Convocation for TAMUQ 2012

Today was definitely an interesting day! I didn't do a single thing until about 11am, but after that I was just going going going! I haven't found out the results from my Arabic test yet, but I'm not expecting anything good.  That test was seriously the hardest test I've ever taken, including the calculus test I made a 54 on freshman year. I had to write my own little notes on there to prove that even though I had no idea what the question was asking, I could at least read part of the story they gave me to read.

I got my research assignment and will be researching the effects of cultural differences on diplomatic negotiations.  There are a lot of little nuances in each culture that affect how officials do business with other foreign officials.  However, not enough research and statistics have been done on the topic to identify these little nuances or even how to prepare for them. We're still negotiating my class, but it looks like I will probably take Politics and Islam, exactly what I was hoping to take.  Both my Arabic class and this potential Poli Sci class are actually at Georgetown, so I'll have to go to a different campus in the mornings before work. 

Tonight we busily ran around getting things ready for convocation, as we introduced over 100 students to TAMUQ and welcomed the rest of our 500 students back to campus.  Y'all, in 2003, TAMUQ only had 29 students, and now there is over 500! That's insane! And we only have one building!  It was a whole new experience attending an A&M convocation in a different country.  For the most part it was segregated; I saw multiple times men coming with their wives or friends and having them sit two or three rows away with other women so they could sit in the men row.  It was the most bizarre thing I have seen because everyone was just getting up and shifting around so as to accommodate this phenomenon.  I promptly stayed where I was, in the middle of the men row, naturally, but only because there was no one sitting within three seats of me.  The little auditorium was only about 2/3 full, so there were plenty of empty seats. 

Terrifying tarantula statue

The speeches were dry, as per usual, though the TAMUQ SBP did a fantastic job with her speech.  It was short and sweet and definitely set the tone for the upcoming year.  They also recognized those making the Dean's Honor Roll in the last full academic year.  If we tried doing that on main campus, we'd be reading names til the cows came home!

Our Turkish dinner!

I finally have a Qatari cell phone! I haven't unlocked my American phone, nor am I sure that I can, so for now I actually only have a Qatari SIM card, but that will change tomorrow. I was basically yelled at by a staff member, who incredulously looked at me as though I was insane for not having gotten one in the four days that I have been here.  Apparently Qataris and ex-pats alike are attached to their phones almost more than Americans are.  And, in case of a sudden evacuation (unlikely to ever happen, so calm down Mom), they need to be able to get a hold of me ASAP.

A bit of orange amongst the grey

The house I'm staying at - at least for now - is painted a myriad of colors, mostly bright orange. It's nice to see color when everything around here is sandy tan, khaki, off white, and grey. My room has a lot of blue and mahogany, and my towels are chartreuse (which I'm sure my Marines would love to see), hot pink, neon orange, and salmon. It's AWESOME.  Hopefully, I'll get to stay, as I love the host I'm with, but it's very dicey right now.  Apparently, I'm in a "special student" status, so I'm not qualified for housing by the university, and I'm not a full-time employee as an intern, so I don't get housing there, either.  If I do get to stay with her, though, I'm going to have to learn to drive.

In Qatar.

Where there are roundabouts about every 1/4 to 1/2 mile and no one uses signals to signify exiting.

The only roundabout I've ever driven on was the Circle of Death in Waco, and with two lanes that's terrifying enough. This has three.  But I'm going to be taken out early Friday morning when everyone is in church or still sleeping to get practice.  There's a 90% chance that regardless of where I'm living, I will be behind the wheel at some point this semester.

Can't I just rent a camel or something?

But seriously, please keep me in your prayers as we all try to figure this thing out.  There's even talk of me maybe working with the AF or at various embassies since I speak French, too.  Whatever happens, God has it in control, but I'd love to know His thought process right about now! :)

I'm here!!!!

Alright be prepared for a LONG blog post.  I'll post pictures when I'm awake enough to remember where I put the flash drive that will hold my SD card...

