Prince Vladimir

"Enter Stage Left, a rather handsome young man. Around his neck he wears a large pendant. We like him at once" from script of Cinderella and the Wolfman.

This Fall Simon took part in the school musical. He practiced for 100+ hours to prepare for the lead role of Prince Vladimir. The part required that Simon act, sing, and dance. He was spectacular! We are so proud of his performance which ended on the weekend (a total of 6 shows). 

Doing the chicken dance with entire cast

When Cinderella declares the Prince to be the Wolfman

Searching for the girl who fits the shoe

Falling in love with Cinderella while disguised as a Chef

After the show

Convocation 2013

Once a year, at the end of Fall semester, the University of Calgary -- Qatar participates in Convocation for the graduates of the Nursing program. 2013 marks the fourth graduating class from UCQ. This year there were 49 graduates (up from 12 graduates last year) who have completed the requirements for a Bachelor of Nursing.

The University of Calgary Main Campus in Canada officially grants the degrees earned by students at UCQ. The University of Calgary Chancellor presides over Convocation ceremonies in Calgary and Qatar and confers the degrees on the graduating students. Other officials in attendance from University of Calgary included the Provost and the Vice-Provost.

Convocation is an elaborate, formal, and precise affair. That means that Max, Simon, and Tim really enjoy getting dressed up and going. Lisa participates as part of the Academic Party, sitting on stage in Academic Regalia. This year Sheika Hend, Vice Chair of the Supreme Education Council and daughter of Sheika Moza, was at the ceremony along with other members of the Royal Family.  Having VIPs adds another layer of protocol and mystery!

Bathroom Sign

When we moved to Kenya in 2008, we were surprised by how openly people talked about their bowel habits. Diarrhea was a very common occurrence and could lead to dehydration and other health problems.  In Qatar there is lots of discussion about staying hydrated by drinking water. Most public toilets have signs about the colour of urine. You are supposed to look at your urine in the bowl and look at the chart which tells you how much water to drink:

• drink a large bottle of water immediately, 
• drink 2-3 glasses of water now,
• drink a large glass of water now,
• keep drinking at the same rate.

This is good advice for everyone but especially critical in Doha when temperatures are above 40 degrees.

Vergie's Christmas

last day of work before Christmas vacation

Vergie has left on a trip home to the Philippines for Christmas. She will spend a month with her family, including a new grandson. Vergie has mixed feelings about returning home for the first Christmas in 12 years. She is excited to be celebrating with her family but she is also heart broken over the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.

There is also a culture around home visits that is hard for some of us to understand. The purpose of expatriates like Vergie is to work hard and send as much money home as possible. She lives very frugally in Doha so that every month she can send money to meet her family's needs (one son still in University, one son with a new baby, her mother with health issues, one unemployed brother, several family members living in temporary housing).

And when she goes home for a visit, the expectation is that she will bring extra money with her to give to everyone she meets. She says relatives will come to her door asking for money. She has managed to save an extra 12000 QR (a staggering $3500) to give out to people in need. She says that she will spend much energy reminding people that she is "a Philippino housemaid in Qatar -- not the Sheik"!

This is so different from our family's expectations of us coming home for Christmas this year. Our gift to our family is our presence with them at a special time of year. Our family will spend much energy lavishing us with gifts, time, words, food, memories.

Sunset

Simon took this picture on the way home the other night. Every night we see the very large sun drop out of the sky onto the desert expanse. What is different about this sun is the cloud cover!

We rarely have any clouds in the sky at all. But the new practice of "cloud seeding" has created more days of heavy cloud, rain, and drizzle. Cloud seeding is a scientific method of weather modification. When a small cloud is present, scientist on the ground shoot particles up into the cloud for the purpose of creating increased precipitation.

New sign

After being in an environment for a time, things start to become "normal" that used to be "unusual". That is why we love to have visitors to remind us again of the unique aspects of where we live. This week a new sign appeared in Max and Simon's school foyer. The  3 meter by 5 meter sign changes every 6 months or so, but this one made us stop and look. The verse from the Quran is appropriate for a school but also a reminder that we are not in Canada any more.

