Thomas journals

After our family road trip to Doha, we celebrated home Christmas in Jubail, around our little Christmas tree.  We opened presents, took pictures, talked about upcoming New Year's Eve. And about Buffalo, of course.   We've got the t-shirts!

Indeed the Museum of Islamic Art is one of the must-see destinations in the Gulf, truly stunning architecture and restorative atmosphere.  The newly-finished library is a pleasant surprise as well, providing free educational resources and study places -- we met the newly-arrived librarians and Chris posed an interesting research question to them, about the artistic origins of a particular French vase in the collection (ask him for more details -- they did not know the answer, but I'll wager they are researching it now). And the Souq Waqif represents another must-see tourist destination for the inveterate shopper and people-watcher.  The Qatar government re-built the old souk with new fire safety standards but keeping the crowded and warren-like mystery, with (literally) hundreds of independent vendors, a place for locals as well as tourists. We happened upon a local confectioner just completing a batch of gooey Qatari Halwa -- a high-school boy encouraged us to wait and t...

My favorite part of Doha was the Souq Waqif. An eclectic mix of streets, alleys and boulevards the souq provided for several opportunities to experience something new. We smoked shisha and ate camel kabobs at a Moroccan cafe along the main boulevard. We walked through alleys crowded by countless hole-in-the-wall stalls full of fake designer sunglasses, rolexes and other touristy merchandise run by immigrants from the subcontinent. We browsed antique shops full of relics from Qatar's pearl diving past and wandered down lanes filled with chirping birds in cages and shops dedicated to the sport of falconry. I got a cheese and honey crepe made fresh in front of me by an off-duty Indonesian maid, and a box of what looked like sesame seed covered gulab jamuns (they weren't) from another. Visiting the souq brought with it a refreshing bit of culture, a unique blend of nationalities that I hadn't ever experienced before. I would suggest going around 16:30, when we did...

     Doha was awesome.  An ever mixing melting-pot of islamic tradition and oil-funded innovation, the city holds surprises around every corner.  As we were only there for a short time, we only got to experience the tip of this city's cultural iceberg.  That said, the sites we visited were nonetheless intriguing and inspiring.         As much as it shocks me to say it, my favorite place we visited in Doha was the Museum of Islamic Art (and yes, you read it right, I did actually love the museum).  The building itself was an architectural wonder, with high domed ceilings, and sweeping sandstone/marble supports, all in a uniform geometric pattern.  I was most surprised, however, at the exhibits.  When I heard that we would be going to the 'Islamic Art' museum, I had envisioned in my head long halls filled with identical-looking scrolls covered in arabic calligraphy ('you seen one, you seen ...

One of the reasons we wanted to go to Qatar for Christmas was the chance to attend Christmas worship service in a real church -- and for that we will need to wait another year. However, we did attend Christmas midnight service and a daytime service as well, though not in a "real church". The Emir of Qatar has designated various zones around Doha for particular activities -- Education City (for universities), Aspire Zone (athletics), and the ironically-named Religious Complex, a square mile of land just outside the city border, designated/divided for churches. The Anglicans were designated the representative for all Protestants. As the expression goes, it's like herding cats...protestant cats are raising money for construction, and sharing space among 29 different worshiping groups. The santuary is Almost Ready But Not Quite -- last year's shopping-mall fire has stiffened the resolve of the regional fire inspectors to delay certification until there is no possibl...

I am intrigued by borders, boundaries, particularly those of states or nations. What does the border crossing tell of a country's character. or its attitude toward its neighbor? At the key Saudi-Qatari road crossing, the Saudi border post appears to be about 30 years old, with little maintenance. The guard perfunctorily stamped our passport and waved us through. At the true boundary, the highway suddenly became a 4-lane new blacktop perfectly surfaced roadway. The customs building is bright and new, with bilingual directional signs. Another pleasant surprise: the passport clerk was female! After inspecting passports, driver's license, registration, she diverted us to the office where we had to pay visa-fees of QAR100 ($27.50) each. Again, pristine, modern surroundings. Later, another fee: QAR100 for a week of car insurance -- curiously, he first quoted a price of QAR160, then said "oh, just 100" without explanation. Border lesson: Qatar is new, modern, and...

Our sons, Chris and Cole, barely had 48 hours to recuperate from U.S. to K.S.A. jet lag, when we were off in the car to Doha to celebrate Christmas.  This trip was every mother's dream - the boys (now young men) didn't fight or annoy each other in the car and we all enjoyed each other's company for the long, yet uneventful drive. We stopped first in Hofuf, a town notoriously circuitous and unmarked, and it took many wrong turns and re-tracing our steps to finally find our oh-so-very Saudi apartment hotel. To catch the fort in daylight, we left almost immediately, and finally found it - only to find it was closed! So we browsed the antique shops (all seemingly owned by two gentlemen who Barb remembered from her trip two years ago), but no sales. We found our way to the one big mall with a food court and adjoining obligatory amusement park - and half of us got our food before prayer call! For those not acquainted with Saudi, prayer times schedule everything you do - and if yo...

From Barbara: Its been a long time since I've "blogged." Life as an international school teacher is often not as "exotic" as you might think - sometimes its just a pain! Teaching in an under-resourced/under-developed country often makes for more work in getting or making what you need.  Bureaucracy is often staggering, and things that one used to take for granted, take more time and effort to get accomplished. Then there's the time spent just traveling - things are not "down the road."  Finally, there's the worry that what I write about now just is not as important as when I wrote regularly to our mission supporters.  Am I griping?  Well, yes a bit, but mostly I am trying to explain why I just do not write as much as I used to.  Well, last week I received an email from Ken and Frieda McRae in India, that deserved a report - such good news!  A little background - last December I blogged about our latest trip to India. Here's some of what I...