Ciao !

Max and Simon attend Qatar Academy where Tim is also the Assistant Principal for the Middle School. The school uses the International Baccalaureate curriculum which works to "develop students with a broad knowledge base, strong academic and intellectual skills, and the ability to apply their knowledge and skills to the world beyond school." (quoted from QA Parent Guide to the Middle Years IB Program)

Having a broad view of the world comes from course content, classmates from many different countries and cultures, and a variety of extra-curricular activities. One of Qatar Academy's out-of-school activities is called the "Week Without Walls". Max's WWW was in Italy. In May he traveled with 29 other students to Venice and Florence for the purpose of exploring Human Ingenuity through art and architecture.

Florence is called the birthplace of Renaissance Art. Max visited the Art Gallery Bargello, to see Renaissance jewelry and paintings, and the Uffizi Museum, which has famous Italian paintings by DaVinci, Botticelli, and Raphael. One of Max's highlights was a visit to the Accademia Gallery where he stood next to Michelangelo's famous sculpture "David". The sculpture is 14 feet high and was completed in 1504. It is said to be a pose of David just moments before he defeated Goliath.

Max's group climbed Giotto's Tower (85 metres, 500 steps) for a look over the rooftops of Florence. Max took over 700 photos during his week in Italy. A lot of these are famous art, sculptures, paintings but some are those things important to a 14 year old boy.

Italian food was, of course, a big hit ! Pasta, Pizza, Gelato ! We have pictures of it all!

Half way between Florence and Venice is the community of Maranello where the Ferrari race cars are made. Given that Ferrari cars are very popular in Qatar, it was a natural pit stop. And it takes human ingenuity to build cars, right? The Ferrari Museum displays vintage cars, latest models, and lots of memorabilia from the racing world. Max even got to take a spin in one!

The city of Venice is actually a series of islands, separated by canals and linked by bridges. One of Max's dreams has been to ride in a gondola on the canals and he was able to do that! The class also took the vaporetto public boats between the islands to do their sightseeing, shopping, and go to the airport on the last day.

One of the student's activities was to explore the Venetian tradition of mask decoration. Each student decorated a mask and was able to keep their creation as a souvenir. This painting of the Mona Lisa (not the original) hangs in Leonardo's Machines Exhibition.  The exhibition is a display of 40 of Leonardo daVinci's most famous inventions, including his flying machines. Max loved this too!

The class also visited the Murano glass factory. Murano is famous for its role in developing objects such as eye glasses and telescopes. But it also makes objects of beauty. Max was amazed by this Italian artwork. One man created this delicate horse in less than two minutes. Max bought a gorgeous Murano vase.

Max also brought home an original oil painting by a local artist that he met in the market. One of Max's traditions when we travel is to buy a piece of local art. His room is hung with many and varied works of art. This latest Italian purchase is a beautiful painting of a typical street in Venice.

Mother's Day

On March 21, 2012 the Middle East celebrated Mother's Day. It always coincides with the first day of Spring. So we are feeling a bit odd about celebrating Mother's Day this weekend along with our Canadian mothers.

In Canadian tradition we eat out for lunch but we did not go to a restaurant. Instead we spent the afternoon with friends from Georgia (the country in eastern Europe, not the state in USA). This warm wonderful family are the greatest cooks!

We enjoyed a traditional Georgian meal of stuffed cheese bread, roasted lamb, chicken with walnut sauce, beans, and salad with stuffed peppers, marinated mushrooms, pickled onions. We really were quite blown away by their hospitality!  Normally, Nova Scotians can outcook anyone, but not this time.

The leading international jewelry company in the Middle East is called Damas Jewelers. Each year it launches a Mother's Day collection of jewelry. This year is the Ummi collection (Arabic word meaning "my mother"). Lisa was shocked to receive a pendant from this collection on this Mother's Day weekend. The design has the Arabic calligraphy عةةه in the middle -- this is the word Ummi studded with diamonds (very small diamonds!). The 18K yellow gold flower motif is offset by the white gold backing which is also surrounded by many (very small) diamonds. Lisa was thrilled to receive this gift which reflects the style of jewelery here in the Middle East. And also, Damas Jewelers began in Syria in 1907. Given all the turmoil in Syria now it is a good reminder of a more peaceful Middle East.

Lisa's Birthday

Said good-bye to Max at 6:00 a.m.

Max and his classmates are off to Italy! As part of the school's Week Without Walls program, Max and 28 other students and 4 teachers are spending a week in Florence and Venice. It is an opportunity to explore Art and Architecture as Human Ingenuity. This was a different start to Lisa's birthday!

Ate lunch at "Three Sixty"

Simon's picture

 "Three Sixty" is a revolving restaurant on the 47th floor of The Torch Hotel. The Torch was constructed in 2006 for the opening of the Asian Games held in Doha. The flame was lit at the top of the 300 metre tower (same height as Eiffel Tower). 

For years the tower sat empty but in December 2011 opened as a hotel with several restaurants, an elaborate spa and outdoor pool, diplomatic suites, and banquet facilities.

Went to the movie theater

For years we have enjoyed the Avenger series of movies (Iron Man 1 and 2, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk). We looked forward to the movie which brings them all together. This was a fun thing to do on a birthday and may become a new family tradition!

Window Washing

Today was our turn for getting our windows washed. That may sound spoiled.... but in Doha it is really  a necessity. 

The sand blowing every day creates a film of dust on the windows. There is a team of washers that go from house to house on our compound washing windows every day. There are two men in yellow jumpsuits who climb the ladders to reach the second story. The men in blue jumpsuits stay on the ground to spray water upwards and clean the first story windows. It takes about 2 months for the team to get back to our house. By then the windows have a film that makes it unpleasant to see out. The windows at the back of the house are much bigger and larger than these and much more difficult to access without a tall ladder.

 The Washing Team arrived at our home a bit ahead of schedule today so when Lisa came out of the shower into the bedroom this was what she saw. And that`s why they give us notice!