The Good Old Days, or Day 122 in Doha and Bahrain

I finally got to see Sheikha Mozah today (with Aysha in the background of this picture)! Her Highness attended the Qatar Foundation Convocation ceremony tonight, where all of the graduates of all six of the Education City universities came together to be presented rings.

I've also officially figured out all seven universities. The one I always forget is the newest one to EC, the Faculty of Islamic Studies, which gives out Masters degrees; the other five with graduating classes are (in order of appearance to Education City) VCU, Cornell, Texas A&M, CMU, and Georgetown. Northwestern is the new kid on the block. It is funny, because around EC you can tell who has been here the longest by their building. (VCU's is currently being renovated, Georgetown is getting a building, and Northwestern is currently in CMU's upstairs.)

With six of the universities graduating students, there were still only 193 students. That's not many (and I was kinda glad, since listening to a bunch of names being read off a list is sometimes not all that exciting.)

It started with a reading from the Quran, then recitation of a poem, then presentation of the rings and an address by Her Highness. After a final group picture, they all proceeded through the Gate of Graduation (I don't know the real name of the bab they went through, but that's close enough...)

Before this evening's festivities, I had lunch with Jill and Cindy, from Student Affairs. They quizzed me on my time here, what could be better, what made my semester so great. In a lot of ways, I was just lucky; can't really ask for the friends I had around here. The experience I got can't be bottled up and handed to every student that comes over. Someone was clearly looking out for me.

After first lunch came second lunch. Rishav took Samreen, Kaleem, and I to Landmark, and we ran into Khaled and Saleh. Small world around here, and I pretty much love it. We also got to see Shakir, Tessa, and Swapnil that were in the mall too and stopped by.

After the ceremony tonight (and after the food), Abdalla gave me a ride to the airport, and I hopped on a (huge, empty, British Airlines) flight to Bahrain. I must've been randomly sleeping, because I remember the announcement saying that we were quite to the gate yet. Then, next thing I knew, some flight attendants were asking me my name. They wanted to make sure I got off the plane instead of going on to London with it!

So I made it to Bahrain and my CouchSurfing host easily. Another country, and two days of fun!

This afternoon, W=while we were eating at TGI Fridays, there was a quote on the wall that I saw... "Here's to the good old days that we are having right now." Well, here's to them!

Fire!, or Day 65 in Doha

The excitement of the day (besides going to bed early and waking up early, which is a rare occurrence) was a fire alarm during my Computer Networking class.

That class is just cursed I guess.

The eight of us went outside (along with the rest of the CMU building), and Professor Khaled started throwing a frisbee around. But we went inside shortly when they gave the all clear.

Later, I did get to see a few minutes of the ECQC (Education City Quiz Challenge) preliminary round. I'm excited to see the finals in a few days. Because, of course, I was the voice of the commercial, so I should represent.

I guess the last thing that happened was my first session with Soliya. It's an interesting bunch of people, but I'm excited to see where the discussions go.

Otherwise, a fairly humdrum day of coding.

But here are some India pictures!

Such a Random Life, or Day 32 in Doha

Warning: today was one of those days were a million things happened and all of them are interesting!

First off, today was a very weird day for weather. After spending the morning Skyping and cleaning, I went outside and the first thing I see is a group of East Asians with dust masks on. I was immediately freaked out, thinking there was some crazy pathogen in the air that was making them wear the masks.

Thankfully, they were anomalies, though it was very windy and dusty, as you can see. The funny smog affected my mood more here than clouds do back in Pittsburgh and Seattle. I'm getting too used to the constant sunshine!

I spent the afternoon and evening around CMU: celebrating the new club space (by eating cake), working on a project, celebrating a birthday (by eating cake), and took a drive around EC with some girls I met at a Women Leadership Program lunch on Tuesday. As they invited me outside on the drive, one of the girls said, "Your life is so random."

You have no idea.

Anyway, they were explaining the licensing process around here. You hire a personal instructor, then take a much more intense test that we Americans go through. In fact, I think males are required to learn and test on a manual; us gentler sex are allowed an automatic**.

After the drive, I attend the finale of the "EC for Haiti" campaign. We had a goal of 20,000 riyals; we actually hit over 22,000 (over $6,000)! After a presentation about Haiti, a student band played (with my stunning roommate Khadeejah singing) while we wrote messages of hope to Haiti.

