How do they treat women?
Women are treated quite well here. The main difference is the separation of the genders. Most homes have two entrances. One for the men and one for general use. Men often will congregate together in an area of the home that will be out of the way so that the women can go about their day without being disrupted. Our villa has two entrances. I have Steve and Truman use the man door. Drew can still be with the rest of us until he gets older. Kidding! We actually blocked one door off with a couch. I'm sure that meets fire codes. Women are allowed to vote here, which is unusual for the Middle East. Women can hold administrative positions, work alongside men, and can be the family sponsor in a situation like ours if they so desire. Steve is our family sponsor, but I like it that way. Less paperwork for me. And really, it's just a title.
Men and women are also separated in any public department - like a health clinic, fingerprinting office, or where we took our driving tests. Families are encouraged to commingle, but men and women - especially if they are not married, are not.
Is it safe there?
It is very safe here. Safer than back home in some ways. It's safe both personally and nationally. Allow me to clarify. People leave their cars running, doors unlocked, and let their kids bring ipods and ipads to school. I mean little kids. Like first graders. I suppose when money isn't really an issue you don't need to worry about someone taking your stuff. I walk Truman at night often and haven't ever felt uneasy.
On a grander scale, I did worry a little bit when there was some unrest in neighboring countries. But Qatar is a very peaceful country and strives to remain that way. The Qatari make up only about 20% of the population so it's in their best interest to befriend the vast range of cultures here. The people are very kind...as long as you aren't driving. I think it's important to keep in mind that we are guests here. The director of our school talked a lot about that in the first week, and it's true. There are a lot of things that are different from the U.S. A lot of things are frustrating. The logistical things are harder here and there are moments when you think "this would never happen in the America!" In those moments it's important to remember - we are guests here. This is not our country and the rights, freedoms, and conveniences to which we've become accustomed aren't the same here. And, really - they shouldn't be. That's what makes the world go round.
What do they think of Truman?
This is a funny one. The population at large is not a fan of Truman, but the expats and their children (especially the children) love him! He's sort of the celebrity dog of Al Nassaria 5, which is where we live.
The people here are a combination of fascinated and revolted by Truman. I have been stopped by Muslim men on two occasions. The first time I was followed for about the equivalent of three blocks. It was night time so I was a teeny bit nervous. I could tell I was being followed, but I was close enough to home not to worry. Besides, I've been taking boxing classes - so I say, bring it. No. I don't really mean that. Finally the man pulled up next to me and rolled down his window.
"Miss! I have a question for you!"
"Yes?"
"Why do you have this, this... dog?" He asked, in a tone of disgust.
"I, ummm, he, ummm... he's a good pet?"
"That is it? He is a good pet? Why do you people, you people with the... from the... where are you from, England?"
"Yes, England!" It sounded good. Never mind that I don't have, and can't seem to muster up on command, any semblance of a British accent.
(Everyone here thinks I'm Canadian or British, and I tend to just go with that because... well, I'm American and it seems safer in this part of the world to be Canadian or British.)
"And that is all? That is why you keep the dog?"
"Yup, that's it..."
"Okay, thank you." And away he sped...
The second time I was stopped by two Muslim men who just kept driving up and down the street where I was walking Truman. They eventually stopped and simply said, "That is a nice dog. What is his name?" And that was that.
Here in the compound, the kids knock on our door to invite him to the park to play, fight over who gets to walk him, and bring him bowls of water when we're outside. It's a pretty sweet life for Truman.
How hot is it?
Hot. In our math curriculum, one of the lessons was to plot the change in weather on a bar graph. The third grade team went ahead and changed that to plotting class birthdays by month. When we first arrived it was brutally hot. Hot like you stand outside for 7 seconds and break into a dripping sweat. Hot like 120 degrees hot. No joke. But that really only lasted a couple weeks. It's been in the mid 90s the last few weeks and it's surprisingly comfortable. It does dip down to the low 80s at night. That's when I whip out the sweatshirt. I'm not kidding. It's crazy how fast your body adapts to change. I don't know how we'll survive Oregon next summer. It's a good thing I left my down jacket there. I'll probably need it to get through July.
Where do you go grocery shopping?
