Doha Living and fighting the Qatar Kilos

Well my last blog was nearly 6 weeks ago now and I can't believe that I'm actually back on half term now. The term has flown and I only have 13 weeks left in Doha before the summer holidays begin (Not that I am counting!)

This blog isn't really about anything - so if its boring I apologise. But I want to share what life is like in Doha to give anyone that is reading this an idea of what it is like to live here.

The time has gone by so fast and its crazy to think that I have been here for 7 months. I often have to pinch myself to realise that this is actually my life now, for the rest of this academic year and the next at least. Living away from home is never easy and I am glad that I have Skype, FaceTime and phone calls to keep me sane. I have learned over the past 7 months who really counts, from my Family, to my friends in the UK and my 'Doha Family'. Living here gives you a whole new perspective on life and you realise that although you might spend lots of time with the people you live and work with, you don't really know them and they don't really know you. We laugh and say that living here is a bit like living at University (especially in our building.) You spend your time in everyone else apartments except your own. Or in another way, its like living in the big brother house - you know nothing that is going on in the outside world, yet you know everyone's business and they know yours. Quite the strange thing to adapt to!

Now Doha has become home, I don't react to certain things the way that I used to. Seeing a woman fully covered from head to toe in an Abaya, Burkha or other traditional dress is the norm and its the Westerners that sometimes look out of place! The Abayas that the women wear are actually very beautiful and they have many different styles and varieties that they wear. Naturally I love the ones with the Swarovski Crystals all over them that cost thousands of Riyals to buy! Wayyyy out of my price range.

The way of life here is also one that I have adapted too, however, it doesn't mean I agree with it. There is a lot of inequality here with the workers and sometimes you cringe at the way that they are spoken to by some people. Qatar is largely driven by money and they want to be the biggest and the best. It is a very up and coming place with lots of potential, but I think personally, to be successful in the coming years especially when the world cup will be here, they are going to have to become more tolerant of certain aspects of Western Culture. Being a westerner here is easy if you respect the Muslim culture and show the respect that is due. Some people find it difficult to remember that we are the ex-pats here and we have to be tolerant of the ways of life. If you know where to go, you can easily access things that you would regularly do in the Western World. I personally am enjoying doing the more finer things in life, like High Tea at the Ritz-Carlton, Brunches at 5* hotels, enjoying the sunshine 99% of the year and not having to worry about every little thing. Over this half term I have experienced the 'Sky Bar' at a local hotel down the road from where I live called La Cigale. On the 11th Floor, they have a beautiful outdoor bar and it has Panoramic views of the city. We enjoyed cocktails there the other night, it was lovely and warm with just a slight breeze and amazing views. We all agreed that it was one of the nicest nights we've had in Doha since we arrived.

I have also now become a Doha driver! After a lot of thinking and deliberating over whether or not I could cope with the stresses of driving like a Qatari, Pam and I have bitten the bullet and hired a car until the end of June. It's a lovely Metallic Blue Chevrolet Sonic, a car much bigger than my little White Fiesta at home! In Doha, a lot of the cars are white, but we opted for the bright blue one as we were reminded that a bright blue one is easy to see!! But then again, with the craziness of the Arabs and whatever other Nationalities are on the road, it doesn't matter what colour the car is, the fact of the matter is you are driving for 5 people when you are behind the wheel - yourself, the person in front, behind, to the left and to the right of you! And then you have to be aware of whatever else people are doing in other lanes! I have decided that driving on the Doha roads is like playing a live version of Mario Kart. Naturally, I'm Princess Peach! :) 

I have managed so far to go on a magical mystery tour of Doha whilst trying to find the QDC, or the Qatar Distribution Centre, affectionately known by many as the Booze Souq. It took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to get there, when it should have taken me 15. Yeh. That was interesting. By the time I got there and got out of the car, I was so stiff from being so tense and worrying that I couldn't walk properly! But I have managed to do all the crazy Doha roads, Highways and Industrial estates and survive - so go me! Our car is affectionately named 'Sonic' although currently, I don't think I have managed to reach 'Sonic' speeds!  

