Doing well doing well

This past week or two has been pretty positive. I got my hard drive working and didn’t lose any important information. I bought the needed cables at a tech souq in central Doha. Souqs (pronounced sook) come from traditional tent markets that were setup when bedouins would come to town and trade sheep skins for super value meals. At least that’s what was said in the tourist brochure. Now it’s evolved into a bunch of brick and mortar shops with the same attitude. Shops with the same merchandise are all grouped together. None of the prices are final and you have to dig around to find what you want. When I went to buy some cables for my computer it was like looking inside Radio Shacks inventory closet. They are interesting and some fun to go to when you are playing tourist but I haven’t gotten to the point where I feel comfortable using them as a reliable place to buy things I really need.

Our boxes came as well. Initially this was somewhat of a traumatic experience. Mainly because they looked like the movers had already brought them upstairs, threw them out our 8th story window into the back of the flatbed truck they brought them in. Kara actually cried a little when she first saw them and I got somewhat upset myself. There is just something disconcerting about seeing one of your boxes that was a cube when it left look more like a sphere when it arrived. After all of this once we unpacked everything we were very pleasantly surprised that only a few things were broken and nothing of much significance. It’s amazing how your perspective of what’s good and bad change when you think all of your worldly possessions are crushed. Lessons learned here, if you are going to move like we did pack the really heavy stuff in small boxes. Use all of your clothes as padding and you should be OK. If you want to check the sturdiness of a box throw it down stairs and if it survives it has a good chance of making the trip.

Kara had a great week last week. She helped out at vacation bible school and made a lot of good friends. Talking to people with experience helps a lot with all the unknowns. She also got on the sub list for one of the schools that is located in education city. The pay is pretty good, about 3x as much as she earned in Bryan. Subbing will allow her a flexible schedule but still allow for extra money for fun stuff.

Look what I made in class today. Some of you know that I was making a Texas flag collage. Well I finished it, at least this version. I hope you like it.

Where’s my hatchet? I need to cut something down.

It has been close to two weeks since Kara and I arrived in Doha and things are going well. On the whole at least but there are some little things that are getting to me. I was told that it would take about two weeks to two months and then all of a sudden you explode. Then you deal with it and everything is better. Well I thought that wouldn’t be an issue for me. I get here, I had my list and everything seemed to be going well. I missed a couple of things but nothing major so what could go wrong. Driving has been a little intense but as long as I don’t talk on my mobile (did I mention it is pronounced moe-b-aisle here?) I’m fine. Kara has even started driving and has been pretty good at it. Then again there are the little things.

First of all, our stuff has not shown up. I have enough clothes and all that, but sometimes you just want your own stuff. I’m not worried about having it. I’m worried about it sitting in some customs warehouse wilting under its own weight. I’m also worried that we packed too much and we have a big bill waiting for us once everything is weighed.

Next stress. My stinking hard drive that I took out of my computer and hand carried on my way over here in its original packing so it wouldn’t get jacked up is now jacked up. We got a loaner computer here so I just plugged it in and got the infamous blue screen. Nice, thank you x-ray machines. Die. So I figure hey just plug it in and boot off the original hard drive in the borrowed computer and read from my important one. Well I don’t have the right cable. Since there is not a Best Buy here computer equipment is kind of hit or miss. Well I thought I hit when I saw the cable I needed for sale in an antique store out of all places. Well get this, they are not for sale just decorations. Freaking computer equipment for decorations in an antique store.

Last complaint. Growing up a white protestant male in the US, otherwise know as a WASP, does not help to prepare you for discrimination too much. Growing up I knew discrimination was wrong and I would like to say that I spoke up against it more times then not. Even though I knew it was wrong I still did not know what it felt like. I don’t want to compare this to what too many people have faced in the US. Even if it is only a small amount it is a distinct feeling that I have now tasted. This has probably been the biggest thing for me to get over which I have not yet. For the most part people are wonderful and I’m treated very well. I’m seen as a good resource but definitely not an equal to the local population. It just so happens that I can handle a lot of things but arrogance is not one of them. It’s shown by my parking space being taken, little kids throwing popcorn at the movies, the way people drive and the lack of interaction that takes place. I’m not sitting in the corner crying woe is me but it has really heated me up. I imagine that I will overcome this but it is my current burden. I think this is definite distinction between what I’m feeling and what people back in the states feel. I will eventually leave this place and come back home. I can handle them seeing me as a visitor and not an equal. What would it be like to be treated that way in your own home? I will probably never know.

Listening to Amazing Grace in a Chinese restaurant in Doha, Qatar

Well the first 24 hours of employment were somewhat memorable. The night before I decided to plug in the router the was issued to me for home use. I set the router to input of 110 instead of 220. This resulted in converting the power from 220 to 440. For those who do not know, when an electrical appliance is expecting 110 volts and is given 440 it tends to over heat, make sparks and not work anymore. Luckily this was an understandable to the people who supply me with such equipment. Along with the instructions not to do it again.

The first thing that I did at was go to the clinic with Kara. It resembled something close to a several trailer connected by passageways. They took our blood an X-Rayed us here. It was just one of those experiences they made you realize the differences between the US and most of the world.

For lunch we went to The Great Wall Chinese restaurant. Over the speakers we heard them playing some rendition of Amazing Grace. It was a little surreal thinking about where we were but it was nice to listen to. Things are going well but we are still adjusting. Driving is still a challenge. It is definitely a male dominated sport around here. It's been lighter traffic lately and I have picked up on some of the tricks for the roundabouts. So it doesn't seem as insane as it did when we first got here.

Please keep sending the emails and staying in touch