It's the Holiday Season: Saudi, Leadership, and waiting for BRENNAN!

Well, it's the holiday season. With the whoop-de-do and hickory dock. And nothing says the holidays like good old Doha. Over the course of the past few weeks I have been a part of a variety of holiday celebrations. First there was the Doha Singers holiday concert. This group is made up of Ex-Pats from various fields within Doha and they perform a holiday show each year. The concert took place at the American School of Doha and really had the feel of a high school auditorium. That same weekend myself and some friends in the compound put together a 14 hour Christmas movie marathon, yes 14 hours! We started at 10am and played through a variety of holiday films including Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, Bad Santa, Rudolph, and more. We even cooked a holiday turkey for dinner and it was another one of those moments where I was thankful to have such great friends. This past weekend two different friends, Kevin and Imad, both hosted Christmas parties at their homes. I was able to find a Santa Suit at the mall in Doha for the equivalent of $10 so of course I bought it. And of course I wore it to both parties. Much lower quality than my Santa Suit from last year's holiday festivities, but you get what you pay for. 

On a work related note, I have spent approximately the last month working closely with students and staff from all the campuses here to create a comprehensive leadership program. Now I appologize in advance for those who don't work in student affairs because some of this might be confusing. But basically we have been meeting weekly as a group to envision a leadership program that all of the students from the different campuses can participate in. We wanted the program to be open to all students, how varying levels of commitment, and various entry points. Last week we finally started to put the pieces together and laid the foundation for a 3 year leadership program. The program will be a certificate program and offer a variety of seminars for students to attend. It is based on the Social Change Model of Leadership as each year is themed around individual, group, and community values. This was one of my major highlights from the semester and we will spend the Spring continuing to work on the program. In the Fall we will begin in full and I cannot wait to see the results.

The latest trip that I took was this past weekend where I went to Saudi Arabia with my friends Wil and Sulayim. Now, getting into Saudi is much easier said than done. Although the border is only one hour away it took about a month of planning for us to actually get there! If it wasn't for our friend Sulayim we would have had no chance at getting into the country. We had to apply for a transit visa, since you are not allowed to be there for tourism. Sulayim took our paperwork, passports, and passport photos directly to the Saudi embassy for us and after about a week we had our transit visas. Sualyim could not have been a more patient and gracious tour guide through Saudi. Since Sulayim is Qatari he is able to travel more freely between the countries. He was incredibly knowledgeable and fielded all of the questions Wil and I had for him. While we were there we spent time at his friend's Magilis, visited a camel camp, saw a camel and sheep market, saw incredible rock formations, went to a Souq, had a local meal, and even took a trip to the emergency room! There is no way that I could possibly do justice to the trip so I will simply give a basic timeline. Keep in mind this was a day trip. Check facebook for more photos from the adventure:

8am: Leave Doha for Saudi
9:30am: Reach Saudi Border
10:00am: Cross Saudi Border
10:30am: Magilis with Hammad and his family
11:30am: Lunch at Hammad's house
12:00pm: Visit to Hammad's camel camp
12:30pm: Watch camels reproduce
1:00pm: Leave Hammad's for camel and sheep market
2:00pm: Visit camel and sheep market
3:00pm: Leave for Hafouf
4:30pm: Check out Jebel Qarah Moutains
5:30pm: Check in at Hafouf Hotel
6:00pm: Watch Never Been Kissed with Wil
6:30pm: Nap
7:00pm: Souq
8:00pm: Dinner
10:00pm: Visit to Emergency Room

Now out of the many random events in there, I would say the emergency room sticks out above the rest (maybe with the exception of camel reproduction but I won't give details there). While we were in Saudi our friend Sulayim had some issues with his left eye. It was bothering him most of the day and after a nice dinner in the local town he wanted to stop by the Pharmacy to get something to alleviate the pain. Upon visiting the Pharmacy he was told to get it checked at the clinic across the street. Once he arrived at the clinic, he was immediately told that he needed to visit the ER. So they we were, Wil, Evan, and Sulayim, at 10pm on a Friday night in Saudi at the ER. The hospital itself was pretty nice but Wil and I were out of place to say the least. While Sulayim was getting cared for, Wil and I were quite the spectacle. We were the only ones in the ER not wearing traditional clothing and this brought us many stares. In particular children had NO reservations of staring and pointing at us. After waiting around for a bit we decided to look for a local coffee shop or restaurant to kill some time. The only place remotely near the hospital was a corner store across the street. So we were looking for some snacks and what do ya know...we found BUDWEISER! At first we thought this might be some speak easy is an unassuming area but upon further inspection we found the "NA". Regardless of having alcohol in it or not, we had to buy two cans. I can honestly say it was the worst drink I have ever tasted, although Wil seemed to have less issue with it. As we drank our NA Budweisers on the street corner Sulayim comes triumphantly from the ER room. He was fitted with a beautiful eye patch to wear home and we made our way back to the hotel. The following day he bravely drove us back to Doha, eye patch and all. Little did we think entering the trip that we would be brought back to Doha by a pirate. There are SO many more stories to be told from the trip but those will have to be shared at another time. Rest assured we made the most of our trip and I hope it isn't my last time in Saudi!

 

As we approach the end of December, it is also the end of my first semester in Doha. Since I work in education my mind still thinks in terms of semesters and I have been doing quite a bit of reflecting on this past semester. In this first semester there have been a lot of challenges both personally and professionally. I have had to make an entire new set of friends. I have had to build new programs from the ground up. I have had to assimilate to a new culture. I have had to foster an environment for student involvement. In both aspects I feel that huge strides have been made. I feel very fortunate to have found some incredible friends and support systems here in Doha, and this is still an ongoing process. The Student Center as a whole has made some drastic changes, hopefully for the better, over the course of the semester as well. As the semester ends I find myself in a new transition stage. My initial stage of getting settled and meeting new people has come to a close. Now I am learning how to navigate Doha more effectively, developing deeper relationships with friends and colleagues, establishing a routine and pursuing my interests, planning trips, and making Doha into my new home. As the semester ends, it was marked with major successes and major shortcomings. There is plenty of room for improvement but that is all part of the process. For now, I could not be happier to be here. And I cannot wait to see what awaits in the future.

