Week 4:
Qatar nightlife sure is a sight to see! Soooo…..Where do I even
begin? Well to start the male population
in Qatar dwarfs the women population by about 3:1. Went to my first overseas Happy Hour this week
and I must say it was quite an experience.
I can see how some women would be intimidated walking into a
bar/lounge/club here alone. The men are
literally all over each and every
woman that walks through the club doors who is not directly attached to a
man. They will gawk at you, they will caress
your arm to try to get your attention, and they come behind you on the dance
floor and try to get you to dance with them.
Don’t even get me started on their lack of rhythm or dance moves
lol. It is bizarre to see over 100 men
in a pub competing for a mere 15-20 women.
It is so different from my nightlife experience within the States. And the club/bar owners are well aware of “this
women shortage” so to entice more women to come out each week, bars offer all
sorts of crazy incentives:
1.
Irish Pub: Women drink free all night
2.
Crystal Nightclub: Buy one drink, get the other
one free
3.
W Hotel: Buy a drink and get a free appetizer
and free drink
The deals are actually really good for women and us (expats)
fully expect to take advantage of them while we are here. But you better believe that I’m walking in
with either my husband and/or a group of loud expats that will scare all the
men away because I don’t play that touch me or invade my personal space stuff!
End of October we
have our first week long break because of EID (religious holiday). In Qatar you are not allowed to leave the
country as a resident, until you have your residence permit/license. Everything here takes such a loooooong time.
The whole process is anticipated to take up to 8 weeks from the day you step
foot in the country to complete (*note the anticipated). My hope is that I get my residence permit by
the middle of October and we are able to take a trip over to Abu Dubai or Sri
Lanka. The great thing about our
location is that flights from here are relatively short and inexpensive. Most flights cost less than $500
round-trip. I have always dreamed that
one day I would be able to travel the world and visit some of the places I have
only read about in Travel magazines. It
brings great joy to my heart to know that this can become a reality over the
next few years. These are the kinds of
experiences I want to be able to share with my family, my friends, and someday
my kid. Exposure is everything.
My new school has
some frightening similarities to the one I just left in nyc. From the 1st day I stepped foot on
campus, I could tell that the school is one in the midst of transformation. A swift change in the overall structure of
the school, staff members, as well as, the educational vision/goals is
currently happening. While it is
exciting to be a part of a school that has embraced the need to change their
educational practices to something more progressive, it is hard to watch teachers
struggle to deal with the rapidly changing systems. I am thankful to be in a quasi-administrative
role this year and not a member of the Executive Council who has been charged
with finding innovative ways to rebrand the school. Sounds an awful lot like the makeover that began
at Lighthouse last year. At least once a
week I think about Lighthouse and why things played out the way they did and if
my choices/decisions were rational. I do know that if I didn’t make those
choices and stay committed to my principles, I would never have ended up here
in the Middle Eastern rediscovering the many reasons I went into
education. So in reflection, I’m
thankful for the previous experience it was necessary and timely!
Sidenote on work:
1.
All the kids call their teachers by their first
names i.e Good Morning Ms. Selina (it’s a little weird to get use to)
2.
They don’t use chart paper in classrooms out
here.
3.
Teachers have literally 3 breaks a day and some
have even more (wth)
4.
Islamic Studies is taught here and I’m still
trying to figure out what happens with non-Arab students who parents don’t have
the same religious beliefs.
5.
Almost every child here has a nanny and driver
who drops them off and picks them (not much different than the children back
home who don’t see their parents either but in nyc its for very different reasons. Pretty sad what happens when you
live in poverty and when you live in wealthL)
Oh boy……1st
run in with the police………A Lebanese teacher who lives in my building got
into a car accident today afterschool.
As Marquis and I arrived back from school, we could see her off to the
side of the road with two other teachers visibly upset and her car smashed in
on the driver’s side. We rushed over to
make sure everyone was ok in the car and offered our moral support as she
waited for the cops. The accident was
not her fault at all. An Arab gentleman
tried to go around her on the wrong side of the road and didn’t realize she was
about to turn left to come into our compound.
The police arrived and the Arab dude immediately rushed over
to their car and began talking in Arabic and using boisterous gestures to
explain what happened. The police were actually prepared to take the Arab’s
word because he was a man and
spoke Arabic. Apparently this happens here quite often I’m
told. Foreigners are frequently charged
with being at fault for accidents because they don’t speak Arabic and the
Qatari Men in general rule the land here.
Thankfully there was an honorable gentleman who served as an innocent
bystander and spoke both English/Arabic who was able to explain to the police
that the guy was lying about who caused the accident. I think what disgusted me the most was the
way in which the police dealt with Aliona (Lebanese teacher) vs. how they
treated the men in the situation. They
barely let her speak and when they felt like she was being overly aggressive
(raising her voice and arguing with the Arab driver) they told her she should go
sit in her car (which she refused to do of course). It was truly something out
of a movie. It really makes me think
twice about getting my license and driving around. I may just stick with my driver for a while
because it would’ve been a problem if that cop pointed his finger in my face
and told me to go sit in the car (Foh).
Other random things that I have discovered……
- · The water in the shower never gets really hot like nyc (guess they figure its like 100 degrees all year so what’s the use?)
- · Cab rides to anywhere in the entire city will cost you no more than $25 Qatar Riyals which is $ 6 US. That is because gas is only 50 cent a gallon here.
- · The Tribeca film festival is coming here in November and I am very excited.
- · There is no day lights saving time (same amount of sunlight & darkness all year long)
 |
| From my roof |
This is my journey..……..not sure where my final destination is BUT at this point I am enjoying the ride!
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