Monday, December 14, 2009

The day it rained in Doha…

This past weekend was amazing. The weekend was full and in addition to the various activities, it rained!


The weekend started Thursday night with going to the Doha Horse races. QF took 600 faculty and staff (and family) to enjoy a night at the races. I signed up to go, but was not sure who else would be going. Thankfully, Wil and his girlfriend Hailey were also going, and they let me tag along. I have never been to a horse race and was not sure to expect in a country where gambling was not a part of the race. It was a lot of fun and really well put together. I also learned it was free, so I can go back the next time they have a race! (and if you come to visit me when a race is on we can make a weekend of Camel and Horse racing!)


Friday was a more practical day. I did laundry and grocery shopping during the day. At night I went with Timika and Rory (yeah – I did spend the weekend as the third wheel) to see a pantomime of Cinderella. This was the first pantomime I have been too, and it took me a while to get used to being able to talk during the play. The play was really funny, and really British. One of the men playing a step sister looked just like Mimi from the Drew Cary show – it was unbelievable. There also was a really cute little girl in the chorus who was taking everything so seriously and had this determined look on her face the whole time. The play was put on by the Doha players, and I will defiantly be checking out their next performance!


Saturday morning I did the typical thing and proctored the ACT. I saw several students who have been making the rounds of the standardized tests. I even got to check back in with the student who freaked out the week before (she was doing well and like the ACT much better than the SAT II). Working the test made it an early morning, - and having everything really disorganized while at the test made it a long day… but thankfully it ended and I was able to go enjoy the rest of the day.


I have been wanting to buy some pashminas and scarves for my family, so I ventured out to the souqs solo. I got there a little before they opened so I walked around and now feel like I know the area a little bit better – but still not well. I thought I was going to buy 6 or so pashminas – but I kept seeing things I liked, or thought someone else would like, so I ended up buying close to 20. Thankfully they are much cheaper than in the US, so they will make great gifts for family and friends.



I caped off my weekend with a Christmas movie night with Julie, Jon, Justin and Justin (I know – there are too many J names in Doha!). We watched Elf and it was the most amazing thing ever. While most people get excited when it snows while watching a Christmas movie, I was just as excited when it started to Thunderstorm! It was a genuine thunderstorm with lightning, thunder, and lots of rain. Not only did I get to watch the best Christmas moving ever, I finally got rain in Doha. The only problem was when it came time to drive home. Doha has been built-up really quickly without a lot of quality planning. As a result, there are roads, but not drainage system – and no planning to make the roads somewhat level. Driving back I was very grateful I had a small SUV and could drive through the deep puddles – I saw a few cars that were not as lucky and stuck in the middle of a roundabout. I am also grateful that I was not on call, as there were several leaks that had to be handled that night (thank you Justin, and I am sorry you had to miss the end of the movie night).


The rain continued into Sunday and made the week start off on a really positive note!

No comments:

Post a Comment