So that was Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. I find myself here looking forward to the next 5 weeks or so of "non-teaching" days. Christmas was hard this year and last year. Internet can only do so much to bring people together. We decorated our little tree a few days after Thanksgiving, bought and exchanged gifts, and ate a big Christmas breakfast. It was still warm outside. There was no snow on the ground. We were without family and friends from home. Next year will be different.

Expat Wives

I just read another very well written and funny post by Shamozal. She is also in Doha, but has lived in so many other more fascinating places - with a husband, 4 kids, and a beagle. Most recently, she's written about the "expat wife".

While I am technically an expat wife, I do not consider myself to be one of them. I am the anchor to Qatar who lead her not-quite-yet-husband here over a year ago. So, while some (apparently) are calling the expat wives "trailing spouses" I'd say that my situation is quite the opposite.

I'm the spouse with the benefits package (return airfare each summer, housing, interest free car loan, etc.) who is sponsored by a Qatari entity. And due to my sponsorship I became a resident who could then turn around and sponsor my husband. As the first one here and sponsored first, I signed all the papers. Basically, everything was put in my (maiden) name: car loan, car title, car registration, car insurance, bank account, utilities, Internet and satellite TV, etc. Essentially, my sweet, devoted husband could make a run for it and leave me here in this sand box of hell quite easily. But wait! Because he is sponsored by moi, he must also get my written permission to leave the country if he wishes to return as a resident rather than a tourist. I know he'd never do this because he loves our cats too much. (They are the only concrete reason why we ever bother returning from our vacations to this place afterall!)

Not only do I look different on paper from the Expat Wives, but I am clearly having a different kind of experience. Recently, we met our running club for brunch after a run. I'm one of only two female runners in our group, but for brunch there was much greater balance.

We sat down to chow down and the second most popular question was asked: "Do you work?" they each asked eye balling me like a creature who'd escaped to the outside. "Yes, we both teach," I explained. After that I always feel obliged to ask if they work (outside the home), but I always know the answer by how they ask me the same question. So, I asked. And they said, of course, that they didn't. They go on to tell me how they fill their days here. Some teach private lessons of various arts and crafts thingys for fun. Others pass time with other Expat Wives. And most spend a lot of time chasing their children. I suspect some are fans of Facebook and spend gobs of time online. I mean, that's what I do on vacation because my husband's school holidays do not match mine.

Of course there are positives and negatives to being an atypical Expat Wife. For starters we basically live off one of our salaries here. On top of that we do not have children, while it seems almost every married couple here does. Therefore, we are able to save quite a bit while working in the Gulf. On top of the financial advantages of us both working while abroad, my husband and I can equally sympathize with each other about the cultural frustrations of working here. For example, he experiences many of the same challenges with Gulf Arab students and administrative staff. These shared experiences will make it easier to decide what we do next. Having struggled and enjoyed a very similar adventure here together will mean that our decision to stay or leave will be an easy one.

Until Next Time (and I hope it isn't months!),
WW

Image credit: Chiang Mai City Life

Summer & Eid Vacations

Here are some photos of our trip to Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the big cat gift!

Until Next Time,

WW

Back to the Desert

We arrived in Doha on last Thursday in the wee hours of the morning. Thank goodness it was at that hour because Ramadan is in full swing which means late night traffic is crazy! So what were my thoughts upon arrival for our second year in the desert?

1. It is HOT still, but not as hot as I remembered it in August 2009. We are getting acclimated to heat I guess (especially after being HOT in Thailand just before our arrival).

2. I missed our kitties and I am glad to see them again. They missed us and slept with us through the first night. We had a 3 day layover from in Doha after our 3 week vacation in the US and before our Thailand adventure, so they were probably still feeling clingy with abandonment issues lingering.

3. I don't really want to go back to work, but I am very much ready to have a purpose other than vacationing. I thrive on a regular schedule that includes home cooked meals, my own bed, regular distance running, access to the Internet, and work of some sort.

4. I cannot believe that we will be off again for Eid again next week! We'll be going to Sri Lanka - a place neither of us have visited. And I already know I like the place because it is a mere 5 hour plane ride! Yea! for short flights!

5. In these idle days of Ramadan my mind wonders 'Where are we going next? Will Qatar ever become interesting or will I just count the paydays until my contract ends?'

6. I saw this article about Qataris and other rich Gulf Arabs that holiday in England in The New York Times.

Until Next Time,

WW

Photo Credit: Swns.com via The New York Times and the London Journal

Cats!

So we are leaving in about a week. While our departure couldn't come any sooner, I'm getting pretty sad about leaving our furbabies. I wanted to post another blog about Qatar, but cannot focus on anything worthy to write about here. In fact, when I'm READY to leave a place I'm very much in the 2nd place long before I leave the 1st place. The heat, lack of things to do outside, and my desire to be in the US have given me a bad attitude about all things Qatar. With the heat index regularly at 120-145F I just want to hibernate in our apartment until we leave to catch our flight. I'm also starting to get nervous that some unforeseen event will delay our trip home like I'll get in a car wreck or some other terrible thing!

So, here's a little photo montage of our furbabies:

Until next time,

WW

Terrible Wife, Great Running Partner

We are still training for the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago 1/2 Marathon that is on August 1st. We've also been taking co-ed group fitness classes at Aspire. I also had a consultation with a personal trainer to get set up on using the weight room. I like using the weights because I can go down a list of nicely organized exercises that my trainer (a triathlete from New Zealand) made just for me. I also really like the co-ed classes more than the women's classes because they are more difficult. The Group Fitness class has each person moving every 2 minutes to different stations in groups of 3 or 4. In the Total Fat Loss class we stay at stations for 4 minutes. By the time we're half way around the room M and I both are dripping with sweat. I love it! However, after two weekends of not doing our long run, we made a fatal error the night before our run.

Last week we decided to go to the Thursday night Total Fat Loss class with the fantastic-sub-five-foot-no-bullshit-allowed-no-excuses-trainer named George. He is a like a muscle bound pit bull . . . from Romania. He was wearing a tank top instead of a t-shirt last week and M and I couldn't believe how stacked he was! M heard he was a former Olympic gymnast (Doha the Branson, Missouri, of the Gulf - where former Olympians go to retire . . . ) George also commands the room with his voice. We had already started at various stations around the room when an Arab guy poked his head in and asked to join the class. George shot a quick look at the Arab and barked "Yes, go, check in, and when you come back 20 push ups!" Like I mentioned before, George doesn't mess around. So why in the heck we thought it was a good idea to take his class the night before our long run is beyond me.

I have to stop this story here to add some personal background. In 2008 I ran 7 half marathons and 2 marathons. That was while I was living in Seoul, South Korea, with one race being in Hong Kong. In Seoul there is the most amazing support system of fellow crazy runners and plenty of races in Seoul and all over Korea to enjoy. I was in heaven to say the least. I was single, working, traveling, running, and racing a lot. In fact, there was one month when I ran two half marathons. A friend jokingly asked, "Why didn't you just run one marathon and get it over with?" I went to races out of town by bus or train. I went with some great friends and also alone. I went to the Cherwon DMZ Half Marathon alone and spent the whole day speaking Korean. I will never forget that experience of running past South Korea DMZ guard towers with soldiers standing up on top and of running through villages and having Korean ajummas waving at me and cheering me on while smiling. I loved traveling throughout Korea and running. However, simply put, I was addicted and wanted to spend all my free time either preparing or actually competing. I wasn't great at it, but I had some amazing life changing races. Training and racing became me. I was a bona fide finisher's medal hording, race t-shirt collecting, early weekend morning training, monthly racing "marathoner" while in Korea.

