Kenya: It was WILD

Let me be up front with all of you before you continue reading. This is my longest entry by far and it is fitting because how to you capture the essence of an African Safari in words. I did my best here but can’t do justice to what transpired. I apologize for the length of the post but hope this gives some idea of how the trip was. Would love to follow up to share more stories, experiences, and reflections but this is a good place to start.

As most of you know, my latest adventure was one that brought me on the trip of a lifetime. A wildlife safari in Kenya. The story of this trip really begins a few months ago when flights to Nairobi were casually booked in an effort to simply get out of Doha. What transpired was one of the best trips of my life and one I will never forget.

Over the winter break I did not travel out of the country for a variety of reasons. Brennan was visiting, I had a lot of work commitments, and the timing simply didn’t line up. I really wanted to take a winter trip and my supervisor was kind enough to give me some time off right at the start of the semester. My friend Arooj and I had been in discussion of traveling somewhere in East Africa. The list was narrowed to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. When we finally got to the point of picking a location, it really came down to price. We were able to get round trip tickets to Kenya for $500 USD!!! At that point it didn’t matter what we did, or how long we stayed, it was a great deal! We ended up choosing to go for 6 days and work on recruiting others to join. We were leaving early on a Thursday morning and returning late on a Tuesday night. We had A LOT of interested people, but in the end no takers. So there it was…Arooj and I. Once the flights were booked we looked at safari costs and were SHOCKED at how expensive they were. Who can spend $2000 USD on a 5 day safari?!?! Definitely not us. After scouring the internet we were given a recommendation for Kenya Express Safaris. They were reasonable, took care of lodging and food, and were responsive to our e-mails. We booked the safari about a week before we left with no expectations and flew to Nairobi.

When we left for Nairobi we didn’t know what hotels our Safari package included or where we would eat our meals. We didn’t know if we were joining a group or we would be on our own. We didn’t know the name of our driver or where exactly we were going. We were just showing up in Nairobi at 2pm local time and going for it. Throughout the ENTIRE trip our very few expectations were shattered. We expected to camp in tents and barely shower all week, instead we were at 5 star resorts. We expected to be part of a large tour group, it was a private tour with us and the driver. We expected basic meals, it was all you can eat buffets. We expected to have to seek out animals on safari, the animals were EVERYWHERE! All in all we could not have been happier with the trip and highly recommend the company we used, Kenya Express Tours (http://ketsafaris.com/).

 The safari started off at Lake Nakura, which was a park about a few hours from Nairobi. On the way we stopped for a boat safari where we saw hippos, a variety of birds, and did a nature walk at a preserve. When we finally got to Lake Nakura, there were animals ALL over. There were even zebras, baboons, and buffalo right outside where we had dinner! While we were at Lake Nakura we saw giraffes, rhinos, buffalo, zebras, and much more. It was our first day of safari and Arooj and I were like little kids. When we left early the next morning to drive 5 hours to Maasai Mara we saw our first Lions! They were literally sitting on the side of the road right next to our van. Our driver, Duncan, kept telling us “You are SO lucky!”. When we got to Maasai Mara there was no way to be prepared for what we saw. In every direction you looked not only were there animals, but herds of them. We saw giraffes, elephants, lions, gazelle, zebras, wildebeests, and buffalo everywhere we looked. In Maasai Mara we also saw cheetahs every day that we were there. Generally the lions and cheetahs are lazy animals and just lay around, but the first cheetah we saw was hunting although we didn’t actually get to see it attack. No matter how much time we spent in the parks on safari seeing the animals never got old. We saw no less than 50 elephants yet it was breath taking every time we drove next to one. We saw hundreds of zebras, and we considered them to be the most underappreciated of all the animals. Zebras are AWESOME but when you see them every time you get in the car, the novelty wears off a bit. 

As part of our tour we also visited a Maasai Village. This visit is something that I am still processing through and will not do justice to the range of emotions we both experienced while visiting. The whole experience started with a member of the Maasai Village, Samare, who came to get us from our resort at 7am. We walked about 20 minutes from the resort with him to the village which was hidden away from the sight of the resort. On this walk he pointed out different plants that the tribe used, explained some of their culture, and answered many of our questions. He told us about how the village depends on cows for food, building their homes, medicine, blankets, and just about every aspect of life. In the village the ration of cows to people was about 1:1. He explained how the men have multiple wives and when they marry they pay 10 cows to the family of the woman to bring her to their tribe. He explained that all of the homes in the village are made of sticks and cow poop which makes for a waterproof home. He also shared that the men at birth are either placed on an education track or on a cow herding track. If you are a cow herder your ears are cut and if you are in education you give your bottom front teeth. The information he shared goes on and on. It was fascinating to gather all of this information and it wasn’t until we arrived in the village that we got a little uncomfortable.