Next was the BAM football (soccer) game. "BAM" stands for "Body and Mind", and they are an EC-wide student club. This team included Rolando and David, two of the Texas A&M students, and a few others I knew (including the coach), so it was a lot of fun supporting them. Especially when they won against Cornell, 4-1, putting them in the quarter-finals!

Abdalla and I got a call from Zaid and Sidra, two friends we went out to dinner with before. I had connected with Sidra during the Haiti event and mentioned that we needed to go out again... I just hadn't realized it would be this soon!

After the shwarmas were gone, it was time for my first movie-in-a-cinema in Doha! Abdalla took me to see "The Men Who Stare At Goats", which has a whole slew of Hollywood actors. Half of the movie took place in Kuwait and Iraq, so it was fun sitting with someone who knew Arabic.

In the movie, Ewan McGregor's character is a reporter who wants to show his chops, so goes to the "war zone" of Kuwait (at least, that's how he describes it to his estranged wife). Now that I'm up on my Middle Eastern countries, I saw the humor in that; I also saw the similar grand hotels and impressive landscaping of a typical Gulf country.

Did I also mention that Ewan McGregor eventually begins reporting on these "psychic Jedi's" that the U.S. Army is secretly training. Well, Mr. McGregor (*cough* Obi-Wan Kenobi *cough*), you would know about Jedi's...

Well, I seriously thought my evening was over after that. I went home, felt the few raindrops outside, and started writing this.

Much to my surprise, I get a call just before midnight asking if I want to go for a drive. Apparently, it is traditional for Shakir and two of his friends, Aditya and "FeFe", to drive around when it is raining and sing Enrique. Since it was a thunderstorm, I guess they had to invite me, Fatima, and Maria along?

We ended up at bandar. I'm sure you are just shocked. And I got tea. Again, you must be in disbelief.

New to bandar was the lightning over the bay. Tonight's rain was fun to play around in; it never got too heavy, but my feet did get a little chilly.

We ended the night with a game of Charades... let's just say that it was better than all of the lame jokes we told in the half hour before that.

I feel you need a taste of it, so here's one from Fatima, the queen of the lame jokes: "What did the daddy tomato say to the baby tomato?" "Ketchup!"

I'm still listening to the thunder rumbling around outside. Different than the typical night sounds of the round-the-clock construction work... and much rarer as well!

**Correction by Rana: "Women can drive manual , and men can choose to do either automatic or manual :D :D :D Its not based on gender... But it makes more sense that we would choose automatic , its easier and any ways nearly most of the cars in Qatar are automatic, few manuals :D"

Because When You're Done, You Want Some More, or Day 26 in Doha

While today didn't have any extreme, wild and crazy adventures, it was one of those days that just left me with a glow at the end of it. It reminds me how much the simple things around EC and Doha are going to stick with me.

I got a call from a friend inviting me to lunch and grocery shopping (which was exactly what I needed to do!) So Shakir, Arlie, and I headed out for some Indian cuisine, which included these baked chip-things he called "poppers." I was snacking on those the whole time, while eating some Indian dish that he recommended. I won't say it's the best I've had (I like the dishes based around the bread naan instead of those based on rice), but it cleared my sinuses and my hunger.

Lulu's Hypermart, where we went shopping, is appropriately named. Parking was crazy, like it always is anywhere in Doha, and the shopping carts have casters on every wheel, so turning is an art and an adventure. The entrance also has a crowded money exchange dealer, a jewelry store with only gold, and a "Bag Drop" if you want to continue to shop without your cart full of stuff.

I don't think I've talked about grocery shopping much here before, but it is cheaper than the US, but much harder. I can't recognize brands; when English is thrown in in small print on a package, I have to examine everything twice as much. And trying to buy local (and thus cheaper) creates interesting results. I was trying to find vanilla extract, but ended up with a bottle of some sort of vanilla flavouring. For $.30, why not try it out?

And, as most the times I hang out with Shakir, we ended up at bandar. Had a bit of "carrack" (the tea that I'm always talking about), then headed back to EC.