Living over here and having to get taxi's because you are unable to walk anywhere because of the heat as naturally lead to me (and quite a few of the ex pats here) to gain a certain amount of weight that I would rather be without. It is very easy to put on weight here because of the junk food culture and the the fact that nearly every fast food place and restaurant delivers. Yep. You're right, McDonald's, KFC, Apple-bee's, Chilli's, Pizza Hut.. They all deliver. So if you can't be bothered cooking you just go, ahh.. who can I phone and within half an hour to 40 mins you have it. Not good. So the weight that people gain within their first year or so here is now known as the Qatar Kilos or the Doha Dough. Now we are all about to go back for the summer and everyone wants a tan to show off when they get home, the diets are starting to come out! In my building a group of us have started our very own 'Fat Club' with weigh in once a week. I think the members will agree with me that I think that although we start out as extremely motivated, it quickly goes down hill and the weight we lose goes back on! Its too easy not to be good! The problem for most of us is that we don't do any exercise, so need to be a bit more active to burn off the dough. We have taken to walking the Corniche to feel like we are being a bit healthy, but in all fairness the Corniche is actually a nice place to go! Its extremely picturesque and you can get some beautiful night time shots of the city! 

So, living in Doha isn't all that bad! :) I know this blog hasn't been all that and I know I haven't gone on and on about school (for a change) but I hope you have enjoyed reading it! x 

2013, School and Sri Lanka Fwends!

This is going to be a very long blog update so I apologise now! :-) Persevere if you can! x

Well, keeping this blog updated hasn't really gone to plan! Time just goes so fast in this place, before you know it 6 weeks has passed by and I am like... OMG, where has that time gone! Last time I updated I had been back at school a week and now we're into the second half of our term and there's only 4 weeks left till the Easter break! I can't actually believe it!
So, what have I been up to so far in 2013! Its turning out to be quite a fun year so far! Had lots of new experiences and am still really enjoying being in the Sandpit! However, being here is not great for my waist line! All we seem to do here is eat... It takes a lot of self control and at the moment I'm failing miserably in that department! But I'm happy, and that's all that matters right?!

School is amazing at the moment and reflecting back to September when I first got here, its a totally different ball game now! My class are amazing and everyday is hilarious. I am getting so much more from them now, that it is just brilliant and I remember being told by a couple of very wise people at the start of the year "It gets better". I never believed them but God, I do now. Working in an International School and with children with EAL has its challenges, but if you have the passion and are willing to persevere with things, it can be great. I'm lucky that I no longer dread getting out of bed to go to school any more because the children are just fabulous and I enjoy spending time with them.
Most recently, we had our sports day. We have been practising for weeks with the children, the Relay Race, the Sack Race, The Egg and Spoon Race, just to name a few. And on Tuesday last week (Feb 26th) it was time to put all that practise into the real thing. The children had to wear a coloured T-Shirt to represent the house colours and I nagged and nagged the parents all week on the run up to it and before half term to make sure that the children came in the right one! Now I don't know if I just have a good class or what, but my class was the only class where EVERY child had the correct coloured T-Shirt on AND all dressed in their PE Kit! I was thrilled!! Maybe nagging does get you somewhere! The children were all fabulous and I wish I could put some pics on here to show how wonderful they all looked and how much they enjoyed the sports day. Lots of pictures with their game faces on! So funny!! They get so competitive, but in a good way. They still supported their friends really well!

