Calling all Visitors and Farewell William

So one of my favorite parts about being in Doha so far has been hosting visitors and giving them a glimpse into what life is like out here. These visitors have come in many forms, there was Brennan last Christmas, countless couchsurfers, my family this past January, and most recently I was graced with the presence of not one..but TWO of my best friends. Thank you Chris Rielly and Sarah Marr for making the trek out and I just wanted to give a quick recap of what we did. Please also consider this the OPEN invite to any future visitors. I promise you nothing but the best time! So much fun you might just stay (see: Brennan Biddle circa 2013)

The trip lined up quite brilliantly. Sarah was in between terms and had a week off. Rielly was ready to pull the trigger on his flight plan. The two essentially booked alertnating trips with Doha being the common ground in between. Sarah flew NY to Dubai to Doha to NY while Rielly opted for DC to Doha to Dubai to NY. This past weekend the reunion included myself, Sarah, Rielly, and even Brennan made the trip over!!!

We started off with "Bring Your Friends to Work Day" as Sarah and Rielly joined me for the average work day in the Student Center. We had a pizza and bowling party, they met some of my colleagues, many of the students I worked with, and explored a bit on their own. After work we had dinner in the Souq and caught up about life.

The next day Sarah and Rielly went to the Museum of Islamic Art while I wrapped up the work week. The met me at the end of the day to head back home. Afterwards we had a little welcome party/going away party at my new apartment. We said "see you later" to the one and only Will Nestor...more to come on that later...and they got to meet some of the incredible people I call friends here.

The next day we were up and at 'em nice and early for a desert camping adventure. I was able to convince Will Nestor (with little convincing) to change his flight so we could get one more night with him. We then took my 4x4 out to the sand dunes and raced an hour into the Qatari desert to park on top of a massive sand dune overlooking Saudi Arabia. On the way out we felt like we were on top of the world, taking in the scenery, in disbelief that we were all together, and just rocking out to the randomness that is Qatar radio. We watched the sunset, had a BBQ dinner, made a bondfire, and had the best damn sing along that has ever been seen. After camping under the stars we made our way back to Doha to say our goodbyes. It was more of a warm embrace than a teary goodbye because we just had So. Much. Fun. It will go down as one of my best Doha weekends by a long shot.

The most difficult of the goodbyes was to Will Nestor. I have made some great, life long friends since arriving in Doha. But none can compare to Will. He was one of the first people I met when I moved here and unfortunately his time was cut short in Doha. I only learned Will was leaving about 5 days before his final flight and it came as quite the shock. I can't think of a better send off for him and he deserved even more. To Will, I say thank you for so many good times. I know we will be back at it soon enough but I admire you and can't wait till our paths cross again.

In the next epic adventure, I travel tomorrow to rural Nepal with a group of 19 undergraduate students for a service trip. We will be teaching computer literacy in local schools and helping to build a community library. It will be approximately 10 days and I am beyond excited to leave! So let me sign off for now and will check back in after "Spring Break"!!!

The Surprise

Valentine's Day has come and gone. But for me and Kristal it is one that will never be forgotten. It took about 3 months in the making but I was able to fly halfway across the world, without Kristal finding out, to surprise her and celebrate Valentine's Day together...in person. I have had a lot of people ask me..."How did you do that?!?!" So I figured I can give a little breakdown here in 7 easy steps...(7 just sounded like a good number)

Step 1: Idea
I got the idea for the trip just before Kristal and I were getting ready for our Christmas trip. We were struggling with going 3 months without seeing each other and I thought it would be nice if we could see each other before 3 months for the next trip. It ended up that Valentine's Day was exactly 6 weeks from the end of our Christmas trip...so the timing was perfect.

Step 2: Book Flights
After a bit of price hawking, I stumbled on what must have been an airline error. I found a roundtrip ticket to NZ at about 30% off the normal ticket price. The dates perfect lined up around the Feb 14 holiday so without much thought...I booked the sucker!!!

Step 3: Plan Trip
Once I had my ticket it was decided I would have about 72 hours of actually being in Auckland. So I started to plan out of trip. It ended up being a B&B in Auckland followed by a little road trip to an area called Whangarei Heads on the North Island. I had some help from one of Kristal's friends, Kate, in making great reccomendations!


Step 4: Deception
Once it was all set up I had to keep my mouth shut. I started dreaming up ways to keep her from finding out, which is no easy task when you need to account for 24 hours of travel and a 10 hour time difference. I decided I couldn't do it on my own and started looking for conspiritors.

Step 5: Accessories
There were two main accessories to this plan. On the NZ side, there was Kate. Kate helped plan the trip and then was a trooper in helping set up a scavenger hunt to lead her to our meeting location. She also make "plans" with Kristal for the weekend to make sure she would be available. On the Doha side we had Kevin. Kevin had made arrangements with Kristal to take me out on the 14th to celebrate. The two of us decided to go out a week earlier, save the photos, and send them while I was in the air from his phone. He also used my email account to send her messages I had drafted while I was flying. As far as she knew, there was NO possible way I was not in Doha.