First we walked through the village. As you enter the village you see cows and people scattered amongst the homes that Samare has described earlier. There were flies EVERYWHERE from the cows and cow poop that covered all of the ground. Samare encouraged us to take pictures while in the village, but the Maasai people appeared to not want their pictures taken. As you could imagine, Arooj and I stood out in the village and felt very much like outsiders. We were invited into one of the homes which was probably about 15 feet by 12 feet with rooms for baby cows, goats, and the family all together. Once in the home, Samare wanted to sell us beaded bracelets, which we were happy to buy. He wouldn’t tell us the price but encouraged us to take as many as we wanted. We took 4. After the home we went outside where Samare and some of the other men did a “dance” for us which felt more like forced entertainment than it did a display of culture. We couldn’t help but get the feeling that they thought that doing this dance would make the “White Maasai”, as they called me, happy. On the contrary, it made both Arooj and I incredibly uncomfortable as it felt like we were objectifying their culture. After the dance was finished we were walking towards the school and I asked Samare how much the bracelets were. He informed us that they were $25 USD each, which was an outrageous price for what we had. Arooj and I agreed that we would take one as more of a donation but return the other three Samare had given us. When I informed Samare of this he immediately became quiet and stopped talking to either of us. Arooj and I had already committed to giving $100 USD in total to the village for being toured around and did not feel comfortable giving more than this. It was at this moment that we both felt a wide range of emotions. Should we be giving more money? What would that do? Why are they expecting us to just hand over all the money we have? Is that why they did the dance? What is the purpose of this visit? How does the tribe get access to money? How do assess needs of a community so vastly different than any other in the world? How do you balance modern advances and maintain tribal culture? What is the value of the missionary work that built a school here? What quality of life should be maintained by all people? How does a person from the tribe live to be 120 years old yet all the children appear to be sick? The list goes on. After visiting their school we got back in the van and headed back out for safari. Arooj and I didn’t talk about the experience until much later in the day and began to debrief what happened. Both of us are still trying to figure out what it all meant and how to understand it from a variety of perspectives. I would say that it was a transformative experience which I will be making meaning from for quite some time. I really can’t do justice to the experience with words but I hope that paints somewhat of a picture of what we experienced.

Although a very short trip, it was incredibly impactful. It was a very humbling experience to visit Kenya, and it is something I never expected to be able to do at this age. For some reason I always thought that trips like this would take place later in life. Perhaps after retirement, kids growing old, I would finally be able to get out and see the world. Being able to casually take a long weekend trip to Kenya reminds me of just how lucky and fortunate to be in the position I am in. I am lucky to be here in Doha were I can travel easily and affordably. I am lucky to have had such great mentors, family, and supports throughout my life to get me to this place. I am lucky to be able to see parts of the world I thought I would never see even in my lifetime. As I look ahead to other trips I am planning I can’t help but be amazed how it has all worked out. The trip gave me plenty to think about and reflect on as I prepare for my next trip this week.

Life hasn’t really slowed down at all. This upcoming week I am going to Abu Dhabi for a conference and then Dubai for the weekend. I am planning a trip to Thailand with my friend Kevin for the first week in March followed by a conference in Orlando March 16-20 and trips to DC and NY the week following. Brennan arrives in just 23 days and I have been hard on the apartment hunt to get us a place to live. Yesterday was my 5 month anniversary in Doha and it is incredible to think of everything that has taken place in such a short period of time. I have grown more, both personally and professionally, in 5 months than I would have in 5 years back in the US. Thanks to everyone for checking in and I will give some more updates after the UAE trip!

New Year, New Leaders, and Brennan Biddle

Happy New Year! Merry Christmas! And all that other good stuff. I can't believe it has been nearly a month since my last blog entry and the public was getting quite restless. What is Evan doing? Is he still alive? What happened while Brennan was in town? Well I have some answers for you. Over the past 3 weeks or so the biggest events were Brennan's visit, celebrating New Years, and LeaderShape. All of these have had a HUGE impact on my time here in Doha and I will do my best to capture how important they have been to me.

