My Bah Tah Thas

And this is how you say "In the name of God" (Bismillah)

I have recently started taking Arabic classes at the local QCPI (Qatar Center for the Presentation of Islam). They offer free classes in Arabic with the intent of converting you to Islam. Most expats in Doha understand this concept and many won’t take the classes because of it. My thoughts were that I am strong enough in my faith that this should not be an issue. It is a great chance to interact with some locals and get my whiteness on. With that said one of the reasons I’m comfortable about taking the class is because I’m taking it with two of my friends from church and we are keeping each other accountable.

During the first set of classes we are simply learning the alphabet. At the end we should be able to read and write classical and modern Arabic. That doesn’t mean we will know what it is saying we will just be able to read it. It will be like reading Spanish. You can make out the words for the most part but that doesn’t mean you know what you are saying. Our instructor is pretty humorous but they seem pretty squared away in the structure. They are teaching us the fundamentals (Yeah I get it, fundamentals) from the ground up. At the end of the class they will teach us a couple of phrases but it is not the main point of this class. I will keep everyone posted on how it goes.

Fighting the monsters

Last Saturday I got food poisoning and was out of commission for several days. I did a lot of magazine reading but it wasn't as fun as it sounds. I’m not sure what food it was but I have my suspicions. So after missing work from Sunday to half way through Tuesday and feeling hung over for most of the rest of the week I am finally feeling conscious this week.

Car drama finishes its 2nd curtain call

We have wrapped up the latest fender bender without much incident. After dropping the car off with the guy’s uncle cousin who ran into us I wasn’t 100% on how the car would end up. Well all went well and the damage from Kara’s second run in was fixed to. My Sudanese friends held to their word and everything was fixed. After picking up Kara’s X-Trail I got another offer on the beast. The guy’s friend wanted to buy it from me on the spot. I tried to tell them I would like to but I can’t until I buy another car. That didn’t translate so I just told them no.

That’s it for now