Thursday, October 20, 2016

What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.

Hello readers! Lately I have been feeling extra inspired to write, and I have more free time on my hands than usual which is a rare treat!

One thing I am working hard on is removing toxic people from my life. I wear my heart on my sleeve, which means that I tend to get hurt a lot. I take a lot of things personally but I have learned that I refuse to change myself for others. There are always going to be haters. There are always going to be people who want to bring you down. The answer? Don't let them. Always take the high road. Like my girl crush Michelle Obama says, "when they go low, we go high." Do not ever sink to their level. Rise up.
Like Ron Burgundy says, stay classy! But don't be stuck in his ways from the 70s and treat women like crap. It's 2016 and us ladies are queens and deserve to be treated as such!
My to do list of activities I want to do in Doha continues to grow. I envy some of the teachers at GEMS Wellington because they got to see camel racing! GEMS Wellington is literally walking distance and right next to my school. Thank you Lee and Rachel for the pictures! Camel racing is a traditional sport in Qatar. I cannot wait to find a weekend to go and get the experience for myself.

They went to Al Shahaniya Camel Racetrack. According to Google Maps this is approximately 20-30 minutes of a drive from Barwa City. Qatar itself is about the same size as the state of Connecticut to give you an idea of how 'big' the country is.

Zoom zoom zoom look at em go! The camels can go up to 40 mph when running short distances.
Another place I am interested in checking out is the singing sand dunes in Doha. I did not even know they existed until an article about them popped up on my Facebook newsfeed. It is a 30 minute drive away and is a must see/hear. It is one of thirty locations in the whole world that these singing sand dunes exist. Other places include North Africa, South Africa, Middle East, Chile, and the US. There is a very informative article about it on dohafamily.com by a woman named Kim Wyatt if you would like to learn more. 

I have heard rumors that there are libraries somewhere in Qatar. This makes me very happy because before I worked at GEMS, I worked at the local library in my town for 3 years. And I absolutely loved it. I loved the people I worked with. I loved being a page and putting the books in order on the shelves. I loved being a circulation desk clerk and helping customers check out books and having chats with them discussing what books to read next. The library was and continues to be my happy place. According to dohafamily.com here are some of the following libraries in Doha: Doha Mums Children's Library, The Nitty-Gritty, and Maktaba Qatar. I am working on learning to find out where exactly these libraries are and if they are open or still under construction. This would be a great field trip to take my teacup humans to! 

RIP Gene Wilder you are surely missed! I am a huge book worm. I am also working on setting up a book club again with any of my coworkers that are interested. It really helps that work life balance to use books as an escape from reality. I sometimes find myself becoming too consumed in my work and forgetting to have some fun and treat myself every now and then.
I also want to go to Zekreet. One of my coworkers is very adventurous like me and she went rock climbing there. So if you are a daredevil then you definitely should check this place out! Zekreet is in the northwestern point of Qatar and is about an hour and a half drive away from Barwa City. It contains some old ruins such as the Zekreet Fort which has been around since approximately the 18th or 19th century. As a history major I am definitely interested in checking out these ruins and exploring another section of Qatar I have not been to yet. I have done indoor rock climbing- this could be my chance to take it up a notch and try outdoor rock climbing! 


Chardae is a fearless, rock climbing dare devil like me! This is her doing some rock climbing in Zekreet. She is super brave and awesome.
Alhamdulillah! 
Another key to a happy life in Doha is networking. Find people to spend time with outside of your workplace. There are two ladies that made their way into my life last year and really helped me out last year when I was going through a rough patch. They are also teachers and it was enlightening to hear what it was like at their school, how they were managing it, etc. I looked forward to meeting them for night walks at Aspire Park or around Barwa City once a week. It is always helpful to find friends who make a good sounding board every now and then. You cannot bottle it all up. Not a healthy choice! When I lived in BCA I would jog/walk laps in the basement. Probably not the healthiest of options because there were always random funky smells down there. Hello cancer! Just kidding. Maybe. But I would jog/walk in the basement because it was usually too hot to do the laps outside around the apartment complex. In the winter time I would do it outside, but you had to be alert for any cars and get used to the honking of cars on the road. The best way to avoid this is to blare your music and focus on getting exercise! 

Listen to Elle Woods, she's right!
And to end my blog on a positive note, I do my best to stay positive. I want to again give a big shout out to all the teachers out there. The beginning of the year is tough to get back into the swing of things. Switching the teacup humans from summer mode into school mode is not easy. Just remember that you are awesome and doing the best you can. This is something I continue to remind myself. For me personally last year, November was the most difficult month of my life. I had to push myself so hard to come to school each day. I loved my job and looked forward to seeing my teacup humans, but I was so unbelievably drained. My energy level was nowhere near the level of my students. Plus it is not easy being in a foreign country, trying to find the time to Skype with your family because you miss them, adapting to a new culture, and adapting to my first full time job. So much of adulthood was thrown in my face last year but you know what? I persevered and lived to tell the tale! There are still plenty of adventures that await me and I take them on with open arms. You can do it teachers. It does not matter where you are teaching, it is a tough job and takes a special kind of person to take on this profession. Just remember that you rock. 


This chart/graph is used just for first year teachers, but honestly I think any year teachers find this to be true. Teaching is a difficult profession. The school year is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. You just have to keep trying, push yourself, and in the end, it is so incredibly rewarding. 
My project that I am currently working on to keep my mind busy and focused is learning some more Arabic! I have been making flashcards for different words such as the color words. I always tell people that you can get by a lot if you know these 3 words and I guarantee you will hear them a lot:

1. Inshallah = God willing
2. Yalla = C'mon let's go/hurry up
3. Hallas = Finished/done 

Some other useful words include the following:
-Schwi = little/slow down
-Walla = I swear to God
-Tamam = Okay
-Shukran jazeelan = Thank you very much/thanks a lot 
-Min fad lik = Please

It is also good to know the meanings for different animals. Calling someone a dog or a pig is very offensive. 


This is a book I got as a gift from one of my co-workers at the library I used to work at. She gave it to me before I made the journey to the sand pit in August of 2015. Inshallah I will become bilingual =) 
Now it is time to get back to studying and make some more flashcards. A big shoutout to my 6th grade science teacher Mr. Golluscio who introduced me to this awesome study habit that has helped me for years. Cheers to being a lifelong learner! 

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