Swim Meet in Qatar

Last weekend Qatar Academy hosted its first International Swim Meet. It was a small event with just 120 swimmers from four countries. The school has a 50 meter indoor pool with seats for 1000 spectators. In past years Max and Simon have traveled to Egypt and Oman to compete with their Swim Team in this ISAC tournament. It was very nice for us to be able to stay at home and host two swimmers from the New Cairo British International School.

Simon broke two ISAC records on the weekend. His most exciting swim was to win a Gold medal in the 50m Backstroke with a time of 33.93 seconds ( a full 2 seconds faster than his seed time). This has always been Simon`s best event. He broke his first international record in Nairobi at his first swim meet ever, when he was 8 years old (50m backstroke in 52 seconds). Simon also took home the Gold medal in 100m Backstroke but no records broken.
The meet organizers asked different QA administrators to present medals and it just happened that Tim presented Simon with his first Gold.

Max`s swims were no less exciting even though he didn't break any records. Max is a joy to watch swim the butterfly -- he slips through the water with ease and grace. He won the Bronze medal for 50m Fly. Max also won a Silver medal in the 400m Freestyle. This is a distance swim and Max enjoys the endurance challenge.

In total Max brought home three Silver and one Bronze and Simon won three Gold and two Silver medals. We are very proud of them, especially since they were asked to "swim up" for this Meet. That means that they competed in an older category than their age. Simon, age 13, competed as a Junior Varsity swimmer against boys who were 15. Max, age 15, competed as a Varsity swimmer against boys who were 18.

Simon with Coach Ruthie

Vergie was very excited to hear about Max and Simon's success!
     Vergie: "Ma'm Lis your boys have made you rich!"
     Lisa: "No Vergie. There is no money for winning."
     Vergie: "But there are medals!"
     Lisa: "Yes they win medals."
     Vergie: "And some are gold!"
     Lisa: "But it's not real gold Vergie!"
     Vergie: "It's not?"
This might seem far-fetched but in Qatar it might also be a reasonable assumption that the gold medals would be real!

Not Familiar

When we returned to Doha this fall we were all keen to add more fish to our diet. After a summer in Nova Scotia eating fish and chips, pan-fried haddock, fish chowder, and grilled salmon we looked forward to making these simple meals like home. So I purchased tarter sauce -- even the Heinz brand like home -- and began the search. Salmon from Norway is readily available and we have a BBQ so it was an easy start.

Parrot fish from Oman

But then the challenge was to find the right white fish. Tuna, haddock, halibut are not available here. Instead there is Hammour, Kingfish, Milkfish. The fish market in every grocery store has the fish whole and on ice display. The fish markers tell the type of fish and the country where it was caught. Sherri, Travally, and Yanam are caught on the shores of Qatar. Pomfret comes from Kuwait. Mullet comes from Egypt. We have tried a couple of these but none have the same colour or texture that we are familiar with. And Lisa still does not enjoy filleting. And sometimes it is just too embarrassing to ask the clerks to do it......

Familiar

This week I was surprised and excited to see Cheez Whiz on the shelf at Lulu grocery store! Living away from Canada, we have learned to adapt our tastes and our cooking to accommodate foods that are found "locally". Qatar imports foods from all over the world. Most of the produce comes from Lebanon. Most of the cheese comes from Europe. Most of the meat comes from Australia. We do usually have a number of Kraft products on the shelf but Cheez Whiz is rare. Sometimes we just want a taste of something familiar -- even if it costs $3 for a tiny little bottle........

Kayaking

As the weather begins to cool we can start participating in more outdoor activities. During the Eid break we took a break from painting to do some kayaking. It was a perfect 34 degrees with a light breeze and a high tide as we set out from Al Khor (45 minutes north of Doha).

After 25 years of marriage, Tim and Lisa know very well that they cannot share a kayak. So we paddled as parent-child partners and this made for a much more pleasant afternoon.

