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!!!

A Holly Bali Christmas and More!!!

My latest adventure was one that took me from the mountains of Oman, to the beaches of Bali, to the glamor of Dubai all in a matter of two weeks! I traveled to Oman for work to do a site visit for a program called Outward Bound Oman. We are planning to take 25 students to the mountains of Oman in May to spend 4 days and 3 nights hiking and camping through the wilderness to work on their leadership skills and teamwork. During my visit I camped in freezing weather at the top of a mountain, spent more social time with Omanis in 4 days than I have with Qataris in over a year, Couchsurfed on a floor, wandered aimlessly, swam in an Oasis, and MUCH more. I was amazed at how impactful the trip was to me in just 4 short days but if you want the fully stories you will just have to ask. Because this post isn't about Oman, it's about Bali Bells for Christmas!!!

The last time Kristal and I saw each other was the "Meet the Family Trip" in September. While that was a very special trip in its own ways, we didn't get to spend much quality time with just us. Enter, Christmas. We chose to visit Bali for its remote location, the fact that Kristal had lived there for 4 months, and that we could just get away. We spent our trip in 3 main places; the Gili Islands, Kuta, and Ubud.

We visited during the rainy season and our trip started with just that...rain. Lots of it. Kristal and I arrived in Bali on Christmas Eve and once we did it was off to the races. To be to Gili Meno (where we would be spending Christmas) we needed to take a 90 minute bus to a 90 minute boat to a private boat before reaching our island. Unforunately the rough seas and rain made this especially difficult. On the 90 minute boat 4 people vomited, our private boat barely made it to the island, and when we arrived on the island we had to lug our bags through the mud and pouring rain to find our accomodation. Did I mention there are no cars or roads on the island? But once we finally arrived at our private bungalow, it was alllllll good.


We celebrated Christmas in our own way, bringing TONS of decorations to make it our own. Although it was difficult to remember it was in fact Christmas, we hung lights, exchanged gifts under the tree, wore Santa hats, and watched Christmas movies. Who cares if it was 80 degrees? It was a very relaxing two days and we were surprised to see how many restaurants and bars on the island had decorated for the holiday as well. So Christmas in Bali 2013? Check!


After Bali it was off to Kuta which is basically a touristy beach town. There Kristal had the distinct honor of finally meeting Kevin, from the famous/infamous duo of Kevin & Evan. We spent a full day and night with Kevin before he had to leave for other adventures. For our second day in Kuta we had no idea what to do. We ended up grabbing a cab and visiting a cliff temple, secluded beach, and found our way to the most incredible sunset dinner I have ever had. The sunset dinner was a long strip of beach that perfectly lined to the sunset and was filled with fresh seafood restaurants. Kristal and I sat there for no less than 4 hours taking it all in, being serenaded by the local band, and eating to our heart's content. It was our last night in Kuta so we had one last hoorah before it was off to Ubud for our last stop!

Ubud was the cultural stop on the trip. It is a quiet town more inland from Kuta and had an array of temples, craft shops, traditional performances, and artwork. We walked the streets and markets, went to a traditional Kecak dance, and even made time to visit the monkey forest (it was JUST as awesome as it sounds!). The best part of Ubud though was taking a 15 minute drive outside of it to Bedulu, the village that Kristal lived in for 4 months as part of a study abroad. We got to visit her study abroad center and the home that she lived in. While visiting that home we even ran into her host mom and they were able to catch up after 5 years!!! Amazingly Kristal still knows some basic Indonesian and I was amazed to see her connect with many locals throughout the trip.

Overall Bali was even better than I thought it would be. There is so much to see and do there that you could spend months. I was really happy with the places we (and by we I mean that Kristal) chose to go. It was a great balance of beaches, tourism, culture, and needed time together. Saying goodbye was difficult as we continue this binging relationship of seeing each other every several months. We are not sure exactly what our next meet up point will be but now we get to figure that out!!!

Until then, I am working a leadership program outside of Doha for the next week before Mom, Dad, and Brandon FINALLY come to visit!!! We have some amazing things planned and I just can't wait for them to get here. It was an incredible end to 2013, a year that will always stand out in my life. Now on to 2014 and hoping for no bigger and no better, just more of the same. Happy New Year and always remember Beware Wild Monkeys!!!