So there we were. Brennan and me. In the Doha airport embracing like long lost brothers. Brennan had traveled over 24 hours, waited in customs for almost 2 hours, and it was 4am. Yet he still had a smile ear to ear on his face. The visit started off with a bang...job searching. Before coming to Doha Brennan had applied to a bunch of positions in both Doha and Dubai to test the waters. First thing we did was follow up on some of his leads to see if we could get him interviews while he was here. That first morning Brennan secured several in person interviews and even a soft job offer! It shouldn't be that easy, but sometimes it just is. When Brennan finally landed it was 4am on December 24th. So we had some celebrating ahead of us. We spend Christmas Eve at a friend's villa in Doha was an eclectic and eccentric group of people. The next morning we were up early to fly to Dubai for two days. The flight to Dubai is less than an hour and once we landed we hit the group running. First stop, the Burj Khalifa. This is the world's tallest building and we had reservations at At. Mosphere for myself, Brennan, and our friend Ahmad. A bar/restaurant at the top of the building. Views were incredible, Brennan tried to overcome a fear of heights, and the cocktails were delicious. After the Burj we went to an outdoor river walk, went to a Souq that was equipped with a Christmas village, visited Atlantis, and met some new friends at night. It was difficult to remember it was Christmas and we had to keep reminding ourselves...."Hey guys...it's Christmas!". The second day we started with a cultural breakfast, went to the indoor ski slopes, a public beach, and a place called Global Village. We spent most of the day with our friend Mohammed who happened to be there at the same time as us. Our flight from Dubai left late on December 26th and we were back to Doha. No trip to Doha is complete without getting out to the desert so we went camping that weekend. Myself, Brennan, Will, Cait, and Joce hired a company to take us cruising on sand dunes and out to a campsite out in the middle of the desert. The views were amazing, our driver was crazy, and the camp was a perfect way to relax. There was plenty more that Brennan and I fit into our trip including an education on falcons, museum exhibits, and checking out the Doha nightlife. Brennan's visit came at a perfect time and I will be sharing some BIG news at the end of the blog.

Brennan left just before New Year's Eve. This time of year is the best time to host visitors because the weather is great and most people are able to take time off around the holidays. Once Brennan left, my friend Kevin had two other friends in town for New Years. The four of us along with our other friend Will went to a New Year's Eve party at the Crowne Plaza hotel. People keep asking if there are special events for New Years in Doha, and to be honest it isn't any different than the US. New Year's isn't a big deal here because they don't really follow the same calendar as the US. In fact, New Year's day isn't even a holiday here! There were plenty of different events and house gatherings going on for New Year's and we opted for an event called "Global DJs" with 13 different DJs from all over the world playing music in three different rooms. The event was well organized, the music was amazing, and the atmosphere was electric. More than anything else it was amazing to bring in New Years with a great group of friends. We had dinner at Kevin's before heading to the hotel and I really saw New Year's as a landmark point for me. I have now been in Doha for just over 4 months and A LOT has happened. The start of this new year marks the continuation of a new chapter in life. 2012 brought in incredible amount of change and accomplishments, but I expect 2013 to be a major year of learning, growth, and adventure. I look forward to all of the challenges and opportunities that will be brought in with the new year and there's no better place to do it than here in Doha!

This past week from January 5-10 the HBKU Student Center held its annual LeaderShape program. This is a week long intensive leadership program that takes place in Al Khor (about 45 minutes from Doha). We had 60 students from across all the universities join us for this program and we all stayed at the Al Sultan Beach Resort. During the week of the program students reflect on their own identities, how they work within groups, how to become ethical leaders, and develop visions for the future. Although the LeaderShape curriculum is very US centered, it has very strong applications in this international context. This was my first time working with the LeaderShape curriculum and at first I was skeptical. I was very impressed after seeing the week come together and seeing how deeply students connected with the program. Over the course of the week I felt a range of emotions. I was frustrated in some ways because these types of programs don't occur frequently enough here in Doha. The curriculum, although very detailed and intentionally, is not overly complicated or much different from programs I have done in the past. The same conversations that took place at LeaderShape should be taking place regularly at HBKU and they are not as of now. It was inspiring to see the depth of thought the students demonstrated and they impressed me with their many talents and interests. It re-energized me because it reminded me how passionate I am about the work I am doing. At the end of the first semester I was feeling a bit disappointed at the output of programs from the Fall. But with the end of LeaderShape I see that there is significant work to be done as we continue to build a framework for co-curricular education. The next semester starts tomorrow and I could not be more excited to get going again. There are so many great things coming up in the Spring both personally and professionally, so I am sure time will continue to fly by.

In terms of upcoming adventures...Tomorrow I begin training for a half marathon in Austria in mid-April. I am traveling to Kenya for a long weekend January 24-29. This will be immediately followed by a trip to Abu Dhabi for a conference February 6-8. Then the BIGGEST news is that Brennan Biddle has accepted a job offer in Doha and arrives February 25th!!! I am still in shock from this news but could NOT be any more excited that he will be joining me here in Doha. He has a once in a lifetime opportunity here and "IT AIN'T OVA!". Mark your calendars because I will be back in the US in March. March 15-21 in Orlando, 22-24 in DC, and 24-27 in NY. These dates aren't finalized yet but that is what it looks like now. Sorry it took so long to get another blog up. I will be sure to write again before the Kenya trip. Looking forward to hearing from everyone soon and catching up with those I have missed these last few weeks!

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.