Qatari Life for a Big City Girl

QATARI LIFE

It is the 8^th day since my arrival here in Qatar; I am sad to say that I have managed to do only a few things relatively successful. I went food shopping, purchased new home appliances, traveled from city Centre mall back to my flat w/o help, and purchased a mobile phone.  When I say it like that it seems like I’m making progress right? Yeah, well I don’t feel like I have accomplished nearly 1/3 of the things on my to-do list.  I’m still completely out of my comfort zone and incredibly unease about the fact that I have no idea how long it will take for me to feel secure and comfy here.  All my years in New York City now seem like a cakewalk compared to the Middle Eastern country I now call home. In NYC, I knew how to wash clothes, set up dsl, purchase a vehicle, receive/send postal mail and get to a hairdresser without even blinking an eye but now I’m at a lost for even the simplest things.  I pray it will get better.

 

WORK

I went to my new school today and I couldn’t believe that it literally looked just like a college campus.  There were eight school buildings, a soccer field, a swimming pool, basketball court, and a gym. While it is breathtaking to work on such a beautiful campus, it is also disheartening to know that the kids I have worked with for years back in the States will never experience anything quite like this during their childhood.  All I could think was that the Qataris just don’t know how good they have it with all these added perks.  It really makes me deeply question the role socioeconomics plays in our society and the overall inequalities in Education throughout the world (not that I didn’t question this before but it’s clear to see now)

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

The role I have taken on this year requires me to work closely with K-12 Teachers around coaching, best practices in education, Literacy, and Backward Design planning.  This is considerably different than my previous position in the Bronx where I was responsible for so much more than Literacy and coaching.  It is liberating to finally be at a job where I don’t constantly feel like I’m sucking lol! 

 

Within the first week I arrived in Doha, the Director of Curriculum asked me to create three workshops around Understanding by Design for secondary teachers grades 6-12 to be presented during Staff orientation next week.  This was my first official “task” of the year and I knew success on these workshops would really give me the credibility that I needed to kick off the school year right.  I worked diligently for the past four nights on my workshops; although all the other new staff hung out, went to malls, or went sightseeing.  It’s ok though because this is what I’m built for!

 

Had my first business dinner the night before my presentation with the Director, his wife, and Marquis.  We arrived via taxi to the Pearl (which is a full community literally built right into the water in downtown Doha) at around 6pm.  We couldn’t help but notice that the buildings resembled 5^th Avenue or maybe the Financial District residential buildings, but with much better architecture.  We were pretty amazed that the high-rise Pearl buildings were lined with nothing but luxury stores like Vera Wang, Fendi, Roberto Cavelli, Maserati, and Porsche ………It is definitely the most luxurious part of Doha where people with “real money” live.  (If you never heard of the Pearl look it up…it’s that mind-blowing!)  Anyway so the Director asked us to come over to his apartment and his wife prepared our first “real” meal since we moved to Doha.  We simultaneously went over my presentation, while enjoying wine, tasty treats, and a beautiful Middle Eastern sunset.  The Director was pretty impressed with my presentation and my ability to breakdown hard to understand concepts.  I can’t wait to see how it goes over with the staffJ The important thing to me is that he has faith in my competences and overall knowledge to work with teachers/curriculum in the way he envisioned when he created the position last year.  What an exciting way to begin the year!

CULTURE/OBSERVATIONS

I ran into a Qatari woman at the bathroom in the mall today.  She was taking off her burka to wipe down her face and get a breath of fresh air.  I knew that it was impolite to stare, but I just couldn’t help stealing glances at her (this whole culture is just so intriguing to me).  While I’m inquisitive about the culture, I am never judgmental and try really hard to absorb their customs and philosophies each day I’m here.  It’s uncanny the kind of assumptions I have heard Westerns make about Middle Eastern culture and their religious beliefs.  

As I stand there washing my hands; I wondered what the rest of her body looked like, whether she really wanted to dress in this fashion, and what her life was like growing up.  And then she spoke to me…..and her voice was one of the most soothing & sweet tones I have ever heard.  Instantly reminded me of a Kindergarten schoolteacher who was about to tell a story before naptime.  She had noticed that I needed to dry my hands and offered to move her Louie Vuitton clutch (yeah everything is designer here) so I could get better access to the drier.  As I moved over, she began explaining to me how unbelievably hot she was on this particular day.   Without the burka wrapped around her face, I could tell that she was similar in size to me, with a tad lighter skin and maybe 2 or 3 years older.  By all accounts of what we would consider normal, she was it.  She was quite a pleasant and friendly woman to speak with even though it was obvious we had many differences.  I think the covered face (or masked protective wear) constructs an unintentional separation btw Qataris and society, and it is unfortunate because underneath it all, we are the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DRIVING

Coming from New York, I didn’t think any other place could top the reckless driving and crazy accidents that I have witnessed in my hometown. At last I have found that place! Qataris are horrible, reckless, inconsiderate drivers and it is quite unbelievable to see in action.  Let’s start with children under the age of 10 in the front seat with no seatbelt, jumping up and down on the parent’s lap, while the car is in motion.  Then move on to the switching of lanes at speeds we wouldn’t even imagine without putting on an kind of indicator.  Finally the fact that they all drive like they are on a Daytona 500 raceway really makes me second-guess whether I should even consider getting my international license and drive here.  One would think that the cars here are old, damaged, and crashed up because of the way they drive but it is quite the opposite.  Since the Qataris are very wealthy, on the road any given day I could pass multiple Range Rovers, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Lexus and Maserati’s. Really makes me miss my BMW so muchL