As far as major upcoming events go...tomorrow is National Day. The closest equivalent in the US would be the 4th of July. It is a national holiday and the downtown area is flooded with people, parades, and celebrations. I will be sure to post pictures because I hear it is a pretty amazing event. My latest travel plans are to go to Dubai next week for Christmas and I just booked a trip to Kenya for the end of January. 

But the BIGGEST upcoming event is the arrival of the one and only Brennan D. Biddle. He will arrive early early on December 24th and I CANNOT wait for him to get here. We will have plenty of adventures to share and nothing says Christmas like a Qatar visit.

That's all for now. Will post more after Brennan's visit. Happy holidays to all and know that I will be thinking about all the friends and family back in the States! 

Desert Camping during Movember with Couch Surfer

Well, that post title pretty much sums up the last week. Movember has finally come to an end and what an amazing month it was. The money is still trickling in but as of now our team has raised just under $21,000 and ranks in the top 50 of all fundraising teams in the US. I am incredibly proud of the efforts of my team and thankful to all of those who have been so supportive throughout the month. A good friend here, Kevin, actually threw a Movember Gala at Carnegie Mellon Qatar as well. The event was attended well by students from the University and had prizes for a variety of categories including Best Mo. It was awesome to see students becoming involved in the effort and I am hoping to host some Movember events in Doha next year.

One of the amazing things about Doha is the amount of visitors that come to the city for conferences, business, or travel. While I have been here I have gotten countless couchsurfing requests from visitors looking for a place to stay. For those unfamiliar with counchsurfing, you basically make your home available for people to stay free of charge while they are traveling. This past weekend I hosted a Dutch guy from Swedan named Alexander who was visiting for a UN conference on sustainability. While in Doha Alexander was like a kid in a candy shop. His genuine awe and appreciation for Doha was incredibly refreshing. As we drove around the downtown skyline his head was tilted to the sky, with each person he met he was amazed at their stories, as I shared information about Qatar and Doha he continuously wanted to know more. One of the best parts of couchsurfing is being able to be an ambassador for your city. While Alexander visited we ran all over the city and the big highlight was camping in the desert.

Since my first visit to Doha last January I have wanted to go camping in the Desert. This finally became a reality this past weekend. A group of us, including Alexander, went to an area in the central part of the country called Zekreet for our camping experience. It was about 45 minutes from Doha and half that time was spent off roading through the desert. As we drove out to our camping area we passed beautiful rock formations, were awe stuck by the desert expanses, and raced sunset to get to our site before dark. Now what would a first desert camping experience be without getting stuck in the sand? This was the inaugural desert excursion of my new XTerra. I obviously have no driving experience in sand and deserts so I panicked when my car was all of the sudden dead stopped and tires spinning in the sand. Luckily our friend Riham is quite the desert driving expert and he had the truck moving in a few minutes. Once we arrived at the site we set up camp and started cooking dinner. We camped in an abandoned village beneath brick dwellings that no one really knows the history of.

 

While we were out in the desert Ahmad and I decided to do a bit of exploring. In one of the dwellings (I have no idea what else to call them) we saw lights and heard some people talking. As we approached we saw that it was a group of about 15 Qatari high school and middle schoolers. We chatted with them for a bit and they told us that they were practicing a skit to perform with another group of students. Ahmad decided we should go see these skits and the students not only agreed but asked us to be judges. After 15 minutes of walking across the desert we arrived at the students' campsite and were greeted with a welcome song, drinks, chocolates, and some hilarious skits. It is difficult to articulate what this experience because of how unique it was. In general, Qataris are very family focused and it is not often that I will have the opportunity to interact with this large of a group of specifically Qatari students. They were incredibly welcoming, intelligent, and creative. They performed their skits in Arabic but did their best to translate for me as the only non Arabic speaker. Although the experience was completely unexpected it was one of the big highlights from the entire trip.

That just about covers the latest. Other things that have been going on that I won't go into detail about are a visit to the Grand Mosque, International Fest in the Student Center, and planning a road trip to the UAE. I think we can start the official Brennan Biddle countdown: 20 days. Talk soon!

It feels like it has been a while since I last posted, so there is plenty to catch up on. As you all know, this week was Thanksgiving. This is the first major holiday that I have missed (aside from JMU Homecoming of course) while being out here in Doha. As my Dad kindly pointed out, this was my first Thanksgiving not being home with my family. I definitely missed not being able to see friends and family, but more than anything I missed not going Black Friday shopping with my brother. We have made it a tradition the last few years and it was disappointing to not go out at midnight to witness the chaos of Black Friday. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving in our own way here in Doha. My supervisor, Melissa, hosted a Thanksgiving meal on Friday and it was really nice to get together and share a meal. I made my now world famous pumpkin cheesecake and a co-worker Jimmy made one heck of a Turkey. The night ended with a little Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on the TV and my day was complete.

On the topic of giving Thanks, one of the MANY things that I am thankful for is being in Qatar. I truthfully feel that Qatar is one of the most unique places on the planet that I could be living. It is incredibly diverse, offers access to a very high quality of life, hosts many global events, is incredibly safe, and more. Having now been here for three months, people like to ask "How do you like it so far?". When I respond that I love it here and feel privileged to be able to call this home, they look at me as if I am crazy. And while I may be crazy, it never ceases to amaze me the things that people can complain about. Can traffic be bad in Doha? Yep. Is it easy to get the exact foods or products you may want? Nope. Are the policies and procedures in the country efficient? Not exactly. But in the grand scheme, all of these are such trivial issues. Anywhere you live will have its flaws and Doha is no exception. But as I reflect on my time here to this point, I can honestly say I hit the jackpot when moving out here. Hopefully my opinion doesn't change in the coming months and years but I would say we are off to a good start. 