This blog is a little upside down, but now I'm going to go back to my Half Term holiday! Quite a spontaneous holiday happened during this time, and I went to Sri Lanka with my 'fwends' Kathryn, Lisa and Laura. We had the most fabulous time and here goes what happened to us while we were there.....
We left the Sandpit on Thursday 14th February (Valentines Day and I didn't get any Valentines, SOB! Lol...) and boarded the aeroplane, ready for our adventure. I should add at this point that I BACKPACKED, this holiday. Anyone who knows me, knows that I suitcase, not backpack. But it wasnt too bad ;-). The flight got off to a bit of a bad start. As soon as we were literally off the runway, the pilot banked the aeroplane to the right and gave me the shock of my life. Now, I'm a good flyer and things like that don't really bother me and neither does turbulence... but oh, my, word. It just got worse. The plane was dropping and shaking like a tin can at some points and I was really freaking out, but trying to stay calm as Kathryn was freaking out too. No point us both freaking out! Anyway, coming into land in Colombo we circled the Island a number of times and came down into the decent to land. On our screens it read "2 minutes to Colombo" down we went then all of a sudden we pulled up again, everyone was like, huh?! Then on the screen it read 32 minutes to Thiruvananthapurum. We were all looking at each other confused and the confusion turned to shock when we realised we were off to India! So that was an interesting diversion! What made it worse was the fact that the pilot didn't tell us a thing until we got to India and landed and uttered the words "I think I need to be honest with you....!" Well if that didn't freak us the hell out I don't know what would of! Apparently, there was a huge storm in Colombo and although we tried the decent a number of times, we didn't have enough fuel to try for another one, so had to divert to India. So, we then sat on the plane for 2 and a half hours, with no water or anything (they didn't even offer us a drink!) absolutely exhausted by the fact that we all hadn't slept since the Wednesday night and had done a full day at school on the Thursday! Nightmare! Then, all of a sudden, the captain said, cabin crew prepare for take off and off we went for another attempt at landing in Sri Lanka! Fortunately, this time the storm had cleared and we had a smooth landing into Colombo airport. Phew!

Laura and Kathryn trying to Shell Rice

The Airport in India

Sri Lanka Fwends!

After doing what you do at an airport when you arrive, we went through and found our driver. His name was Udaya and he was VERY lively and pleased to see us, considering we were 3, nearly 4 hours late. Whoops! We all piled into the car and set off on the 3 and a half hour journey to Kandy, which was to be our first stop. However, our first stop was food! Udaya took us to this little cafe bakery place which was really nice actually. We all had a pastry thing which was spicy but nice! Laura, showing how tired we all where, left her purse on the table in the cafe and we were all like! OMG! That could have been a VERY interesting start to the holiday.
Off we went again and we stopped at a Rice Paddy so we could try some rice. It was very hard to shell the rice - I hope that a machine is used to do that and its not done all by hand! The journey to Kandy at first was none eventful.. but little did we know it was about to be come VERY eventful. Udaya overtook a bus and as a result was pulled over by the police. He became extremely fretful and got out of the car and went to speak to them. He was fined, and had his license taken until he had paid the fine. We then had to turn around and head up to the police station. He left us in the car, with no A/C on cooking (it was 30 something degrees easily!) When he had paid the fine, we went back to the police officer, only he wasnt there! Udaya was freaking the hell out at this point. So off we went to the police station again so we could find out where the officer was! Turns out he was just a bit further down the road and we eventually found him, got the license back and off we went. By this point we were all absolutely shattered and I'd lost count of the number of hours I'd been awake for.
Udaya could see that we were tired but powered on through, taking us off the beaten track and off to see some Elephants! This was awesome, however the chains and ropes around the Elephants necks where not. We had a ride on the elephants, Kathryn and Laura on one and Me and Lisa on another. Lisa was terrified, but she powered through and got all the way round without getting off! Go Lisa! It was a lot of fun on the Elephant, however it didn't half hurt your thighs! Ouch! They were very sore afterwards!

After being on the Elephant, we were all desparate for the toilet and the only way I can describe the toilet was like the 'dunny' in "I'm a celebrity" Actually, I think that may have been cleaner than the thing we had to pee in. Not pleasant. We got back into the car and off we went to a Spice Garden. This would have been really interesting, if we hadnt all be deliarious with lack of sleep by this point. So so tired. After a 20 minute stop, Udaya had to admit defeat with us all and take us to the hotel. Our hotel, it turns out, was at the top of a mountain. It was AMAZING. Such beautiful views and the hotel itself was very villa like. We were so pleased to get there, unpack, have a shower and just chill. After being on the road for god knows how many hours, sitting on a comfortable chair was just bliss. After having some dinner and chilling out, we finally went to bed! Saturday was our Tuk Tuk day! We spent the day driving round Kandy in a Tuk Tuk! We soon found out that the driving in Sri Lanka is as bad as it is in Doha! Our first stop on Saturday was the botanical gardens just outside Kandy. Botanical Gardens wouldn't really be our thing if I am honest, but after living in the desert for 6 months, any type of greenery is just amazing! It was actually really nice to walk around the trees and see real grass and we actually found out that there are 26 types of grass!! (Yes I know a pointless fact!)