India: In Anu We Trusts Leads to the Guru and the Emerald

Of the countries that I have visited India has to be one of the most difficult to understand. It is a country that is home to over 1.2 billion people, hailing from 28 different states, with nearly 70% of these people living on less than $2 per day. As a country India is incredibly diverse. Many states have their own language, traditions, culture, and standard of living. In many ways it appears as if India is a grouping of independent states under the country title of “India”. My most recent trip to this country spanned only 6 days and only covered a very small piece of its soil. But in my short time there I had an incredible wealth of experiences and learned quite a bit about the country and of myself.

The first thing I wanted to know in India was “how do you not get ripped off in India?!”. I arrived in Delhi airport at 4am on a Thursday morning. Considering it is a city 22 million people (almost 3 times the size of New York City) I figured I would be welcomed by an onslaught of sights and sounds. Well if New York is the city that never sleeps, Delhi is the city that…well…sleeps. When I arrived there was hardly a car on the road, hardly a sound in the air. I proceeded to have a sketchy arrival where I was brought to an information center, told over the phone my hotel reservation had been canceled, and was brought to a hotel I did not have a reservation for to sleep for a few hours until the rest of the city woke up. After I woke up I went to the hotel I had originally booked and they said they had been waiting for me and received no call the night before. So not the best of starts but from there it was all downhill!

I had the first day to sight see by myself before Brennan arrived that night around 6pm. In addition to sight seeing I did some research on what we would exactly do in India. We knew we wanted to go to Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra but weren’t sure if it would be by bus, train, or driver. After a LOT of conversations, negotiations, and research it was clear that a driver was our best option. For a mere $250 each Brennan and I had a personal driver for 4 days and 3 nights including some meals and accommodation!!! The driver we were given was a God send. A man by the name of Anu. He was funny, caring, responsible, sarcastic, welcoming, and most of all he put up with Brennan and I for 4 days. After the first day it simply became Evan and Brennan visiting Anu and he would just show us around. We went out with his friends, put our lives in his hands, and exclusively took his advice. He could do no wrong in our eyes and he led us to SO many great stories.

 

The trip as a whole only had good days, but the best day from start to finish was our full day in Jaipur. This day started like any other travel day, with some sightseeing but then spiraled out of control. Once we finished sightseeing we proceeded to a carpet factory where Brennan and I bargained the shop owned down nearly 50% and even got a bag of Lays thrown in for free (even though we wanted pringles). Then came the big question from Anu, “Do you want to go to a gem shop with a Guru?”…YES!!! Of course we do!!! Pause. What’s a guru? A guru is a glorified fortune teller that can tell you what your lucky gem stone is as well as things about your family and personality. So we head straight to the Gem shop and are greeted by a man, speaking perfect English. After a few minutes Brennan asks if  someone can tell him his luck gem stone and he replies, “Yes. That would be me. But only if you’re brave enough!”

We were sold. We end up in a back room with just the three of us. The guru proceeds to read Brennan and I. In summary…Brennan is crazy. Evan is 4 years older than Brandon. Patsy (Brennan’s mom) allegedly has been pregnant 3 times. Evan is balanced. Brennan will be a great father. Evan will be a great husband. Evan has healing powers. Needless to say Brennan ends up buying an Emerald (his “lucky” stone) from this guru which also came with an invitation to an Indian wedding that night. This wedding crashing was the first of back to back wedding nights. At this first wedding with the guru Brennan and I were a HIT with the age 8-12 demographic!!!

The final shout out I will give is to the Taj Mahal. Better than advertised and sunrise was a great call. We were accompanied by a guide named Ricki who ended up being our personal photographer and teacher. I pulled a Will Nestor and read up on the Taj and watched a documentary before going so I tried to go fact for fact with Ricki. He won…Being at the Taj was a humbling and breath taking experience. It is incredible to think that this building was only completed in approximately 1654. To see this kind of achievement compared to the current state of the country is just remarkable. If the Taj isn’t on anyone’s bucket list for some reason, please go add it now before reading further.