Now that we live in Qatar things have changed. I honestly thought the only obstacle to maintaining my previous running and racing lifestyle would be the weather, but I was wrong. There is a small group of people who meet each weekend to run along The Corniche, but M and I stopped going last fall because we hated getting up early to meet strangers for a run along a brick (ouch!) path. Perhaps equally upsetting is the fact that there are practically no races in Qatar. I hear about some sort of "Women's Mini-marathon" or something like that. What the heck is a "mini-marathon"? Call it what it is - a 5k fun run/walk! I didn't run that race. It made me angry just thinking about it. However, M and I found a proper half marathon in the UAE for a nice weekend in February. We had a great time, but with less intense training I felt like it was just a training run rather than a race.

I miss racing like I used to do in Seoul. I miss feeling like I am good at running. I miss being known as "a runner" or better yet, "a marathoner" to others, but mostly to myself. I miss training hard and feeling good even though it kind of kills my social life. And I've let my husband (a marathoner and triathlete as well) know this in more than a few conversations since we moved here. I just hope we can visit Seoul and run a race there so he can experience it all.

So we recommitted ourselves to training. We've run a little more in the heat than was probably wise, and decided that we just can't change the weather. However, we can get up earlier when it isn't so darn hot. We decided this before George's Total Fat Loss class last week. We had been getting up at 5:00AM to run, but by the time we got out the door it was 5:20AM and the sun was glaring down on us.

Therefore, last Thursday night I set the alarm for 4:00AM. We would run 7 miles - the most we'd run since our February half marathon. For a half marathon we should run at least one 12 mile run about two weeks before the race. We've got time, but not much considering we've only ran 5-6 miles each time we've ran since our last half marathon and we skipped two weekends in a row. As soon as the alarm went off at 4:00AM I jumped up excited and ready to run. The cats were confused and looked a little perturbed. I know Frankie said to Sophia, "Hey, isn't it our job to wake them up?!" M wasn't trilled but I found a way to get him out of bed. I have to bluff and pretend like I'm going to run on the mean streets of Doha alone and then he's up!

Just for the record it was a nice cool 93F at 4:00AM on that Friday, June 25th. I was immediately in love with the idea of getting up every weekend in Doha at 4:00AM. I cannot tell you how incredibly refreshing it was to run at that time in that cool of weather. Right now it is a hot 95F but the "realfeel" temperature is 100F. In the past few weeks the "realfeel" temperature got up near 120F. What does that feel like? Basically, imagine putting your body into an oven, or turning a thousand hot hair dryers onto your body.

Until Next Time,

WW

Photo credit: Seoul Flyer's Running Club President, Jae Kim and me.

Gulf Fashion Observations

Amy Winehouse keeps popping into my head when I see my students. Read more to find out why!

Like in South Korea I was not accustomed to what I saw when I first arrived in Qatar. I saw a sea of sameness at first. Now I can see some differences. There are some subtle differences and some big differences.

First of all, there are many types of covering for women in the Arab world. BBC online has a good slide show of these. There is the hijab which is a veil and the word for "veil" in Arabic. You can still see the face and eyes when a Muslim woman wears this. They come in different colors and patterns. And like in this photograph, I see SE Asian women wearing these too here in Qatar.

Most of my students wear the shayla which is a bigger scarf that wraps around one's head and hangs a bit further down. Almost all of my students wear a black shayla with a matching abaya. Some students wear a matching shayla and abaya that have embroidery on the edges. This blog sells them and has some good photographs. Some abayas and shaylas are fairly modest with only black threaded embroidery on black fabric. Some are much more colorful like the one below. In fact, one of my students wore a black abaya with part of the sleeves made from zebra print fabric which had hot pink bobby sock puffs stitched along the cuffs. I immediately thought "Wow! Cat toy!" when I first saw her abaya. Despite her sassy choice of fabric she was quiet and diligent in class.

Another type of head covering is called niqab and it covers everything but the woman's eyes.

In a class of about 20 females from all over the Arabian Gulf, the Middle East, and Northern Africa, I have had only 2 or 3 who wore the niqab. Furthermore, only 1 of my students out of my total 40 from 2009-2010 never unveiled her face to me. She even wore long, black gloves outside the classroom. I only know that one student by her voice and her eyes. She was from Sudan. She was also one of my most respectful and serious students here in Qatar. I've found it interesting that in general my students who wear niqab seem to make a extra effort to express themselves with their eyes. Students wearing the niqab have crinkled up their eyes when I suppose they were smiling underneath their niqabs. They have also given me cold stares when frustrated during a class lesson. They also seem to speak their minds more than the others - perhaps because of the freedom associated with the niqab's anonymity or because they were simply outspoken individuals (I'm still not sure which is the cause).

The one accessory that interests me the most is the "flower puff" which some Gulf Arab women put under their head scarves (i.e. a bustle for your head). It goes to show that curves are in style everywhere. One online forum explains that some women add this extra Va Va Voom! under their head scarves to make it look as if their hair is fuller than it really is. The forum also points out that the reason for wearing the hijab, or head scarf, is to show modesty by covering one's hair. Furthermore, the forum goes on to argue that feigning fuller hair than what you have naturally is deceitful and against Islam. Hm . . . I guess women in all corners of the world use all sorts of trickery when it comes to beautifying themselves. I just cannot get Amy Winehouse out of my head when I see some of my students with a head bustle or flower puff.

Until Next Time,

WW

PS It was 50C or 122F here in Doha, Qatar, today so I cannot imagine ever wearing any of the above fashions. Thank goodness I don't have to wear any of them.

Photo credits:

http://alivemindandspirt.com/index

http://abayacouture.blogspot.com/

http://24.media.tumblr.com/

http://khaleejia.blogspot.com/

http://www.hairflare.org/

Schools Out for Summer!

Photo: Sophia & Frankie bathe and then wrestle on their Cat Canopy

My classes have finished, exams have been graded and entered into the online system, and I have been to my office to wait for students to complain in person. (Not one student came.) Now, what to do?

My husband's teaching will finish the 3rd week of July, so that leaves me with about 45 days of time to kill. Here are some things that could fill my time:

1. Cook more delicious meals (I only know how to make 3 - maybe)

2. Clean more of the house

3. Run more (on the treadmill in A/C) because August 1st will be here soon!

4. Morning spinning class (on days I have the car)

5. Read more (I have 6 books on my nightstand currently!)

6. Blog more

7. Get Frankie (our little boy kitten) "fixed"

8. Get both kittens de-clawed - the poor things often get hung up on the curtains, sheets, and furniture upholstery

9. Get a haircut

10. Watch a list of recommended movies that I've never seen

11. Watch the entire series of "Lost" - I never got addicted to it

12. Plan next 3 vacations (mid-late August, mid-September Eid, mid-November)

13. Get car inspection (I've heard this is a big pain in the neck, so I'm not looking forward to this.)

14. Swim lessons (I emailed, stopped by in person, and facebooked the Doha Dolphins, but still haven't heard back from them - hiss boo)

15. Start saying goodbye to some teachers who are not returning in the fall :(

16. Start packing for July 23rd trip home :)

17. Continue taking a gazillion photos of our adorable kitties that I am already sad about leaving during vacation . . .

Until Next Time,

WW

Why Not Have Outdoor Airconditioning in the Desert?