 In other big news, the Doha Tribeca Film  Festival took place this week. Many of you are familiar with the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC and this is a branch of that. During the festival directors, actors, and actresses from all over the world come to Doha to show off their work. I was able to attend about five different screenings ranging from comedies, to documentaries, to dramas. My favorite was the Reluctant Fundamentalist and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone. Another cool part of the festival was being able to see an interview with Robert De Niro, although the interview itself was pretty boring. At the end of the day, it's ROBERT DE NIRO. Who cares what they talk about? I really did have a great time at the festival as a whole and especially enjoyed some of the afterparties at the W hotel, one of those moments when you ask yourself...How is it that I end up at a film festival after party in Doha, Qatar with world renowned film makers?

Let's talk a little sports now. Just finished up a basketball league last week. The league was suprisingly competitive and gave us some great games. Our team wasn't exactly the best in the league but it was a great group of guys to play with. During our last game of the season we were warming up for the game and I noticed people gathering in the corner of the gym. At first it was only three guys and they begin to pray, as it was time for the last call to prayer of the day. Upon seeing this, men from all of the gym put down their basketballs and went over the join them in this final prayer. After a few minutes there were a dozen or so men praying together in the gym. I thought that this was fascinating and an incredible display of humility and dedication to religion. Those who weren't Muslim continued to warm up and after a few minutes the games began. In addition to basketball I started taking golf lessons so next time I'm at Top Golf I can have a better showing. I also signed up for a work out boot camp that starts this week as a change of pace to the work out routine.

Last major note is that Movember is quickly coming to a close. There is still time to donate and I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive all month. Our team is currently #51 in the whole US and we have raised over $12,000! If you want to donate go to http://mobro.co/EvanWitt.

That should about cover it for now. This week Doha is hosting the COP18 United Nations Sustainability conference. The city is expecting about 20,000 visitors and we are already being advised that traffic will be a challenge for the whole 2 week long conference. Next weekend I will be going dessert camping for the first time in Doha and am planning a road trip to Dubai the weekend after. So plenty more to come. Talk soon!

Eid in Sri Lanka: The World's Most Random Trip

As all of you know I spent the week of Eid holiday in Sri Lanka. This was a trip that I went into not knowing what to expect. I planned the trip with my friend Ahmad with the priceless assistance of our work colleague Annette who lived in Sri Lanka for 14 years. In writing about this trip I will be leaving out a TON of stories. I think the best way to do it is to break the trip down into four parts. Keep in mind we traveled 1,500km during this week and were doing non-stop activities! The four parts of the trip were history/culture, adventure, wildlife, and paradise. So here goes nothin'...

Before we get to the four parts, we need to set the stage. Before arriving in Sri Lanka Ahamd and I had planned our trip very aggressively. To be able to accomplish this, we booked a driver named Aruna. Aruna was Annette's driver when she lived in Sri Lanka and was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He was incredibly patient, informative, and served as a father figure during the trip. The other major character in this trip is Jon Campbell. Jon is a first grade teacher in Kuwait but grew up in Canada. He was traveling solo but we met him on the flight to Sri Lanka over glasses of red wine in the back of the flight. Oh, and by the way, we literally had a party in the air on the back of the plane on the way! During said party Ahmad and I invited Jon to join us for our trip. He couldn't think of a reason not to so our trip went from 2 to 3 people in a matter of minutes. He was a GREAT addition to the trip and we're hoping to travel together in the future.

On the left, Aruna and our car for the week.

On the right, Jon Campbell during our wildlife safari. That vest cost him $2USD.

So let's begin with Part 1: History and Culture. We started the trip by heading to the cultural triangle which includes the Rock Temple in Dambulla, the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, and Sigiriya Rock. The two big highlights for me were Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya. Polonnaruwa was the second capital of Sri Lanka, there have been nine in total. This was a massive civilization that was abandoned due to wars. There are incredible ruins there including many temples. We spent the afternoon exploring the various ruins with our tour guide Vicky. He gave us great information and even though it was raining (as it did for most of our trip) it did not stop of from getting an education in the culture of Sri Lanka. The following day we woke up early to hike Sigiriya rock. This massive rock is considered by many to be the 8th Wonder of the World. On the top of the rock, there is an ancient mansion of which only ruins remain. There are many different stories about the history of the rock. Our guide, Milton, shared with us that the temple was built by one of the royal families' sons. He built it to avoid the rest of the family and his brother who was trying to kill him. The grounds were incredible and the ruins on top of the rock were just amazing. It is considered to be a crucial part of the Sri Lanka culture.

 

Part 2 of the trip was Adventure. This included a treacherous drive to the top of a mountain in the tea country, white water rafting, and a terrifying trip to Adam's Peak. During our visit to Sri Lanka, it was the rainy season. We saw sun on the first day and then it kind of felt like Forest Gump, "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months." It wasn't quite four months, but it was all week! So in the middle of our trip we had booked a Bed and Breakfast up in the mountains area. Because of the rainy season the fog, clouds, and rain roll in around 5:00pm. We spent about 3 hours driving up a mountain to reach our Bed and Breakfast through powerful winds, rain, and nearly zero visibility. All through this, Aruna had a smile on his face...what a guy! After our B&B night, we spent the next afternoon White Water rafting (which cost us $15USD each). From rafting we wanted to stay at the bottom of Adam's Peak. Adam's Peak is a hike that consists of the most consecutive stairs in the world. It has over 5,000 steps each way! It is considered by many in Sri Lanka to be a sacred site and it was something all three of us desperately wanted to do. Since it was rainy season, the weather in that part of the country was VERY dangerous. On the road to Adam's Peak we were met by trees blocking the road, downed power lines, and pouring rain. The hike Adam's Peak it is recommended to go at 2:00am to be there for sunrise. Once we finally reached our hotel, which had no power for the night, we woke up at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, and 5:00 hoping the rains would slow but they did not. We ended up not being able to hike the trail but it gives us something to go back for!

