September

The world/Qatar is treating us well. We think the blast furnace has been turned off, so now it’s just hot. Highs are around 100 – 102, but it now cools off a bit in the evenings. It would be great if the humidity would go away.

We have survived a second Ramadan, and basically it is now out of our lives. Ramadan moves forward 11 days each year, so next year we will have a long summer. School will start after Eid, the holiday celebrating Ramadan’s end. We don’t intend to be here in 2015 when it will start effecting the end of the school year.

Our boxes from Napa have not arrived at our villa yet. (There’s a strong possibility that they are sitting at customs.) However, we have settled into our house and routines. One of the HUGE improvements from last year is our kitchen. It’s very open with plenty of counter and cupboard space. I have been cooking more and baking bread. I am still learning the vagaries of foreign labeling on flours, but the bread still tastes good. We have several large grocery stores where most of us shop. There are some corner shops, but they are not that close to us. We’ll see if they seem more convenient when the temp drops. By chance, I met a lady from Berkeley while at the meat counter of the “western” grocery store. I happened to mention Dean and DeLucca, and she commented on hers in Napa. What a small world.

The rest of the schools in Doha start this week. We figure we’ll start seeing Doha at its normal self. In other words, the Qataries are back from the their summer travels. We are expecting much more traffic. I’m not sure it will effect Alan and me that much. We live awfully darn close to school, and we go in at 6:45am. Traffic seems to be at its worst after 9:00 pm. The plus side to traffic is that congestion slows everything down. And, it still does not compare to the crazy driving in Kuwait. Here we have city streets with far too many roundabouts for my taste; in Kuwait most of our diving was on freeways – much, much, much faster!

The other difference I’ve noticed is the number of women fully veiled. The abayas, black coverings from head to foot, are far more prevalent here. However, they are not necessarily as closed and often hair is showing around their faces. It seems that at least half of the woman are completely covered or only have eye holes. Much younger girls are also in abayas. It’s very intimidating. I just saw a book written by a lady from the Mideast about “being behind the veil”. I need to read it. I think it’s one of our major misunderstandings.

Our social life is still flourishing. Alan and I have joined the eucre group, given up on the whiskey tasting group, and trying to join the Rugby Club group. One of the big adventures here is going to the Inland Sea. It involves “duning” out in the desert while trying not to get too lost and ending at a nice beach area. One group ventured out last week, but it was too hot, and we had other dinner plans. The day turned into an adventure – 1 flat tire, cars getting separated, cars getting stuck. Obviously, a very successful day for them.

As always, I hope all is well.
Love,
Carol and Alan

New Year, New Country, New Adventure

From the street

family room awaiting a bigass tv

What a difference a year makes!

living room

dining

We just finished our first week (and a full first week at that) with our students but we arrived three weeks ago. And there was the first difference. Carol and I both arrived on the same plane without any mishaps. Direct from SFO to Dubai was actually not that bad. Fifteen hours in an Emirates flight is tolerable even in economy. Each seat has its own screen and controller, so the choice of movies, TV shows, radio, games and interactive maps provided lots of diversions. Our flight headed north out of San Francisco just to the east of the Napa Valley so it was a wonderful way to say “hasta la vista” to the Bay Area. North we flew, right over the top. I looked for the red and white striped pole but never saw it. Oh well maybe next trip. And then we flew south into the Middle East.

We arrived in Doha at 4:30 AM with all of our luggage and were greeted in the lobby by assorted principals and vice principals with warm welcomes. Their parting words as we left the airport, “Um, first meeting is at 8:30 AM.” And so we began. Between totally wacked-out body clocks, adrenaline and caffeine, it worked just fine.

Counter space!!! Loking into familyroom

So how does living in Qatar differ from Kuwait? We are now in a three bedroom house with a great kitchen, private front yard with a palapa and our own car in the carport. We live 4 blocks from school, so once the weather cools we will be able to walk to work, but for now it is a short drive. We will miss our commuting buddies but not the 6:30 AM start or calling shue-shue from the back of the bus. Other differences… more abayas & veils, beer, slower traffic, wine, less impressive malls, rum, quieter calls to prayer, vodka, no bakalas/KD chicken, The Syndicate. But it is still the Middle East, so when we disembarked from the airplane into Doha airport, the sights, sounds, smells and stifling heat felt familiar and somehow like home.

