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.
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.
News from home: Please don't bring a women home who is named Sandy. It would not be good!! Today it is Snowing at home ! Yes it is Nov 7th and we have wet snow. Traffic lights still out,power still out in many places, gas lines are .... so long and difficult to describe. Our friends from White Lake drove 3 hours from CT to bring us gas last Sunday. There are angels in this world. Our angels were Pat and Joe Bak. Words can not describe this gesture. We can not Thank them enough. So Evan, if you could send some of that gas and oil our way it would make our day.
ReplyDelete