Part Two : Spring Break - Doha!
This fun statue is in Katara Cultural Village... and I'm obsessed with the concept of spinning Earth around...
Has all of this this inspired you to visit Qatar? Let me know when you're coming, I can arrange for you what you need! But for now, the rest of Spring Break!
Saturday 13 April
(rainy day feelings)
I woke up at 9am after a few hours of sleep, but as I walked into the kitchen, I heard a giant rumble of thunder and the twinkle of rain on my windows. Instant thoughts: Oh, the rain is lovely when it happens in Qatar, but no beach today, and no pool today. So I walked right back to bed. I heard my mother's voice saying, "I would lay in bed all day listening to the rain and thunder if I could", so I did. Sleep Sleep Sleep, more sleep sleep. I woke at 2:30 in the afternoon. Met my friend who works at St. Regis for some club sodas at Irish Harp (the only thing Irish there is the name Guinness and it is sour) and I walked between raindrops in City Center, admiring the building shapes, the lights, the waterfront Corniche, missing you all so very much, but knowing in my heart Qatar has been pursuing me and this life has been waiting for me, and I'm so grateful to be in it.
Sunday 14 April
Believe it or not, I went to work for a few hours! My principal did a double take, "You know the kids don't return until next week, right?". I answered project e-mails, worked on a proposal document, changed a bulletin board, prepared a document for Parent Conferences, edited unit plans, and just enjoyed being in that building. I attended Palm Sunday Mass, and learned that we have Date Tree Palms in our region, while you should have Coconut Tree Palms in yours. Date palms are smaller, about 8 inches length and less than an inch wide, sharper and crisper, and a much darker green. I have been attending mass with a Philippine/Malayalam population, and it was a curious thing to watch women weaving palms into various shapes and patterns before mass. I had dinner with The Head of School and his family at Souq Wakif at a place called Damasca One, the place school took us to during orientation, serving big platters of authentic Syrian food, family style. It is one of my favorite "local touristy places". It was super to sit across from him, not in an interview, meet his family, share travel stories and crazy global experiences. The exact big thing I wanted for my life - what I told him in my interview - to have this type of global experience and be able to add my own stories in conversation with people with whom you can have these talks. After dinner I walked around the Souq looking for postal cards, stood in awe of Fanar Cultural Center spiral, and let the open spaces and alleys give me the same feeling of excitement after 7 months of really living. Not just here, but really living.
Souq Wakif, street view
I had just arrived home, blissful, ready to relax, and Mark texts for a late Night Tea at Roger's Diner. That Mark... persistence is key. As we sat a few blocks from our apartments, watching the cars pass, discussing all sorts of friend things, I saw in existence that I did it. A rebirth. A Phoenix. Becoming comfortable in my own wingspan. This is the life I wanted so very badly and was willing to shed the things I needed to shed for it. Emotionally, I am - as usual - struggling a bit this April - with some different things this time around - but this is the life I went seeking and was lucky to find, because apparently I'm pretty good at life - on this journey I've met a lot of people who went seeking "it" and haven't yet found "it" and who still might not know "what" they seek. I am narrowing down "what" I seek and I know I am willing to fight for "it". I've met people who haven't yet wrestled demons they need to face. I faced my own demons and now they're gone, do not haunt me (unlike the parking spaces in Souq Wakif, on old burial grounds), with your help and you standing by me, and I am eternally grateful that you've all been with me as I fly on, like a Phoenix.
What doesn't escape me here is learning that Mark is from the Heliopolis neighborhood, if I remember correctly, the Egyptian place where the Phoenix took the ashes of its predecessor each time it was reborn. (Hm. Nothing or no one in my life by accident. Ponder.) One Phoenix ever exists at a time - and my current struggle is moving to "This Girl" from "That Girl". The old Phoenix is always part of the new one though, so I'm not saying goodbye, as much as I'm saying, "Thank You" and returning her to her place. A running coach once said, "Eventually the want of "this" becomes greater than the want of "that", and eventually "this" wins." Hm. Ponder.