We joined a tour group that was exploring the Mangrove forests on the northeast coast of Qatar. We literally paddled through a forest -- remarkable! Mangrove trees live on the edge of tidal waters and have an amazing ability to adapt to the salt content of water. While most mangroves require some regular "flushing" with fresh water, these trees on Qatar's coastline have no access to fresh water at all. Most trees would die in this situation. Mangroves also have "aerial roots". They breathe air through a system of "snorkels". These snorkels come up from the roots of the tree to breathe above the level of saltwater. But twice a day (when the tide covers the root) they do not breathe -- there is air stored in their snorkels! We also saw hundreds of little fish swimming among the roots. It is common for these fish to jump into the boat. And they did! Tim got hit in the face with one flying through the air! It was an educational afternoon and a great day in the outdoors.

As we neared the end of our trip, Max did ask why we hadn't seen any fruit? Mangroves produce a flower but no fruit. He still looked confused as we explained this because he was expecting to see mangoes. He thought it was a mango grove, not a man-grove. Different species of tree. Glad we cleared that up!

EID -- break week or work week?

When Dad is not watching

This past week was a holiday in Qatar. Eid Al Adha is the "Feast of Sacrifice" which remembers Abraham and the near-sacrifice of his son. It is a week of feasting and being with family. This year we chose to stay in Qatar to relax.

But, alas, we did not relax much. We painted our Living/ Dining rooms. This is a project that Lisa has been wanting to do since moving into the villa. Tim hates painting more than anything else in the whole world!

Our whole house is painted white -- a nice cool colour but not very pleasing to the eye. We chose a neutral sand colour (appropriate too).



We are all pleased with the result. And still married, although it was touch and go for awhile. Along with painting we hung artwork from various trips, and changed the accent colour from blue to green (chair pads, cushions, candles). The result is a warm and cozy place to hang out and entertain.

Today we showcased our new look for four members of the crew of the Logos Hope ship. The Logos is the world's largest floating bookmobile. It houses a bookstore with 500,000 volumns. This is a welcome addition to Doha's port because Qatar only has 4 bookstores (including WHSmith that just opened last week). Good reading material can be a challenge to find. The ship is in port for a week and on its last visit to Doha 40,000 people visited the ship. Our dinner guests were from France, Germany, Australia, and South Korea.

Nose2Nose

Earlier this week Max had opportunity to work with a British Theater group called Nose2Nose. The group was at Qatar Academy for a 2 day workshop with the drama and music students. Nose2Nose is an "international creative arts and media group offering shows and workshops worldwide" (from their website www.nose2nose.org).

The result of their two days of work was a 30 minute original drama entitled "The Fear of Everything". The drama contained multiple segments depicting fear of disappointing family, fear of living after a loved one has died, fear of being different, fear of not knowing enough, fear of mental illness. Max focused on improvisational bass guitar as an accompaniment to the drama. It was an emotional drama and Max was challenged with several solo works in a minor key.

What a difference a year makes

Simon holding the ball, Max trying to get clear

Last year Max and Simon joined the Qatar Foundation basketball program. This is a community basketball club that started very small with a view to create an interest in basketball among young people. In a year the program has grown exponentially!

The practices started with just a couple of players and now has over 250 children ages 7 through 18 practicing three times a week. The program started with scrimmages among themselves to a league of 8 local teams as members of the Qatar Basketball Federation. The teams play each other once a week at a facility built just for youth basketball.

Under16 team wearing new uniforms for this season

Max and Simon play for the Under 16 Boys Team. They have just begun the season and have 1 win and 1 loss so far.  We are so proud that they are both on the starting lineup.

Max and Simon with Coach Mauritio September 2013

We are also very pleased with the quality of the coaching staff. Coach Sandra played for the women's national team of Mexico. She actually was recruited to play in Canada as a teenager and attended University in Nova Scotia on a basketball scholarship. Coach Eric is a former NCAA player for Penn State and Coach Mauritio is a former player and coach of the men's national team of Mexico.

Max and Simon with Coach Mauritio June 2012

And not only has the program grown -- so have the players!

IKEA

Tonight we had a very successful shopping trip to IKEA. The store opened in February this year and it is less than 10 minutes from our home. Our visit was prompted by a desire for a shoe rack and some baskets for storage.  Also Simon's friends say the Swedish Meatballs are the best in the world!

