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
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:
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
I love what you did with the bed.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously this sounds awesome man. Glad to hear you are settling in well. Looking forward to hearing how the adjustment period goes in the coming weeks! If you need anything sent to you that they don't have over there let me know!
-Sean
Haha. Yeah the bed was interesting. I just got new sheets today but they did the trick this week!
DeleteGreat to read about your new adventure. I have no doubt you're gonna do amazing things. Keep updating us with your progress. ...btw... niccce place :)
ReplyDelete