Apartment with a View in Doha, Qatar

This has become almost an annual event - posting a video of our new apartment. Last year was the first year in ten years that we didn't move. This year, the contract our school had with the apartment building expired. So, company housing moved - further away from school, but in a much better location. We love our apartment so much.

Model of our apartment building

Instead of me writing about it, I will just let you watch the video for yourself. Let us know what you think.

Here are pictures of the view from our apartment:

Taking a walk in our neighborhood:

COVID-19 in Qatar

I really had no intention to write about my experience with COVID-19. I mean, the whole world is going through this. Why would anyone care about my perspective? However, several people have made a comment about looking forward to reading my blog post about it. The more I thought about it, I figured I should go ahead and write about it. One, it will be fun (or not) to re-read what I wrote in one, five, ten years from now. Two, most people who are going to read this probably don't know (many) people living in other countries, and it might be beneficial to hear from someone they know about how this pandemic is affecting people all over the world. I will break this up into sections: personal and professional.

Personal
Thanks to social media, I am acutely aware of all the happenings of home. Just like at home (Jasper, Indiana), things in Doha are changing day-by-day. Within about a one week span, pretty much everything closed. As of the date I am writing this, March 22nd, just about the only things left open are banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, and restaurants for take-out or delivery. However, the one major difference I am seeing between Doha and home is the lack of mass-chaos and hoarding here. Grocery shopping is never a fun event for me. It's usually always busy, and I get cart rage very easily. However, people here are not being extra crazy at the stores. I went shopping on March 19th, and this is what the shelves looked like.

We have stocked up on food and all other essentials, so I'm feeling pretty good about things. We are self-isolating as much as possible. It's a little hard to do, though, when all of your friends live in the same apartment building as you.

Professional
Just as a reminder, our work week runs Sunday to Thursday. On Monday the 9th, the government announced, at the end of 6th period (we have an 8-period day) that schools were closed indefinitely. We had been anticipating that something like that would happen, but not during the day. It was chaos for the last two periods of school. We had two days to prepare our lessons for online learning, and our first day of distance education started on Thursday the 12th. All last week, teachers had to go to school. We are doing a modified block schedule, and we are required to Zoom in with students for every class. Today was the first day that we were allowed to work from home. Full dress code for teachers is enforced.

Zooming with my students.

We, obviously, don't know if/when we are going to return to school. Our spring break was scheduled for April 3-18. Thank goodness Zach and I didn't plan on going anywhere for break! And, Ramadan is supposed to start on April 24th. We have a shorter school day during Ramadan. There is speculation that we probably won't go back until after Ramadan (middle of May), but it's purely speculation. For us, the school year ends on June 25th. Our plan has been to go home for summer, but we will have to see what happens before we make any definite plans.

Professional - Teaching
I have to say, I am definitely coming from a place of privilege. I have joined some teacher groups on Facebook, and I am shocked at some of the things teachers back home have to deal with. All of our students in grades 6-12 are required to have a device. We are a 1:1 school. I am very confident in saying that all of our students have internet at home. As a school, we already use Google Classroom on a daily basis. It's been shocking, to me, to see that teachers are struggling with the technology side of distance learning. Believe me, I realize that they are struggling because it is not something they deal with on a regular basis. Not to brag (but I'm pretty proud to say), but I am also a Google Certified Educator. So, I feel extremely fortunate to be where I am during this extremely weird time.

Anyway, that's my update. I know it's not much different than anyone else. But, that's the point. Even though I'm in a different country, I am experiencing similar things to people back home. We are all in this together. Stay safe, everyone!

Choices: You're Too Young

We all like having choices, even me, who has a lot of trouble making decisions. I am that "typical" woman who cannot decide where she wants to eat when her husband asks her, "What do you want for dinner?" Isn't that the worst question ever?! Trying to choose a movie to watch on Netflix or on an airplane is agonizing. I probably spend more time choosing a movie then I do actually watching the movie.

But, I have the choice, and having or not having a choice is the reason I'm writing this. With the recent developments in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi, I started thinking about the choices I have in my life. And while I've been very fortunate to have many choices in my life, one of the most important choices I tried to make for myself, as a woman, was denied time and time again.