There were wild monkeys and fruit bats and all kinds of things in the botanical gardens and it was just so green! We walked around and just enjoyed being in a place that kind of felt like home.

After the botanical gardens, we went by Tuk Tuk to the temple of the tooth, which is in the centre of Kandy city. We went and had a wonder around the temple, got some flowers and made our offering to Buddha. We had to give our shoes in and then had to pay to get them back! After that we went for a walk around the lake and then went and found some food. The funniest bit of the food hunt was that we were in a foreign country and still managed to find a Pizza Hut where we ended up eating as it was too hot to walk around anymore! For the Pizza and drinks we only paid £4 each! It was sooo cheap! We were well impressed! Our driver picked us up at 5pm and we went to watch a Kandyan Dance show. When he came, he only had one Tuk Tuk and wanted us all to fit into it and sit on each others knees! We were like, no way! So he got another Tuk Tuk for us. 

After the Dance, we went back to our hotel via an off licence! We needed some wine! Heading back up the mountain turned into a very funny experience. Laura and I were in the Tuk Tuk and it made it most of the way up the hill, but then couldnt get any further! Cue the hysterical laughter and the questions... OMG are we too heavy for the Tuk Tuk?! Turns out, there was something in the fuel line of the Tuk Tuk, so it kept stalling, so it wasnt us! We eventually got up the hill in the other Tuk Tuk that came down to rescue us! Hilarious times!

Sunday was another jam packed day. We went to a Tea Factory and to the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. Now I'm not really a tea drinker, but I had a good go! I even bought some Green Tea  The tea factory was interesting; they work really hard in the factories... Its a good job that they have the machines to help them now! After that we drove to the Elephant Orphanage and went to see the Elephants. It was awesome. The baby elephants were just so cute! In the afternoons, the elephants go in the heard and go down to the river to bathe. Our driver had arranged a prime spot for us in a restaurant on the river and we sat, by the river, having our lunch, watching the Elephants play. It was so surreal! After the fun with the elephants, we went on a drive back to our hotel and through the towns and villages. Laura and Lisa wanted to buy some sarongs and stuff for the beach and the driver said he knew somewhere! So off we went. We ended up in this amazing shop where they let us try on Saris! We had loads of fun dressing up. I really wanted to buy one, but they were expensive considering its just 6 metres of material!! I wouldn't have fitted it into my backpack anyway!!

The next day was Monday and we were moving on to our next place, which was Hikkaduwa, on the South West coast of Sri Lanka. We had all decided that the last few days of our holiday wereys were going to be spent on a beach, which was just what we needed when we’d all had a busy half term at school! The driver from Hikkaduwa had driven all the way up to get us and then had to drive all the way back. In total, his journey took near on 10 hours! It was an absolute mission! But when we arrived, it was well worth it!

We stayed right on the beach at a place called the International Beach Hotel. Our room was less than 100 metres from the beach and it was just amazing. It was sooo hot there too! The Hotel had its own bar as well called “The Drunken Monkey” which was cool. They did awesome food and drinks and they were really cheap. We also found a really nice restuarant that we ate at twice "Mamas" which was just a little but further down from our hotel. Well, a lot further actually, we had to get a Tuk Tuk down there and back! 

Nothing exciting happened when we were down in Hikkaduwa; it was literally a 4 day beach holiday. It was awesome, just sitting on the beach, cocktail in hand and iPod on. Bliss! 

We were actually quite sad when we had to leave to go home, we'd all had such a fabulous time and enjoyed the sun and each others company. Lots of fun.

