. He turns to me, I smile and ask for some, and he carefully peeled off three from his rubber-banded stack. (See? He already likes me more than Abdalla.) Little Omar had stolen my heart right then and there.

I was so infatuated with his cuteness that when he passed by again (after giving the rest of his papers to other random white people in our row), that I had Abdalla take a picture of us. And the rest, they say, is history:


(I mean, the rest is actually that he went back to his family and collecting papers, while Abdalla, Maria, Fatima, Zaid, and I went to bandar for some carrak and a chat, in addition to singing obnoxious songs and helping me with my Urdu. I'm supposed to learn to count with this. Even when we left after midnight, there were still Qataris out on the road celebrating their win.)

A New Dawn, or Day 75 in Doha

Today was a great day!

Yes, having a wonderful, wonderful full night of sleep with no classes helped... (not only did I get 9 hours during the night, but I took a one hour nap as well)... but it would have been a good Thursday however it came.

For my Service Design class, I had to do some research on what people want in their libraries. I grabbed a bunch of random pictures off the internet, of chairs, desks, bookshelves, and computers as well as some of a DDR machine, a coffee maker, a hammock, and a soccer goal. Then I had a few people (Swapnil being one) arrange them for me. I got some good results, and some interesting layouts. Swapnil had an interesting idea of putting the

That was enough work for the day. There was a DSO get-together on the Green Spine, with some blindfold game that Shaza led and Varun owned. Free pizza, and I was off to see Sabrina!

My Sabrina has been holed up in EC for days working, and having tests and homeworks and being a second-year engineering student. So some Haagen-Daaz and juice with her and Abdalla was a great break from EC for all of us. I got off-campus just because the first time in a while. (I went off-campus yesterday to the Reach Out To Asia English learning classes I have to do every week, but that hardly counts.)

Tonight was a super lucky night, too. There was clearly something going on at the ceremonial court, since the traffic police were out and loud Arabic music was playing.

I dare Abdalla to go see it, and we got it, very easily. We had to get searched (which meant that these very kinda Qatari women were plucking my phone out of my pocket, then putting it back in with a pat and a smile). Then, we sat, got served some juice, and watched what Abdalla translated at "A New Dawn" (the program was all in Arabic).

It was amazing. There was at least a 60-person cast (I think closer to 70), which dancers and singers, amazing costumes, glittery lights... just awesome. It was also that random thing I saw rehearsing a few days ago.

We came in "close" to the end. It was 8:30 when we got there, and it had been going on since at least 7, probably earlier. We left at 9:40.

With the longer productions, it is amazing how show etiquette changes. There were people leaving and coming, having brief conversations on their cellphones, getting served juice, and in general being much different that the typical musical-going crowd in America.

The script was something about the fight between the native Tunisians and the occupying Italians, with the wrap-up being the Tunisian anthem. (There's one way to guarantee a standing ovation.)

The music was loud enough to drown out pretty much everything, except Abdalla's translations, which is the only way I knew anything. We were just talking earlier in the day about how he feels bad talking in another language around me... well, being able to understand and tell me what's going on in another language makes up for it.

And yes, that is a woman who popped out of an oyster shell. Very "Little Mermaid." And just over-the-top like the whole production. That woman is one of the ones who represented "the new dawn" of the title.

The night ended with a chill viewing of "7 Pounds" (which is quite good) and an actual blogpost (as you can see)! I'm so happy to be back and happy again.

Exhaustion, or Day 74 in Doha

I don't think my body has ever been this sleep-deprived.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of catching up: with friends, with sleep, with schoolwork (that isn't networks).

I almost forgot to post this. That's how tired I am.

Good. Night.

It's Fun, Really, or Day 73 in Doha

Let's play a game...

How many hours of sleep has Corinne gotten in the last four days?


Food is a much better subject. I grabbed a quick dinner at LAS with the Urdu-speaking gang (who constantly had to remember that I was around, and switch to English).