I always wondered what it would be like to sit on a street in New York, at a 'local cafe' with my close friend, as a person who lived there. I was in Manhattan enough with my awesome cousin to have a taste of that life, but even though I had my 10 favorite places to go, I was still always a tourist. I wanted to be a daily person who knew the streets, knew shop owners, knew the menu of restaurants by the back of her hand. A teaching career could never afford me the chance to really live in New York this way - but it does afford me the chance to live in Qatar with these experiences, and cost-benefit-analysis, I think Qatar is a better purchase option. Thanks Mark, from the Phoenix's Heliopolis Neighborhood, for being the kind, persistent, and amazing you.
Monday 15 April
Today was my beloved work driver's birthday - so I tracked him down on our break and delivered Birthday Cupcakes! Happy Birthday to Saleem, the man who sees us safely through the streets and traffic! With his knowledge of all roads in Qatar, sweet looking Aviators, and funny personality, he's a good man to have around!
I went to Katara, the Cultural Village, looking for the sculpture of Mother Nature, whipping Earth around in her robe. This was one of the first sculptures I found on Instagram when I began detailed searching on life in Doha. I felt like by accepting what I needed to accept, and having this perfect experience of moving here, I was whipping my own world around. The statue in person took my breath away, I had a bit of a tear. Ethereal and slightly spooky - she is hollow between the windblown jacket but yet so stoically existing there, feet and shoes and everything - she was a most perfect looking thing on this bright and glorious day. #nofilter #notneeded #brightday #QatarLife
I stumbled upon "The World's Largest Key" (Ard Canaan Key), dedicated to refugees around the world, weighing just over 2.7 tonnes at 7.8M long and 3M wide, and unveiled at Katara in 2016. Made out of actual functioning steel key material and in actual key proportions, this Guinness World Record, "Canaan Land" Key, symbolically represents the right for everyone, every refugee from every land and nation, to return to their home. (click for article)
Ard Canaan, Katara Cultural Village.
I also saw these military head statutes, interpreted from Ghandi's Monkeys "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil", made out of bronzed home accessory pieces. I don't know if it was the bright reflection or the items crafted in their creation, but at 96F it gave me a shiver down my spine. I am still discussing with myself "which helmet is which" in the see/hear/speak concept. Does each face represent two of the three, meaning you can do something with the third? Hm. Ponder. Subodh Gupta's Three Monkeys.
Mark is departing for travel, so he arranged dinner for the "We Met In Doha" Society (formerly known "Language Club") and the more time I spend with these friends, and listen to their voices in native languages talk and order such tasty food I am learning to pronounce, the more I realize I belong on the globe. I also realize I need to learn another language as my "American Conversational Grade 11/12 Spanish" isn't relevant here. The globe said Yalla (let's go!), and I long to navigate language-ly. Can't be an explorer on a ship (Burj Al Arab) with a library full of treasures if you can't understand the language of the map to get you to X marks the spot. Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam, Turkish, Italian, Farsi, sign me up.
Kanafeh Presentation, much less glamorous than Bananas Foster or Cherry Jubilee, but much better tasting!! Yes, I ate both pieces.
Tuesday 16 April
I was excited to attend an Educational Technology conference hosted three blocks from my apartment. I love chatting about education and listening to school improvement presentations, classroom design, infrastructure plans... I'm a big school nerd. Falling, face planted outside my apartment building at 7am was not something I was excited for, and has left me with an injured knee. I'm ok, and fine, it's better from two days of resting, I'm just let-down that it hurt and my back hurts too from the jarring of the brick. The conference also was a big let-down as initial advertisements listed a few arts-able-integrated presentations. Those workshops were cancelled, new presentations inserted, and one switched topics 90 seconds before starting.
I understand it was a Tech conference, but the replacement sessions were a bit insulting. I'm crafty, and usually can adapt what is offered to an arts viewpoint - maybe it was my throbbing leg and ankle, the 700+ attendees and less than 100 chairs in the only two presentation areas - the three presentations I did attend were knowledgable and informative, but when I asked some arts-integration questions at expo booths afterward, it was clear to me that the representative/company hadn't begun to think about arts inclusion. STEM not STEAM minded. I was at my typical "giggle at the poor attempt" made to make me feel like any more than a "planning, grading, meeting, free period coverage teacher"... my knee and ankle were throbbing so badly that I decided to bail. Educationally related, I walked some of the tension out at Jabrir Bookstore (think Borders+Staples in one) and found some children's literature music books (redeeming) and cards for letters to send you back home (exciting). I also walked to Mirqab Mall, scored some really great Italian fashion shirts, and lunch. Took a cab from the mall home because my leg was really throbbing at this point, plopped myself on the couch with three pillows under my knee, Netflix, and didn't move, except to take a kick a$$ pain reliever I received during my three ear infections here. I was set for relaxing.