 

To wrap up this rant, India left me very reflective. It is a country that is so much different than anywhere else I have been. They have such a strong culture not only in history and tradition but also in music, film, and food. Many other countries I visit seem overtaken by western influences but India seemed to lack that for me. Speaking to an Indian colleague today she disagreed and said India does have a lot of western influence perhaps just not what I saw. Either way, India’s massive population and incredible history left my mind spinning. With the current low standard of life, how do you change that for so many people? How does that standard become acceptable by the people? Where has democracy failed in the country? What does the future hold for a country with so much human potential? I definitely have plans to go back to India to see other parts of the country but for now I am content with my first experience.

 

As you can imagine there are MANY more stories and details from the trip. December is another busy month as I head to Oman to plan a student trip, then get to see the beautiful Kristal Sawatzke in Bali (Indonesia) for Christmas, and round it out with New Years in Dubai with Brennan. Happy holidays to everyone and hope to catch up with many of you this next week!

Power to the MO

November is the MOst wonderful time of the year. When the air gets cooler (even in Doha), the holidays come around (mostly in America), and facial hair is embraced (all around the world!!!). This Movember has been my most successful Movember season to date. When I moved out to Doha I wasn't sure if my Movember involvement would be able to continue and even remember asking my supervisor last year, "So...ummm...is it ok if I grow a hideous mustache during November?"

This year my Movember partner in crime, Kevin D'Arco, and I wanted to take Movember to the next level here in Doha. It all started with a simple facebook page (like us at Movember Doha), followed by a twitter account (follow us @movemberdoha), and the rest spiraled from there. In the end we got involved with 4 major fund raisers that took place this past weekend:

• Movember Brunch at the W Hotel
• 1st Annual Doha Stache Bash at the Hilton Hotel 
• 10k at the Grand Hyatt
• California Tortialla Movember Lunch

The crown achievement of this bunch was the 1st Annual Stache Bash. With the lovely help of Sheila Dohmann we were able to throw a private event at an outdoor pier of a 5 star hotel fully equipped with a private bar, appetizers, and giveaways. We were able to charge and keep $25 per person at the door and raised a total of $5,500 just from that one night!!! The support has been far great than we ever could have expected and I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish.

Luckily Movember is not over!!! You still have the chance to donate to the cause and support 100 Mustaches Strong for 2013 as our team is now in the top 25 for fundraising teams in the entire US!!! If you would like to donate to my page visit mobro.co/EvanWitt!!

Thanks for all the support and here's just a few more of the great images from this month!

Does Evan Even Have a Job?!?!

This is a question I have been asked multiple times, especially since moving here. And I guess the answer to that question would be Yes. And No. Yes in the sense that I do have a full-time job and actually make a salary. No in the sense that I don’t view it as work and would likely do the same thing if I wasn’t paid for it, something I would encourage anyone to strive for. With that being said, since moving to Doha I have been given an incredible amount of paid leave (evidently the US standard of 2 weeks isn’t shared globally), a salary that allows me funds to travel with, and a location that is globally central. All of those things contribute to the image of me not having a job.

The last two weeks for me have been by far the hardest working two weeks I have had since moving to
Doha. There have been late night events and training, taking students on a variety of trips, and coaching the basketball team to name a few. I have been working 70-80 hour weeks and have worked straight through the last two weekends. Now this may sound like the place where a complaining rant comes in about how I am underappreciate, working too hard, and want someone to tell me it’s all going to be ok!!! But quite the opposite. It has been hard work but incredibly rewarding as well. I want to share just a few thoughts on the latest leadership program I planned, the Maersk and HBKU Leadership Challenge.

Over the summer a representative from a group called Red Rock International approached the Student Center and asked if we wanted to offer an overnight desert camping experience for 50 students to do a challenge course focusing on leadership development. Easy answer…DUH!!!! This sounded amazing and the more I learned about it the more I liked it. We were going to offer 3 training sessions leading up to the program and teams of 6 would compete in a business simulation challenge. We did tons of preparation for the program and then the first session arrived! 50 students had registered from HBKU and 10 from Qatar University, another local institution. On the night of the first training only 40 showed up. Robert (from Red Rock International) and myself were very disappointed but hopeful this would not be a trend. Unfortunately the next two trainings were the same and we never had a consistent student body show up. Even leading up to the morning of the actual challenge we had students canceling for a variety of reasons. Truth be told this process of getting students to participate in the program was frustrating and stressful. We had received full funding from Maersk Oil for the program and the least we could do was have a full program. In the end only 40 students attended but then it became our responsibility to offer them the best program possible!

