So by looking at the time stamps on my last blog you can tell I'm not the best at capturing all the riveting moments of my life. Between July 19, 2008 and August 29, 2009 what have I been doing? Well, the extremely short list of major events is as follows:
-Tar Heels win the 2009 Men's Basketball National Championship :)
-I graduated from NC State with my Masters in Education
-I received 2 job offers to work in the Middle East (UAE & Qatar)
If you're reading this, you more than likely know my choice to accept my current job at Texas A&M at Qatar then dictated my hectic and chaotic summer of bureaucratic hurdles, insane packing, and sad goodbyes. Trying to pack in seeing as many people as possible, as well as the all pork and beer (prohibited in Qatar by Muslim law) diet left Tristan and I exhausted.
[August 10th] Our departure from the States was bittersweet. So much left undone, yet we were excited to finally be on the way to Doha. Our long direct flight lent itself to a restful 9 hour "nap". Upon arrival we breezed through customs and baggage claim to meet Julie & Jon Chase (our friends from NC) and Jeff (my supervisor). They escorted us to our new home and helped us settle in.
Jet-lag hit hard Wednesday, and sadly day one in Doha was spent in bed. This was abruptly interrupted by a myriad of phone calls and workers from the compound. Thursday, was my first day of work and the university was a bustling place, not in excitement for my arrival, but for the arrival of 140 new first-year students. With one less than productive day under my belt, we had a weekend of exploring to do!
[FYI] Friday is the Muslim holy day, so in many Muslim countries and Qatar the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Yes, I work on Sundays and it's 3x worse than a "case of the Mondays"...
1 comment:
so exciting! jealousss that you are back in the middle east! can't wait to hear more about it :)
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