Winter is Here

Winter is here and you know what that means:  scarves, warm blankets, chili for dinner, wine and movie nights. Errrr... scratch that (record sound), not that kind of winter.

But seriously, winter is here in Doha and while that might mean temps in the 80’s during the day, I have been able to:  open my windows, wear close-toed shoes, run outside, and I went stand up paddleboarding this past weekend in the Gulf.  I eat lunch outside at school almost everyday and today we had our team meeting in the courtyard.  Isn’t that the funny thing:  put people in a climate where you can’t really go outside for half of the year and then you want to do every little thing outside when you can.

I was so proud of myself paddleboarding - I didn’t even fall once and I couldn’t believe it, all of my yoga balancing must be paying off.  Ryan and I took a lesson at 2:30 in the afternoon and 90 minutes later it was starting to get dusk.  The sun sets so early, and rises so early you think I would be getting more sleep but not really.  I certainly see more water activities in my future.  I look forward to kayaking through the mangroves, and camping at the Inland Sea.

November 14th marked my 3 month anniversary of being an expat and I am really getting the hang of it.  I have been taking Arabic lessons at school from one of our IB teachers and it is NOT easy.  We are learning to speak, read, and write at the same time.  How on Earth do kids so it?  I have been using the Explain Everything app to record myself writing and speaking - Abdul you would find it quite humorous.

Things are beginning to settle down here, and by that I mean, you just get used to being overwhelmed and that is how you get through each day.  (there isn’t a teacher out there who doesn’t know what I am talking about).  My school is amazing for so many reasons and we have international week coming up in December.  I can’t wait, because I hear it is one of the best weeks of the year.  Students and families from all cultures and nationalities bring in artifacts and food to share with the entire school.  We have activities and events each day of the week and even our own parade of nations.  It will be one tasty day after another I am sure!