As we are cruising through the gates, Shakir asks about a little cricket detour, since Texas A&M and Cornell were playing each other. Since he had painstakingly explained the complex rules to me during the first week we met, I was ready to see a game in action.

And I think I might have understood part of the conversation he had. There was talk of a "score" and a "winner"... but really, there was something about the "number of balls left" (which I kinda understood) and something about the "wickets" (which I'm not sure I understood at all). Then, they started jabbering in some other language, so I got lost after that.

I tripped going up the stairs to my apartment, so had to make an egg sandwich from the broken egg. Then I got alerted of free food for a recruiting event, so I got some delicious Baskin-Robbins while reconnecting with some inter-uni friends. After that was a quick stop to say hello at the Campus Life evening event, where I had to explain what a s'more is. I also "played" in a pick-up basketball game. Which meant I left to ice my jammed finger and finish grading some homeworks. The cycle never ends, but I love it so much. Social, busy days like these make me happy to be buzzing with life.

Uni, or Day 15 in Doha

Today was probably my first real crunch day for school.

In America, we say "I'm at college"; in most other parts, I hear, "I'm at uni." Uni, as in university, but I often chuckle to myself as I think unitard, unicorn, uni-brow...

Since it was my first real crunch day, I think it was also the first day that I haven't taken any pictures around here.

I mean, I didn't just stay on campus and study (like I should have). I played Monday volleyball with some people (the tradition of CS volleyball lives on here, too, apparently); I went out for some sort of juice drink with avocado, mango, and coconut; I went running; I took a nap; I made my first exercises for the recitation section I am leading tomorrow.

And best of all, I got to have more social, cultural, and just heart-warming experiences with the other residents of Education City. Isn't that just warm and fuzzy?

Here's a retro-photo care of Arlie: from Day 4, when we found a majlis (seating area) around the souq to rest our feet.

Cat-erwauling, or Day 13 in Doha

Warning: today was not very exciting, so I'm going to spice it up with nerdy things. Sound like a plan?

This morning, bright and early, there were these two tomcats (as I found out later) that had cornered a lady-cat in a tree and were head-butting underneath it. (Ask Jessica for pictures, if you desire.) All I remember is thinking, "That's why they call it 'caterwauling'" as I rolled over and went back to sleep.

I finished my TA training! Not like it was very hard, but there were a few ethical questions that I hadn't thought of before. If you are a teaching assistant for a friend, who calls you up to ask a question, then we were supposed to think if all of the students in the class have the same luxury. If not, that is not treating all students fairly. I hadn't thought of that situation in that way before.

Jessica had mentioned yesterday during training (since she is going to be a writing tutor), that she was looking for a chance to make crepes. I was on board! So today, a few of us girls got together at her place for the delicious French delight.

Have I mentioned recently that I hate the lack of co-ed dorms? I don't even need my living room co-ed. I just want a kitchen to cook for people in!

I met Layal, Jessica's roommate, for the first time today. She lives in Bahrain and tells stories, usually involving her and usually involving her clumsiness, that she just bubbles over in explaining. A reinforcing reminder that laughing at yourself is a good and healthy thing.

The crepes were delicious, and Jessica did an awesome job making them. There was much flipping and... well, just a lot of really cool flipping, actually.

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for... where I show you what my first homework assignment is for "Formal Languages, Automata, and Computability" ("FLAC" for short).

We are creating automata, which are basically these flow charts that determine whether or not a "string" is accepted in a "language" (where a string is a series of character, and a language is just a bunch of rules).

So, in the spirit of this homework assignment, I made you all an automata that only accepts the language containing "Corinne" and "Cornish." Here it is, in all its glory, as I return to its cousins (which are much more interesting to make).
A final outing for the evening: a drive to bandar, to get shwarma and Moroccan tea and see West Bay all lit up. Those are some of my favorite things in Doha, all wrapped up in one.

Arabic Arabic Numerals, or Day 5 in Doha

My, I'm just working through that bucket list like there is no tomorrow! I mean, the lack of classes and enthusiasm of other exchange students might also be helping...

I mentioned to Shaza yesterday that I wanted to walk the cornish, and, in her great friendship and initiative, called a cab for us to take. But then two became three, then four, then six... and fate smiled on us and sent us another cab from the heavens. (It was actually dropping someone else off at the dorm, so perfectly timed for us to steal it.)