So thats it. You're up to date with my life and my blog! Its a long update is this one and if you have got this far down thanks for persevering! Hopefully I'll able to update with something this interesting next time! Much Love! x x x

Back in the Sandpit!

Wow, it really has been a long time since I updated this blog!! I have all the best intentions, as anyone who knows me will know, but I get distracted really easily... Oooo food!! :)

Anyway! The last time I updated was back in October and I was just about to start my half term holiday! I've had a whole term in school since then as well as the Christmas break! So I'll start with last term at school shall I?!

I ended the first half term on a high, being glad that I had survived 7 weeks with the children, not quit and the children were showing signs of really settling and actually liking me!! It was so difficult as I have said before, to adapt to a class where 95% of the children all spoke English as a second language and had little or no spoken English or little or no understanding of English. But by the end of the first half term we were getting there. Throughout the second half of term one was when we really saw the change in the children. They were no longer looking at me as if I had 4 heads and I was talking gibberish to them!! They were actually understanding!! Huggge breakthrough for me!
I was also able to do more productive things with the children, getting them to start writing numbers and letters and when I had my first piece of emergent writing I nearly cried!! I was like.. ARGH!! How fantastic!!
We had a lot of sickness in the Foundation Stage over the second half of the term and I was puked on and snotted on more times than I care to remember. (The joys of being a Foundation Stage Teacher!!) But we soldiered on and got there in the end. Before we knew it, it was getting toward the end of term and we had our Parent/Teacher meetings looming, Learning Journeys to get done and Reports to write! It comes around so quick and I was like.. ARGH! But we managed to get it all done and my parent/teacher meetings went so well. It was lovely to talk to the parents and let them know how the children were doing. There were a number of Parents who didn't come, so I lost my 100% record from when I used to be at my last school and all the Parents used to come!! Gutted!! :)
At the end of the term, we had a party to celebrate Qatar National Day. The children all came to school in their National Dress and looked absolutely amazing! Seeing the littlest children in the school wearing Thobes and traditional saris and things was just so sweet! Id like to put pics up but with child protection and all that its too risky :(

So the term ended and before I knew it I was back in Doha airport and back off to England! I was so excited but not looking forward to leaving the sunshine and going back to the cold and wet that was England. When we landed I had to laugh, as the weather was exactly the same as it was when I left. Great start!! However, when I got out of the airport, it wasnt as cold as I actually thought it would be, so I didn't need the fleece that Mum had brought with her!
My 15 days in England went by so fast and after New Year, the reality of going back in 3 days was upon us! But the thing is, I was, by that point, looking forward to going back to Doha and the Sunshine. So, back to Doha I flew! The flight and everything was fine, but the waiting at Doha airport to get through immigration was just a nightmare! An HOUR we stood in the queue. The bloke who was letting people through had the worst case of 'Small Man Syndrome" ever and decided that he didnt like the look of us and let everyone else into a different queue apart from us. Unimpressed. Eventually got back into the apartment at 4.30am. PJs on and straight to bed!
Michelle arrived just after 8.30am but I was well away so didn't hear her arrive back! Was so nice to see her!

The first few days back were spent getting rid of jet lag, shopping for food as there was not a thing in the apartment to eat and going to the ATP Tennis! This was a fab night but we were shattered and freezing as we were up in the Gods! I'd been given a VIP ticket to sit in a box at court level by one of my parents at school, but as it was, I didn't fancy sitting on my own - so Michelle and I bought normal tickets. The final was between Nikolay Davydenko and Richard Gasket. It was a good match - Gasket was the winner in the end! My first taste of live tennis... and I liked it!! Looking at going to the WTA matches in February. Should be fun!!

The first week back has now passed by in a blur and its now the weekend. We've had lots of fun this weekend, out on Thursday night, Movies and Shopping Friday and now its Saturday and I'm being productive doing school work and updating the blog of course!!

I've decided that I will try and make a concious effort to update this blog at least once a month - but the thing is I don't want to bore everyone with school talk!!

Anyway I think I've prattled on enough so that's it!! Finally updated the blog! YAY!! Much Love x