Part 3 of the trip was Wildlife. Although we saw a lot of wildlife through the trip (ie. gangs of monkeys, elephants crossing the road, etc), I will concentrate on our wildlife safari in Udawalawe National Park. Udawalawe is known for its' elephants. In total there are over 400 in the park as well as many birds, deer, jackals, gators, water buffalo, and more. We were able to find a guide easily when we arrived at the park and went out in an old school land rover. The trip was incredibly exciting, although a bit of rain slowed our adventure a bit. There are no roads in the park, just dirt travels. Many of these trails are met by water crossings. During the dry season this is no issue but in the rainy season there are a few more obstacles. As we approached one river to cross, our car entered from the bank and immediately died. We tried to start it a few times to no avail. We called for someone to pull us out, but that's when the rain started. Within minutes the river level started rising and now the car was nearly completely under water! Another truck came to pull us out and was unable to move us even an inch. We had to wait on a tractor to pull the car from the water, which took about 2 hours in total. After waiting in the part for 2 hours, we got on the back of the other car and headed out of the part. No more than 5 minutes later, THAT truck breaks down. Now we are stuck in the middle of the park with two broken down vehicles and a tractor. What do we do? Attach both vehicles to the tractor and get pulled out of the park. We had a caravan through the park and even stopped to see elephants, deer, and birds on the way! It was an unbelievable experience and frustrating in the moment but hilarious looking back on it now. The safari was supposed to be 2.5 hours...ours was over 5!

 

 The final part of the trip can be known as paradise. Sri Lanka is known for its' beaches, unfortunately we were there at the wrong time of the year for that. We spent our last day at Unawatuna beach, which was just amazing. The sun FINALLY came out and we were able to sit by the beach all day before heading to Colombo and getting ready to leave. I wish we had more time there, but with the weather we were just happy to have one day of sunshine! It would definitely be work a repeat trip to spend time in some of the sleepy beach towns in the south of Sri Lanka.

Overall, Sri Lanka was an amazing trip. It was quite an adventure and in many ways, the complete opposite of Doha. On the trip we saw rain, wildlife, jungles, agriculture, experienced rural poverty, ancient cultural history, hiking, and much much more. It was a refreshing and energizing trip. I feel very lucky to have had such a great experience and credit much of that to Aruna, Jon, and Ahmad for being great travel partners. As I mentioned earlier, this is not even half of the stories that I could share from the trip but it gives some sort of idea of what we got ourselves into. Check out a wider selection of pictures on Facebook and I look forward to sharing more stories with all of you soon!

Cars, Mos, and Sandy

It has been quite a while since I last posted and A LOT has taken place. For one, I spent a week in Sri Lanka for Eid. I will dedicate a separate post to that trip as it was chock-full-o-adventure to be sure. Even the blog post likely won't do it justice but I will do my best.

As for the Doha updates, the biggest news is the final stage of my transition: Transportation. It has taken me two pain staking month to get my own wheels here in Doha. As I have mentioned before, no public transpiration, limited taxis, and nothing within walking distance. So as you can imagine a car is vital to my existence here. I think we can all let out a sigh of disappointment that I did not purchase a car called the Duster (although it would have been AWESOME) and opted for the more luxurious and dependable Nissan XTerra. I could not be happier with this purchase and the idea of buying a new car is still surreal to me. I literally had to take the plastic wrapping off the seats as if I was opening a present. How did I pay for said car? Straight cash homie (ala Randy Moss). There was a mix up with the loan that I had originally taken out so I walked into the dealership, wads of cash in hand, put them on a desk and a few hours later drove off the lot. Arooj was kind enough to take me to the dealership and document the experience.

Other big news, MOVEMBER HAS BEGUN! Many of you got the fundraising e-mail I sent yesterday and if you are interested in donating to the cause check out my MoSpace at http://mobro.co/EvanWitt. For more information about the organization, where the money goes, etc check out us.movember.com/. The organization had over 800,000 participants last year bringing in over $140 million towards Men's health research. This year I am joined by a team of 45 other men and we have set out own fundraising goal at $15,000. We are well on our way and would really appreciate your support!

Another major update is on a much more serious note. As you all know last week Hurricane Sandy pummeled the east coast of the United States. While this was going on, I was half a world away in Sri Lanka. Helpless to support my friends and family. Technology never ceases to amaze me and I was able to contact my brother and parents to ensure their safety, and luckily our family came away from the disaster unharmed. There was no damage to our home, no loss of property. Many of our friends and family were not as fourtunate. Estimates in my hometown of Massapequa alone reflect damages to the tune of $4.5 billion. As I have reached out to friends and family this week I have heard stories of 5 feet of water in homes, lost cars, power outages for days on end, and homes burned to the ground. On this side of the world we are not hearing much about the devastation that took place on the east coast. It has been very challenging wanting to be supportive but not knowing how. Even though my direct family was fortunate to not experience any damage, the hurricane has still had a lasting impact on us. I know my parents have been trying to reach out to friends and family to support them over the week. It will take quite some time for things to get back to "normal" and I can only hope it comes sooner than later. Know that you all are in my thoughts constantly and I am inspired by your resilience in the face of this disaster.

On a final reflective note, I recently celebrated my two month anniversary of being here in Doha. This milestone means a lot to me, particularly because I feel that my initial transitions are coming to an end. I feel that I have somewhat of a pulse on the city of Doha and what life is here. I can happily say that the choice to move here was one of the best of my life. It has already been a life changing experience and I have grown a lot as an individual. This is not to say that Doha comes without challenges. One challenge in particular has been developing deep and meaningful friendships. Although I have met a LOT of people since moving here, and fancy myself to be quite the "Yes Man", it has been very challenging to replace the close family and friends I left behind in the U.S. I am incredibly lucky to have such great friends and family. I have been so appreciative of all of the texts, calls, Skypes, e-mails, Facebooks, etc that have come in over the last two months and this has played a major role in the success of my transition here. 

That's all I have for now and I will put together some kind of entry later this week about Sri Lanka. In the meantime you can all check out some of the photos on Facebook. Thanks for keeping up with me in my travels and experiences. I look forward to talking to you all soon.