The day, like all days I've experienced here, was beautiful. The air wasn't as crisp as it could have been (a bit of smog/dust on the horizon) but I am never going to complain.

Now, the taxis all think that we are tourists (and we are for a bit), but they are taking every chance to stretch out our pockets a little further. The cabdriver turned off the meter sometime during our trip, and just charged us a fare at the end that was about 10 riyals ($3) more than we should have had to pay, but we accepted it.

However, on the way back, some of the VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) students were "taken for a ride" by a guy with a car who probably wasn't even a cabdriver.

But enough of that nonsense and back to the beautiful scenery and wonderful weather we got to experience on the cornish.

We started on East Bay, by Souk Waqif ("the souk") and the Islamic Arts Museum. We began to walk and chat along the fairly well-used boardwalk. A few people were fishing, but what gladdened me the most was the number of families out. Zane and Brent were getting jealous of all the tricycles, scooters, plastic riding cars, balls, and miscellaneous toys that were being used all up and down the waterline. Each family had a picnic, with some lawn chairs even, and were content to sit and enjoy.

About halfway around the bay that Doha lies on, we reached a park. I know I was starving by this point, and I think that Afaf was too. We poked around to find many cultural arts stores closed (since it was Friday, the Muslim day of community prayer and rest) and a pool-like feature that wound around them.

We followed the hollers of children to find a polished cement "slide." I dared to go down, and, after trying to walk back up the polished surface, had renewed respect for the 7-year-old right next to me who was down then up again in a flash.

With my stomach still grumbling, I followed the paper cups of tea to the "Yes Cafeteria." Can you just imagine the questions they get? And I'm sure they can only answer "yes."

Well, we said "yes" to six Mega Hotdogs, some chips, and some french fries (the other kind of chips). They undercharged us, so all of our food was obtained for something like $10. And I know I was ready for the feast.

At this point, we were about halfway around the bay, and I had every intention of continuing to follow it to reach my goal (you remember, "Walk the Corniche", even though I spelled it wrong). Soon after we finished our meal and resumed walking, a man started advertising his dhow to sail us around the bay.

40 riyals per person, he said.

We said no.

15 riyals per person.

Then I perked up. Because, as you are aware, "Ride a dhow" was on my list too. And for $5 a person?

But we still had more of the cornish to walk, so a final refusal.

10 riyals. Final price.

I was hooked. $20 for all of us? But I was going to try to be clever one last time. I countered with 50 riyals for the 6 of us, but he wouldn't budge. Poor Brent, who I fear has a phobia of bartering, was slowly shying away from this whole encounter.

This refusal was actually well-fated, since we decided to walk to East Bay (by the skyscrapers), then have a dhow take us back to the souk area. Though we had to pay 17 a piece, it was worth it for me to not have to walk around the bend again. And, riding a dhow is crossed off my list too!

During our meander along the bay, we became showing off our "knowledge" of Arabic, which is really just the Arabic numerals learned from license plates. Arabic doesn't actually use the "Arabic numerals" that we are used to. Instead, it uses the Indian set. We were reciting off our knowledge until we realized that the only way we could describe some of them was using our own numbers. So,

Zero: a dot
One: like our "1", a line
Two: a backwards "7"
Three: a backwards "7" with an extra bump
Four: a backwards "3"
Five: a "0" or circle
Six: a "7"
Seven: a "V"
Eight: an upside-down "V", or "A" with the crossbar missing
Nine: like our "9"!

We had heard people planning on going to the souk at about 5 for dinner and wandering, so we were on the lookout for the Texas A&M people, and ran into some shortly. They kindly allowed us to add to their dinner party, and we ate at the glitziest, gaudiest restaurant I have ever laid eyes on. The Iranian (Persian) fare was ok, but it was the green chile peppers masuarading as green beans that stole the show (and taste buds from four of the males sitting at my table). They were crying tears of pain, and Daedri and I were crying tears of laughter.

Michael is the only one I really feel sorry for. He seriously thought it was a green bean, but spit it out only after it left a painful mark. Ziad, Brent, and David did it to themselves, each trying to outdo the other. When Sophie joined in... we were all in tears.