 

The goal of the challenge was to make the most money by selling “oil”. It was a simulation so we had 8 teams of 5 compete against each other. The challenge was broken down into 4 phases. Phase 1 was a physical challenge where they had to run through the desert and complete challenges to get tokens to buy parts and information in stage 2. Stage 2 they bought information about where the best oil was and bought parts for an oil pump. Stage 3 they extracted oil from their sites. And finally in Stage 4 they sold the oil to make profits. It was incredible seeing the students dedication to the challenge and teamwork throughout. We had students with scrapped knees, physically exhausted, and having conflicts in their teams. But when I asked how they were doing…”this is one of the greatest things I have ever done!”. It was that spirit that motivated me and in the end this program was one of the best I have been involved with.

As I arrived home at 10:30pm on Saturday night (keep in mind I work Sunday) I couldn’t help but be thankful to have a job that I love so much and that makes such an impact. So next time someone asks me if I have a job, I will tell them no. I don’t remember the last day that I actually worked. There are so many aspects I love about being here in Doha, and the job is definitely one of them.

Next things coming up? Brennan and I are taking a trip to the Golden Triangle in India at the end of November. Working on another leadership program called LeaderShape for January. CANNOT WAIT for my parents to visit after LeaderShape. And Kristal and I are counting down the days until we see each other in Bali for Christmas. Doesn’t get much better than all of that! Will keep everyone posted!

Welcome to Jordan!

This phrase, “Welcome to Jordan!”, is one that I heard over and over in my time there. In many ways it came to represent my impression of both the country and the people. I found the Jordanian people to be incredibly welcoming, prideful, humble, and interested in learning from you in addition to sharing their culture. With that being said, we definitely had our fair share of Jordanians taking advantage of tourists and making our trip more challenging than it needed to be. But most of my memories are with those that welcomed us with open arms. Coming from Doha it was refreshing to meet so many locals and see the way they live their lives and be able to engage in conversation with them in a souvenier shop, taxi cab, tourist attraction, restaurant, or hotel. When we left Jordan I felt I understand at least a small bit of the lifestyle led in that country.

Our trip to Jordan was months in the making and was really a big Applebee’s sampler platter. The group that went was myself, Brennan, our friends Joce and Cait from Canada, Will from Ireland, and Steven from Australia. We all met up in the Amman airport and immediately hit the road to start our trip. First stop was Aqaba where we went Scuba Diving off the beach. It was the first time diving for Will, Brennan, and Steven. The reefs and fish there absolutely blew my mind, especially walking into the water with scuba gear from the beach. The colors would even rival what I saw at the Great Barrier Reef and there were over 20 dive sites in the area we were.


From Aqaba we took a cab to Wadi Rum. Our cab driver, Hussain, had an incredible taste in music. A taste captured on a cassette that he has probably been playing for 20 years. We sang along to everything from “Hello, is it me you’re looking for?” to “Hotel California”. Wadi Rum is a desert with mountains that we went off roading through before going camping. Our guide for this was Sulemon, one of the greatest men I have ever met. Sulemon is one of the people that really shaped my opinion of Jordanians. He was kind, prideful in his country, explained his Bedouin lifestyle, his passion for working in tourism and much more. He was an incredible host and I can say confidently that we all learned a lot from him. At Wadi Rum we met two guys, Scott and Moe, who we got along with swimmingly and they ended up joining us later in the trip in Petra and Amman too!




Wadi Rum and then on a bus to Petra. I ended up sitting in the front of the bus while the rest of the crew was in the back. There were open seats next to me at the start of the ride but we proceeded to pick up 5 or 6 different hitchhikers along the way. Every time I made a friend he would jump off and be replaced. Pretty lonely. Some of you might not be familiar with Petra, but it is one of the world wonders and was built over 2,000 years ago by the Nabateans (a local tribe). The basically carved incredible architecture from the mountains and Petra served as a core trading point between the east and the west.