Travel, Wheels, and Eminem Turns 40

A lot has happened since my last post. The biggest item is that I finally have my driving license! As I have mentioned before, not having a car in Doha was quite the challenge. In a city without any major public transportation, a car is essential. My supervisor Melissa and I rode to work everyday together and she was a HUGE help in my transition. And although it was good fun playing the role of dependent child, I have a new found independence with my own transportation. I am the proud renter of a Ford Focus that is helping to give me more time to go car shopping. When I first arrived in Doha I was convinced I would buy a used car or a certified pre-owned car from the dealership. The used car market here is incredibly difficult to navigate. There are several online posting boards for cars but the process of meeting with people, getting the car examined at a shop, etc is quite challenging. Last week a friend and I attempted to get a car examined at an auto shop and spend 90 minutes looking for the shop only to eventually give up without getting the car inspected. Another aspect is that car lives here are shorter. People drive their cars hard. And many times if someone has an SUV it has also been out in the desert. So buying a used car is a huge risk. That all being said, I am looking at purchasing a Nissan XTerra or a Renault Duster. What is a Renault Duster? It is basically the poor man's XTerra. It literally costs half the price of the XTerra and still comes with a full warranty. At this point I am leaning towards the XTerra, but will finalize everything at the bank tomorrow.

Another big update are travel plans. I finally have my multiple exit visa and now it is time to book some trips! I will be heading to Sri Lanka next week for the Eid holiday. There are two Eid holidays in the Muslim religion. One to celebrate the end of Ramadan and one to celebrate Hajj. Our holiday next week is to celebrate Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. My friend Ahmed and I will be flying to Sri Lanka on Saturday and staying for the full week. We have created a PACKED itinerary that will have us visiting an Elephant Orphanage, seeing Buddhist temples, hiking, taking a safari, and relaxing at some remote beaches. All things that we lack here in Doha! Another trip on the books is a trip to Dubai for Christmas with none other than Brennan Biddle. We will fly out Christmas day and stay only for one night but we figured it was a good way to celebrate.

Random Doha story for the week. Doha has a limited selection of radio stations but one that has really caught my attention is 97.5. It is considered to be Doha's most popular station, think Z100 from NY. In the past week alone I have had the privilege of listening to "California Dreamin" by the Mamas & the Papas, "Don't Worry Be Happy", and Frank Sinatra (as I was driving through a mall parking garage). The station never ceases to amaze me and provides endless moments of, "Where am I?" reflection. As many of you may or may not know, Eminem turned 40 this week. Yes, 40! To celebrtate this monumental global event, 97.5 played ten consecutive Eminem songs. Fortunately, I sat in traffic for all ten of these songs consecutively. Not only have I not hear Eminem since high school, I was shocked to hear his songs in a country where censorship is high. Even the edited versions of his songs are pretty vulgar.

This weekend I visited my first Doha night club, Crystal. As I have mentioned, all of the bars and nightclubs in Doha are at the hotels. Crystal happens to be at the W. For each of the nightclubs in Doha you need to purchase a membership. The membership allows you access to the club but you still have to pay cover charges. Membership costs about $50 and is good for one year. You still have to pay a $25 cover each time you go to said club even though you are a member. Needless to say, nights out can be quite expensive. But for special occasions it is great to have access to places like Crystal. When you enter the night club you are greeted by strobe lights, lasers, and the pulse of house music bass. Another moment where you are separated from reality here in Doha.

Other random notes:

• Went to a Canadian Thanksgiving
• Got my Liquor License to be able to purchase alcohol
• Attend a Halloween Party at the US Embassy

I think that will just about cover it for now. Stay tuned for more car information.

Wanted to wish Casey and Jared a HUGE congratulations on their wedding. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you but I am sure you will do just fine without me!

Talk to you all soon.

Oktoberfest in the Land of Forbidden Drink

How's that for a catchy title? Another big week here in Doha that has included accessing my freedom, travel planning, a proper Oktoberfest experience, exploring a man made island, and reflections on what it means to be American in an international context.

In the never ending transition that is getting settled in Doha, I finally received my multiple exit permit this week. This will allow me to travel freely from the country and has prompted me to start looking for travel adventures. We have a week long holiday coming up at the end of October for Eid. Since there are SO many places in the region that I want to travel to, it is hard to choose. I am looking at Jordan, Lebanon, and the UAE for starters but will hopefully have more concrete plans by next week. Next up in the transition is the driver's license and car, which will be taken care of this week, Inshallah (translation: God Willing).

This past weekend was a pretty packed with social events. The Inter Continental Hotel hosted an authentic Oktoberfest experience which I attended both on Wednesday and Friday. The event was complete with a HUGE tent, long communal tables, massive beer glasses, a band flown in from Germany, beer from Munich, and all you can eat of the finest German cuisine. The irony of having an event like this is a country where alcohol is not part of the culture was not lost on me. During the event I was flooded back with memories of the Notsoberfest events that were held back at JMU, particularly when the band did a LIVE version of the Chicken Dance. Overall the event was a blast and I was glad I went both nights. In between Oktoberfesting I was able to meet some new friends at a house party and explored a new part of Doha known as the Pearl.











The Pearl is a massive man made island that is just outside of downtown Doha. It is made up of 62 towers that have apartments, high end shops, restaurants, and beaches. I went to one of the local beaches with some friends which had an great view of the Doha skyline. Being in the Pearl truly felt like being in another world. It was amazing to think that it was built from nothing and this aerial view I found still makes it hard to comprehend.

To finish up the weekend I was invited to have dinner at a colleague from Cornell's home. She invited a group of us over for an "international night" in which each person would cook a specific food that reflected their culture. In the room there was representation from Egypt, Lebanon, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, and the US. Most of the people at the dinner were new to Doha as well and it was interesting to hear their stories. The biggest take away of the night came from the "game" we played at the end. We basically did a version of charades as two teams competed as one team member acted out a film...all American films. I was particularly struck by this based on the incredible diversity of backgrounds in the room. I could not name for you a single Egytian film, nor Lebanese, not even Italian. And there we were, speaking in English guessing American films. It was another humbling experience and I felt incredibly privileged in that space to have my culture be understood by so many others. I could also not help but feel guilty for the way in which the U.S. does not adopt or portray other international cultures as part of its own culture. Although being American has made my transition here in Doha easier, as many others are very aware of my culture and language, it has also made it challenging for me to feel comfortable with my own lack of knowledge of so many of the cultures I am encountering here.

On a lighter note, I have been starting to find some really solid pick up basketball games. The Achilles has been holding up as well and I am hoping to join a league or two in the upcoming weeks.