Then, there is this vending machine in the rec room at CMU-Q that is wonderful. For 1 riyal, you can get a juice box (mango even!) or some chocolate wafer candies or some chocolate cookies. For 3 riyals (just less than a dollar), you can get a mini-cup of hot chocolate (which isn't well-mixed, so there is this huge sugar rush at the end).

There is a cluster of computers in the room right next to the rec room... can you guess where Khaled and I have been coding for the past few days? Nothing is better at 2am than that hot chocolate.

A Vlog?!, or Day 72 in Doha

I know, this is supposed to be a "web log" with "writing" and "reading" and stuff. But I already had my whole camera set-up going because of my weekly Soliya meeting (where there are eight students from around Eurasia talking, most specifically about East/West issues... I'm sure I'll talk about it later). So I decided to exploit it and do a "video log" instead.

So, since I didn't have anything more exciting than nearly getting run over by friends in the parking lot (that makes it sound even more exciting than it was), I have to talk about the past...

The EC Library Tour, or Day 71 in Doha

Today, my Service Design group (Maria, Fatima, Mathew, and Ghada) spent an hour wandering between a few of the libraries at EC, researching for our re-vamp of the CMU library.

We have TAMU-Q first:


Next was Northwestern, up on the third floor of CMU. Even in this part, you can see why people make fun of them for being "Barney" and proud of purple.

Next we glanced in at the LRC (Learning and Resource Center)...

... which is right above the library of ABP (the Academic Bridge Program).

Georgetown is in the same place (the Liberal Arts and Science - LAS - Building), so we went to the School of Foreign Service library (with a great little cameo by Fatima). We actually found our library head there, doing his own research through their archives. Traitor. (Or he knows where to find the information, which is his job.)


I stopped into the Islamic Studies library, which was right next door.


If it looks like all the libraries are empty, they weren't. Around here, there are a few people who are sensitive about having their pictures taken, so I just avoid the issue by avoiding taking pictures of them.

As a final random note, as I was wandering around EC tonight, there was something going on at the Ceremonial Court - some rehearsal for something. If anyone knows what this "something" is, let me know... the music sounded good, and I think I saw some dancing!

One Bird, One Stone, or Day 70 in Doha

Best laid plans, eh?

Well, I did get up and make crepes, and those were delicious. Daedri and Abdalla and I baked out in the morning sun (it was probably 90F or mid-30sC) while eating them with Nutella and bananas, strawberry jam, or baked apples.

I put on my sunscreen, and the two of them (with their dark skin) just laughed.

Brent and Zane came a little after, so we made Brent finish up the crepes, and we were off to find the camel race track at Al Shahiniyah.

(I probably shouldn't have said right as we were leaving that I wasn't sure this was the right race track...)

It was less than 15 minutes away, and when we got there, we saw random groups of camels milling around. Abdalla pulled over to ask some guys about the races and... they were cancelled. The heat was too much for this early in spring, apparently, so they were pushed to Monday or Friday, or some other day.

We still managed to get yelled at for driving too close to the camels that were practising on the track.

Abdalla proposed going to Dukhan, which is on the west side of Qatar. I was against it at first (we all had work to do), but when we heard that we were already halfway there, it was a go!

So my original goal was taken from me, but I got to check another item off my bucket list! Daedri said that it was hitting two birds with one stone, but I fully intend on coming back for a real camel race.

During the roadtrip (which only took about 45 minutes to get from EC to Dukhan), we played the Qatar version of the roadtrip game "Cows." The original goal is to count the most cows on your side of the car, trying to beat the other side. If there is a cemetery on your side of the road, all your cows "die" and you start back at zero.

The Qatar version uses camels and mosques.



There was a gorgeous beach; it was just hazy enough that there was no way to tell where the sky met the sea. We waded up to our rolled-up-pants-legs, picking shells and skipping stones.

I put on more sunscreen, and Abdalla just shook his head.

The blue water was cool (so of course, Abdalla made some geeky joke about convection) and the sand was smooth. I wish we could have stayed longer (and were more prepared) but I'm so glad I got that refreshment in.