Full size stove and more counter space.

The biggest difference for us though, is school. The requisite Mission, Vision and Values are posted in every classroom and office throughout the school, just like most other schools. The difference is that everyone knows them and lives them, from the Superintendent to the support staff, everyone. Honesty, respect, responsibility and compassion. And the very first statement in the vision says “Learning is fun.” It shows. The kids love coming to school. And they come from all over the world into our classes. American, Canadian, Qatari, Norwegian, Lebanese, Japanese, Korean, Aussie, Kiwi… you get the picture. It is a veritable United Nations. So far they all are exceeding our expectations. If anything, it is a bit daunting thinking about how to keep the curriculum engaging and challenging.

Front yard

The facilities at school are off the charts - track, gym, workout facilities, pools (not three pools, just two -both full size), fields, etc. Our classrooms are good sized but Alan also has an office in the team room so that he and his teammates can collaborate. Each grade level has a commons area with seating and tables so students can relax and socialize during breaks.

And then there is technology. All teachers received Mac books. All of Alan’s students will receive netbooks. The technology works and we are expected to use it. Carol is getting her smartboard next week (inshallah) and is not quite sure what she is getting into. One of Alan’s students laughed at him last week as Alan turned on the overhead projector. Some teasing comment about old school.

Front door

Soooo, all is good!

Hope is going well with you.
Love Alan and Carol

Count Down!

We are down to the last month of school. Hard to believe.

We had a wonderful Spring Vacation in Sri Lanka. We spent a week at a beautiful little beach town apparently well known for its surfing - Hikkaduwa. We were at the very tail end of the season. It was fairly deserted, and we had a pick of rooms. We started at El Cheapo - $18/night. Unfortunately, the fan somehow didn’t move any air, and it was just too hot. We moved two doors down and got a room right on the ocean with AC and breakfast for $45/night. This room was quite small, but the view, the sounds, and the AC were well worth it. We ended up traveling with a delightful young couple from our school/building. Without any coordination, we were on the same flights, and they also moved to our second hotel in search of AC. We did our own things during the day, and tended to meet back on the beach for Lion Beer that only came in liter bottles for a buck and a half. We introduced them to Phase 10, played pingpong, wandered down the beach, and found some place to eat. Once we ordered, we are pretty sure they went looking for the chicken to throttle. It seriously could take an hour and a half. Thank goodness for Lions.

We had several incredible storms roll through, but they only lasted a few hours. The lightning was spectacular, although I did feel for the fishing boats that looked awfully dang close to the strikes.

We only spent one day in Colombo. We discovered we definitely will spend more time there next time. We think there will be a next time because it is a cheap vacation and a great get away from the desert colors. We marveled everyday about the greens.There is a lot more to see on the island, so maybe next time we’ll travel around a bit more. On the other hand, if you’ve seen our photos, that beach will always be beckoning us!

Both kids had a tough month. DeYette got stranded in Athens thanks to the volcano. She finally made it back 10 days late. Luckily, she’s now laughing about it. Ellen, a friend of my from college, and an exboyfriend’s cousin of one of the other girls, absolutely saved them by providing places to stay. Rome and Paris were mad houses. THANKS AGAIN ELLEN! To say the least, no hostels or cheap hotels were available. There also is a chance that trip insurance may come through for some of the costs. Hallelujah! Neill broke his collarbone playing flag football. It didn’t just crack; it broke and overlapped that required surgery to fix. HMMMM a 23 year old male working part time in the restaurant field, what are the chances of insurance. Well, lo and behold, the football league did end up covering him. It took 3 ½ weeks and many frantic phone calls, but it did all work out. (Yes, he has been bombarded by advice for the future.)

SUMMER vacation is coming soon. We fly back June 13. We leave at a reasonable hour and arrive late in the afternoon, but of course it will have been about 18 hours. We will switch planes in Heathrow, my first visit to England – a whopping 1.5 hours. (I hope all goes well!) Then a single flight to SFO. Our summer ends Aug. 1 when we take a nonstop flight from SFO to Dubai – 16 hours, 1 flight. DeYette seems to be employed once again at Candy and Kites. (thanks David and Fiona) So, we know we will be in the Bay Area most of the time. We’d love to catch up with everybody.