Qatar is a growing nation with a lot (A LOT) of money to spend. Hosting the 2006 Asian Games was not enough. We've seen several international sporting events come to Qatar.

• Tour de Qatar (cycling)


• IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championshi ps


• IAAF Diamond League (outdoor track and field)

But all of those (in the winter) are not enough. Qatar wants YOU! to Back the Bid for the 2022 World Cup Games in Qatar.

They are planning on building shaded, air-conditioned stadiums. Interesting! I kind of hope Qatar wins the bid just so we can see how they're going to pull that off.

Until Next Time,

WW

Image Credits:

http://theinosaudiblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/qatar-2022.jpg

Another Insightful NYT Article about Qatar

So this journalist, Michael Slackman, from the New York Times has done it again. I hope he is far from Qatar because he has written some very (true) critical things about this little sandbox.



Give it a gander. He apparently interviewed and followed a few expats and Qataris for a week while in Doha. He gives a balance of quotes from both expats and Qataris, but somehow I just don't feel sorry for the locals when these are the highlights of the story:

• Qataris do not see themselves as coddled. Sure, they do not have to pay for electricity, water, education or health care, and they are given land and low-cost loans to build houses when they marry. They are eligible for public assistance if they do not have a job, often receive generous pensions and acknowledge they will not take any jobs they do not consider suitable for them.
  
  


• Another Qatari man said that the foreigners were never willing to teach him new skills, so he had lost motivation. “I have been working there for three years, and I still haven’t fully grasped the work,” he said. “I go to work to drink tea and read the paper.”
  


• Ibrahim al-Muhairy, 29, a Qatari high school dropout who said he earns about $41,000 a year working for the government as a security guard in a mall. “Everyone is getting what he deserves and more.”

• “We are all angry for staying at home,” (This was said when explaining that some Qataris have lost their jobs to foreigners.)
  

It will be very interesting to see what becomes of Qatar after the gas and oil run out or in just 20 years time....


Until Next Time,


WW


Photo credit: http://www.onlineqatar.com/shopping/images/villagio-mall-doha.jpg


http://thumb1.shutterstock.com.edgesuite.net/display_pic_with_logo/262/262,1207068993,5/stock-photo-covered-qatari-women-with-their-children-and-housemaid-strolling-on-the-corniche-in-doha-spring-11007220.jpg

http://www.constructionweekonline.com/pictures/gallery/author/sponership_web.jpg

Blindness in Qatar

There's a new New York Times article out about Qatar's growing blind population. It mentions a little about the previous NYT's article and how marrying first cousins might be a cause of so much blindness.

A very fortunate woman, Dr. Heji, who went blind was given the opportunity to learn English, go abroad, and earn a PhD. She says that there are many obstacles for the blind in Qatar despite their growing numbers.

• Qatar's cities are built for cars
• Dogs are not well received here so seeing eye dogs aren't feasible
• Many still marry first cousins and other close relatives

It is a good article. Read it!

Until Next Time,

WW

BeautyFULL

Well, we finally did it. We joined a fitness center in Doha. We chose Aspire Fitness which has a whole slew of programs. The facilities are where they held the 2006 Asian Games too.

With so many different buildings and equipment they are capable of doing such things as the Academy Sports Program which trains young talented athletes from all over the world. That program is all encompassing with academic classes, housing, cafeterias, and training for the athletes.

In addition to grooming Qatar's national sports teams Aspire also has fitness memberships for all. Well, maybe all...as Aspire serves their own first and others later if there is space. In fact, on the Aspire website you will see this:

"If space is limited for any program, registration priorities shall be 1) Qatari, 2) non-Qatari born in Qatar, 3) residents of Qatar of any nationality, 4) non-residents of Qatar."

Well, thank goodness Qataris don't seem to like exercise (see last week's post about The New York Time's article) or we might not get to join a gym! After looking at their memberships online we decided the location close to home, high quality facilities, and membership fees were all good. Interestingly enough their system is the opposite of an American fitness center. Here we pay a flat rate for the use of classes only. Joining the gym (weigh lifting and machines) and swimming pool are considered add on memberships. Also, memberships begin only on day 1 of the month and end on the last day of the month. In addition, as a new member you are only allowed to join for one month. After that, you can join for only 3 months or 9 months.

Here is what we paid and what we are getting:

• 1 month Family Membership* (It is good to be married! 2 of 1 deals abound!) 350 QR (approx. $96 USD)
• 1 month Men's Gym 200 QR (approx. $54 USD)

* We can go to any classes for this membership fee. Some of the men's classes are open to both men and women. However, only women can go to the women's classes. In fact, the two are separated by about a half mile. We did not join the indoor swimming pool because it is only opened for us from 7PM - 8PM.

I saw the May Women's Fitness Class Schedule online and decided that after three whole days of not using our May 1st - May 31st membership that we'd better get to it! My experience was surreal. It was the first time in Qatar that I truly felt at ease. I wore my typical black spandex capri running pants and a form fitting synthetic work out shirt - but nobody stared at me. I saw all around me a variety of colors - of clothing and skin. Boy did I see skin! In fact, cell phones are not allowed inside the women's fitness center. Not only did we have to check phones at the door but we had to walk through metal detectors and face the possibility of being wanded while our bags were searched. I guess the security lady did think I was a threat because I was motioned to just walk on by without search.

I saw all sorts of women there - Westerners, Indians, Filipinos, Arabs from other GCC and Qataris. Almost all Arabs went into the facilities completely cloaked in black draping abayas, but entered the class in spandex/tight fitting leggings and cleavage bearing tank tops of all colors. Glorious colors! The desert and all the black abayas leave us with no colors at all in Qatar.

I originally lined up to attend the Body Shape class, but the line extended around the classroom. I wasn't going to get in and an Aspire Fitness Center woman told me just that. She told me to go to another studio where I could attend Pilates. Now, I'm much more of a strength, tone, run, run, and run some more kind of gal so I wasn't too keen on going to Pilates. I'm glad I did though. I got to hear the most lovely accent from a gracefully aging expert Pilates instructor and a great story to boot!

Our tiny, weathered and toned 50-something instructor walked in to class apologizing that the class was already so full. She explained that we would be doing some "controlled" movements to straighten our cores. In addition to her (Russian? Polish?) accent I cannot forget the word she kept using the entire hour: Beautiful!

The Pilates instructor would move around the room saying "for Fitness women you can do this like this" which was followed by her demonstrating a more advanced movement. After that, she would say, "for all you beautiful ladies you can do it like this," after which she would do a much easier movement.

