Seven months later

 

 

It has been such a long time since I sat down to this blog. December 1st. I was getting ready to go home for Christmas. So let's see...yep, I got married and Paul turned 40. I met his son, Brody, and we got along well. That was a nice surprise. I had a lovely Christmas with my family and found out that my sister was pregnant. I closed down my Calgary apartment and put everything in storage with the help of Paul, some of our friends, and my poor, loving mother. Then I came back.
Then, after some drama at the border, Paul came to Doha. That was pretty fun. I did lots of things I did when I first arrived, but did them again with Paul. January in Doha is actually chilly after you've lived through a summer and fall, but we made it through a crazy night of desert camping in a sandstorm with our friends who are total TROOPERS. It was a bit crazy, but none of us will ever forget the cold sand whipping at us as we attempted to ride camels, smoke shisha, and stay warm. One of the absolute highlights of this year for me, that one night, snuggling in an Arabian tent with my best buds, surrounded by tentsful of friends and colleagues.
THEN...I finally got to move OUT of Ezdan hotel and into an apartment in Al Sadd called "Y-building". I just loved it. It was new-ish, spacious, modern, and had a GREAT kitchen. It had bright windows and was situated in such a funky neighborhood. I got a car and finally tackled the Doha traffic. I've been in three car accidents this year...but I have learned to know the city like I never would have if I had cabbed it all year.
THEN...Brody joined us. Paul's little boy came to live with us in Doha. There is so much to say about that. It was so cool but so very, very difficult at first. My adult life has been completely self-focused thus far. Really, I mean, I try to be good to my friends, but all day and all night and all my cash has been always spent according to my own will and needs. I tried really hard and I loved Brody's little personality right from the start, but it has NOT been easy to adjust to being a stepmom. However, it is four months later now, and I have to say that I think Brody is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. At first it was really hard for me to become a family gal, but I feel really grateful to have so much love in my day-to-day living. Just as when I travel with students, I love to see the world through his eyes.
Because Paul and Brody have had to keep renewing their tourist visas every 30 days, we have had some wonderful trips this semester. Not so wonderful was Bahrain. We did find a very cool waterpark. But cabs were a fortune, the city was ugly and smelly, and there was taxes!! The picture above is from a delicious Indian restaurant that we went to twice on our trip. It was in our hotel and was delicious.
For spring break, we had an amazing trip to Sri Lanka. I posted pics all over facebook. It is so beautiful there. We stayed in Hikkaduwa and visited Galle. We played in the ocean and at farms with turtles from one day old to 100 years. We saw and even fed elephants, and went for Ayurvedic treatments. We stayed in an adorable hotel. It was inexpensive, beautiful, and relaxing.
Most lately, we did a quick trip to Dubai, which was so quick that it was a tease. I was very impressed with Dubai in the brief time we were there, and we had a nice time together as a little family.
Now it is almost time to leave the middle east. I will leave that story for another post. It is a juicy one, and I will send it from Canada when I am back in the land of free speech and so on...