Shopping in Doha is fun but a bit strange -- IKEA really feels like a homecoming. One of Lisa's colleagues recently commented that a visit to IKEA is "magical"!

Eating out!

This weekend Tim, Lisa, and Max went to a new restaurant called Salad Boutique. It had a beautiful, FUN decor and an extensive menu of salads. They were also very large!

One of the things we love about Doha is the variety of restaurants available. Most people eat out (or order in) at least twice a week -- hence, the high obesity rates. There are restaurants that cater to every ethnic food craving desired by ex-patriots. Because there are large numbers of Philippino, Sri Lankan, Indian, and Arab expats..... these restaurants are in abundance. 

The North Americans are (sadly) represented by the Fast Food restaurants -- McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Hardees. There are also several American restaurant chains: Fuddruckers, Applebees, Chillis, Pizza Hut.

Max goes to the doctor

During the summer Max was having some neck and back tenderness. A couple of weeks ago he had a some days when the pain intensified so we took him to the doctor. He was seen by an orthopedic surgeon educated in Britain. An XRay and exam revealed an injury to his T1 vertebra. He started on arthritis medication which gave him great relief!

He has been seeing a Canadian chiropractor for ultrasonic treatment, massage, heat, and minor adjustments. He has been able to resume basketball practice. Most of the pain is now gone as long as he keeps his neck in proper alignment. The biggest challenge is being in school. He has been able to modify the height of his desks and his chairs at school to keep his work at eye level.

We expect him to make a full recovery. And he really loves getting a massage!

Friday!

Our week of work is from Sunday to Thursday and our weekend days off are Friday and Saturday. Friday is the country's Holy Day when Qataris go to the mosque for prayers and teaching and spend the rest of the day being with family. We also go to church on Friday morning and spend the rest of the day relaxing as a family.

 

One of our Friday evening routines has been to order take-out and watch a movie together. Sometimes we invite others to join us but mostly this is a fun family time for the four of us. Often we eat Indian food from one of many Indian restaurants. This week we watched The Great Gatsby and ate our favourites:  Butter Chicken, Naan, Palek Paneer, Vegetable Masala, Lemon Grass Tea.

Suits

One of the things we most appreciate about living in this culture is the ability to get reasonably priced fabric and tailoring services. This fall it was time for new suits. The boys have outgrown theirs and Tim wears a suit every day so can always use a new one. The process begins by selecting fabric for the suit (usually a lightweight cashmere wool) and a shirt (usually bright-coloured cotton silk). Then everyone chooses a style: we show a magazine picture or flip through the books available and describe preferred tastes.

Then it is time for measurements. Over the years Tim has come to really appreciate the custom-made shirts -- which better fit his need for space at the neck, his long arms, and a slim-but-not-too-slim cut. Max also has very long arms and prefers his jacket to be a bit longer than most.  Simon likes a slim jacket and very slim pants.

A week later we return for a fitting and fine adjustments. And then in another week the suit is ready. The total cost for this experience is 700 QR (about $200) for each suit.

There are several school events that take place each year that require formal dress: Graduation Ceremony, Leavers' dinner, Film Festival. Tim also had a tuxedo made last year for those occasions when he is required to wear one.

School Again

Max and Simon and Tim have had a good first week back at Qatar Academy. Simon is in Grade 8 and Max in Grade 10 of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP). Both boys are happy about their teachers this year.

Max's program has a new course this year called Music Production. This is his Arts elective. It is focused on the technology involved in producing and recording sound. He will be using his skills to help with the school Musical this fall and to assist his Thursday evening Youth Band.

Max also has a "Personal Project" that is part of the Grade 10 MYP. A student can choose to do anything that will change him in a personal way. Max has created a project with a couple of parts. He spent the summer working with Grandad to carve 20 "comfort birds". Now he is working on the next step of his project which is to find a group of people who will receive the birds. Max has learned the skill of carving and is now doing research into the therapeutic benefits of touch, the cultural influences of wood, and the health issues in Qatar.