I kept wondering 'who is she talking to? Beautiful ladies? Is she just trying to patronize the local Qatari women in the class, or bow to them?'

Only later did I find out to whom she was referring in class. After the one hour of Pilates I looked around and saw a bulletin board. On the bulletin board I saw it! Aspire Fitness has a program call BeautyFULL for overweight or obese women. Mystery solved! After I told my husband this story (he wasn't there because we were gender segregated!) he said, "BootyFULL?"

Until Next Time,

WW

Photo credits:

http://www.aspire.qa/

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/

http://www.google.com/

http://www.answers.com/

I See You!

How exciting! At first I wanted this blog to be private or even closed off to only those I invited. However, I've just added a widget (No, I didn't know what a "widget" was until a couple of days ago.....) called a clustrmap that allows me and all of you to see from which parts of the world people are reading this blog.

Again - HOW EXCITING! I just logged on today, while I should be grading a backlog of assignments, to see people from Austrailia (I know who you are! - I think...), the Midwest of the US, South America, and Northern Europe had all visited this little blog of mine. And just when I looked again - more people!

I guess I better start adding more information about Qatar. I have all sorts of ideas for blog entries in my head, but I just need to be more disciplined.

Until Next Time,
WW

Let the Countdown Begin!

As of the end of this week, I have only (*only*) 25 more days of teaching before my non-teaching work days begin. I would be lying if I said I wasn't extremely happy about this. In fact, I find myself happily plowing through lesson planning just because of that faint light at the end of the tunnel - the spring semester tunnel which leads to SUMMER VACATION!

So other than happily marking off each calender day I also mentally plan milestones and activities to take my focus off the countdown. Only marking off days is like watching a pot boil - it just cannot go fast enough!

What are those milestones and activities you ask? Well, we've got these fun events coming up:

1. Soon - buy our airfare home for summer vacation
2. May 14th - Diamond IAAF Track & Field event here in Doha
3. August 1st - continuous training for the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon

I am also busying myself with nesting a bit more. I recently bought some colorful pillow cushions for our living room sofas. A teacher and friend who is leaving has said she'll give us her bookshelf. And we are in the process of fixing our bed. Our bed needs either plywood criss-cross reinforcement or two twin box springs underneath it. (It is a fake, hollow platform bed esssentially.)

I am counting down the days, trying to stay busy, and preparing for the end of the semester and the beginning of glorious summer vacation.


Until next time,
WW

Got a Flat?

I got a flat. I was driving at neck break speed (as I've learned to do here) on the way home from work. It was about 12:00 noon. I had just turned right onto a 80km/h road when I had (HAD TO) blow my nose. I reached for a kleenex when all of a sudden I felt a bump. That bump was the right side of the road - a bit closer to me than a few seconds before the nose blowing.

Now, I have never driven on a flat before. I have had a flat before, but parked without realizing it, returned some time later to see the flat tire. After the bump I could feel a slight pulling of the steering wheel to the right. Honestly, I wanted to get as close to home as possible (I would be scolded a bit for this later on).

As I drove the pulling to the right and a strange noise got louder and louder. I thought "Oh crap..." There were a few more round-a-bouts to navigate before arriving home. I decided to pull off before one of them and assess the situation.

Sure enough I had a flat on the front right tire. I did not freak out. I calmly called just about everyone in my cellphone address book - nobody answered. My husband was at work, so I just texted him a message.

As I waited outside my car, calling people and looking at the completely flat tire a white SUV pulled up. Two Arab men in thobes were inside the SUV. The one in the passenger seat said, "You have a flat?" to which I replied, "Yes, could you help? I have the spare in the trunk..." The one who spoke said they would call for help and both motioned for me to get in the SUV with them, but I smiled and said, "No thank you. I'll wait with my car."

I waited for about 5 minutes and began to think that they had forgotten about me. However, I was relieved that the SUV pulled up again. They said, "We will fix it." I was glad that I could stop calling people (who didn't answer their phones and/or didn't have their phones turned on).

I watched as they worked together and skillfully changed the flat. The one who spoke explained that I should not drive on the spare for too long. I nodded that I understood. I also threw in for good measure that my husband would figure things out when I got home. (I seem more inclined to say, "I'M MARRIED!" here than anywhere else....)

After they were finished I said probably three times, "Thank you!" to which the one who spoke English said, "It is no problem. It is out duty."

Really, I wanted to tell them that after EIGHT MONTHS in Qatar they were not only the first Arabs that I had spoken with outside of work and my classes, but also the first to show any of the hospitality that this region is so known for..... However, I simply said, "Thank you!" again and was on my way.

That whole experience gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling because I had actually had an exchange with "locals" but on the other hand it made me realize just how walled up it is here. I say walled up because the way the people live in compounds with walls all around their homes is very much symbolic and representative of the relationships that I have not been able to make with the people here.

Maybe I'm not trying enough to meet and be friends with Qataris. Or maybe (this could be the biggest reason) I am the on who wants to build a wall between me and Qataris because I'm so incredibly frustrated and exhausted after trying to teach my students......

Until next time,

WW

Photo credits: http://i.ehow.com/images/a02/52/vn/change-cars-flat-tire-200x200.jpg

http://iliyanamohamed.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/2434191640_2ed3b312be.jpg

Interesting Article about Qatar

A few days ago I read this New York Times article after a few co-teachers posted it on their Facebook walls. Basically, Qatar is headed for a lot of problems because of: fast food leading to obesity and diabetes, sudden mass wealth leading to laziness, extreme heat making exercise outside nearly impossible, and the time honored tradition and popularity of marrying first cousins.


The article states that when people marry first cousins and have children there are genetic disorders like blindness and mental disabilities. This of course set off an alarm in my head when I tought of my class. (I cannot stop thinking of my class because they've been a particularly rough bunch.) In fact, out of 18 ladies I have 2 that have noticeable eye problems. One wears glasses and one does not. The one with glasses has one clouded eye turned inward towards her nose. The one with no glasses has one eye that catches my attention. I cannot figure out if the one eye is stuck in the same position or if it wanders. Either way, the one without glasses has a pair of eyes that act as separately darting around the room.


The article went on to explain that "Qatar ranks sixth globally for prevalence of obesity and has the highest rate of obesity among boys in the Middle East and North African region." I did notice a big difference in bodies when I moved from South Korea to Qatar. In South Korea I was looked upon as "big" even though I am 5'5" and about 125 pounds. Here, women cover their curvy (obese?) bodies with the long, black abaya. My students do not seem to have any insecurities about their bodies. It was refreshing at first, but now I see their habits as described in the New York Times article as clearly unhealthy.




Perhaps the most shocking (and predictable to me having lived here for several months) is the private life of the Qatari man running a government program to decrease these issues. That man is a 25 year old, overweight man who does not exercise and married his first cousin.

I do not know if the people here are in denial, do not understand/believe the medical research, or just do not care about these health issues. I guess only time will tell...



Until next time,

WW

Abaya photo credit: http://jamericanmuslimah.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/abaya.jpg

Qatar CBS News Story Videos

Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kU9gkmrmxg&feature=related

Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huXgOqBsJLU&feature=related


My students are using some video clips from this special CBS news story about Qatar.

