Christmas Traditions and Surprises

Our first Christmas Day in Qatar had a few surprises and a few new traditions.  It was a beautiful warm day here.  We have missed the usual cues of Christmas: no snow, no lights on homes, no Santas in the mall, no Christmas carols on the radio, no commercialized Christmas advertisements.  But in the absence of those things we have enjoyed a restful time.

We continued a tradition that we started in Kenya of having a late night swim on Christmas Eve.  Tim's mom, Nilda, is with us for this holiday and was sure that this was the first Christmas Eve swim that she has ever had!

This year we had a new twist on our old tradition of driving on Christmas Eve to look for Christmas lights.  There are no Christmas lights but we drove along the Corniche and marveled at the miles of palm trees lit by thousands of lights on their trunks.  

 

A new tradition this year was that we had Take-Away Turkey on Christmas Day.  The local hotels will prepare a full turkey dinner for your family to eat at home.  We had a 10 kg turkey, vegetables (including roasted chestnuts), roast potatoes, chestnut stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce.  All without lifting a finger! 

 

Our surprises this year were the gifts we received from each other.  Max and Simon gave Lisa a beautiful gold Arabic letter L.  We finally gave Max and Simon a Wii and 42 inch TV (they have been asking for one for four years).  But Tim was most surprised when he received an official Barcelona Football Club jersey.  He had spent weeks looking for one for Max and Simon.  The jerseys are popular and hard to find.  Last December 2010 it was announced that the Qatar Foundation logo would appear on the soccer jersey of the Football Club Barcelona.  The new jersey was unveiled in May 2011 and the team is wearing the new shirt this season.  Some Barcelona fans are not happy with the deal because it is the first time in 111 years that the club has had paid sponsorship. Some Qatar people are not happy either because the Foundation is a charity and has just spent $250 million supporting non-charity athletes.   The Barcelona Team just won the Fifa Club World Cup so the new logo is being displayed by world champions. Tim works for the Qatar Foundation.

Arab Games

Watching basketball at Al Garaffa stadium

The Pan-Arab Games have been taking place in Doha for the last two weeks.  Tonight is the closing ceremony.   All of the sport events were free to attend so we watched many events and were amazed at the facilities.

The Arab Games take place every four years and are open to Arab countries. Because 80% of Qatar's population is ex-patriots living here from other countries, there were loads of fans cheering each country participating.  We especially remember the Tunisians at the swimming competition and the Somalians at the basketball games.

Lisa and Tim at Al Shaqab outdoor arena

The horse jumping at Al Shaqab was a much-anticipated event.  The stadium is out-of-this-world beautiful.  It was built as part of Qatar's bid for the Olympics in 2020.  (The Olympic venue will be chosen in 2013.)  The stadium includes everything needed for Olympic Equestrian events: indoor and outdoor arenas, therapeutic pools, veterinarian facilities, stables.  The mascot for the Arab games is an Arabian horse named Wathnan. Along with the gold/ silver/ bronze medal, each athlete received a small replica of the Arabian horse.

Max, Taran, Simon watching trampoline competition

The gymnastics competition took place in the same spectacular facility as fencing and wrestling.  The trampoline event was fun to watch and the Qatar team performed very well.  In the end, Qatar ranked fourth in medal competition after Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Watching football (soccer) competition

Every event also had lots of giveaway products.  We received scarves, glasses, flags, tattoos, stickers, IPod cases, pins advertising Qatar and the Arab Games.

National Day

December 18 is a BIG holiday here in Qatar -- National Day!!

Simon with Qatar flag and Arab dress

In 1878 Qatar became a unified state under the leadership of Sheik Jasim bin Muhammad Al Thani.  The Al Thani's are still the ruling family of Qatar.  Today Qataris celebrate the vision of Sheik Jasim and he is remembered as a "pious, brave, self-sacrificing and wise leader".  Sheik Jasim led his country through a war with the Ottoman Empire and was victorious.  He brought the fighting tribes together in peace by caring for the needy, feeding the hungry, and freeing the slaves.  He painted a future picture of Qatar as a knowledgeable, successful, and honest country.  Since 2007 the people of Qatar have celebrated the dream that has become a reality.

Following its formation as a country in 1878, Qatar became a British Protectorate.  Qatar was a small nation that feared war from its neighbours.  The British offered protection until 1971 when Qatar became independent of Britain.

The Pearl

The Pearl statue on the Corniche

Qatar has a rich history in pearl diving and was one of the major pearl traders in Asia.  Pearling ended in the 1930s when pearls from Japan flooded the market and made the pearl industry much less lucrative.  Oil was discovered at that time in Qatar and is very lucrative!

A bird's eye view of The Pearl from our airplane

As a tribute to the pearl history, Qatar has created a 900 acre man-made island just 20km from downtown Doha.  The "reclaimed land" is supposed to look like a string of pearls with its 13 islands.  The Pearl has one bridge connecting it to the mainland city.  The area has been called the Arabian Riviera.  With luxury beach houses, exclusive penthouses, three marinas (with mooring for 1000 boats), and upscale stores and restaurants, it is an escape that we like to take once and awhile.