Alan finally received his birthday present – a good camera, so we are posting lots of photos on Picasa. I know that some of you get emails allowing access, otherwise I’m not sure how it all works. Yet. Soon, there will be more photos of the Kuwait we really live in.

Hope all is well.

Love,

Carol and Alan

Salam wa aleikum!

Trying to write this blog from the Arabic site is quite interesting. Sooner or later you do hit the correct button.

Life is continuing to roll on as it always does. There are always lessons to plan and papers to grade and annoyances to complain about. However, Alan and I agree that the last year and a half actually turned out pretty well. We’ve read about the pink slips in California and realize our timing worked for us. We had always talked about ending our careers working abroad, we just got here ahead of schedule. We now realize that if we had known then what we know now, we would have made this move even sooner. Teaching and living overseas is definitely not for everyone, but if you think you might be interested in it, it’s worth a try. We have young singles, young couples, young families, and old singles, old couples – you get the idea. There isn’t one right time to try this. From what I hear, the families and the couples settle a bit longer at one school, but moving around, and moving “up” is quite common. Internet and Skype have made the world and teaching community quite small. Ultimately, our year here in Kuwait has been good. It’s put us on a great path.

Sooooo Kuwait. We have come to the realization that we will never get to know a Kuwaiti. The culture so revolves around the family, Kuwaitis are not interested much in the outside. Of course there are exceptions, but I don’t where you meet them. North Americans are needed here, so we fill that space. Wanted – that’s a different question. People here are definitely judged for their wealth and family status. You can imagine that a teacher is not going to be very high on that scale. We have had two offbeat encounters with Kuwaitis. Once, we were walking around the old souk (bazaar). We were admiring a hallway that seemed to house architects or other small businesses as two men walked toward us. Suddenly, one stopped and started explaining the history of the souk and how it was being preserved. We talked for about three minutes, he was obviously proud and enjoyed sharing the history. It made us realize how little we get to talk to Kuwaitis about Kuwait. Months later, Alan was in a store trying to decide between the 500 types of dates. A man started explaining the differences. Alan was so startled; he looked around to see to whom the man was talking. They chatted for about 5 minutes. Both conversations made us realize how much we miss talking and learning about Kuwait from them. Nice people, but we will never get to know them. In the meantime, Westerners fill the void with their own conclusions. This usually is not good. I don’t understand the veils and abayas, long black coverings. I don’t understand how a fully veiled woman seems to be close friends with a completely western dressed Kuwaiti. To me, they seem like they would be light years apart, but you see it all the time. Obviously, I don’t get it. Hopefully, I will find a way to ask someone.

The country of Kuwait is still rebuilding from “The Invasion” as it is always referred to. Although there are some wild modern highrises, they are likely surrounded by run down old and probably semi-bombed buildings. Litter is everywhere. Nothing seems to get truly finished. Rubble piles are allowed/tolerated for years after a building is finished. It is not pretty here. Kuwait brags about being the first to rebuild their country with modern architecture; Dubai and Qater seem to actually do it. Everyone seems to question whether or not the Mid East has heard of the word maintenance.

Driving here is CRAZY!!!!! Although we live about 15 miles from school, we didn’t buy a car. The school provides a bus to and from our apartment building during the week. We take taxis everywhere else. We have to bargain every time, but really we pay between $5 and $8 to basically any place we go. Since we rarely go out during the week, using taxis is much cheaper and MUCH SANER than driving. It also means we haven’t learned our way around as much. We’ve had one serious near death experience on a freeway and one small fender bender. Obviously, we’re still here to talk about it. We have bought a car in Qatar from a leaving teacher. There are fewer taxis in Doha; it’s not easy to rely on them. The driving is also much slower – partly due to congestion and partly due to the fact that is Doha is built using city streets. Kuwait is built around freeways and Mazzeratis and Porches that need to go fast. (and naughty boys driving them)

Will Qatar be any different? I’m sure it will be in little ways, but it’s still a Muslim country. We’ll be there longer, so I assume that will help us understand it better.