You can see the growth (from 2003) in Doha. You can also hear and watch the Emir and his consort speak English while describing their dream for Qatar. It is inspiring.

Enjoy!,

WW

IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championship - in Doha!

Well, here I am again on vacation from teaching and looking at this blog again. I need to be more consistent with my posting . . . . .

In March M and I went to the IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Doha, just 3/4 of a mile from our house. It was exciting!

There were athletes from a lot of countries. In fact, we saw some Ethiopian professional runners (Meseret Defar, Sentayehu Ejigu Kalkidan Gezhegn) who had an amazing cheering section from local Ethiopians and/or Ethiopians who had made the trip to Doha. One of the most amazing races was the women's 3K race. One runner actually fell down near the middle of the 1500K race, but managed to get back up and finish first! That runner was Ethiopian runner Kalkidan Gezhegn.



We also saw American male heptatlon athletes Bryan Clay and Trey Hardee, who won the gold and silver medals for the event. We were very excited to see American hurdler Lolo Jones race and defend her title in the 60meter hurdles.




It was an exciting day and seeing so many different people cheering on their own was fun. I hope we get to see more world class events like this in the future. In fact, in May Doha will host another IAAF track and field event - outdoors through the IAAF's Diamond League.


We left thinking that we needed to run more, but after the RAK 1/2 Marathon in February we've been taking it easy....maybe too easy. It is time to run again!

Until next time,

WW

Tour de Qatar (yes, really)

Saturday, M and I saw the final leg of the Tour de Qatar. The ladies tour came and went a a week ago and we did not see any of it. In fact, we have missed a few major sporting events here in Doha. Last fall we missed the Qatar Open tennis matches and also the England Vs Brazil soccer/football match. However, we were determined to see these world class cyclists duke it out here on our "home" turf so we quickly did an Internet search to find more information.

Luckily my husband is a cycling enthusiast so after we found very little information about future tour events (who wants to know past tour times?!) on the Qatar Cycling Federation's website, he went to Le Tour's website to find excellent, up-to-date information about Tour de Qatar events.

We found out that the last stage would be Saturday starting at 12:00PM and finishing around 2:00PM. The course would be easy to find and near our part of Qatar. The race would start from Al Wakra and end along the Corniche in Doha. So, around 11:00AM on Saturday, we got in the car and drove to Al Wakra.

Once we arrived around 11:30AM we noticed pre-race preparations underway. I love race day! It was so fun seeing all the police cars blocking off traffic and cyclists warming up! M and I are both runners who haven't been able to race since the summer in 2009, so seeing all this action was very exciting for us.

The funniest thing of the day was seeing the team crews all waiting along the Corniche. These men were all North American or European. Because it was a nice, warm day they all took off their shirts and lounged about in full view of local Qataris. Several abaya clad women stared, snickered, and covered their mouths after seeing the tanned bare chests of these non-Arab men. It was such a strange sight for us as well, that I made my husband take a photo of them. I said, "This is something that we will NOT see along the Corniche in Qatar ever again. Take a photo!"

The awards ceremony was also interesting. M told me that in European tours women give the cyclists their awards and kisses on both cheeks, but this simply was not done in Qatar. In fact, three obviously foreign women merely held a shiny tray of medals that were given to the cyclists by thobed Qatari men. I did not know the men who raced, but the winner was Francesco Chicchi from Italy. M knew Tom Boonen from Belgium and Tom seemed to draw a crowd from some Qatar expats.

Overall it was a great day. Just being at a race made us both want to train harder and find more races here in the Gulf.

Until next time,

WW

Demographics in Qatar

(Image source: Immigrant Populations Worldwide by Wikipedia with author Stephen Bain, the darkest blue countries we see have a population with more than 50% immigrants)

Qatar is a tiny country by some comparisons. By now some of you have probably googled the place and found it to be a small peninsula off the much larger Arabian Peninsula. We are directly across from Iran by the Arabian Sea, and our other neighbors are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the area is predominately Arab, both the UAE and Qatar host hordes of S.E. Asian (mainly Filipinos), Indian, and Pakistani workers. To the casual observer the population imbalance of local/immigrant is glaringly obvious. One can view a sea of men in light blue jumpsuits laboring in construction in the sun throughout Qatar. One can also view what seems to be one or two Malaysian or Filipino nannies per family of Qataris. Just last night M and I watched many Qatari families which all had one to six children walking through The Villagio Mall with one or two nannies in tow. Watching a nanny bring up a child (some with genuine love, and others with complete disdain for the child(ren)) makes me sad. However, seeing all these immigrant workers dwarf the local Qatari population only means one thing - present growing problems and future disasters because of the complete unbalance.

Let's look at some statistics: As of January 31st, 2010 the Qatar Statics Authority accounted for 1,681,099 persons. What's shocking about the latest count is the growing gender imbalance due primarily to male immigrant workers.

1,282,978 males

398,121 females

This gender and local/immigrant population imbalance has grown drastically since 2004. And I know of no means to stop it, except for something called "Qatarization" in which the Qatar government calls for the training and hiring of Qataris in the workplace - specifically the energy and industrial fields. Here's more about Qatarization from the English version of the website:

"Qatarization is the identification and development of quality, competent Qatari males and females to assume permanent positions in our industry. Our objective is Quality Qatarization.

The preparation of quality Qataris is based on performance, and competence rather than time, and should be balanced with operational requirements to ensure a smooth operation.

Qatarization requires the support and commitment of experienced Qatari and expatriate staff, at all levels, to develop and train inexperienced Qataris and help them gain valuable on-the-job experience."

Wow. Good luck with that. The grand majority of my Qatari students do not want to work. And really, why should they? Their families (whether it be fathers or husbands) will provide for them and the country itself brings in thousands of immigrant workers who are in need (not want) of work.

Anyway, here are more Qatar immigrant population statistics provided by the US Department of State from 2008:

“Population (May 2008 est.): 1,448,446;

males 1,096,815 (75.7%);

females 351,630 (24.3%).

Population growth (May 2008 est.): 59.6%.

Ethnic groups:

Qatari (Arab) 20%;

other Arab 20%;

Indian 20%;

Filipino 10%;

Nepali 13%;

Pakistani 7%;

Sri Lankan 5%;

other 5%.”

So, when people ask me "What's it like living in Qatar?" I often think that we are not living in Qatar, but rather a SE Asian/Indian peninsula where Qataris drive their cars around at neckbreak speeds and take their mob of children (and two nannies of course) to the malls.

Until Next Time,

WW

Buying Booze in Qatar - a Muslim Country

Even though I have lived in Qatar since the end of August, 2009, I just today got my Liquor Permit so that I can buy alcohol. The reason for the delay in getting this permit was just my own laziness and lack of desire to drink alcohol. Honestly, I am not much of a drinker. I tried to be a party girl when I was in college, but that just never was me. I have always had enough fun just being with the people that I love. In addition, after living in South Korea for 3 years and witnessing a plethora of dangerous/ridiculous/unprofessional/reckless stuff happen because of drunkenness not by college students but grown ass adults in suits, I am the straight and narrow semi-teetotaler I am today. And I do not like hangovers, beer bellies, or distractions from marathoning.