A walk at The Pearl with Christine and Ken

Christine and Ken are Nova Scotians that have lived in Doha for five years.  They are moving back to Halifax this week and we will miss their company.  They introduced us to the exquisite dining at The Pearl and the beautiful boardwalk.  On a warm evening it is a fun place to walk.

An evening stroll at The Pearl

Muscat, Oman Swim Meet

Max and Simon preparing to race

Max and Simon swim on the Qatar Academy Falcons Swim Team.  They practice three times a week at the school's 50m pool and have a wonderful coach from Britain.

In November the team traveled to Muscat, Oman for a Swim Meet organized by the International Schools Activities Conference (ISAC). This competition was hosted by The American International School and held at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.  It included teams from five countries (Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait) and there were 140 swimmers in total.

Max racing Freestyle

Max swam in eight events over the two days. Max made it to the finals in every race he swam.  The finals competition was the top eight swimmers in each event. Coach Jemma and Max have been working on his backstroke this term.  She has been taking underwater photos and videos to show him better stroke position.  This work paid off when Max won the Gold Medal for the 100m Back Stroke!!  He also took home a Bronze medal in the 400m Freestyle.

Max on podium after Gold Medal in Backstroke

Simon ready to race Backstroke

Simon swam in six events.This included two relay teams which Max was also part of; Simon swam the breast stroke leg of the Medley Relay and Max swam the Butterfly for that relay. Simon improved his times in every event that he swam.  He was the youngest member of the Falcons team and received the Swimmer of the Month award in October for his hard work and good attitude.  The boys won a Bronze Medal for their 200m Freestyle Relay.

Tim also went along as a Team chaperone.  Unfortunately they did not get to see much of the city because the swim meet events kept them very busy.

Time in Nova Scotia

Lisa had the joy of travelling from Qatar to Nova Scotia to spend 12 days with family and friends.  The purpose of the trip was to surprise her brother, Todd, on the occasion of his 40th birthday.  The funny thing is that Todd found out about her arrival and came to the airport to meet Lisa.  Now who was surprised?

The temperatures in Nova Scotia were unseasonably warm for November.  This made for several outdoor activities and field trips.  The first day Lisa spent picking cranberries with her Mom and Dad.  It was a beautiful day and the cranberries, that had not been hit by frost, were very red and delicious.  Due to jet lag (seven hour time change) Lisa spent some of the time laying on the ground amid the cranberries with the sun on her face.

Of course, there was lots of family time squeezed into the 12 days.  First was Mom's birthday and the whole family gathered for supper and cake -- Joanne made and decorated Mickey Mouse and Lisa made a cranberry coffee cake.

Todd's birthday party was a day at the cabin.  It was glorious although a bit windy.  We prepared a turkey dinner on the wood stove and Todd opened presents, including an Arab dress.  Papa Smurf also came to the event.

The next surprise was when a Christmas Tree, complete with lights and special ornaments appeared!! There were small presents for all and Lisa was able to take the ornaments back to Qatar to share with Tim, Max, and Simon at Christmas.

Thanks to everyone for a marvelous time!!

Desert Safari

One of the most popular things to do in Qatar is to head out into the desert.  In fact, many Qataris have temporary camp sites set up in the desert during the winter months where they spend their weekends, similar to Canadians who have a summer cottage.

Last week Tim and the boys experienced a desert safari.  This is a popular and unusual attraction that provides spectacular landscape views.  There are only two countries in the world where the sand dunes meet the ocean:  Qatar and Namibia.  .

A desert safari is an exciting opportunity for "dune bashing". Driving down giant sand dunes (50 - 70 feet high) provides a thrill you will never forget.  Similar to a roller coaster, expert drivers guide the Land Cruiser up steep dunes and then drop on the other side

The boys had a lot of fun! Once again, Lisa was very happy to miss this excitement. 

November 2011 Break

Max, Simon and Tim had a week off school in celebration of the Muslim holiday called Eid al-Adha .  It was a good chance for a rest after the first busy months of school.  They spent lots of time hanging out at the Clubhouse swimming pool: playing in the water, reading, and drinking iced-coffee, iced-tea, and frozen lemon mint drinks.

Lisa returned to Canada this week to celebrate her brother Todd's 40th birthday.  Of course, Tim took advantage of being the chef for a week and visited several new restaurants in order to keep the boys well-fed.

One of the highlights of the week was going to Sealine Resort (30 minutes south of Doha) where the boys rented three ATVs and played in the sand.  Max managed to get his stuck once.  It was tons of boy-fun and mom appreciated not being there.

Tim in Athens, Greece

 In October, Tim got to travel to Athens, Greece for the Near East South Asia (NESA) Fall Leadership Conference.  Tim enjoyed meeting new people and the workshops he attended but he was also able to visit many of the sites he had learned about from his undergraduate degree in Classics while at Acadia University.

 Tim got to tour the Acropolis where the Parthenon still remains from when it was first completed in 438 BC.
Tim did a lot of walking while in Athens and saw many historical sites including Hadrian's Arch and the site of the 1896 summer olympics.

A special day trip was organized for the conference delegates to visit Delphi and the Ossios Loukas Monastery which is only 1000 years old.

Greece is a very beautiful country and it was great to see the olive and almond orchards.