First and foremost, God is good! I have housing - at least until Monday night - with this wonderful faculty member named Tissa.  She lives in an ex-pat oriented compound, complete with multi-bedroom homes, a general store, a restaurant, and a pool with TWO jacuzzis and one large waterfall.  For the few days that I will be here, I am going to be spoiled! Tuesday night I will meet with my dean to discuss details of work and housing.  There might be talks of a per diem, which would be utterly fantastic!

The flight itself was brutal. 14.5 hours in one seat is enough to make me not want to live full-time over here (yes Mom and Dad, you are welcome).  However, Emirates Airlines is wonderful and had its own Disney movie channel and new release channel, along with episodes of HIMYM and Friends, so I was set. :)  We had some pretty significant turbulence over Pennsylvania, and I only got two hours of sleep, but otherwise it was as good as could be expected.

I am on sensory overload out here.  It still hasn't completely hit me that I am in fact living and breathing in the Middle East...I'm not just here for some two week vacation.  I will be here until the week before Christmas.  I've seen an Applebee's, a very large McDonald's, heard of a Dairy Queen, Red Lobster, and Chili's, and visited Education City where all the colleges are.  Everything is white, khaki, grey, brown, or yellow...very little of anything else anywhere except maybe the stop signs.  Even the cars are all pretty much the same color, though taxis here are turquoise and I did see one obnoxiously bright, bubblegum pink car at the airport.

HALF of the Doha skyline

Speaking of airports, I think I had the most shock just being in the Dubai airport on the way to Doha.  I didn't even step foot outside the airport and could see the opulence of the UAE people.  They had Christian Dior, Swatch, diamond stores, Starbucks...you name it, they had it and with the glistening aesthetics equal to DCF's flying angels' makeup. (If you don't understand the reference, look up Prestonwood DCF. You'll get it).  My first language barrier problem also occurred in the Dubai airport.  I realized that a. I had a mini bottle of half-drunk wine in my purse and b. I had no idea how to say "trash can."  I tried talking to an airport worker, assuming he knew English since my entire flight crew spoke about seven different languages, and got blank stares.  So I pulled out my bottle and he immediately said, "Oh no. Not allowed."  With that, I pretended to chuck it but with the same confused look of I-have-no-idea-where-this-goes on my face. He smiled and pointed me in the right direction.  Note to self: look up word for trash can in Arabic.

Really cool statue in the middle of the roundabout. I think they are Oryxes

My last part of this post will be just some general observations I made about the stuff I've seen in the first six hours of my being in the Middle East:

• Several women actually wear burqas, even though I've never seen one in the States
• Many of those who are wearing burqas are, funny enough, clad in designer shoes, including stilettos, underneath
• A majority of the men wear white, floor-length tunics, and their head coverings are worn in about three different ways -----> researching why some men wear it differently than others
• Boys seem to start wearing the tunics at about 12 years old
• Noticed my first Muslim praying in public on the flight to Dubai
• Soooooooo. many. little. kids. crying. on. planes.
• Many Arabs are just as overweight as those in the US!
• The sunglasses of choice for Arab ppl are Aviators. Welcome back, Top Gun.

The compound where I'm living for now!

My last day in the States

Well y'all, it's time for me to leave. I'm super nervous about going because a. I have no one at this moment to pick me up from the airport and b. I have nowhere to live right now.  I know I need to trust God and have faith that I will be taken care of, and for some reason this is hard for me.  I have never doubted God and His ability to provide for me, but I've also never had it come down to the wire like this.  I'm frustrated because they have had four months to provide for me, and nothing has been done.  This seems to be the Middle Eastern way of living...be patient and things will eventually happen.  My dean called me today and said he would call me in the morning with information about where he'll put me up for a while, but I also don't know when classes start.  Baylor was much more organized and had meetings and such to prepare its students to go abroad, and A&M is sadly lacking in that respect.  I know A&M is much bigger, but preparing students to live in a foreign country is something of a necessity in my opinion. 

