Farewell

We leave Qatar in 2 hours. Yes, it is with mixed emotions that we leave. I guess that is good. We are anxious to return to the U.S. for so many reasons. We leave here knowing that this experience has enriched our lives. As I look around at our apartment now - bags sitting by the door packed and dust everywhere - I think of all that has occurred over the past several months - and how I have been changed by the experience. I have learned some things about myself that surprise me. I have definitely stepped outside my comfort zone -- and it's been good in so many ways. I believe things happen for a reason and this adventure of one of those things that happened for a reason. I remember the day we arrived and the excitement I felt when I tried to imagine what would lie ahead. Certainly, I was apprehensive. It has now happened and the experience is ending. And our life here has evolved in ways I never anticipated. I am so glad we came here. And, now I am ready for the next adventure!

Travels

We arrived "home" in Doha just after midnight last night. Spent the entire day (10 hours) in Mumbai between flights from Bangkok to Doha. We tried to "escape" the airport during the 10 hours, hoping we could at least hire a driver for a quick tour. No such luck. We were "prisoners" in the airport. Despite repeated attempts to obtain a reprieve from our confinement, we were told that a visa was necessary and the application process had to be started before arriving at the airport. Airports are not bad places really. Just rather uneventful places. After watching the sales clerks in the airport stores sit without a sale for 8 hours straight, I decided that I was glad I was not working as a sales clerk in an airport. The only real excitement was watching the pilgrims on their way to Jeddah, which is always an interesting drama. We have watched this in other airports, but it never ceases to amaze me. The Haj must be an amazing experience. Many are transported in wheelchairs or get around on crutches. Many are obviously in families and range from infants to the very old. For many, this trip probably represents a life's worth of savings. That being said, I would not recommend 10 hours in the Mumbai airport. I started at the end of our trip. This trip started 2 weeks ago. Bound for Hong Kong, we began this eventful advdenture with a delay in Sri Lanka. Our first stop after a short flight from Doha to Dubai was Colombo, Sri Lanka. We missed the flight from Sri Lanka to Bangkok, so the airlines put us up for the day in a resort on the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka is a poor country, pretty third world. But ----The beach was gorgeous, the food was wonderful and the room was a welcome respite from the airport chairs. All in all, despite the 10 hour delay, the stay in Sri Lanka was pretty nice! We made it to Hong Kong a day late. Our hotel was very nice and well located on the causeway. We signed up for a tour of the island which proved to be very informative. We took a boat trip in Victoria Harbor and a bus ride around the island and to the top of the highest peak on the island. We had no time for shopping, but we saw the markets and spent some significant time walking in the Hong Kong public gardens in the middle of the financial district. We also took public transportation around the city and to and from the airport. Public transportation is great! From Hong Kong, we flew to Bangkok where we met Jonathan and his girlfriend Emily. They were easy travel companions and put up with our tours of the religious temples. We shopped at the local markets (which are too numerous to even count) and tasted plenty of local food. All was pretty good! Bangkok too has a great public transportation system and we used it every day we were there. We enjoyed the public ferry system along the major river in the old part of the city and took the ferry both days to visit more temples. These temples were really outstanding! The sights and smells of Bangkok are hard to describe and hard to forget. It is not a clean city. Our last night in Bangkok we went to a bar at the top of one of the "high class" hotels in Bangkok (not our hotel) and the view was amazing. This is a city of over 10 million people. It is overwhelming from high up! But, it's crowded and there are people living everywhere and in places I would not want to live. There is plenty of street "hustling" that can be rather bothersome at times. Prices for everything are negotiable. We even tried the street food, but we were careful to drink only bottled water. Our next stop was Chiang Mai. What a wonderful change from Bangkok. Not nearly as big and it is nestled in the mountains in northern Thailand. We walked to most temples and street markets from our hotel. Goods were cheaper than Bangkok and there did not seem to be as much hustling as in Bangkok. Although signs warned about pick pockets, I did not see signs warning about tourist hustlers that take you to tourist shops as detours rather than your requested destination. We were hustled in Bangkok (and I almost agreed to the hustle once!), but not in Chiang Mai. We attended a Thai cooking class one evening that was really informative and fun ( Yes, we are all now Thai cooking experts. Just ask us!) and spent another day touring outside the city --- including a log raft trip, an elephant ride, a visit to an orchid garden, an ox cart ride to a "village" in a beautiful and picturesque area outside Chiang Mai, and a chance to pet wild tigers! Emily and Jonathan also visited a snake "farm" and held venomous snakes. A thrill for them, but not on my "bucket" list. I managed to take the 4 of us on a walking tour of Chiang Mai and only got lost a few times. We ate good in Chiang Mai --especially when we cooked it ourselves! We ended our Thailand adventure at Phuket and Phi Phi Island. What a great contrast to the cities. In Phuket we booked a lovely resort hotel on a hill in a pretty decent part of the island. Phuket is pretty wild and is known as a hot spot for college age people. J. and I were a bit concerned as to whether this last leg of our trip would be enjoyable, but it turned out to be just perfect. I indulged in a wonderful Thai massage in Phuket. This was my third. I had one in Bangkok and one in Chiang Mai. The Phuket massage was the best! Perhaps I should write a book about massages in Thailand. I would not mind being an expert in this! We walked along the Phuket (Karon beach area) beach nearby, but mostly enjoyed the resort! Breakfast at a nearby outdoor restaurant was very nice. Then we took a 4 hour ferry trip to Phi Phi Island and a lovely resort on the most deserted part of the island. This was truly wonderful and relaxing and a great way to end our trip. Thanks to Jonathan. This was his idea! We watched the sunset each evening from the Sunset Bar on the resort property, which had a great view of the surrounding islands and the China Sea. Emily and Jonathan spent one whole day snorkeling around some islands close by and we just relaxed along the beach. We walked to a couple resorts within a mile or so of our resort and decided we were staying at the very best resort possible. One evening we ate at a restaurant outside the resort where the husband cooked the meal and his wife served us while his 2 year old tortured the family kitten in front of us. We were the only people in the "restaurant" and we had to climb stairs along the hill just to access the "restaurant". We agreed the food was great and (so far) no repercussions! We watched young men throw and twirling flaming sticks on the beach one evening ----and the last day we watched the sun rise. Then it was back to Phuket and Bangkok. From Bangkok, Emily and Jonathan flew back to Chicago and J. and I eventually made it back to Doha. The best part of the trip was spending time with Jonathan and his girlfriend. It didn't hurt that we spent that time in Thailand, which is a pretty exotic place to spend time. We took pretty many pictures between us, so the time is well documented. Except for the 3 massages I got. No pictures of those in case you were wondering.