After wandering the souk and sitting and talking at a sheesha place, it was time for Shakir and I to pick up the last of the CMU crew from the airport. Jessica was in a lively mood, ready to get back to a city she loved last spring on her IMPAQT trip, and we packed her off to the dorms in a jiffy.

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!

Hello, Sister, or how I made it to Qatar, Doha, and Education City

My plane landed last night (if you couldn't tell from the hurried post), and now, I'm sitting on a lab computer in the CMU building in Education City, freezing!

Why? The over-air condition everything.

So, getting here. I headed out from Agora (my Istanbul hostel) at about 10, during a wonderful break in the rain. As we had headed back from hookah the night before, my shoes and pants got soaked, and so I just put the same damp stuff on for my trip to the airport, expecting to get wet. I brought extra clothes to change into.

After a quick half hour walk-tram-light rail transport, I made it to the airport with about 3 hours until my flight. In this airport, I had to send my luggage through a scanner to get into the airport (remember when I had to do that when I arrived and left the airport without getting money? Yeah, it's a bit of a hassle, but makes some sense.) Then, the counters aren't labeled at all, so I had to ask at information which of the A-F numbers 1-18 counters I should go to.

I got to the Etihad counter (remember how hard it was to get this flight? Yeah, thankfully it was all settled by this point.) There, I was informed I could only have one carry-on that was 7kg. Seven kilos is nothing! My laptop weighs 3! But I didn't want to pay for an extra bag, so I used that extra time wisely: sticking everything that into my hiking backpack, including my other backpack. The attendant was incredulous, but ten minutes later, I had one bag that was 110kg to be check, and one that was 8 (she let it pass... I think she just felt sorry for me at that point).

I went through the passport check, then got to my gate area, which had the final screening. I found a great Turkish newspaper with some awesome puzzles in it. There was a Samurai soduku (which kept me occupied for at least an hour over the course of the day), a word search and one of those crosswords where you just have to make all the given words fit into them (Deanne, you like those). They were in Turkish, but I got them!

On my first flight, from Istanbul to Abu Dhabi, I decided to be friendly and chat up the Canadian I was sitting next to. An urban planner, he gave me all sorts of information about the UAE and his work. We also got nice little entertainment systems that I enjoyed too.

The Abu Dhabi airport had this gorgeous mushroom ceiling mosaic (the ceiling was shaped like a mushroom) but awful water pressure in the bathrooms, which meant they were pretty bad.

I have been on four flights now (the last being from Abu Dhabi to Doha, which was only 40 minutes), and 3 of the 4 have given me food! I was not expecting it! I got ravioli, and a delicious eggplant stuffed with beef, and then a sandwich on that final, 40 minute flight. We hardly had our seltbelts off and had a breadroll with cheese and tomatoes.

I landed in Doha, got through immigration and customs breezily, and started looking for a sign, since I thought there would be a driver waiting for me to get me to my dorm.

There were actually two students that greeted me, and a driver to take us back. After some confusing calling to get a CDA (their version of an RA) to let me in, me, Alini, and Shakir went out for some delicious juice smoothies. Then, I poked around my large living area enough to see that no one else was there, and fell asleep.

This morning, I was awake and puttering around by... you know... 11. It was great to sleep in. there was a ringing at my door and a maid? helper? some woman said, "Hello, sister. I have some welcome items for you." I was told I would get a little bit of food to tide me over until I could go shopping, so here it was!

I have linens and towels and food, and internet, but no converter for my room yet. There is a giant TV, and large kitchen, and two bedrooms with two beds each. There is a full bath and a half bath, and a laundry room... It is pretty impressive. The bedroom, though, is a bit tight. But I'm not complaining! I'm not sure if they roommate they told me online is my actual roommate though... I thought she was already living there, but the room I'm in was empty.

I met Melissa, my coordinator, and began figuring out the giant and beautiful building that is CMU here. She's the one that hooked me up with this computer. Let me just say, while I'm freezing sitting here, the weather outside is a toasty... 90 degrees F maybe? Ahhhh...

Well, off to read, watch TV, finish laundry, and have more adventures today (maybe).

It's good to be "home."

(I'll probably walk around now and take some pictures to add to this post. Look for them later!)