As always thanks to everyone who continues to check in. Missed my parents' final family weekend with my brother as well as Virgin FreeFest this past weekend. Look forward to hearing from everyone this week. Talk soon.

Break Dancing, Storm Chasing, and Becoming a Card Carrying Member of the State of Qatar

Well folks, another week is in the books. What a week it was. I had the privilege of finally meeting Varun's cousin Nive (who is incredibly cool), received my resident permit, attended a break dancing performance, finished a season of the Newsroom (awesome show), went to a Carnegie Mellon talent show, and participated in my first major leadership workshop at HBKU.

Let's start with the break dancing performance, because it was pretty unreal. A few weeks ago Arooj and I were walking to lunch in the Student Center and tickets were being sold for a show sponsored by Red Bull called "Flying Bach". It is basically a break dancing crew that performs to classical music. Think Step Up if their soundtrack was a piano. Of course we bought tickets for it, and I am SO glad we did. Check out this clip about the show (ignore that it's not in English):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T6uTH1gkfc
Not too bad for your casual Wednesday night! We even ran into a work colleague, Bachar, while we were there and went out to dinner after the show.

A HUGE part of this week was finally receiving my Resident Permit. This basically means that I am officially allowed to live in Doha, despite already having a work visa. This is also the next step to getting a driver's license, which I am hoping to do this week. Not having a car is becoming more of an inconvenience as I am

desperately wanting to get out on some adventures. Although there is some limitations in the things to do in Doha, I want to try some things like scuba diving, kayaking, beaches, desert camping, etc. I should be able to keep myself entertained for quite some time. This Resident Permit also allows me to now apply for an exit visa to be able to travel out of the country. We have the second Eid holiday coming up at the end of October and I am looking to travel during that week. There is a slim chance that I will be back in the states at that time attending a conference in Denver and then swinging to JMU's Homecoming, but nothing has been confirmed yet. If not the states, I will start brainstorming some travel in the region for that week.

As you all may have guessed, weather in Doha is pretty consistent. You can basically bank on the fact that it will be sunny. Every day, nearly 365 days a year. Now to many this would sound AMAZING, no rain to worry about, being able to be outside most of the year, etc. And while the sunshine does have its benefits, especially as fall comes around you long for some overcast clouds and rainfall. And this weekend we got just that. Wil, Arooj, and I were at the mall trying to pick up a few items and we noticed it was overcast outside and the wind was picking up. Anywhere else in the world we would have been mad that it was going to rain the rest of the day, but we were PUMPED. We got in Wil's car and became storm chasers. The radio told us there was rain on Salwa Road, so to Salwa Road we went. As we chased the storm we caught a few glimses of lightning and found a few raindrops. In the end we didn't find the rainstorm we were searching for and headed back home. Immediately upon getting back to the complex, we noticed puddles all over the place! Evidently it rained pretty heavy at home while we were out chasing. Looks like we will have to wait another few months for some real rain action!

Another major event for the week was my first Doha hair cut. Not only was a hair cut 20 QR (basically $5) the barber was incredibly skilled and it was one of the best haircuts of my life. He was incredibly detailed used a buzzer, scissors, and straight razor for the cut. If I had wanted to add a complete shave to this experience it would have been another 20 QR! The same kind of service would be at least $100 back in the states. Add this to the ever expanding list of things that are much cheaper in Doha, which is balanced out by the things that are insanely expensive.

As far as the whole job thing goes, we hosted a Student Leadership Workshop this weekend. It was my first major HBKU event and it was organized in partnership with all the branch campuses. We had about 70 students attend and we facilitated a personaility assessment (True Colors) and then had student presenters for a variety of break out sessions. It was really interesting to see how leadership programming is done here as well as some of the views on leadership held by the students. From what I observed today, it seemed that students identified leaders based on positions or the person who was "in charge". There is definitely some work to be done to expose students to the idea of leadership being more relational and collaborative as opposed to positional. I am starting to work on a leadership program that will be HBKU wide, but this is very much in the early stages. I look forward to having more conversations with colleagues and students to develop some intentional leadership programs here in Doha.

That should just about do it for now. I have a big week ahead. Hopefully I will be getting my license and starting to go car shopping. We are attending an Oktoberfest event at the Inter Continental hotel on Wednesday night, and might even get into some desert camping this weekend. So stay tuned for next week to hear about all of those adventures. Looking forward to hearing from you all this week. Talk soon.

Are you ready for some Football?!?!

With the first day of Fall having passed this week it brought back a series of memories from back home. The crisp morning air, the changing colors of leaves, pumpkins, weekends filled with Football, Homecoming, and the incredible tailgates. With all that being said, we brought in the Fall season with a cool 100 degree Saturday afternoon here in Doha. To be honest with you, it has begun to cool down here as Doha approaches its "winter" season which will have temperatures in the 70s and 80s as opposed to the summer with temperatures in the 90s and 100s. Since my arrival the temperatures have been bearable and I missed the worst heat of the summer in July and August.

As I mentioned, Fall for me is synonymous with Football for me (American football that is). Saturdays are spent catching the best of College Games and following the JMU Dukes, while Sundays involve an NFL marathon from 1pm until Midnight. Due to the 7 hour time difference, football season has been mostly absent from my weekly routine. This week was a bit difference as I woke up at 3am (after going to sleep at 1am) on Friday morning to catch the Giants v. Carolina game live with the NFL Game Game Pass with a fellow Giants fan, Kevin from New Jersey. I met Kevin through work and plan on catching as many Giants games as we can this year. We watched the game, which kicked off at 3:20am, which we chowed on McDonald's, had a few beers, and drank coffee to keep awake. I have never watched a live NFL game while catching a sunrise...only in Doha!

This past week was the first time that I really felt comfortable at work and have started to share my insights and opinions more. It took me a while to navigate the systems that are in place at HBKU and I have at least a general understanding of how it operates. The branch campus model here is really interesting as each of the campuses operate some ways in complete isolation and very collaboratively in others. At the Student Center we are constantly looking for ways to collaborate and serve students from across all the campuses. This weekend we held a training for our student staff in the building and this upcoming weekend we will be holding a student leadership workshop. Looking forward to working on developing some new programs in the upcoming weeks and I have had some great conversations with students and colleagues about future directions. We also hired two student employees who I will be supervising to round out the Campus Life Team.

