One Short Day, or Day 116 in Doha

I look back on today, and I guess I did a lot... but it wasn't broken up by classes, so it just felt like time was slipping away... (And I had the song from Wicked stuck in my head all day.)

This morning was my last final of my junior year and my last final in Qatar. It has a most impressive title: "Formal Languages, Automata, and Complexity Theory" or FLAC for short. I've learned a lot of this stuff before (though I always forget whether to reduce B to A or A to B...) and the final went smoothly. Especially since it had 120 points, but is graded out of 100.

I got the fabulous news that Keghani was going to Pittsburgh for graduation yesterday, and I convinced her (somehow) to take my suitcase with her to Pittsburgh. So we packed that up.

Today was also my last day at the RAEL (Reach Out to Asia Adult English Literacy) program. We gave them their final tests, then got to sit and chat for a bit. I taught them a new word, "pen-pal", and we'll see if they ever e-mail me. And, finally, I have my own pictures of me and the RAEL gang (well, what's left of it). We have an Egyptian, a Moroccan, an Indian... I do stand out a bit, don't I? Abid (center back), Arti, and I have been working with these guys for seven weeks now. Next week will be their in-class celebration (while I'm in Bahrain) and then they have a Al Jaedah Company certificate ceremony as well.

After class, Tessa and I went to have dinner with Profs. Nael and Khaled, who both teach networks, which she TAs for. I TA for Nael and Andreas (who couldn't make it) for Technical Communications for Computer Scientists. So basically, they were taking out the Pittsburgh CS TAs. And at the fancy InterCon Fish Market as well! We got to pick out our fish (I finally tried hammour, the local catch), and I ate way too much.

I'm headed out in just a few hours (well, four to be exact) to get to the airport, fly to Dubai, then take a bus to Oman. Jessica did this just a few days ago, so I got all the details from her. I just need to throw a few things in my backpack (including some books I borrowed... I'm excited to read on the bus!) and I'll be ready to grab a cab to the airport at 0630. Wish me luck, and I'll talk to you tomorrow from a (supposedly) beautiful Oman!