Step 6: Make Her Work For It
I couldn't just show up at the front door and yell SURPRISE!!! Where's the fun in that?! Once Kristal was done with work, Kate had taped a set of clues that would take Kristal all around Auckland before arriving at our B&B. While she was on the hunt it was time for me to "wake up" in Doha so I was messaging her as she got to the end. When she arrived at Bella's B&B she had no idea what would be waiting for her there.

Step 7: SURPRISE!!!
As Kristal opened the door her face was pure shock, mixed with joy. After a long, weary day of travel it was SO refreshing and I would have gotten on the next flight out of Auckland and it still would have been worth it. She was speechless, confused, and most of all wanted to know "What happened?!?!" As I explained it all to her she continued to be in disbelief. In all the entire weekend was this euphoric, blissful experience as we enjoyed "bonus" time together. Usually we look forward to our trips for so long and then know it will be quite a while until the next one. That weekend was basically free time so we cherished every second.









The Surprise will go down as one of the best weekends of my life. Incredible hikes, home cooked meals, more B&Bs than we knew that to do with, and of course great company. We are so lucky to get these kind of opportunities and it looks like our next trip will be in 4 short weeks! I will be going back to NZ in March after a conference for one more hoorah!!! So thank you to all of those who helped with the Surprise, kept their mouths shut, and cheered us on from all around the world. We appreciate your support!!! Until next time!!!

The Witt Clan Invades Doha!!!

Well it only took 18 months to get them here, but 2014 brought a new year and the Witt Clan! Mom, Dad, and Brandon all arrived January 11th for a week long visit to the Gulf. Now I understand this post is LONG overdue but that is because I have frantically been catching up and traveling since they left as well. So now that I finally have the chance to sit down, let me tell you a few highlights from the trip.


So the fam arrived around 10:0pm on the 11th and I was SO impressed with them. After 18 hours of travel they were in good spirits, dealing well with jet lag, and our first order of business was a Christmas celebration! We exchanged gifts under the tree I had left up for them and enjoyed the start to our first time traveling as a family in years! We had a busy week ahead of us and our first day was spent in Doha touring around Education City.

January 13th was a special day, not only was it the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) birthday it was also the birth of Don Witt! What better way to celebrate than at the top of the world's tallest building the Burj Khalifa. I was really glad we got to see both Dubai and Doha on the trip because it gives a good comparison. Dubai is a polished, posh, well oiled machine compared to the younger more developing Doha. Both have their benefits but it serves as a good look into what Doha's future might be. In addition the Burj we visited the Center for Cultural Understanding. Brennan and I had visited last year when he came to Doha and it was a good chance for the family to learn about Gulf culture and traditions. We had a VERY animated host and ate a traditional khaliji meal in majilis style seating. I think it dispelled a lot of myths and we learned quite a bit!

Once we got past the Dubai part of the trip it was back to Doha. Our next stop was Doha's majestic desert. We did an overnight camping trip which including dune bashing on the way out to the campsite. I have not heard my mother scream like that in a LONG time as she was convinced our driver was trying to kill us! As we were speeding up, down, and around these dunes he was playing classical music to calm our nerves. On the trip we had a family camel ride, a private beach resort, FREEZING weather (by Doha standards), and quite a few laughs along the way.

Our last weekend in Doha held two very different experiences. First, we had ANOTHER birthday on the trip. The birth of the one and only Brennan Biddle. He flew back to Dubai to celebrate and we went out with a group of friends to a nightclub called Qube. Now Qube is a place of the people. Doesn't matter if you are rich, poor, big, or small. The Qube is the place for you. Mom and Dad made it out with us and stayed out until about 2am!!! When did they get so cool?!? This night was juxtaposed with the following night where we were hosted by one of my Qatari colleagues and friends, Ameena. Ameena and her husband had my whole family over for dinner. We shared traditional food, stories, and histories from home. It was a really wonderful night and from there we headed to the airport.

It was amazing how fast the trip went by. We went non-stop the whole time and I hope it wasn't too much to handle. If you were to ask the family what they thought, I think they would tell you they had an even better experience than expected. They saw the quality of the people, of the city, and of life that I am so privileged to enjoy here in Doha. It isn't easy being so far from home, but Doha makes it worth it. I feel so lucky to have had the whole family visit and I hope we get to do another trip in the near future!!

As for me, I am moving to ANOTHER new apartment this weekend. I will be moving to the downtown area with two friends in a high rise apartment. I welcome the change and am not excited for packing but can't wait to move in!!! We are also counting down the days until Chris Rielly and Sarah Marr come to town!!! Still can't believe how many visitors I have had since moving here. Some of you better catch up. I promise to try to write more, but until next time!!!