On the contrary, now that I live in a very conservative Muslim country . . . I kind of want to drink. I could blame this on the fact that we cannot drink legally without a Liquor Permit (and Muslims cannot drink alcohol at all), or the daily frustration that comes from teaching incredibly unmotivated and spoiled students, or that there is little to do for active people who like the outdoors. I don't want to binge drink or "party" with colleagues or students like some teachers do in Korea (never mind that I never wanted to do that in Korea). However, I find myself wanting to have a glass of wine or a margarita with Mexican food these days - plain and simple.

So I went through the procedure to apply for my Liquor Permit at the Qatar Distribution Company (QDC). Here's what I had to do:

1. Get a letter from my employer stating these things: basic salary (not including transportation and housing allowances), marital status, job position, and whether the employer provides me with housing or a housing allowance.

2. Fill out the application, which included this question field: Religion: _________ . I wrote CHRISTIAN in case you were wondering partly because I think anything but that would have given the QDC a reason to deny my permit.

3. Pay a 1,000.00 Qatari Riyal deposit (For what? I have no earthly idea!)

After I got my permit I walked into what looked like a little 1,000 square foot Brown Derby liquor store. Everything was nicely arranged. It was tiny considering that everyone in Qatar buys their alcohol there - even the hotels and restaurants. The store was arranged by liquors (whiskeys, whiskys, vodkas, etc.) with the beers and wines separate. The wines were arranged by country of origin. At the entrance there was a card swipe machine so you could check your balance. I was given only 1,600 QR because my employer did not write in my letter that they provided my housing, which would increase my salary. The alcohol permit customer spending is based on salary. Therefore, the next time I go into the QDC the permit office man said to bring my contract that shows I get housing from my employer, and they will increase my spending to 2,500 QR, which I am sure we will never spend.

Here was what I bought and their rough price estimates in the US dollar amount:

• Wolf Blass Eagle Hawk Merlot (75cl) 59.00 QR = approximately $16 USD
• Captain Morgan Spiced Rum (75cl) 99.00 QR = approximately $27 USD
• Jose Cuervo Silver (75cl) 105.00QR = approximately $28 USD
• Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix (1litre) 54.00 QR = approximately $14 USD
• Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (75cl) Baron Philippe 66.00 QR = approximately $18 USD
• Corona Bottles (33cl) 6 pack 42.00 QR = approximately $11 USD
  

I spent only 425.00 QR of my 1,600.00 QR allotment.

Here are the very specific and seriouly followed rules pertaining to buying alcohol in Qatar as stated on the QDC Alcohol Permit application and their nice hand out they gave us at the permit office:

1. Permits are for personal use only.

2. Purchases must be taken directly to the permit holder's residence and should be concealed from view in transit.

3. The permit holder and goods must be in the same vehicle.

4. Consumption must be at the permit holder's residence only.

5. It is strictly forbidden to give alcohol to others whether by sale or gift.

6. You cannot purchase without your card.

7. Only permit holders are allowed in the shop.

8. Management reserves the right to refuse or cancel any membership.

So, there you have it. I feel like a 20 year old American again . . . make that newly 21 year old! Sadly, I had the flu this past weekend so I did not get to actually drink any alcohol yet. Well, there's always next weekend and I am on vacation for two weeks. I guess I could have a Corona will doing laundry and cat sitting!

Until Next Time,

WW

Running in Qatar

I started to write this blog because I wanted to give (my own) information about Qatar, but I cannot help but compare Qatar to my experiences in the US and South Korea.

Running is my hobby, but also a way of life. I started running seriously in the summer of 2005 and by the fall I had run my first half marathon and marathon. I was hooked. In February of 2006 I moved to the countryside of Daegu, South Korea. I was too far outside the city to get into a running club. Nevertheless I ran the trails around Daegu University and loved it! I even took the slow train to Gyeongju and ran a half marathon all by my self. During my training runs and during that one race locals stared, but I got used to it. They were incredulous looks of amazement, not perverted lingering eyes that followed me. In 2007 I moved to Seoul and hit the motherload of all running clubs. Running really took over my life and I was grateful. In Seoul there were races every weekend! I met some of the best people through running. We became not just running partners, but traveling partners. Because South Korea is fairly small, we would just choose a region to visit, find a race, and hop on a train. Hotels or "love motels" and transportation were ridiculously cheap and safe. From spring 2008 to fall 2009 I had the time of my life running all over South Korea. And because it was rare to see a foreigner in a sea of Koreans at a marathon (and a woman especially!) some people started to recognize me. This recognition inside such a welcoming community of runners provided a perfect situation to practice my Korean. At one of the DMZ half marathons I found myself completely without English for the day and really enjoyed it. When I met other runners at races or running along the Han River I felt the most connected to Koreans.

Running in Qatar has been quite different. There are no races. I take that back. There was a 5km race put on by Doha Bank, but we did not go. The culture is less forgiving of women in athletic apparel here, not to mention women running around outside the home. Nobody has yet dared to say anything to me, or my husband but their cold stares say enough. The climate and terrain are harsh as well. Running in the evening or early morning is best - even in the dead of winter. I figure the only foreigners crazy enough to run here are lone runners - not likely to join a running club. In fact, we went to meet a haphazard group of runners for a few weeks. They met at 6:00AM to run along the Corniche, but after rising at 5:00AM every day during the work week, the last thing we wanted to do was wake up at 5:30AM to go run. In addition, the group just ran and went home, so we were not getting any of the social brunch type activities that I so looked forward to every weekend in Korea and the US. However, one of those runners and I spoke about starting an official running club to draw more people into it, but I just don't know if I want all that responsibility. Maybe my US and Korean running clubs were just too good to ever top.

Therefore, my husband I run together. He is a lot faster than I, but we make it work. Like a lot of things we miss living here - we will be even more grateful to have them once we return home. And this summer when we go home for a visit we'll be sure to load up on racing. We've already registered for the Rock & Roll Chicago Half Marathon for August 1st!

Until Next Time,
WW

Living in Qatar is a Lot Like . . .

Living in Qatar is a lot like the comedy Groundhog Day starring the hilarious Bill Murray. Let me explain. If you have seen the movie you know that Bill Murray is a TV weather man who suddenly wakes up one morning to re-live the same day all over again. At first, he is confused, later completely frustrated, and then he learns to deal with the sameness of it all - anticipating each character's action before they even know what they will do.

Qatar has been like Groundhog Day in that the weather and geography do not change. Okay, it was hotter than hell in August, ranging from 84F to 105F, and now it is only warm in January, ranging from 55F to 71F, but it will never get cold here. We did not see any clouds until the end of November, and there was no rain until December. Had we not bought a Christmas tree I never would have known it was that time of year. Living in Qatar is like the film Groundhog Day: the same again and again.

The geography is the same shade of beige with the occasional tuft of green shrub. We drove all the way out to the NW coast to see Fort Al Zubara, but it was the same. We also drove out to the Inland Sea and Al Khor just north of Doha. They all look the same. Some places just have more people and cars than others. Living in Qatar is like the film Groundhog Day: the same again and again.