Leave Taking

Last evening we said goodbye to Susanna and her family. She prepared a lovely Indian dinner for us. Today, we will say goodbye to Mahroof and his daughter. He's been a friend from the moment we first met him last June at the Fulbright orientation in Washington. Slowly we are bidding farewell to this desert country that has been our home for almost 6 months and the people that have made it so memorable. We leave tomorrow for a 2 week trip to Southeast Asia and will be back here just long enough to wash our clothes and repack for our trip home. I really hate goodbyes. They seem so final somehow. I hope not. It's amazing how kind many of the people here have been during our short stay. They have enriched our lives. I am glad we took the opportunity, the chance... whatever this is. How easy it is to get comfortable in the routine in our lives. Sometimes it is the uncomfortable times when you just throw yourself into something as unfamiliar as life here is, that remind you of the big adventure life can be and surely is. With all it's "differentness", I will miss life here. I can honestly say that I never regretted the decision to live here or to interrupt my life for a change and a chance to see what else I could do, what people in this part of the world were like. Ten years ago, we took another break similar to this, in Cyprus. That experience was very different from this one. Perhaps I was better prepared this time --- or just older. This time I was more comfortable, less anxious. Perhaps even more grateful for what came along and what happened during the months away than the last time we were "gone" for so long. Life surely is an amazing adventure. What will happen next? I can't wait to find out!

