Greetings from Qatar! I am officially in the midst of my first week here and am starting to adjust to the jet lag! I got my first good night of sleep (minus the brief interruption of the building alarm going off at 1 in the morning). It is still surreal being here across the world, a 13 hour plane ride from home. There is just so much to see and adjust to but I absolutely love it and would not change a thing.
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Doha, my new home! Much thanks to Mike who has awesome photo taking skills who I got this shot from. |
The plane ride wasn't too bad. I didn't sleep at all but that was mostly due to nerves and excitement. You have so many choices for entertainment and that helps the time go by fast. I watched 2 movies- Tomorrowland (eh) and Home (really cute). Hands down my favorite part was looking at the map to see what we were flying over. How often do you get to say things like "Hey we're flying over Paris right now!" "Oh now we're over the Alps!" My fellow Jersey girl Shannon and I sat next to each other and bonded for 13 hours.
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Qatar airways |
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Coolest part of the flight! |
I am on day 3 of my school orientation. We have gotten to see our classrooms and have started browsing through resource rooms to pick supplies to utilize in our classrooms. There is such a great sense of community here. Everyone is so open to helping out and being there for one another. Our principal Terry Gamble is fantastic I cannot imagine a better first principal for me to start working with at the beginning of my teaching career. He has such a positive attitude and encourages us to collaborate with one another and to never isolate ourselves or try to do everything on our own. We are all newbies here from all over. It makes me think of that song from High School Musical... we're all in this together!
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Welcome to GEMS American Academy Qatar!
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There's something exciting about seeing your name posted outside your first future classroom. Teach like a pirate arrrr matey! |
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First glimpse of my classroom! |
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Front of the classroom complete with alphabet rug for morning meeting/circle time and an Activboard. |
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This was one of the resource rooms we could get supplies from. Lots to choose from for different grade levels. |
The apartment is really nice and spacious. Definitely not too shabby for my first place living on my own. I am excited for my roommate to arrive because it is so quiet with only me there. I constantly have movies playing on my laptop for background noise. I am used to my house in Jersey where there is constant chatter, laughing, and cats wandering around. We are located right across the street from this little strip mall called Ansar Gallery. It has just about everything you could possibly need from food, electronics, shower rods/curtains, pots/pans, etc. There's also a gas station in the other direction that isn't too far... however the walk can be a little adventurous since they are doing construction in that area. The gas station has a kiosk where you can upload more data or minutes to your cell phone.
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Tons of counter space and cabinets in the kitchen. It's a bit bare right now. There is a washing machine and I still need to get a drying rack. |
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The kitchen... feel free to admire the fantastic Harry Potter and crazy cat lady magnets |
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Bathroom with snazzy bath mat |
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Bedroom... where kindle reading and movie watching takes place |
Before the orientation even started we had the first few days to get ourselves acquainted with the area and do some sight seeing. We took a Doha hop on and hop off bus tour... minus the hopping. Fun fact, just because Qatar is a desert does not mean there is a dry heat! It is very humid here and you just have to embrace the fact that you will constantly be sweating when you are outdoors. The bus was a double decker and the second floor was not air conditioned. Guess where yours truly was sitting? It was fine as long as the bus was moving because there was a nice breeze. However anytime we were stopped at a light it was excruciatingly hot. The wait time at stop lights is much longer compared to at home. The way it's organized is that each side goes at one time. I think it is safe to say I will not be buying or renting a car while I am here. The drivers are pretty intense out here and we saw a near accident complete with loud squealing brakes right next to us when we were on the bus. They have circles/roundabouts here. We have plenty of those in Jersey but what's different and slightly more terrifying is that there can be 2-3 lanes in these circles/roundabouts. After the bus tour and some down time at our apartments we had a delicious catered meal with Terry and his wife where they are staying. The food was great and I have become addicted to this strawberry drink they have. It was nice to have something besides water, which I am constantly drinking to make sure I stay hydrated. It is very rare to find water that does not have sodium in it. It tastes slightly different but usually you are so thirsty you just chug it and don't even notice.
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The gang's all here!
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So this entry is just a snapshot of what my life is here so far in Doha, Qatar. Looking forward to continuing to getting to know everyone, getting ready for the kids in September, and embracing the fact that I am very out of my comfort zone and loving it!
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