Quack Fest

On Friday was the school's annual Quack Fest -- similar to Spring Fling at schools in Canada. Max and Simon played on the open air stage with one of their bands. Max was a big hit with his stage presence -- enthusiastic in his singing, dancing, clapping, general rhythmic movements and big smiles!

It was a hot day (40 degrees C in the sun) which has implications when you are playing in the heat. Besides the obvious dehydration and pages blowing around, the boys had to tune their instruments after every song. The heat makes the strings stretch so much that things go out of tune very quickly!

Muppy hanging out

We have not featured Muppy in awhile. Our three-legged cat is still with us, still very noisy, still keeping us on our toes. Yesterday she was in a new position on the sofa. She is showing all three legs -- the one missing is really missing!

Teaching in the Community

Yesterday was the last day of classes for the university semester. This semester Lisa has been teaching two Community Health Practicum courses. She had students in three international schools in Doha. The purpose of the course is to walk students through the process of developing a health promotion project using the Community as Partner model*. It takes weeks to assess, analyse, diagnose, plan, implement, and evaluate the project. Essentially the nursing students look at the strengths and weaknesses of the "community", discuss these with the leaders at the school, and together decide on a project that helps to improve the health of the school.

Lisa's students implemented four separate projects in three schools: a school-wide teaching program about Dental Health; a Bus Safety teaching program for Year 1 students; a school awareness program on Safe Food Handling; and an educational website for parents about Safety on Roads. You can view the road safety website at www.ucqnewtonschool.com

*reference Vollman, A.R., Anderson, E.T., & McFarlane, J. (2012). Canadian Community as Partner: Theory & Multidisciplinary Practice (3rd Ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Pink is the New Red

One of the local hospitals in Qatar has branded itself in pink! We frequent this hospital for a variety of Clinic Services (Pulmonology for Max's Asthma, Orthopedics for Tim's neck pain, X-ray for various basketball injuries). It is a comfortable place to be and we sometimes forget that we are in a hospital because it feels like a Mall.

 

Weekend Fun

This past weekend we had family fun in two different places, two different events, two different cities!

Simon and Lisa flew to Dubai with some of Simon's friends and their moms. Shopping, sitting by the pool, Cheesecake Factory restaurant, and the One Direction concert! Much to Lisa's surprise, it was a fabulous concert. The Sevens Stadium is an amazing venue and the concert was very "family-friendly".

And in Doha, Max and Tim attended a special evening at the 6th Annual Film Festival for Qatar Academy. The purpose of the competition is to promote the work of aspiring young filmmakers. The Gala Dinner is an opportunity to view the best films and vote on the People's Choice. Here are links to two of the films shown on Saturday night:

Cyber Bullying won the award for Best Film.

Hands of a Woman won the award for Best Story.

Our First "Snow Day"!

We woke this morning to discover an incredible sand storm raging outside our windows. It was like a blizzard of epic proportions -- high winds, swirling sand, and an orange glow gave us a surreal experience. Then we received word that the Supreme Education Council had cancelled all schools in the country. The University was also closed. We are calling it a Snow Day because the emotion in our house is the same! Here we are drinking Tim Horton's hot chocolate and watching movies -- so perfect!

Our front porch

The first year we lived here, on advice from friends, Tim sealed our doors with foam weather stripping to prevent sand and wind from coming in around the door frame. Today we are especially grateful for that advice four years ago!

Tim went to his school this morning to check it out and there was a mess everywhere. It is no use beginning to clean until the storm ends. Many people have shared stories of the sand and dust inside their homes and apartments making a huge mess. Other people complained that there house alarms went off several times in the night because of sand getting into the system.

as the storm improved