Saturday, November 27, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

This past Thursday, November 25th, was the US holiday of Thanksgiving. This is when we gather with family and friends to give "thanks" for the special aspects of our lives. This year, I celebrated in Qatar on Friday. Why Friday? Well, Thursday was a work day here so Friday it was.  Thursday came and went like it was not even a holiday (which felt very weird since I knew it was Thanksgiving, but it did not feel like it. I have only been doing this Thanksgiving thing my entire life...).  Friday, around 4pm, a beautiful turkey was placed on a fellow American co-workers dining room table along with all the fixins' brought by all the guests.  I was tasked with squash and cranberry sauce.  Squash is a new Thanksgiving side dish for me.  I honestly looked for squash (OK, only went to one store, but to my credit I do not have a car).  Instead, I went for yams. I googled "candied yams" the morning of and created a very tasty side dish. 

As for the cranberry sauce, I could find it in a jar.  The other 5 Americans brought salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, and pies.  We had pecan and apple pie with Cool Whip. Yes, Cool Whip.  (We even sang the "Cool Whip" song)

 There were about 10 people total, a few non-Americans who were interested in participating in our pastime.  Since we could not figure out how to get football, we decided to play drinking games.  Wow-what a great idea.  Americans are known for being loud...I am sure the entire Pearl community could hear us.  I have not laughed that hard in a long time.  Thanks for a great time.

I could not close this post about Thanksgiving without saying what I am thankful for;
-My loving and supporting handsome husband (you are my everything, but you already knew that!)
-My family and friends back home
-My new friends here in Qatar
-This experience
-My health (even if I am lactose intolerant-hence the problem with the cheesecake for my birthday)






Tuesday, November 23, 2010

What Not to Wear

For anyone who knows me from my life in the US, I could be commonly found in high heals (pink ones if at all possible), skirts or a dress, and with my nails done.  My husband and I have been together for 9.5 years and he has only seen me twice without my "nails".  I had even started to get my teeth whitened on a yearly basis.  So where is all of that now that I am in Qatar (working in the middle of the desert at a GTL plant)?  The picture says its all......
Is it sad I am excited that I am NOT the shortest person?

Monday, November 22, 2010

Wild Wadi Master Blaster


 My mom and I conquered the Wild Wadi water park in Dubai, which is Dubai's #1 water park (although honestly not sure if there is much competition).  My mom, dad, and I looked like the most likely group to be entering a water park for "small and big kids" (as the concierge at the hotel described it).  We found my dad a nice spot to sit and watch our stuff while my mom and I took to the lazy river.  On the second time around, we were bombarded by a rowdy set of kids. We decided to get out of the lazy river and ended-up in a line for the "Master Blaster".  This is the ultimate of all water slides. It connects with the other 11 slides in the park.  Once we realized we were in too deep, there was no going back.  Just when we thought we had battled the worst, we hit a cross-roads; to take the Wadi twister or the Wadi blaster.  Just as I was asking my mom which one to go down, a nice park employee yelled "twister!" and gave us a big push.  We finished our 11 slide ride with the "Tunnel of Doom" which seemed appropriate for some Mid-West gals who just wanted to ride the lazy river. 

 This was one of the many things I did with my parents to Dubai.  We stayed on Jumeirah beach, went to the Souk Madinet several times, haggled at the Gold Souk, saw Ski Dubai, and enjoyed happy hour at the pool bar.

Thanks mom and dad for visiting me! I had a great time spending the past week with you. Enjoy the rest of your world tour.

Love you & can't wait to see you again soon!!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The First Time


Last week my parents made the long journey from US to Qatar. This was their first time outside of the North American continent.   The long journey started what was sure to be a first of many....

We did the traditional events in Doha and Qatar; shopping and eating. I first took them to City Center to shop for groceries.  What a different experience that is compared to our local grocers in the States.  For
starters, my parents got their first look at a camel carcass, pulses, and European brands.

We went to the souk, smoked shisha and ate local food.  My parents are not smokers, but having the shisha experience was one I could not pass up. After a few "newbie" coughs, we looked like naturals (ok, not even close).  We did a safari tour where we went dune bashing and saw camels. The tour took us to the southern border of Qatar, where we saw the Saudi Mountain. The color difference between the blue water, beige sand, and reddish mountain was amazing!We spent our last days taking in high tea the Ritz and visiting the Museum of Islamic Art, designed by world renowned architect Pei, and touring the Gold Souk.
 
The best part of the week was experiencing the Middle East, all over again, with my parents. It was like discovering it again for the 1st time.  Thanks mom and dad for making the trip. I love you!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Happy Birthday!

November 10th-Happy Birthday to me, my best friend Katie (Nov. 12th), and my co-trouble maker Sybil.  Of course, the day would not have been a birthday without a few laughs...