A delayed trip

One year ago, our church in Chicago offered a trip to Israel with 2 of the pastors as leaders. We wanted to join this group and it seemed a good way to spend our 40th Anniversary. We couldn't go because of the Fulbright orientation in Washington, so here we are --- a year later --- finally taking the trip to Isreal. We had a window of opportunity - between the last class at the university and the final exams! This time our guide was Ezra, a 72 year old Isreali. Ezra has done a little bit of everything, including serving in the army, growing up in a kibbutz, driving a bus, marrying an artist, hiking all over the country, building air bases in southern Israel, assisting in the assimiliation of the Jews after the second world war, learning the history of Israel to guide tours, .... and crafting his own bit of history from the jewish perspective. He was entertaining to say the least and as long as we remembered his one sided perspective on this part of the world, we were just fine. I must say, we enjoyed our trip immensely and wonder why we waited so long and why we had such concerns about safety issues. We saw little evidence of conflict or trouble. Perhaps with news of fighting in Syria and concerns about Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel has taken a "back seat". Jerusalem was my favorite city of the trip. It is a place that Christians, Jews and Muslims consider "holy" and they all seem to be able to live together in this amazing area of the world. This was a "highlights" tour, so we took in Nazareth, Bethlehem, Capernum, Haifa, Mt. Olive, Jericho, Ceasarea, Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River. Personally, I was amazed at how truly beautiful and green and mountainous the country is. I just didn't picture it that way. Jerusalem is pedestrian friendly in the Old City and very easy to find your way around. Souks are everywhere. Selling to tourists (and locals) is "big business" in Old Jerusalem. We wandered in and out of the different sections of the city -- Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Armenian. In the evening, we even walked on top of the souks to see a bit of the city from the perspective of those who live within the walls. The apartment living in the Old City is cramped and appears simple. Children play in the alleys. One group of little girls tried to stop us from crossing thru the alleyway -- giggling all the while! Outside the walls of the old city, the public transportation makes it an easy city to navigate. We took public transportation, but mostly enjoyed the walking. One evening we ate at a lovely restaurant just outside the old city on a hill overlooking the Jaffa Gate. We ate on an outside veranda and the view was lovely. Another nice part of this tour ---- we had evenings free and we ate wherever we wanted to each evening. The Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, the Via DelaRosa were well worth the trip --- and we were pleasantly surprised at the relative lack of tourists, despite the wonderful weather and the politically calm times. We had to laugh when we asked about the thousands of graves along the Kibron Valley just outside the walls of the Old City. Those grave sights are costly, but people believe that if they are buried there, they will be the first to rise when the new Jerusalem comes. We took a boat trip across the Sea of Galilee and enjoyed 2 nights in a kibbutz on the northern tip of Isreal not far from the border of Lebanon. The kibbutz was located in the hills in a quiet setting surrounded by barbed wire fencing, a reminder no doubt of times past and the fear of conflict in the future. Look out towers surrounded the kibbutz. We saw bomb shelters, a nursery school, a grade school and a small high school. Children played in a field by the school, families had small apartments and were eating on their small patios, and we saw older people walking or riding on old motorized carts along the narrow roads. There was a barn on the kibbutz, with over 100 cows, orchards with fruit trees, a chicken coup, and a small retail store with handmade gift items. We shopped at the kibbutz grocery store for our dinner (good old bread and cheese!) and ate on the patio with views of the surrounding hills and the watch towers of the hills of Lebanon. I think the "money-maker" for the kibbutz is the hotel we stayed in. It's located on the kibbutz grounds, with very simple (but clean) rooms, and a dining room. The buffet breakfast was great! Mt. Hermon is nearby. We traveled along the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Now we have some perspective on what this is! The Bahi Temple and gardens in Haifa are amazing. Finally, we stayed overnight in Tel Aviv before catching a plane back to Amman,Jordan and back to Doha. Tel Aviv is a huge city on the Mediterranean. A bustling, rather dirty city. We could have skipped that city as far as I was concerned, although we enjoyed a walk along the beach and dinner along the beach while watching the sun set. We left on the Sabbath, so very few planes were operational and the airport was virtually empty. None of the Isreali planes fly on the Sabbath, so we took Royal Jordanian back to Doha. I can see why people live in Israel. I would return.