Right when we got to Petra we met up with Scott and Moe and went into the site. It was INSANELY expensive (equivalent of $75 to go in) but worth every penny. It is so hard to describe as we walked through over 2,000 years of history amongst a sea of tourists. We were fortunate that Will became our tour guide, qualifying himself by watching a documentary and reading up on Petra. When we arrived at the treasury (most famous of Petra sites) he was a wealth of knowledge. We did some hiking that day, almost killing Moe, and then came back at night to see the treasury lit up by candle. The next day we were in Petra as well and climbed over 800 steps to see the Monastery which was as impressive, if not more than, the Treasury. We were also joined by another Doha buddy Andrew who was also in town. After two longggg days of hiking the men treated themselves to a Turkish bath and well…we know how that goes.



After Petra it was off to relaxation at the Dead Sea. We were staying at a 5 star resort (Thank you Brennan Biddle) which gave us all the beach access we could want. Floating in the dead sea is WAY better than advertised. Everyone we talked to said “oh, you only need 15-20 minutes there. It’s nothing really.” Are you CRAZY?!? You float on water without doing anything?!?! I compare the moment we floated in the dead sea to the moment peter pan realized he could fly. It was incredible. Not to mention the mud we covered our bodies in!!! By the end of the day my skin as softer than the day I was born. One last thing, Will and I were fugitives in the hotel the whole time we were there but that’s part of a longer story.



Last stop!!! Amman!!! What a unique city. Littered with Roman Ruins, Arab architecture, souqs, and bustling streets…Amman was one of my favorite cities I have visited. It just made me feel alive! We arrived late and had one of the most epic (yes that word is usually overused but here is appropriate)nights out we could have asked for. We met up with Scott and Moe (who live in Amman) and some of their new friends for a night of hotel/house parties and guitar sing alongs. Best ending to the trip we could have asked for and the following day we did all of our site seeing before heading back to Doha. As a result of said, “epic night out”, Will lost his passport which made for quite the adventure the following day but luckily a cab driver returned it the next day and no harm done!


As you can imagine there are TONS of details to fill in with all of this. Unbelievably the trip was only 5 days but we did SO SO much. It was one of the best trips I have been on, and a big part of that was the people. So thanks to everyone who made the trip possible and can’t wait for the next one!

No major updates aside from travel. Back to work as usual. Lots of great things going on in Education City. And tons of leadership programs coming up. It’s great to be back in Doha especially now that it is “winter” and we can get back into camping season! More updates to come soon!

 

 

Always Renew Your Exit Permit!

So my most recent vacation got off to a bit of a slow start. The plan was to travel to the good ol US of A for 48 hours to attend the wedding of Wil Biddle and Jessica Young. From there I would fly back to Doha and head to Jordan for the rest of my Eid break. Everything was going according to plan until I got to customs. The exchange went something like this:


Evan: Asssla’mualaikum
Qatari Customs Agent: Mualaikumwasalam
Pause to check passport
Qatari Customs Agent: Who do you work for?
Evan: Qatar Foundation at Education City
Qatari Customs Agent: You don’t have an exit permit
Evan: Yes I do. It’s a multiple exit permit.
Qatari Customs Agent: It expired this week.
Evan: I didn’t know that they expired. What can we do? I have a flight in an hour.
Qatari Customs Agent: Call someone from work.
Evan: But it’s 1am.
Qatari Customs Agent: (Insert shrugs shoulders) Next!

Living here in Doha all Ex-Pats are sponsored by their employer. As part of this sponsorship you must be granted permission to leave the country in the form of an exit permit. Some people need to request an exit permit every time they leave the country, luckily I have a multiple exit permit and can leave freely. The bad part of this is not checking said permit and assuming it is valid for the term of your resident permit (which is good for 2 years). I found out the hard way that exit permits need to be renewed each year (have I used the word permit enough?). It wasn’t a situation where I forgot to renew it…I simply didn’t know that was something I needed to do!

It was a pretty helpless feeling as I frantically called airlines trying to re book flights and explore options. As it was I was only planning to be in the US for 48 so time was of the essence. In the end I had no option but to cancel the trip and had to miss the wedding. So MAJOR apologies to Jess and Wil for not being able to be there for their special day but I will find a way to make it up to you!


As a consolation Brennan was hosting some of our friends in Dubai to go to a concert with the Killers and Of Monsters and Men on that Atlantis Beach Resort…not a bad consolation prize. So I booked a flight to Dubai for the concert with Will and Brennan before we left for Jordan. Eid ended up getting off to a great start after all and led me to the Jordan trip which was another 1,000 stories by itself!