The Ozarks are gorgeous and we say, "If you don't like the weather - wait because it will change tomorrow." South Korea also had four seasons and the most beautiful trees, mountains and rivers. I never knew that I would miss weather and geography diversity so much.

Bill Murray photo credit: http://www.foxnomad.com/
Fort Al Zubara photo credit: http://media.lonelyplanet.com/

Censorship or Harmless Film Splice

Everyone has been talking about James Cameron's Avatar so we finally went to see it. While I loved the movie for all the action and message(s), I did not appreciate the censorship of certain scenes. However, I am not the only resident of Doha, Qatar, wondering what happened to select scenes. Some commentators suggest that the movie theaters cut random scenes out for time, while others hint at some avatar sex scenes that went missing. The characters were not even human! How can anyone be offended by what might have been giant blue cat-people alien things kissing? I guess I will not know what scenes were deleted at the movie theater until we get a copy of the DVD. I still wonder to what extent is the theater obligated to tell their customers about scenes being deleted? And if theaters are deleting scenes must they give a reason? Furthermore, who would still go see the film knowing that scenes were deleted? I do not think I would have.

Avatar image credit: http://boxoffice.com/blogs/steve/avatar%20II.jpg

Whirl Wind Romance

I love this story and I hope you enjoy it too. (Warning - I just realized how ridiculously long this is.)

Here's a little background on me before I met my other half: I had just gone back home after living for three years in South Korea in the middle of December, 2008. While I know some western (white) women love to date the male Asian persuasion, I did not for various reasons. There was the language barrier, the culture barrier, and the "okay, I'm not your English teacher right now, so please don't ask me questions about the TOEFL or how to immigrate to the US for the rest of our date, okay?" situations that usually occurred. There were also some ridiculous stereotypes that I faced as a single, white, western woman in South Korea: No, I'm not a whore like the Hollywood movies portray, and no I do not like to drink like a fish or do any other crazy, unprofessional things like certain Korean media portrays westerners doing.

Needless to say, I was often misunderstood and on my part anyhow no real romantic relationships blossomed in South Korea. My time there was very much surreal, and living in a fantasy world makes it difficult to see any "relationship" as more than just that - unreal. I did not settle, I did not make but only a few good female friends that are still very dear to me. Men were for the most part completely off my radar while in Korea. Those I did date were just that a date and nothing more. And so after three years "teaching" Koreans, traveling around much of SE Asia, and running distance races like it was my job, I went home blissfully unattached.

I stayed in the US for longer than I thought I would from mid-December 2008, until August 2009. Knowing that the ESL job market was (and still is) rough in the US. Therefore, I started looking at jobs abroad quite soon after moving back home. Being that I wanted to move pretty much as soon as I landed in the US, I never really put down any roots. I unpacked, got a job that had me teaching over full time hours at my old institute, and met up with my old running buddies. I did not make any real attempts to get "settled" by any means. In fact, I was even hesitant to socialize, which to those of you who know me - I never have really been a social butterfly. I am a bit of a hermit. I love having my close, small groups of friends, rather than a horde of acquaintances. Anyway, I digress....so I spent all of the spring and most of the summer just working and running while I lived in my parents' house. I had a great time, but in all honesty I was not really there.

After attending the Denver TESOL Convention in late March 2009, I knew that I would move abroad again to teach English. People often talk about moving home and how it is never the same - they are right. People who have lived and/or studied abroad talk about "reverse culture shock" that makes it difficult to feel truly comfortable in one's original home country. Because of those two things and my still very single status, and me not getting any younger (I hit the big 30!) I figured if I was going to live abroad again that 2009 was the year to continue my foreign adventures.

I hit a rather large 6'4" snag in my grand plan on July 18, 2009. As the quote from Woody Allen goes, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans."

At some point in late spring a dear college friend of mine, and fellow runner, invited me down to the Too Hot To Handle 15Km race in Dallas, Texas, to be held on Saturday, July 18th, 2009. I immediately got a cheap flight from Missouri to Texas and started training for the race. I had no idea that I would meet my husband just by going to that race!

My friend and I decided to carpool to the race with another runner that she knew because around White Rock Lake there is very little parking space. So, early in the morning (after eating a breakfast of champions - poptarts from the gas station!) we met up at one of the gyms. There, we saw one of our carpool buddies waiting outside in the dark morning. We said hello, and went inside to wait on the other guy who would drive all four of us to the lake.

We all got into a truck with the driver and M (my husband) in front and my friend and I in the back. Honestly, this time is a bit of a blur because I was feeling pre-race adrenaline. However, since then I have tried to remember what all I said, all of which is completely embarrassing because I had no filter for what I said with all the pre-race energy (and I was about to move to Qatar so I did not care what anyone thought of me in Texas). I do remember that we drove past some sort of strip club along the road and I immediately offered up my unfiltered opinion: "Why don't they call places like that "Deadbeat Daddy Club" instead of a "gentleman's club"? Obnoxious, I know, but I was not there to impress anyone. We all started talking about women runners who wear running skirts. I have always hated it when female athletes pander to men even in their selection of apparel while playing sports. I mean, really? Practicing or competing in your sport is YOUR time. So here we were riding along to the race and I clearly stated that I hated it when women wore running skirts. I also remember adding that I hated athletic apparel designers who dress female athletes up like damn Easter eggs - pastels are not good for sweat! When are they going to learn this? I cannot remember exactly what else I said, but I cringe every time I think of the first impression that I had on my now husband. Eeek!

M must have already noticed me before we got into the truck because I mentioned my hometown in Missouri to which he immediately turned around and asked me if I knew his sister. He told me afterwards that he was about to call his sister in a rage of fury if she had known me and not introduced us. As it turned out I did not know his sister, but having part of his family living my hometown made it very easy for us a bit later on.

So, we got to the race and I was just doing my pre-race thing. I was blissfully ignorant to any eyes that M may or may not have been making at me. I was just a new runner and he was also just another runner. We both ran our races and had a good time. I was really in my own element after the race with even more adrenaline flowing, which means I really did not care what anyone thought of me. I do not think I said anything cringe worthy, but I know that I did not pick up on any vibes that M may or may not have been sending my way.

After the race the guys suggested that we all go eat brunch at the most wonderful texmex restaurants in Dallas. I loved this place called Ozona's! Just about everyone there had either cycled or ran that morning and you could tell! Now, at this point I started feeling a little self conscious because I had just ran 15km in the heat. I was not looking too hot, and I know that I smelled. I had nothing to change into because I did not know we would be eating out after the race, but I went and nobody else changed either.

I sat down next to my friend and M sat next to me. Hm . . . well, he told me later he only sat there because the Tour de France was on the TV just above my head. So we started talking just M and I. We found out that we both shared a love of traveling abroad. He was thoroughly interested in my career teaching in different countries and said he really wanted to live abroad as well, but hadn't worked out how exactly. In fact, he was trying to find a way back into school to get his MS in either Math or Computer Sciences. I thought, 'wow, this guy travels, runs, and is smart . . .' and then I felt like I had been just having a conversation with him the whole morning so I stopped talking to him. It was starting to become awkward - what did this guy want? What were the other people at the table talking about? So I joined the other ladies and talked about men and women. M was all ears and succinctly heard all of us women groan about men who text, but never call.