Some more acts of kindness

This morning, one of J's students (with the help of her driver) delivered our lunch! There was chicken Majbos, shrimp Hares, sweet Aseda and a lovely salad and cucumber dressing. This was a Qatari student who said this was typical Qatari food. We had enough to eat and 1/2 to freeze for when we return. Tomorrow we are off on our adventure to Isreal! We received an email from another teacher that J. works with in his workshop inviting us for dinner when we come back for finals after our trip. We also have some food from Mary Pat, who left last evening for the states. (Dan, if you are reading this --- Mary Pat is on her way!) A friend is following us today to return our car. We rented this car for 3 months and it's been dependable, not pretty by any means, but it gets us where we want to go. It's purple and rather small, compared to the white Land Cruisers, Lexus, Land Rovers, and other big SUVs that everyone else drives. Last evening we ate dinner at Landmark Mall. We don't often go to the malls here, but the Qataris do! With Villagio shut down for at least 2 weeks, Landmark (which is close to us) was packed. As you probably read, Villagio suffered a devastating fire a week ago. Several children in the nursery located there on the second floor or the mall died. Several people have been arrested. Safety precautions were not taken. Sprinklers and fire alarms did not work. The country is pretty upset over this --- with the possibility of the Olympics or other world wide games here, such a documented tragedy doesn't bode well. Getting back to nice things. One of the Lebanese staff at the university has cooked us 2 meals. She brings them to J. at school and he brings them home. This young woman says J. reminds her of her father! The food was delicious. I've been meeting with several people this past week now that classes are done for the semester. I still have lots of questions about how this country works, how the laws are passed, how foreigners do business here, and all the many, many questions people like me have ! The people I have met with have been helpful ----- and nice. That doesn't always happen when you ask questions. Or, perhaps, people aren't always nice when I ask questions (come to think of it, I am usually asking questions in a deposition, so why should people be nice!). Anyway, I've spent a lovely week getting some of my curiosity quenched ---- but certainly not all of it. That would take years! Students of both of us have been emailing the last couple days. Thank yous for being their teachers. Really nice emails. Hope we taught them something. They mostly taught us.

Things I won't talk about

How is that for a title? Actually, there are plenty of these topics. Saved for another day. It never fails. Just as you are about to pack up and leave, you meet some people you wish you had met 5 months ago! Like a Canadian researcher writing about Qatari women's issues, a lawyer in one of the foreign law firms that works on joint ventures, a Mayalsian on the Board of Directors of the Sisters of Islam, a Saudi woman teaching in Qatar, a Palestinian feminist, an Egyptian business man with interesting connections, an Islamic scholar from Bosnia. a woman writing about child camel jockeys in the UAE. Don't worry. I took notes. Someday I'll talk. I like the people here. I will miss them. Like the security guards at Qatar University. Usually, kind and helpful. The cleaning staff --- from the Phillipines and Sri Lanka and India and Nepal. Not here because they want to be, but here because of the promise of work and money to send home. This country imports 95% of what they use. The country is determined to become more self sufficient so that means they cannot be totally dependent on oil and gas. Diversitfication - sustainability. All the issues that we, in America, know are important. I understand that agriculture is something that this country would like to consider and they are even buying land in other countries --- like Ethiopia. Wow! Maybe we need some Morgan County farmers over here to grow some corn and beans in the desert! Or a FutureGen in Qatar! Sometimes we joke that this country has more money than God --- but, truly, money is not the issue. Tourism is developing. We decided to look up Barbizon Towers this morning. Kind of a "one more thing we wanted to see" place before we left---- one of the only natural "wonders" left in Qatar. It's only 15 minutes from where we live. Not much has been preserved in this Beduion society, so you look for things to go see here! Well, we found the Barbizon towers. Part of an old watch tower and fortress complex. Poor families live around it and in it and a school occupies a portion of the watch tower structure. It's crumbling. One corner area is a trash dump. There is no entrance to this structure, although you can see steps that probably lead to the tower. You just can't get there. Dirt roads with big pot holes surround the area. But, it is there and this is one thing I decided to talk about! Last evening was our potluck - 8 neighbors came over for dinner. All post doctoral students. Several from Malaysia, one from China, Bulgaria, and the 3 Americans. Another regret ---- I should have organized this sooner. While we have been to a couple get togethers here and all were nice and relaxing ----it takes the initiative of one person to do it---- and I like doing this, so I should have done it earlier. And I won't talk about our conversation ---- that's for another day when I am back in the U.S.A.