My day started with a 6am skype with a few of my good friends in Houston at my house. Tim made a birthday cake and said he would freeze a few pieces, so we could celebrate together when I return. Cute, right? Except when he called over the video message with Skype, I was not decent, not decent at all! I was wearing my birthday suit, which was fitting for the day, but not fitting for my friends (who I would like to stay my friends). He called as I was getting into the shower. Good thing Tim asked if I was decent before he moved the computer a little to the left so my friends could say "hi".   My friends almost saw a whole LOT of Courtney....Once dressed, they sang happy birthday and ate chocolate cake topped with my mom's homemade butter cream frosting (made with soy milk so I eat it).

Then...my team bought me a mini cake and sang Happy birthday. It was very nice to see 4 non-native  English speaking nationalities attempting to sing Happy Birthday in English.  Again, very cute, except they bought me a cheesecake.  Apparently, they had to beg the Hyatt Doha for something to buy as a desert at 7am in the morning. They only thing the hotel came up with was a tiny cheesecake. The irony is just hysterical!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

EID Holiday

This coming Monday marks the second EID holiday in Qatar, which means four days off of work!  I find it interesting the striking differences between the expat rituals and the local Qatari traditions around the EID holidays.  For expats, we vacate the country to either make a trip back home or to go exotic locations such as Dubai, India, Bali, Maldives, KL, Egypt or Greece.  As for the locals, the EID holiday is a time to pray, gather with family, buy new clothes, and celebrate. 

The last EID holiday, I visited Turkey and back home.  This EID, my parents are coming. We have a lot of fun activities scheduled, such as going to the Souk and a safari adventure.  I looking forward to spending my EID holiday with my family and having a sneak peak into the local customs of the Muslim culture.

Stay tuned....sure there is lots to come in my pink pumps!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Expat Lifestyle

The expat lifestyle is often sought after by non-expats and revered by many expats themselves.  This experience has opened my eyes to the pros and cons of an expat life.  There are many pros, such as the opportunity to see unique parts of the world, chance to make friends from all different cultures, and the financial compensation of working outside your home country. Of course with any situation, the pros do not exist without cons.  The less glamorous aspects of living and working outside your home country-you are NOT inside the country where you have roots, can be difficult to maintain relationships with friends and family back home, often long-work hours, everything is foreign, and not in one place for more than a few years. 

Given all of the above, there are many things that I have done here that I would never do at home, such as high tea or a evening garden party.  Last Friday, I went for high tea at the Ritz Carlton. The menu was an expansive choice of teas from across the globe.

The tea came with little finger sandwich's, scones, and tiny desserts. Combine the food and tea with light soft music and you have a wonderful atmosphere to waste a Friday afternoon.

Last night, I was invited to an evening garden party at a VP's villa.  There were red lights highlighting the treas, black cocktail tables, and a serving staff offering you wine or juice (its a Middle East thing-they drink TONS of juice).  The food was catered by the W Hotel. It was nice to see everyone out of their nomex (fire-retardant) jumpsuits that are required at the work site.  As a I was told by one of the other guests, this is a normal occurrence in an expat lifestyle.

So do I aspire to be a career expat?  Time will tell, but can see some of pros (pictured above)....

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Jerk!

Have you ever had a situation, where your only reaction is "I am such a jerk!"?  Well here is my most recent- I live in a "transit" apartment (the fact that I am here up to a year does not feel like transit to me, but....) . The good thing about being permanent transit, is that a maid service comes every Sunday to clean my apartment when I am work (remember, we work Sunday-Thursday).  She unloads my dishwasher, changes my towels, and puts down a clean sheet (there is no top sheet here. its on my list to figure out along with the topless employees at the Turkish bath).  This week, I came home on Sunday.  Did a quick check. Unknown to me, they put down a fitted sheet that looked just like the box spring. So what did I do....I marched downstairs to the reception area, demanded they call the cleaning company, insist they drive all the way back to put a sheet on my bed.

20 Min later, my doorbell rings. The cleaning ladies come in and walk right into the bedroom.  "Mam, Mam, there is a sheet on the bed. Come look".  Well shit, there was a sheet!  I am such a JERK!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Womens Tennis


Doha is not the most exciting place, but this weekend it was full of movie stars and world class athletes.  It was the Tribecca Film Festival and the Sony Ericcson Womens Tennis tournament which showcased the top 8 in the world. I am not a tennis fan nor do I really know or understand the rules of the game.  BUT, the one thing I have learned here, if it is happening in Doha, you go.  I saw the #1 in the world (don't ask me her name-she was blonde, I do know that) who is from Denmark.  I saw several other players, many who yelled EVERY time they hit the ball.
 
So while I did not learn anything new about the game of tennis, I did learn about the difference between Americans (and thier need for personal space) vs. other cultures. Sevearl times this evening, my personal space was impeded by someone trying to reach over  me to buy food, trying to pay for said food, and waiting in line to get into the areana.  I know I am short and sometimes easy to miss by people who are vertically advantaged (like my husband-he is a beacon in a crowd), but that is why I have a booming voice.At one point in time, I had to yell, "excuse me!!!".   It not that they were close, we were practically touching. Look everyone-its hot, we had all been at work ALL day, and no one needs to be that close unless you are behind closed doors with your spouse.  SO....back up!
#1 in the world (at least that is what the anouncer said)