I was older than 18 years old and married. As a husband and wife, we, together, made the decision to not have children. However, when I asked medical professionals in the United States to perform a tubal ligation, I was denied. DENIED?! I was an adult. I was married (which shouldn't matter one way or another). Yet, when I wanted to make an informed decision about my body, I was told that I was a little young and that I might change my mind, and therefore I could not have the procedure. But when my husband, who was the same age, asked to have a vasectomy, the only question he was asked was what date suited him to do the procedure.

I was very fortunate to finally find a doctor who listened to what I had to say, and agreed to perform the procedure. You can read all about it here. Five years later, and I - no, WE - have not changed our minds.

While I am very much pro-choice when it comes to abortions, I am also very much pro-choice when it comes to preventing an unwanted pregnancy to begin with. And for a doctor to say that a woman cannot choose to permanently prevent a pregnancy, and the law to say that the same woman cannot terminate an unwanted pregnancy, just blows my mind. So, I can't choose to have an abortion, but I also can't choose to prevent a pregnancy in the first place? You're damned if you do; you're damned if you don't. 

Trip to Sri Lanka

Zach and I were very adamant about not traveling this school year in order to save up for all the work we need/have to do on the cabin. However, staying in Qatar during winter break really depressed us. We needed to get out - not because we hate it here, but because we needed to experience something new. So, during our week-long break in February, we joined three other friends and rented an Airbnb in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. Hikkaduwa is a coastal city in the country's southwest side.

I can't tell you much about Hikkaduwa, because Zach and I only went into town twice: once to have dinner (it was dark) and the other was to go diving (we were in the water). Other than that, we stayed at the Airbnb, relaxing, drinking, sleeping, and more relaxing. I don't have much to write, because we literally did nothing. But, I can show you some pretty awesome pictures. Oh, one great thing about our Airbnb: we had a personal cleaner (did all of our dishes, etc.) and a personal chef. And, if we needed someone to go to the store for us (for say...beer), all we had to do was give them money, and they would get it for us! Win!

View from our porch

Joe hanging out in his hammock

 

Sign at the dive shop

 

Sam doing a lot of relaxing

Zach doing a lot of relaxing

Glamping: Beach on the Arabian Gulf

Way back in the beginning of October, a group of us went glamping (glamorous camping). Instead of writing much about it, I will just share photos and videos. It was a great time with great friends, and I definitely plan on going back!

 

 

 

 

Brunch: The All-You-Can-Eat and Drink Madness

Ah, winter break! I thought this would be a fantastic time to go back and update all of you on our time in Doha. Little did I realize that would be a tall order! I haven't blogged since September, and it's the only post about our time in Qatar. So, what better way to introduce you to Qatar than talk about brunch?!

I bet you're thinking, "Brunch. Big deal." Well, that's exactly what it is - a big deal! However, when I first heard about it, I thought the exact same thing as you, especially after I heard the price! Let me explain. There is one store in the entire country - ONE STORE - that sells alcohol and pork. There are hotels and bars where you can get alcohol, but that one store (the QDC) is the only place to buy for personal consumption. When you go out to a hotel/bar, you will spend about 50 Qr on a beer (~$14). Happy Hour is about 35 Qr (~$10).

So, back to brunch. Brunch is an all-you-can-eat and drink (alcohol) affair which will cost about 300-500 Qr (~$80-$140) per person. Now, I know brunch is not specific to Doha, but it's the first time I've ever heard of it, and I was blown away by the cost. However, if you break it down, it's actually a pretty great deal. Brunches usually last 3.5-4 hours. Again, it's all-you-can-eat and drink. If you have two drinks per hour, you've already gotten your money out of it. (But who just sticks to two drinks per hour when it's a never-ending flow??!) Most brunches are on Fridays from 12pm-4pm.

I've been to two brunches, but they've both been at the same hotel, so I can only vouch for the one, but it was really good! Here are some pictures of our brunch days!

Fancy Food

All. The. Drinks.

Sam's birthday celebration