Earlier this week my supervisor Melissa and I were driving to work and she asked me if I felt comfortable so far in Doha or if I felt out of place. This is something I have thought a lot about since arriving here. In no way do I feel like I "fit in" here in Doha, but I am also not out of place. Doha is an incredibly diverse city and there is no real such thing as "normal" here. In fact, Qataris are a minority in their own country. I came across this interesting breakdown:

As you can see, Americans would fall into the 7% of "others" that live in Qatar. With this diversity of population, no one really seems out of place. Regardless of what you wear (with the exception of short shorts or tank tops) no one looks twice. People are incredibly accepting and  non-judgmental. Nearly everyone in the country has an incredible story and family all over the world. It really is an incredible place to live and work.

One of the few times I did feel uncomfortable occurred this week during a work lunch. I was a table of ten during this lunch. It was myself, eight Qatari men, and one Lebanese man. Naturally, everyone at the table spoke Arabic except for me (unfortunately knowing how to say Good Morning and Do you want to get coffee? were not helping me follow the conversation). Upon noticing the conversation in Arabic, my Lebanese friend kindly asked everyone at the table to speak in English since not everyone spoke Arabic. The reality was, only I didn't speak Arabic. This made me feel uncomfortable to make everyone speak in a language that is less natural for them, even though most of them speak flawless English. It is moments like these that I feel very privileged to have English as a common language of communication, while simultaneously feeling very guilty for not being fluent in any other languages. In the US most Americans only know one language, here people will know at least two, usually more languages. My neighbor across the hall is fluent in 5 languages!

This post is already getting long so here's some other entirely random thoughts:

• Cost of living here is cheap in some ways (food shopping) and wildly expensive in others (drinking at restaurants/bars)
• Still no car but I do have a QF ID!
• Wil (from across the hall) has a copy of You, Me, and Dupree in his movie collection. Did we just become best friends?!
• Skype: This is a life saver. Thank you to everyone who keeps checking in on it. I have spent literally 3 hours tonight Skyping with a list of people. I say this as Brennan calls me now. Tonight I was able to talk to my parents, Zach and Kristina, and the triple crown crew (Travis, Rielly, and Brennan) all in one sitting!
• Whatsapp: So there's an app you can download that allows you to text anyone with a smartphone for free. So all of you need to download the app and let me know when you get it. My cell here is 974 5563 5119. 

I think that about covers it for now. I posted some pictures on Facebook, most of which you all have seen. I will try to take more pictures as I get into some upcoming adventures. Doha life has been awesome, looking forward to sharing more this week!

Sabbah El Kheir!

Before I get started here, I want to share one BIG update. Ya boy has got new sheets! Although the lovely floral print you all noticed last post were beautiful, I opted for a different feel:

 I also grabbed a memory foam mattress topper because the bed was hard as a rock. Now that we have covered that transition item, on with the post!
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Sabbah El Kheir, translated means good morning. And even though it will likely be afternoon or even night before any of you even read this, I wanted to show off the very little Arabic I have been able to pick up over the past two weeks.

As you could have guessed, Arabic isn't easy to learn. Even learning basics has proved difficult as I need to train my voice to make sounds that are entirely foreign in English dialect. I have been fortunate to have patient teachers like Mohammed and Ameena, both colleagues of mine. Learning how to pronounce Good Morning in Arabic took me nearly a week, and to be honest I'm sure I still don't have it right. Each day when I come to work I try to pick up another work or phrase in Arabic to be able to use in conversation. At this point I am trying to master basic greetings and goodbyes before tackling the more complex topics. Eventually I plan on taking a course in Arabic while I am here but want to transition a bit first.

Speaking of those transitions, work transitions have been going really well, albeit overwhelming at times. Because we are creating so many different programs it can be difficult to determine where to start. In a Campus Life meeting today we discussed creating a Student Government Association, a Service Learning Office, a Leadership Initiative, and increasing our programming capacity in the Student Center. And this all is taking place....immediately. It is incredibly exciting to be able to create all of these programs but many times it is hard to figure out where to start. The start of the semester has been very busy with programs and events and I have rarely had the chance to sit at my desk for more than 30 minutes to really think about all that I am taking in. As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. But here we are trying to build a University as soon as we can!

In terms of Doha lessons, one major observation I have discovered is that there is no such thing as a small errand in Doha. Although Doha itself is not a big city, it is very spread out and there is a lot of traffic. It will take you 20 minutes to get anywhere in Doha. This is both a good and a bad thing. It means that you will never travel more than 20 minutes, if you do you're in the dessert. But it also means that everything is 20 minutes away from each other.

For example, this weekend a friend (Shiela) and I went to run some errands. We left the apartment complex at 2pm and the first stop was QDC (Qatar Distribution Center). Now let's talk about QDC  for a moment here. QDC is the ONLY liquor store in all of Qatar, affectionately known as the "Harom" Store by the locals. Harom means sin. In this store not only can you buy alcohol, which is otherwise illegal in the country, but you can also purchase pork products (also not available anywhere else, but you can get all the turkey bacon your heart desires!). Nothing like a little bacon and whiskey for the weekend! Another observation from the store of sin is that everyone was stocking up on liquor like the world was going to end. You are given a monthly allowance from the government for purchasing alcohol that is determined based on your salary. So Shiela had 2500 Riyal to spend at the store (roughly $650 USD). This total is reset at the first of each month and as a fun fact this number is tripled during Ramadan because the store closes for the whole month!

After picking up the goods at QDC we dropped them at Shiela's apartment and went to pick up a couch for a friend. Seems simple enough but the couch was totally across town and by the time we finished up this task it was nearly 7pm! It took us 5 hours to go to the liquor store and pick up a couch. When you plan your day here making one shopping stop is often all you can fit in a day! Quite the change from having everything in the same shopping center back in the states.