There were supposed to be photos of Kuwait attached today. However, it rained today. Go figure, we thought we lived in a desert! The good news is that the rain packs down the sand in the dunes, so we might have fewer sand storms this spring. Hmmmm.

Hope all is well.

Love,

Carol and Alan

Qatar – the country in search of a u¹

pronounced cutter as in wood cutter

Halleluja!!!! Alan and I will be working next year at a progressive and innovative K – 12 school in Doha, Qatar. We found the school the 21^st century way. We were using online sites to find out positions that were available worldwide. One link would lead us to another site, that would lead us to a school-site, that would lead us to a new country, so we would look at other schools. In other words, hours and hours later, we were still reading. Not a bad thing, we learned a lot. During the search, we ran across the phrase “State Department” school. We knew there were DOD and embassy schools, but we had no idea that the State Department was running schools. More investigation – they’re not. They are, however, endorsing certain schools. When looking at their list, we saw that the “A List” schools that we had heard about were also on this list. We didn’t know many though, so we started checking out the State Department’s list. Gold mine! So, we sent off cover letters and resumes at the beginning of December and then waited.

We had a nibble or two. For a moment, we were interested in a great school in Muscat, Oman. Alan was vying for a technology position and I a fifth grade. One way or another, we were not offered the jobs. We decided to ask why. Being new to this world, we wrote back asked if we were doing something or presenting something wrong. They replied nicely and said no, they actually liked us, they just had candidates with more international experience, and they would keep us in mind if other positions opened up.

At the beginning of last week, email chatter started picking up. Our resumes were being sent to appropriate principals, etc. About Sunday, we receive THE EMAIL from American School of Doha. One principal liked my resume, sending Alan’s on to the middle school. Next day, are you available for a skype interview? Three nights in a row (and sometimes one of us on skype and one on the phone) we were interviewed by 3 different principals and the director of the school. Meantime, we’ve visited their website and checked out Youtube videos. We wanted this job. Luckily, the feeling was mutual. Wednesday, we received job offers with the salary package!!!!

Although we know other schools are looking at our resumes, Alan and I agreed that we wanted to pick a school first and the country second (to a point – no cold countries). ASD offers everything we want. We will be working hard, but it sounds rewarding. Fourth through 12^th grade are starting 1 – 1 ratio with computers. This will be something completely new for me. However, I know the teachers are expected to work together and support each other. Should be exciting. I think the collaboration and building of curriculum will be a lot like what happened at Shearer and River School but on steroids. Can’t wait after this year.

Qatar – yes another little rich Arab country. For those of us in the know, these are GCCs - not the Middle East. That would be Gulf Coast Cooperative. My figuring, GCCs have oil. So sorry Jordan, Lebanon… It does set them apart. We’ve learned the Arab countries band together at times, but don’t really like each other that much. Kuwait really isn’t liked – too proud/stuck up – based only on having new money.

Back to Qatar – Qatar is trying to straddle the line between both worlds. They are definitely a muslim country but they accept that other religions exist. They are inviting tourism, but are trying to avoid Dubai’s mistakes, so moving much slower. Supposedly, this world economic crisis has barely touched Qatar. The Emir wants the country to have the best educational advantages in the world and has poured money into the Qatar Foundation. QF is an astounding array of schools, universities, and resources available to the public. Not sure how it all works, but I’m sure we’ll learn a lot more. We have signed a two-year contract, but hope that we might settle down for a few more years.

School ends in Kuwait around mid June. We’ll come back home for about six weeks. We’ll visit family and friends and plough through our teaching boxes. We have a generous shipping allowance, so we will send our “good stuff” off to Doha. (One of the hardships this year was not having the right things beyond a textbook with which to teach.) We are due to ASD Aug. 1, but we have a full week off at the end of September, another in November, and 3 weeks for Christmas. (SPAIN or TURKEY – ahh choices!)

Now, back to report cards. Luckily, we’re leaving on good terms so finishing out this year will be fine.

Hope everything is well with all!

1. credit to Jay