Until the Fire Alarms in the building went off. *facepalm*
The first time was 3 seconds. I didn't smell smoke, I looked out the window (nighttime) but didn't see disturbance, I felt my apartment door and it was not warm. Second alarm 90 seconds later for 3 seconds. I opened my apartment door, to the usual smell of a bad something rotting in the hallway, and decided it would be best to get to the lobby. Three other tenants were also making their way to the lobby, looking for the building super, Santosh. When one asked if we should leave the building, the tall, tall, tallest Indian apartment employee who doesn't say anything at all ever, a bit like Lurch from Addams Family but in a friendly meaning, said "Yes, yes, Santosh check."
Was it "Yes, Yes, Santosh is just yearly testing and checking the alarms, no concern, go back to your apartment"? Was it "Yes, Yes, depart the building, Civil Defense is on their way, Santosh is going to check the rooms for survivors"?
Will never know, but the alarms eventually stopped chirping every 90 seconds, Civil Defense never arrived, and I fell back asleep on the couch.
Wednesday 17 April, Thursday 18 April, Friday 19 April
The end of break is arriving, with just some Easter services at the Religious Complex to celebrate and some more nights at the Souq before returning to work on Sunday. I write to you with a feeling better leg, muscles sore from the fall, but I am so energized by this break and looking forward to the final trimester of shenanigans before I head back to you in July. This trimester will be filled with Ramadan experiences, more swimming and Dhow rides now that the water is much warmer, late night Kanafeh (Can-off-ahh, that savory sweet cheese crispy dessert) and Baclava (bak-laaaa-va if you want to say it right), nights out with friends, long walks in Souq streets, time with a trusted good friend off the beaten path, and an actual release in accepting a separation and new beginning. (blog post coming soon!)
While I certainly haven't done it all, I have done most of it, and I hope you find some time to visit Qatar in your global journey to see all the wonderful things I experience as part of my day. Qatar has opened my eyes to a whole new world (Sorry Aladdin) of experiences, people, cultures, food, clothing, and a lifestyle I absolutely adore. Friends from all over the world, describing countries and cities I long to visit. I don't feel limited here by anything or anyone or any belief. I'm even able to celebrate Easter as fully as I have ever (minus the 7 churches visit).
If anything, I've found even more here than I could ever imagine.
I found myself.
I hope you find the same peace in your life that I have found in mine. I hope you find strength to rise from everything burning around you. (Dumpster Fire Bitmoji is my favorite). The wisdom I found to make the change. A new friend said to another about me, "Don't worry, she wise enough to put him in his place", and that compliment has really stuck. I am strong and wise, and confident. I know that now.
I hope you find the same sense of adventure in your world that I feel here. I am so blessed and so grateful, so alive. I wrote a blog a bit back about "moving on the globe" from a travel podcast I listen to - it reminded me that you don't have to pick up and relocate yourself 10,816 miles away, but if you truly want change, if you truly want a different life, then you have to move toward the change and difference. Even in your own community... the first step is hard, but you have to take it if you want any sense of peace.
It was my choice to honor Jim and Sally, and to help my family cope and recover. Now, it's a choice for me to take that strength and move ahead to a new world. My whole world, with my very own Aladdin and my very own carpet. Taking my world and flipping it around.
Katara Cultural Village, "Force of Nature 2" Woman Spinning Earth (my statue), and the gift wrapped Children's Mall, catering to the needs of children with a combination of educational games and interactive elements.
Life is a gift, to be unwrapped and used for good adventure.
Life is all about choices, big or small, so make them.
And then get on living.
You are free to have the life you desire.
So be free.
Fly on.
Slainte.