I have started to reach out to make new friends outside of the workplace and am realizing how small of a world we live in. A good friend from college, Varun Lal, has cousins who live here in Doha. They introduced me to a few new people, some of whom I played Squash with this weekend (sidenote: Squash. Not easy.) and another who actually is a work colleague at one of the branch campuses. While I was playing Squash with one of these new friends, AJ, he mentioned that he rarely interacts with Qatari nationals while he works on building a new airport here in Doha. This made me realize how lucky I am to be able to work so closely with many Qatari colleagues in the student center. What good would it be to move all the way to Doha only to work with and spend time with other Americans? I could have done that back in the States. I have already learned so much from my Qatari colleagues and admire how open they are to my questions about their language, culture, and views.

As most of you have seen, there have been quite a number of protests recently in response to the Anti-Islam video that was produced in the U.S. depicting the Prophet Muhammed. A protest was held here in Doha as well, but much more peacefully than in other countries. Some basic information can be seen here:
http://dohanews.co/post/31519220522/qatar-residents-join-protests-against-anti-islam#axzz26ilR6KlZ
Doha still feels incredibly safe and there have not been any anti-American sentiments towards myself or any of my colleagues. The story has received a lot of coverage here and many colleagues have friends and family in countries that have demonstrated more violently. Many of us will continue to follow this story closely in the upcoming weeks to make sense of what all of this will mean for the U.S. and Middle Eastern relations, as well as the upcoming election.

There is SO much more that I could write here but I think this is a good snapshot of the last week. I may have to start writing more frequently to avoid these long winded responses. Thank you to everyone who continues to e-mail, Skype, facebook, etc. I was SO sad to miss the JMU WVU game this weekend and it looked like everyone had a great time. The game sounded ugly, but the game is only part of the fun. Looking forward to hearing updates from all of you. Will write again soon. Stay tuned!

Well It's Been...One Week!

As I approach my one week anniversary of my arrival here in Doha, I figure now is as good of a time as ever to sit down and put together this long awaited update. Right now the weekend is winding down (weekends are Friday and Saturday here) and I have had an incredible week transitioning here to Doha. My apologies for not writing sooner, which was so pleasantly brought to my attention (ahem, Drew Grossman).

I flew out of New York's JFK airport on Saturday evening and arrived in Doha at 7:00pm Sunday night. The flight direct and lasted just over 12 hours. I flew on Qatar Airways, an airline I will be using quite frequently while living here, which was incredibly comfortable. Although I had planned on sitting in an exit row, planes aren't really built for people over six feet tall, I still had space to enjoy the flight. We were fed both dinner and breakfast on the flight, as well as having an open bar. I was greeted at the airport by my new supervisor, Melissa Winter, and work colleague, Mohammed Fakhro.

Upon leaving the airport I was brought to my spacious new apartment. It is a beautiful one bedroom with a full kitchen, living area, and walk in closet. Here's some pictures to show it off:

Not only was the apartment fully furnished, it even included soft furnishings like towels, bed sheets, an iron, basic appliances, and even basic groceries (seen above)! The soft furnishings were a life saver and made transitioning so much smoother for my first few days.

Once arriving I wasted no time getting to work and had my first meetings at 8:00am on Monday morning. My position here will be working at the Education City (newly named Hamad Bin Khalifa University) in the Student Center as the Campus Life Coordinator. This is the building that I work in:

I work with an incredibly talented Campus Life team comprised on myself and seven other colleagues. We work closely with Student Organizations, programming in the Student Center, Leadership Programs, and more. They have been incredibly welcoming and patient as I transition into my new role. I have SO much to learn from them and cannot wait to spend more time learning about Student Affairs in this region.

Speaking of the welcoming spirit I have found here, I have been so impressed with the kindness not only of work colleagues but also all the people I have met so far. New friends like Wil Biddle, Arooj Rama, Katie Wildman, Moe Fakhro, and others have been so generous with their time while I have been here. I have also had the pleasure of meeting people from all over the world (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Greece, to name a few). It is an incredibly atmoshphere here in Doha where people come from all of the world for a variety of work experiences. The people that come to Doha are adventurous, incredibly intelligent, and have an appreciation for a variety of cultures. I have found myself in many insightful conversations about the many cultures around the world and can't wait to continue to uncover more.

The learning curve while I have been here in Doha has been steep. This is the first time in my life where I have truly felt like an outsider. I am working diligently to integrate myself with the community here and to invest in the many new relationships that are forming. It is a very interesting balance of being part of a community that consists of many ex-pats from all over the world in a country that has such a distinct and strong culture. I will be learning a lot about myself in this process and will be sure to share more about that in later posts.

The process of getting settled here in Doha will be slow. It will be some time before I am able to get a license, purchase a car, obtain an exit visa for travel, and other pieces that will allow me to feel more settled. I have done my best to embrace this process and work through it. Compared to other places I may have relocated to, my adjustment period will be significantly longer here. This makes me even more grateful for the incredible support I have found already in my short time here.

My adjustment here in Qatar has been very smooth thus far. I am so thankful and excited to be pursuing this experience. I look forward to getting more settled, planning some travel, and beginning to work more closely with the students of Education City. I have been trying to keep Skype up on my computer as often as possible. My username is witt.evan and feel free to give me a shout out if I am online. I will post again later this week as I continue to learn the ins and outs of my new job. Missing everyone back in the states, especially sad to be missing on Shea Kelly's birthday festivities but I have no doubts you all will be fine without me.

Talk to you all soon,
Evan

Well the time we have all been waiting for is finally upon us, Evan's Doha Departure! After many goodbyes, well wishes, and sendoffs all over the U.S., I will finally be leaving for Doha this Saturday night at 11:40pm from New York's JFK Airport. My departure this week will mark the end of an absolutely incredible summer. One that has been absolutely life changing. Thank you to all of you that have made the summer of 2012 so meaningful in so many ways. My Farewell Tour of America, which has lasted over two months at this point, has been more than I ever could have imagined.

I have created this blog in order to be able to keep all of you updated on what I have going on over in Doha. I will do my best to update regularly sharing stories of experiences, adjustments, and everything under the sun (the 115 degree sun...). I cannot wait to be able to share my life in Doha with each of you and hope to get continuous updates from all of you as well.

I will post once I arrive in Doha and begin to get settled. Thanks again to all for a great summer and you will hear from me soon!