My friend and I left brunch and I said my goodbyes knowing that most people simply didn't visit The Gulf. I got into the car and immediately said, "He was nice. Is this what nice guys are like? Maybe I should get out more often instead of just working and running." Almost as soon as we arrived at my friend's house she got a text from our carpool driver stating that M wanted to continue talking to me, but wasn't sure if he had better call (as we all adamantly lamented at brunch) or text? I said "Sure, text." because although M was very polite and well spoken, I really did know what he wanted from little ole me - a date? a fling until I skipped out of the country? a running buddy in Missouri? someone to stay with for free in Qatar?

Well, as it turns out this whole texting and calling business was the driver-friend's idea. I later found out that as soon as the guys got into the truck after brunch the driver-friend asked M, "So did you get her number?" to which M replied, "She's moving to Qatar." The driver-friend was dumbfounded, "Geeze, do I have to do everything for you?" And then the matchmaking began of the driver-friend contacting my friend, who ultimately put us in contact, but not without some technical difficulties . . .

I soon received a very lengthy and polite text message from M on my rarely used new cell phone. He wanted to go out that night if we did not have any other plans, but we did and I didn't want to bail on my girl friend for a guy that I barely knew. So I texted back that I was leaving town the next day and that he should email or facebook me . . . and then I hit "send" or so I thought. Strangely enough I did not get a polite reply. In fact I did not get anything. How strange I thought. Was it rude to say no to a date because I wanted to hang out with my friend? I thought about it for a few more minutes and then forgot about it until the next day - the day I was supposed to leave. I was so embarrassed and out of practice that I decided to handle the situation junior high style. My friend called her friend (who was on a 60 mile bike ride with M) and asked if M had received my reply. No, he had not. I quickly checked my cell phone and saw that the outbox had nothing in it. Oh my goodness! I never replied! He must have surely thought I was rude. I was mortified and quickly sent a message and tried to explain that I was retarded when it came to technology, it was a new phone, and yes I wanted to talk to him again, but was leaving that very day in a few hours.

M called me as soon as he got finished cycling and we talked. I cannot remember exactly what we talked about, but I do recall nervously asking about his travels and him going on and on about castles in Germany. Awww. After I got home later that night the facebook stalking ensued. We both read everything we could about each other. We both looked at all each other's photos. M started hinting at coming up to Missouri to "visit family." We planned on running the very next weekend in my hometown.

I'll be honest. I was not messing around. I had had my hopes dashed more times than I care to admit. And so I started to protect my little black heart of ice by referring to M as a new "running buddy." My mother will have you know that she asked me, with a very anxious look on her face, the night before he came up to Missouri, "So what is going on with this new friend? Are you two going on a date?" to which I almost angrily shouted, "Mother, he is just a runner, I know nothing about this kid!" What can I say? I saw, read, and heard something different about him and it scared the hell out of me. This was absolutely no time, no time at all, to be falling in love or whatever. I was (and still am) very much a cynic. I never believe anything until I have it in my hand. Talk is cheap. People make other plans, but I was sticking to mine of moving to Qatar.

At 6:00 AM under very stormy conditions we met for a hill workout. It was a bit much for M because if you know Dallas at all then you know that there are no hills to speak of. However, this was all part of my plan - if he truly was a friend then he would run with me, and I did not want to miss out on my training for some guy I barely even knew. So, we charged hills and tried to talk as it started drizzling, thundering, and lightening.

We finished running and decided to go for breakfast. We sat outside and ate under a covering while it poured rain, lightning and thundered something awful! M asked if I wanted to hang out later that day, to which I said yes. I had nothing better to do and he was interesting. And I had not met any runners who were just very genuine, around my age, attractive, talkative, and who truly seemed interested in getting to know me. It was the week before final exams in my summer teaching so I had absolutely no class prep - I was free! I went home right after to shower and change for geocaching. My father was sitting in the kitchen and asked how the run was. I was in a hurry to meet M in about an hour so I just ran past him and said, "Good. We're going to Arkansas for geocaching - its like a hike for treasure or something. . . " as I ran to get a quick shower. My dad's face was incredulous and he shouted at my mother, "They're crossing state lines to go hiking!" I think they both new (having met and been engaged after only two weeks themselves) what I was trying to deny at this point - M was it. I was going to marry him.

We went down to Arkansas and got lost something awful considering M grew up in Arkansas and the fact that we had two GPS devices with us. I enjoyed the day, but the day quickly became night and I was not ready to leave him. He was stalling as well. We had already eaten breakfast and lunch together, so we decided to have dinner as well. It was late, but we were both in our 30s with no real obligations at home. We drove out of our way to find food late at night and eventually drove back to Missouri. I now believe that the best date anyone can have is a road trip.

We said goodnight around 12 AM after a long and very telling talk about our values and our goals. We promised to meet again the next day. The next morning I woke up around 7 AM and called M. I debriefed my parents about the previous day's events because I really had not talked to them except to tell them we were going to Arkansas. They knew and I knew that day was the one day to meet M. My parents had already planned to go to the lake so they suggested that I invite M. So, I did. He was still asleep when I called him, but agreed whole heatedly to come along. It was a great day. This time I drove us because M had driven so much the day before. There was a lot more talking and getting to know each other. At the end of the weekend I confessed that I was suddenly confused. I had just spent so much time as a very independent woman who travels and now at the tail end of my time home I had finally met someone worthy of dating. I said a bit frustrated, "What do I do? Do I hang up my backpack and stop this globe trotting?" to which M replied with the most perfect answer ever, "No, we take two backpacks."

The rest is history, but I will just say that after that second weekend we both knew we wanted to be together. The next week I gave final exams, so we did not see each other. The following week I went to Florida for a week with my sister. After two weeks apart (and many 4+ hour phone calls each day apart) I flew down to M in Dallas on August 10th. Because he was finished with a programming contract he was free to be with me until my August 20th departure for Qatar. We lived in the moment - road tripping from Texas to Missouri, stopping to meet various friends and family of M along the way. M helped me pack for Qatar, which was a sad scene. I wanted desperately to flee and not deal with the emotions of having to leave and yet also leaving someone behind for the first time.

It is funny because I moved to Qatar after only 10 days of us physically being together, M moved up to Missouri while contemplating when/how he would come to Qatar, and in the end M actually spent more time with my parents than we me before we got married!

Honestly, I would not change anything about our story. I love that we met doing what we love doing - running. I love that we were both truly not looking to start a relationship, but were simply interested in getting to know one another as people. I love that we have similar hobbies and most importantly the same core values, which we discussed in great detail the week after we met. Who does that? Most couples are afraid to be honest for fear that they will find out that they are actually incompatible. I had nothing to lose. Honestly, if M did not like me for me (or vice versa) I was going to wedge the Atlantic Ocean, all of Europe and Africa in between us anyhow with my move to Qatar. I love that we have a very similar view of our life now and share the same dream for our future. We will continue to run marathons, travel to other countries, and hopefully one day have children. This is exactly the life that I wanted, but did not know existed. I am simply grateful.