We are very fortunate to have a little grocery store right up the road from us - it's about the equivalent of two blocks away. That is where we get most of our groceries, but for the bigger trips we have to drive into the city and hit the hypermarkets. These are grocery stores that are inside of malls. That's where all the big grocery stores are - smack dab in the middle of malls. Odd. Nearly every grocery store is more like a Target or Walmart, in that they sell much more than just groceries. The main stores we go to are Lulu's Hypermart, Carrefour, and sometimes Mega Mart, which is where they sell more American items - like cereals, dryer sheets, Ritz crackers.
What do you do on the weekends?
Shop.
Explore.
Regroup.
What days of the week do you work?
We work Sunday through Thursday. Friday is their holy day so everything is shut down until about 4pm.
Are there churches there?
Yes. There are all kinds of churches. Mormon, Christian, Catholic, and I'm sure others. We did attend the Christian church one time and do plan on going back. It's hard to get used to going to church on a Friday. I know, lame excuse... we'll get there.
They don't look like churches in the traditional sense. Most of them are in large villas, but what goes on inside is what you'd expect.
What is the food like?
The food is as crazy or tame as you want it to be. The main thing that's been hard for us to get used to is that the meat is different. They don't have ground turkey, or any pork products. Most of their beef comes from New Zealand and has a bit of a different taste to it. Mutton is a big staple here. Not a staple of the Canfield household, however. They use minced Mutton like we might use ground turkey. Zoey and Steve have tried it (and didn't care for it), but the rest of us are not adventurous eaters. We ate at a restaurant in the Souk a couple weeks ago - on the menu? Sheep tongue. No thanks.
In general, the food here is a mix of Indian and Mediterranean. There are lots of curry dishes. The pita bread is like you've never tasted before. Usually you can buy it warm right at the store and it is tasty. Common foods here are hummus, feta (which is also fresh and delicious), olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, mutton, lamb, rice, eggplant, and yogurt. Foods you can't easily find here - Mexican (who knew?) Tortilla chips, salsa, beans, cheddar cheese... you have to go to Mega Mart to find foods like that. Another food note: they don't call hamburgers "hamburgers", they call them beef burgers. They have a lot of different fruits and veggies that I have yet to identify or try.
Now, if you want to get extreme about what the food is like here, let me share my "brunch" experience with you. Brunch. It's different here. I was invited to attend this meal with a handful of girls and it was something to behold.
A few things:
1) Brunch is an all day event. You pay one price and you eat as much as you want for as long as you want.
2) It's one of the few places where alcohol is served in this country and it is all you can drink.
3) Brunch is not at all a breakfast meal, as one might envision. They served everything from pancakes and quiche to sushi and octopus. True story. I think I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one...
Yes, that is a beef burger. And it was delicious!
Crab risotto. Yum.
Here are the foods I didn't try, but took anyway - just so I could take pictures of them.
And, finally, dessert!
Are there places you aren't allowed to go?
Not that I know of yet. I imagine we probably wouldn't be able to just traipse into a Mosque. But even that I'm not sure of. It isn't so much where you are and aren't allowed as it is a matter of appropriate dress. For instance, there are certain beaches where you have to remain covered. By covered I mean that your shoulders and knees can't be exposed. So a long swim suit cover up would be appropriate over your suit.
Have you been able to explore the city yet?
Right now, as I type, we are enjoying our first holiday break. It is Eid al Adha for the Muslims, which is the festival of sacrifice. I'll provide you with another link if you're curious to learn more about it. The way it was described to me by some of our Muslim friends is that it's like our Christmas. It's a very big deal for them and it's a time of friendship, family, eating, and sharing. Gifts are often exchanged. Yup. Sounds like Christmas.
About Eid al Adha
Thanks to this holiday, we have a pretty decent break from school. We've already done some exploring and plan to do more. We are leaving to go camping on the beach tomorrow morning, we'll hit the Souk again, have spent a decent amount of time by the clubhouse pool, and we're going to go play at the Qatar Aqua Park. More on all of that later.
What is "The Pearl"?
Ah, the Pearl Qatar. It's a very ritzy area of Doha with five star hotels, amazing restaurants, high end shopping (like, I'm not even going to walk in any of the stores, high end), and car dealerships like Ferrari. Steve took me out to dinner there on my birthday. It was pretty sweet.
How is Steve?
I get asked this question all the time! Whenever I call home, it's always, "How's Steve?" Steve, Steve, Steve!
He's Steve. He sleeps. The days are long and hard here. We're pretty beat down by 8pm.
He plays video games with, er next to, his son.
He eats weird food with Zoey.
He drives.