And now I have a hankering for a roadtrip to the north.

And Guess What!, or Day 69 in Doha

I figured today would be a boring day, so I spiced it up with a time-lapse video of me walking from uni. (In some ways, this could be considered weird that now a bunch of people might be able to figure out where I live... but the time-lapse is so quick, not sure you could figure it out. Not to mention the myriad of other ways to figure out where I live.)

I also spiced up today by being super-excited about not very exciting things...

So guess what! Here's the video!




And guess what! Varun got me my shirt!



And guess what! Khaled wrote me some code for our program!

And guess what! Daedri invited me out for some sheesha and tea and meeting new people!

And guess what! Abdalla took me to get supplies for crepes tomorrow (and we are going to the camel races, insha'allah)! Yum and fun.

My Laptop is Put to Work, or Day 68 in Doha

I've decided that the ECQC people (*cough* Varun *cough*) owe me a t-shirt for my kind and thoughtful lending of my laptop for displaying the slideshow during the event today.

Someone get on that.

I was sitting doing nothing (well, actually laying down, thinking about napping, but not actually able to) when I get a call from Varun. I had taken my computer to him yesterday about not being able to access the internet, and it was a stupid proxy problem that I should have been able to find myself. Anyway, he noticed it was a Toshiba, with an S-Video socket, and so asked me to lend it to him. I said yes, and that I'd be at uni in less than 30 minutes.

I hop in the shower, and by the time I get out, I have a missed call. I called back, and it was two of the ECQC crew, waiting outside the dorms to get the laptop! I dressed and hurried it downstairs, then ran into Daedri on the way up. We had a chat about our spring breaks as she had some of my cookies.

Meanwhile, I got to be laptop-less for an hour before ECQC, which forced me to find people to hang out with. Shaza and Amal and a few others were in the library courtyard, so I chatted with them until Sidra and Abdalla and Maria and Fatima came up, so we could all sit together during the show.

These event are just big EC reunions; they bring together all the colleges and you get to catch up with all sorts of people.

Did I mention that Zaid was the emcee? And Varun was the head of it all... such an amazing job he did!

Not only was every institution in EC represented by a team, but there were sponsors so the production value was very high. The winning team (which was Cornell by the way) got flat screens! Each of the three people on the team!

The questions were pretty good, though some were very hard and some were less so. One of my favorites was showing a clip of this Youtube video and asking for the singer of the original song or the instrument the kid was playing on.




The correct answer is, of course, Jason Mraz or the ukulele. I think the team that didn't answer it correctly was a little too focused on the artist, because I would think they would've gotten ukulele. (That is also one of my favorite videos, for the record.)

ECQC lasted 3.5 hours (which is a bit long... that is one major criticism I had. Though part of it might have been because my computer crashed, so by proxy, my fault. But hey, they were running Windows!) After, there was a buffet, and I said my goodbyes to the IMPAQT group. There is a chance I will see them tomorrow (since they've wanted to see my dorm room to compare it to Pittsburgh) but I'm thinking they will have enough wrap-up stuff to keep them busy.

After talking with them, I'm very, very glad that I came here for an entire semester. A week is just not enough!

May versus Can, or Day 67 in Doha

Sometimes I feel like I'm running out of things to say about my time here. I'm experiencing some new things, but not nearly at the rate I was before.

Also, my perchance for taking pictures has gone down. So here's a simple post with text (ok, and a picture of the cookies I made yesterday... not so burnt and very delicious!).

These days I've been less energetic, mostly due to constant school work. This weekend (which starts now!) should help revive me, but the week after Spring Break is a tough one.

My new experience for today was volunteering with Reach Out To Asia and my Community Service Learning class at the Jaidah Group, a company that brings in foreign workers. We are teaching an English class to a group of about ten men from India, Jordan, Egypt, and a few other places in the Arab World.

