the lost month...

Hey everyone... sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. But to be honest, nothing has happened here as of late. Nothing. I finished up teaching the summer semester last month, and then everyone decided to leave the country, except me.

July is the month that all the Qataris and expats leave for vacations. The weather has become more and more aggressive, the nights are sweltering hot, and not much is happening around the country. For the past three weeks, I've been preparing to teach my fall classes, and reading up on teaching a new lab. To say I'm taking my dear sweet time is a misnomer... I'm trying to take as much time as possible.

My four professors and three coworkers are all out of the country as I type this. Most of my friends are in Vegas, Ireland, Turkey, Texas, or the Maldives. I am the only person in the chemistry department. I could have scheduled a longer vacation, but why? I'm going to Mauritius in a few weeks (on the university's dime), so why bother? I have been looking into taking a weekend trip somewhere (Dubai, Cairo, Bahrain) but these trips are very cost-prohibitive... not worth the effort either. Maybe later...

As for this fall, I'm planning a trip to India. A friend of mine is going there for a wedding, and I hope to join her for part of the trip. But where she wants to go is very different than what I'm used to. She hopes to go to the Kerala part of the country... a scenic, pastoral area of the southwestern tip of the subcontinent. Comprising beaches and inland waterways, tea and spice farms, Kerala bills itself as "God's Own Country." But beside the beauty, I don't know what we're going to do there? When I travel, I like to plan ahead and organize my trip to see and experience certain things... architecture, history, cities, museums, a good concierge. When I look up Kerala, all any of the websites or tourism books say that it is known for its natural beauty and "Ayurveda" treatments... one of those holistic medicines designed to clear the chakras with jasmine and coffee enemas while emptying my wallet. I have no idea if I'll enjoy this trip at all, but you never know unless you jump right in. I hope to try and take a side trip to the Taj Mahal and Agra... so we'll see how that goes.

Everything in Doha is going well. We've been under sandstorms for most of the summer so far. Check out the picture taken by one of my coworkers during the middle of the day...

When I say that the sand here can make you start choking, I'm really not kidding.

I want to go back two months to the Education City convocation that I blogged about earlier. I forgot to tell you on of the more charming stories of the night. I've posted some pictures from the convocation (thanks Shane) at http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg223/benji-of-arabia/. During the convocation, the ruler of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani eloquently spoke about the future of the students and the great accomplishments that they will achieve for Qatar. He started speaking about Education City and the Qatar Foundation, both of which were founded and are run by his wife, Her Highness, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned. When he mentioned the work and drive that she had put into Education City, he looked directly at her and called her by "Her Highness." At this point, the crowd went wild with applause and cheers! All of us expats looked around and didn't know what was happening. When the applause ended, the emir thanked her for her work, and said something in Arabic while placing his fist against his chest. At this point, every student in the crowd jumped up and started to yell, whistle, clap, and basically become very raucous! Once again, the non-Arabics stayed seated... not quite sure what was going on.

Later, I asked one of the professors who told me the meanings. First, for the emir "His Highness" to address his wife in public as "Her Highness" was a monumental thing! That demonstration of respect and admiration for his wife (remember, this is the Middle East) was nothing less than amazing. Then, on top of that, the Arabic word he called her was like a pet name. Something akin to "sweety" or "honey"... but a little more formal. That was when all the students started to really get excited. No ruler in this part of the world has ever been so openly affectionate and respectful of his wife. And to point to her, on camera, and call her "sugar" was a testimony to the emir's utmost reverence for her.

And at the end of the night, the Emir and his wife strolled into the mass of students that were watching the Andrea Bocelli performance and were mobbed with affection. Students were allowed to walk right up to the emir and take their picture with him; most of the time with emir just beaming with pride. The Emir is absolutely loved in this country, and they call His Highness the "Emir of Generosity." The more you see him, you can plainly see why. Kinda wish our leaders were like that...

Keep in touch...

ben