I am now the proud owner of a Nook, so at least I'll be preoccupied on my flight.  I'll have movies, too, but I can only look at a backlit screen for so long lol.  And I desperately need to read Mockingjay.  I might go a little crazy if I have to wait until December to read the last book! If y'all have suggestions for what I should download, btw, comment on here and let me know!!

Nothing is packed, but that's nothing new.  I spent last night with my best friend, laughing hysterically at memories from high school and wondering where we'll be in the next year or so.  It was so great to spend time with her.  I also am saying my last goodbyes to my grandparents today, so that will be hard.  I know everything is going to be different around here when I get back, and I'm struggling to accept that.  Pray for me as I go on this journey, and if you haven't already added me on Skype, do so!! I want to be able to catch up with everyone from back home and share what I can of my adventure with y'all!

Looking in the Rear-view Mirror

I had my final happy hour with the group today. We all took off about 3 o'clock and headed to Crystal City to have a group happy hour/farewell gathering for me. I got ribbed for ordering a pina colada when everyone else had 3 or 4 beers, but we all had a good time :)  They got me a super cool picture of the Pentagon in the rear-view mirror and all signed around it! It was really sweet of them :)  I'm very glad I got put in the division I did with the guys who are there because they always made sure I was doing well and took me around the city to get exposure to everything outside our grey and white walls. They're an awesome group of Marines and I'm very honored to have been a part of their team.

I received a coin (yay!) and a very special business card holder! My supervisor said the holder was because my networking skills are exceptional (which is another way to say I talk a lot!). The coin he gave me - since the General is out and can't give a challenge coin - has Saint Barbara on the back.  She is the patron saint of artillerymen, apparently.  Gavin would be thrilled to know I'm learning my Catholic saints lol.  He said the reason he gave it to me is because a. I'm a devout Christian and b. in the face of adversity and anger, I was able to keep my calm.  Now, I didn't exactly keep my calm when I left the workplace, but I managed to hold my composure when being reprimanded. It was incredibly thoughtful and I will cherish it forever.

Can't believe I will FINALLY be home in Texas in less than 48 hours!!! It will feel SOOOOOO nice to be on Texas soil again!

ONE.WEEK.LEFT.

I can't tell you how excited I am that I will be going home soon!!! I wish I could be home today because it's my mom's birthday and one of my cousin's is getting married, but alas I have one week left.  Hopefully this week will be better than the last couple of ones have been.  I have a career fair on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I need to make sure that I look super sharp!

It feels weird to be moving out of the apartment. The six of us have been here for only ten weeks, and we're already leaving.  Claire leaves today, John might leave today, and the rest of us will be gone tomorrow. I haven't even started packing...guess I should get on that.

I definitely have a few regrets about leaving already.  I didn't go do everything that I wanted to, but that is usually a given.  There are a couple of museums I hope to get back to, but if not, I will always come back at some point I'm sure.  Seeing my art book on my desk reminds me that I didn't draw as often as I meant to.  I'm not super great at drawing, but I want to get better, so I bought a book.  It's got over 600 things to draw in it, and I was hoping to work over the next couple of years or so and complete it. Guess I can always bring it to Qatar.  I also didn't have my daily quiet time like I meant to, wanted to, and needed to.  There is this beautiful park near my apartment that I spotted the first day and had planned on going there to read and be with the Lord.  But, having to get up so early for work, I decided to stay in bed as long as I could and not take the effort to get up and go.  That is definitely something that will be changing in Qatar.  I'm not surrounded by a ton of Christians here, and I certainly won't be in Qatar, so I'm going to need to have that time.

One thing I am glad I did was going to Parade last night.  It is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life.  Over 200 Marines lined up at the Barracks and had a parade. Now, this isn't the kind of parade I'm sure you're thinking of.  This is a military parade, so there was lots of marching in formation (kind of like the Aggie band) and a silent drill team.  The drill team was the coolest part of the entire thing.  They marched as one unit, but they also tossed rifles back and forth, twirling them around their arms and their back. The leader even caught some without looking directly at the Marine tossing him a rifle. I was blown away by the precision and prestige this group of Marines had.