Snow!

On Sunday some of the Chute family gathered for a Christmas celebration. It was supposed to be a turkey dinner for 19 but ended up as dinner for 12 because of a snow storm! Some people did not chance the roads to come to Bridgewater and others left early to beat the storm and others got storm-stayed at Nilda's for the night.  This was a very different day from the previous warm weather.

Simon's Spring-like Birthday

Today we celebrated Simon's 16th birthday at the cabin! It was a sunny and warm day -- unusually warm for December. We barbequed and ate and split wood and sat in the sun. It felt like a Spring day.

Cookies!

Yesterday Max and Simon attended a Christmas Cookie sale. They purchased an empty box for $5 and then proceeded to fill it with home made Christmas cookies.  There was a large selection of cookies and a chance to join Nana in one of her fun and delicious activities!

Christmas anticipation

Our home decorations are small but have served to get us excited until our trip to Canada today! In anticipation of Christmas we have participated in several seasonal activities: Christmas banquet, Christmas luncheon, carol singing, decorating, Secret Santa, and annual True Love gifts for the 12 Days of Christmas.

Lisa's Social Groups

As the semester comes to a close so does Lisa's social activities. This week was her last Aquafit class until February. Aquafit met two mornings a week at the outdoor pool at the Clubhouse. This week the air temperature was just 12 degrees which meant for very cool shoulders even during the workout. Quite a change from 39 degrees when the class began in October. The pool is cooled in October and warmed in December. This fun group of women went for breakfast together to say goodbye for Christmas -- some of us are traveling to India, Canada, Australia and some are staying in Doha for the break.

This week was also Lisa's last Book Club meeting until January. The Book Club meets monthly to have dinner and discuss a book. This was a special meeting because one of our members is permanently returning to Canada, so we gave her a "gift of words" send off! Each person wrote a favourite quote or poem and wrapped it as a gift. This group has shared lots of fun, laughter, great food, and a few tears.

Convocation 2015

November 26 was the date of the annual Convocation for the University of Calgary in Qatar. This year there were 84 graduates from the Bachelor of Nursing program. These students were among the first that Lisa taught when she arrived at UCQ in 2012. More than half of these graduates had been in one of her classes over the last 4 years. This was also the first time there were graduates from the Master of Nursing program at UCQ -- nine graduates in total.

Because Lisa is not teaching this semester she was not part of the academic party on the platform but had lots of fun catching up with people afterward.

   

At the Racetrack

This past weekend Doha hosted the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The Losail International Circuit is north of the city and has hosted many international motorsport events since it opened in 2007. Tim, Max, and Simon have attended races with Porsche GT3, MXGP (Motorcross), and Superbikes.  The circuit and facilities are magnificent. The only downside is that races are usually held late at night when the temperatures are cooler.

Qatar's most famous motorsport racer is Nasser Al-Attiya. He is a World Rally Champion and recently won the Dakar Rally -- reigning champion 2015. He raced on Friday night. Attiya is also a sport shooter -- he won a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for skeet shooting.

S'Mores ....... Finally

Finally we have a fire pit, locally hand-crafted. Finally we bought Hershey chocolate bars. Finally we remembered to bring back marshmallows from Canada. Finally there are graham crackers available (not real ones but a close facsimile). And finally the weather is cool enough that we can enjoy our time outdoors.  Unfortunately a real fire is still just a dream -- but we have made it work! A new Saturday evening ritual.

Homemade Tortilla!

Last week Lisa was invited to join a group of wonderful women learning how to make authentic tortilla at home. It was a fun and educational morning. We fed our bodies and our souls.

The secret to perfect tortilla is not the recipe, it is the technique. Nettie's grandmother's recipe for tortilla is similar to my grandmother's recipe for biscuits but the method of mixing, slapping, rolling, grilling makes all the difference.

Birthday Wishes

This week Tim celebrated another birthday. It was a quiet evening of comfort food (spaghetti, garlic bread, chocolate cake) and interesting conversation. 

New Sport, New Adventure

Simon #8 blocking

This Fall Simon took on a new sport and really enjoyed playing Volleyball for the first time. He was on the Junior Varsity Volleyball team that traveled to Amman, Jordan for an international tournament. The team finished in third place and Simon received a mention in the Akbar for adding "strength and power" to the team. He was also selected for the Tournament Team -- a collection of MVPs from each team to form a "dream team" of sorts.

What are those? 