It is similar to many things in Qatar in that communication isn't high, so flexibility is at its peak. We were late because of traffic, and then Abid and I were put with the intermediate language learners instead of the beginners. So our plans went out the window. Thankfully Arti, a teacher from India, was another volunteer. We went through the lesson, with her introducing the topics and all of us helping in the smaller groups.

The subject for part of the lesson, slightly ironically, was the use of "may" versus "can." I'm American; we never use "may"! Even in restaurants, it's "Can I help you?" So at the end of the class, as we were wrapping up, I announced, "Can I have your attention?"

Yeah, so much for modelling good grammar.

The learners were very energetic and willing to be there. We would ask them to do something, and they would not turn us down. Their skill level was also much higher than I expected.

That changed after break, when the very large beginner class had some of their better students come over and join us. We spent the last hour with the "old" students teaching the "new" students, which was a circus in itself.

We left to go back to campus, took some random cut-throughs, and I finished the evening by - what else - meeting with Khaled to do some networks. I was not a very productive partner.

Isn't it sad that I used to end my days with shawarma and ice cream, and now I end them with programming?**

**After Abdalla read this, he took me out for ice cream. So I guess my life isn't so bad after all...

Osama bin Laden in the Next Office Over, or Day 66 in Doha

Remember that bucket list from oh-so-long-ago? See the bottom of this post for an updated version!

Today I went to tour Al Jazeera with the IMPAQT group from Pittsburgh. It was great to catch up with some of them and meet others (and talk about taboo things like drinking and dating).

Darbi, a Student Affairs coordinator, got us a wonderful and chatty PR person to lead us around the stations explaining the channels. They have different stations (and different buildings) for Al Jazeera Arabic, English, Documentaries, some Training and Learning Center, and a few others that I forget.

We first went in the Al Jazeera Arabic. They broadcast this channel 24 hours a day from Doha, from this city on a peninsula (which is what "Al Jazeera" means, either "the island" or "the peninsula"). While we were on the newsroom floor, an anchor was presenting live from the studio, so we were in the background! We all made our "Al Jazeera debut," as Christina, our tour guide, announced.

The Arabic channel is going on 14 years, while the English channel just got started in the 2000s. Actually, the story behind the Arabic channel is that the Emir (of the UAE I think?) supported BBC coming in to create an Arabic channel, but then they lost their funding when there were editorial differences.

Al Jazeera is Qatari government-funded, but it does not give any veto powers to its sponsor. In fact, it has a great code of ethics that was posted in a few places around the building.

After coming to the East, I had a greater regard for Al Jazeera, which is locally known as a very fair and unbiased source.

But that's not the case back in the US or other Western nations. Christina was talking about someone that asked her if Osama bin Laden was in the same building. She jokingly told them that he was in the office next door, but there is very little that Americans know about the station. That one exception is the bin Laden interview.

The English channel newsroom was two floors, and they broadcast out of it half the day, with four hours a day going to Washington DC, four hours to London, and four hours to Kuala Lumpur, "following the sun."

They weren't scheduled to be broadcasting, but again, we saw a newscaster talking about sports. Christina was also very proud of the 21-meter-long video wall behind the presenter, the biggest in the industry.

After a very informative tour (and some great side stories with some of the interviewers), we went back to CMU for "Pizza and Politics." The discussion topic was, very aptly, why do campus exchanges? I think they are invaluable for those that get a chance to go, but this was more about those that can't go but want to gain knowledge as well.

And it is tough, trying to include people in my little adventure. I'm hoping this blog helps, and staying connected via Facebook or Skype, but I would encourage everyone to try some sort of cultural immersion experience. As someone mentioned during the discussion, it is learning about others that you are able to learn about yourself.

And here's my bucket list thus far:

• Take a picture in front of a "Warning: Camels" sign
• Ride a camel
• Go to camel races
• 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
• Walk along the Corniche (seaside boardwalk)
• Go to the Pearl (man-made island)
• Ride a dhow
• Visit the Al Jazeera station headquarters