In November I had the privilege of welcoming 3 of our students to Calgary as they attended the convocation ceremony on main campus. Each student was invited to attend and to bring up to three guests. We had four students who were eligible to graduate, but only three were able to travel to Calgary. They and their guests had a whirlwind 4 days in Calgary. They must have been so tired. One student and her husband had actually just returned from the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), were home only a few hours and then got on the flight to Calgary. I don't think she had slept in 3 days by the time I met her at the Calgary airport. It was so nice to see the students take part in the very large ceremony. I think they and their families were very impressed and it helped them to feel that they are part of the UofC - which is hard to do when your campus is on the other side of the world! There was a luncheon following the ceremony and the next day I accompanied them on a tour of Banff and Lake Louise. The morning started out cloudy, but clear enough to see the mountains. We stopped at Johnson Lake which was frozen over and the students/families got to walk on a frozen lake for the first time. At Johnston Canyon they had their first snowball fight. By the time we got to Lake Louise, it was a white-out and you couldn't see the lake, let alone the glacier - a bit disappointing. We headed into Banff where we had lunch and walked around town a bit, saw the Banff Springs Hotel, and Bow Falls. It was too cloudy to see the mountains so there was no point in taking the gondola to the top of Sulfur Mountain. By that time they were all pretty tired out, so we headed back to Calgary. By the time we hit Canmore, almost all were asleep.
I spent the following week visiting with family and friends in Calgary - it was all too short a visit. My friend, Jean Rutter, flew back to Doha with me, though and we had a wonderful visit. The first week I worked while Jean got over her jet lag and dealt with a bit of culture shock. I took her to the souk on about the 2nd or 3rd night she was here. After about 20 minutes she admitted to being a bit overwhelmed by it. I recall that was my reaction the first time I went there, too. It's so different than any experience I had previously had - the sights, sound, smells are all so different and it is sensory overload! I took her to an Arabic women's party called Wanassa Night, which is held at the College of the North Atlantic. I went a couple of years ago and thought it was good fun, and thought it was a Middle East experience Jean should have. The girls get up and dance, there is loud Arabic music, lots of food, a fashion show of abayas and very fancy formal dresses. Men are not allowed at the party and you have to check your cell phone and camera at the door!
The following week we went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We did a very thorough job of seeing Dubai - I think we were in every mall there is in the city where shopping is the national sport. We also saw the old section of Dubai - the spice souk, textile souk, gold souk - taking a walking tour, and visited a really great museum. The museum was actually quite a surprise because it is in an old fort that is nothing much to look at when you first enter; but then you go inside and down a spiral ramp that leads you to this wonderful museum! We took the bus to Abu Dhabi and that was interesting . . . . ladies board first - even if they arrive after the men (there were a few men who were in line when we arrived at the bus station who did not get on and had to wait for the next bus - hardly seemed fair to us) and ladies sit at the front of the bus. It was a very comfortable bus and the ride took about two hours. Abu Dhabi is another new, big city with lots of construction of amazing buildings - not quite as over-the-top as Dubai, but close.
Back in Doha after our trip to Dubai, Jean was feeling more comfortable about getting out and about on her own. She spent a day at the souk which has a totally different feel during the day than it does at night. A visit to the Islamic Cultural Centre and another day at the Museum of Islamic Arts were interesting for her as well. We went out to the camel races one Friday afternoon and that is always a hoot!
Christmas is coming and for the third year I will not be in Canada for the holidays. I am leaving tomorrow for Vietnam and Cambodia. I am very much looking forward to this trip. I will be traveling with Pam who was on the trip to South Africa last Christmas and on the Baltic cruise in August. She is a great traveling companion.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I will try to update along the way on this trip.
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