The highlight for Simon was a side trip to the Dead Sea at the end of the tournament. The team traveled outside the city in order to view and swim in one of the world's saltiest lakes. The world's oceans are about 3% salt and the Dead Sea is about 33% salt. It is also the earth's lowest point at 400 meters BELOW sea level.

Simon said that it was a unique experience to float standing up! He could see Israel on the other side of the Dead Sea and caught the sun shining off the Dome of the Rock at the Temple Mount.

Desert Song

This was a full and unique weekend for Max and Simon. On Thursday evening we attended a concert by Lecrae, a hip hop artist from the U.S. We had seen Lecrae in concert a couple of years ago at SoulFest in New Hampshire and we have a couple of his albums. It was also exciting that Max was asked to play bass guitar in a band that opened for Lecrae.

Then Max and Simon went on a desert retreat with the Youth Group, Lecrae and his friend Adam. Lecrae didn't sing or rap during the retreat but he and Adam spoke about living a life of impact. What is most impressive about Lecrae is not his awards and honours (which include two Grammy's) but his story and his heart.

Paralympics

Qatar has decided to make a name for itself as a world-class host for international sporting events. This means that we are privileged to witness a variety of amazing sport competitions -- and usually for the bargain price of $5. The last 10 days Doha has hosted the International Paralympics Competition for Athletics.

We attended one evening and watched cycling, running, shot put, high jump, discus. The facility was spectacular for this sort of competition. And the announcements were very educational in informing the spectators about the events and the categories of disabilities. The classification system is for athletes with impaired muscle power, impaired intellectual capacity, impaired vision, limb deficiency etc. It was very interesting and humbling to watch these athletes compete.

Detour

On Friday morning we made a wrong turn on our way to the Great American Bagel shop, and ended up in a construction site on the edge of town. These areas are everywhere in Doha at the moment. The government is improving its infrastructure in preparation for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament.

They are building roads and overpasses, an underground subway system, an above-ground People Mover System (small train) on Education City, hotels, stadiums, and a whole lot more. Mountains of rubble continue to be a common sight -- probably for the next 7 years.

More food!

People have commented that our trips seem to be feature food a lot. Yes! We are foodies and love to try new flavours. And with two active teenagers, we do, in fact, spend a lot of time, money, and energy on food. So here are a few samples from this past week.

Chinese dumplings

Lisa is part of a wonderful Book Club that meets monthly. The host gets to choose the book we read and prepares a meal for everyone. This week Carina (Chinese-Canadian) hosted and served homemade Chinese dumplings with fixin's.

tapioca

Lisa's Indian students introduced her to the great taste of tapioca. As an alternative to rice or potatoe it is lovely with a spicy meal. Tapioca is a root vegetable (also know as cassava). It is very readily available and inexpensive in Doha. This week we ate it with maple salmon.

Oman sweet melon

Sunday's after-school snack was a melon. We often eat rock melons from Australia which are very similar to cantaloupe. But this is a sweet melon from Oman. The inside was not orange at all -- nearly white. The taste was remotely similar to cantaloupe but different and sweeter.

Thanksgiving

With Wilson, Rosana and Ana

Today we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with Brazilian friends and a turkey dinner!

We had heard reports that turkey  would be scarce this year due to questions about whether the meat was halal ("permissable"). Islam requires that animals be slaughtered according to Islamic principles and there was question about the turkeys imported to Qatar. True enough, turkey was difficult to find but we had turkey!

This was the first time that Vergie helped Lisa with the preparation of a turkey. She was quite amazed that it wasn't stuffed with garlic, lemon grass, and soy sauce..... hmmmm.

Pumpkins can also be difficult to find. This year our little grocery store has large pumpkins imported from USA and selling for $75 each. Lisa did make a delicious pumpkin pie (from canned pumpkin).

Our traditions were made more complete by the finishing touches from Brazil. Rosana's brigadeiros are chocolate balls filled with caramelized sweetened condensed milk. These are a celebratory food in Brazil and always at a special party!

Non-Uniform Days

Once a month the school has a Non-Uniform Day for the purpose of raising funds for a charity event. The students pay 20 QR  (about $7) for the privilege of not having to wear the school uniform.

This week the theme was "Think Pink" in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Whether it was socks, ribbon, shoes, or shirts, there was lots of pink to be seen. During the whole month of October there are activities throughout Qatar supporting the awareness of Breast Cancer.