He's great! I guess I'd ask that question if I didn't live with him. That's what happens when you're married to a mouthy thing that does all the talking, blogging, and facebooking. Of course everything is delivered from my perspective. I did talk him into getting back on Facebook...but he's Steve. If we were both this chatty no one would be able to get a word in.
So, Steve, you ask? He's fantastic! He's made some really great friends here and loves his job. Every Saturday morning he plays basketball and every Monday after school he plays soccer - staff against students. He's teaching 5th grade students with learning disabilities using Direct Instruction. As with any job, there are challenges, but he has an amazing boss, great coworkers, and we work in a school that pretty much just rocks. They have 5th grade with the secondary students, so he's with 5th through 12th grade teachers. There are a lot more men in that field and I think he's really loving the break from all the women. No offense to his fabulous female coworkers he's had over the years. I think the poor guy just needed a little more testosterone in his workspace.
He keeps himself busy on our off days by planning dream vacations. I'm pretty sure he has us going to Bora Bora in February. No, not really - but we can dream. Right now he's busy getting us ready for our beach camping adventure. There may be a speargun involved. Be afraid.
Last weekend he, single handedly, purchased our new vehicle. We did spend two days going out and looking for cars as a family. Wow. That's all I can say. A family of five crammed into a Nissan Tiida. It wasn't pretty. By the end of day two we realized we needed to narrow down our choices online and then send him out solo. I have to say he came through like a champ!
Our car says goodbye to us when we turn it off. How cute.
What are your students like?
The students are awesome! The school where we teach is specifically for students with learning disabilities or behavior problems that make it hard for them to succeed in other schools. There isn't really a public school system here, so if there is a child who struggles in class they can just be removed from the school. Our school is for those kids. It does require patience, compassion, and lots of creativity to teach these little kiddos, but there is no place I'd rather be. As I've mentioned, we use Direct Instruction programs, like Reading Mastery and Saxon Math, and this population responds really well to that. I love their colorful personalities and learning about their culture.
What is school like for the kids?
Zoey, Livy, and Drew LOVE school. They don't love having to be there by 6:45 every morning, but they love school. The attend a private school for expats, although there are a number of Arabic students in their classes right now. I hope it stays that way because they are learning so much from just being a part of cultures other than their own. Schooling is tricky in Qatar. There really aren't enough schools to serve the population here so schools that are meant for one given population often have a mix.
Their classes are much more diverse than they would be anywhere in the U.S. with the way education is right now. All three of them have art, P.E., science, social studies, language, reading, and math. Not all on the same day, of course. Zoey is taking Arabic and Livy and Drew are taking French. I asked the language teacher if Drew could take French and Arabic. She laughed at me. Hmph. I just want to take advantage of his malleable six year old brain! Does that make me a bad parent? I say, no. She says, "he is just a little boy!" I guess French it is... for now.
They have all found that school is a lot harder than what they're used to. Especially Zoey and Liv - they have homework (and a lot of it) every night. Zoey has started algebra (thank goodness for Steve) and the social studies core for 6th grade in Qatar -
North America! Nice! She can finally learn about her own country while living in another one. The irony of it all.
Where do the kids play?
The better question here is where don't they play. There is a small little playground in our compound, as well as a pool. They spend quite a bit of their leisure time between those two places. They're still just the same little twerps. Of course they play legos and barbies and draw and read, and fight with each other...just like they did back home.
What is "The Clubhouse"?
I wish I had more pictures of the clubhouse, but they don't like us taking pictures there. I have sneaked a few that I'll post. The clubhouse is basically a big rec center for the staff of Qatar Foundation. It has an outdoor pool, a hot tub, a small restaurant, a small gym, exercise classes, movie nights, activity rooms, and meeting rooms. There are a number of rec centers throughout Education City that we can use, but this one is more focused toward family fun.
Have you seen a camel yet?
Not yet! I can't wait, though!
Have you ridden a camel yet?
Nope.
Do the people there speak English?
For the most part they do speak English. It's pretty broken and I'm very thankful for our ESL training. Patience, gesturing, and speaking slowly are keys to communication over here. Even those who are quite fluent in English struggle to understand what we say a lot of the time. In reflection, the English language is confusing. Idioms and sarcasm don't translate well.
Now that it's after 3pm over here...I suppose I better get on with my day. This will teach me to take so long between posts. Phew! If you're still reading I'm impressed. I promise the next post will be shorter.
