The Villa story
Now back to the couple from Egypt (you remember them), they called on Tuesday night before we were to leave for the states on Thursday night to tell us that there was a villa available in the compound (think gated community) where they live. Were we interested in looking; we were there in about 30 minutes. Nice place, good area, close to school, good neighbors, etc., pretty close to what we have been looking for to get away from the apartment. All that being said, we had a very short time in which to decide if we wanted to move. We spend most of the next day getting paperwork done, signing a lease, taking care of the banking arrangements so that we had it tied up on January 1st. It all came together before we left so that we could move when we got back from Christmas on January 20th. There was a minor (well it got bigger) problem in that we moved most of our excess money to the states the afternoon before we looked at the villa so we had to figure out how to cover the January 1st rent payment, but no problem, what could go wrong from 6,000 miles away. Well, as luck or fate would have it, a couple of things did go wrong, money didn’t make it to where it needed to be on time, the 1st month rent check didn’t clear even with my Qatar branch manager saying it would be no problem, etc. Before it was over, I called the compound manager, from the states, told him what was happening and how did he want to handle it. I took him the cash when I got back to Qatar, cash always seems to be in style.
With this taken care of, we were off to the states to see our first “Grandbaby”. Based on our past history, this was going to be an easy trip. Wrong as usual. We were to leave at 3:45AM, had a friend take us to the airport so we could leave our car at the apartment in covered parking. At 1:00 AM he drops us off and we go to check in and nothing is moving. Dubai is fogged in and flights are delayed or canceled. We got canceled. Rescheduled our flight for the next afternoon with different connections. We go home, grab a nap then go to breakfast at Ric’s Country Kitchen and guess who we see, the same friend that saw us leave, being a fine person; he took us again to the airport. We got out of Doha at 5:40 PM with a 6 hour layover in Dubai; I was able to convince the airline that we should wait in the business class lounge because of the time and the canceled flight. We got out on time to London where we changed to an Atlanta flight. It was overbooked so I asked Delta to upgrade us to First class and let someone else sit in the back. My request, my sad tale of woe and my Santa hat must have done the trick because that nine hour flight was the only way to fly and we finally got to Tennessee about 18 hours late.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Dec Update
Dec Update
OK, what happened in December? The West Asian Games were in town and it was easy to get tickets, cost $1.40 per event. At these high prices we attended a football (soccer) match and the opening ceremony, team handball, fencing, track and field and basketball. The really sad thing is we were there with only about 50/60 other people, but we had front row seating. The next major sporting event was the Qatar Golf Open on Dec 16/17. This event was open to anyone with less than a 9 handicap, so I entered. This was a chance to play the golf course for a very reasonable sum. The only problem was this was the first 18 holes that I have played since July; we played 2 days, 36 holes, walking from 7200 yards and 4 inch rough. A little more golf course than I am used to in the states, the good news was I didn’t finish last, the bad news is one of the people I beat was the Japanese ambassador who played because of his position, not his handicap.
At school, we wrapped up the first semester without any major problems or glitches, most of the students did well and there were only a small handful that were not successful in our program. Overall that part of our days and months is going smoothly. These students are very much like young people in the states, some work harder than others, most all are very well behaved and it is fun to be around them
OK, what happened in December? The West Asian Games were in town and it was easy to get tickets, cost $1.40 per event. At these high prices we attended a football (soccer) match and the opening ceremony, team handball, fencing, track and field and basketball. The really sad thing is we were there with only about 50/60 other people, but we had front row seating. The next major sporting event was the Qatar Golf Open on Dec 16/17. This event was open to anyone with less than a 9 handicap, so I entered. This was a chance to play the golf course for a very reasonable sum. The only problem was this was the first 18 holes that I have played since July; we played 2 days, 36 holes, walking from 7200 yards and 4 inch rough. A little more golf course than I am used to in the states, the good news was I didn’t finish last, the bad news is one of the people I beat was the Japanese ambassador who played because of his position, not his handicap.
At school, we wrapped up the first semester without any major problems or glitches, most of the students did well and there were only a small handful that were not successful in our program. Overall that part of our days and months is going smoothly. These students are very much like young people in the states, some work harder than others, most all are very well behaved and it is fun to be around them
Catching up
OK, I know I am very lax in my last updates, so I am going to catch up to January and the start of our new semester. After our trip to Jordan, in October, we settled back into our teaching routine. Most of my days were taken up by teaching and the evaluation of my department teachers before the end of the semester. One thing you learn in an overseas position is that things are pushed forward because of the timelines of doing a lot long distance. Our teachers have to be evaluated during the 1st semester because the hiring/retention decisions have to be made by the end of January. Because we are out most of the month of January for winter (Christmas) break, we had to decide on our returning staff before we went home at Christmas. This was not a hard task, as much as it was time consuming.
We have had a couple of dinners with a couple from Egypt who have been very kind and helpful to us. He is employed with a large conglomerate in Doha and his wife works on the same campus as our program. (Remember this couple for later)
The end of November brought out the US thanksgiving crowd. We got invited to a potluck dinner on Thanksgiving with some of the people from one of the other Universities in our campus. The first roast pork I had had since August 1st. Southern Barbeque is something you can take for granted, but trust me, it can be missed. Probably why I have lost a few pounds, no pork. The following Saturday, we had another Thanksgiving dinner, remember the national pastime is eating and shopping. This was at the home of a couple of teachers we work with who have been here for 5 years so their house is very nice, settled into and comfortable. I took a couple of DVD’s of the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” for entertainment; these people have been missing real humor.
As a wrap-up for November, we had a “Parents Night” to meet our students’ parents and to let them meet the University staffs from the various universities that are tied to our program. We have also started a real push to find a new villa.
We have had a couple of dinners with a couple from Egypt who have been very kind and helpful to us. He is employed with a large conglomerate in Doha and his wife works on the same campus as our program. (Remember this couple for later)
The end of November brought out the US thanksgiving crowd. We got invited to a potluck dinner on Thanksgiving with some of the people from one of the other Universities in our campus. The first roast pork I had had since August 1st. Southern Barbeque is something you can take for granted, but trust me, it can be missed. Probably why I have lost a few pounds, no pork. The following Saturday, we had another Thanksgiving dinner, remember the national pastime is eating and shopping. This was at the home of a couple of teachers we work with who have been here for 5 years so their house is very nice, settled into and comfortable. I took a couple of DVD’s of the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” for entertainment; these people have been missing real humor.
As a wrap-up for November, we had a “Parents Night” to meet our students’ parents and to let them meet the University staffs from the various universities that are tied to our program. We have also started a real push to find a new villa.
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