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!