Jordan

The last country on the list of places I wanted to see before I leave my Middle East adventure is Jordan, and I got to cross that country off my list a couple of weeks ago. I went with 5 other ladies for the first 4 days and then spent a couple more days - one with one of my colleagues and the other on my own.

We first went to the Dead Sea where we spent two nights at the Kempinski Hotel and Resort.  It was lovely and I was fortunate enough to have my room upgraded to a junior suite! I don't know what I did to deserve that, but I wasn't arguing! We had so much fun 'bobbing' in the salty water - which tastes terrible, so you don't want to get it in your mouth if you can avoid it! We then slathered on the mineral-rich mud, let it dry and then went back in the sea to rub the mud off. Then we showered off in fresh water and our skin felt so smooth!

Here are Donna, me and Jackie all muddied up! That's Israel on the other side of the water.









It was a relaxing way to spend a couple of days following a very hectic winter semester at UCQ.

We then drove to Petra where we spent 2 nights and one day. Petra is the ancient capital city of the Nabataeans which dates back to the 4th century BC, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in a word, AMAZING! It is well hidden in the mountains and is quite a hike (albeit an easy one) back into the site. It was surprisingly cold in the morning when we started out, but the sun came out and warmed things up nicely - it was a perfect day to wander the site. Unfortunately, we didn't plan our time well and ended up without enough time to see everything we wanted to see (the Monastery for one thing). It would have been nice to have another day to come back and explore more - but we did see the main sights.

The Treasury at Petra. There were lots of camels and donkeys around to take you around the site. All the camel and donkey tenders looked like Johnny Depp in his Captain Jack Sparrow role from Pirates of the Caribbean - all very good looking!














The next day we drove back to Amman where 4 of the group headed back to Doha. Wieslawa and I were able to visit the Citadel and the Roman Theatre which were interesting. Amman is built on 7 mountains (well, big hills by Alberta standards) and, with the huge population of the city, I didn't really expect to find it as attractive as it is. Houses cover the hillsides, so it is a mass of buildings, but it has a certain appeal.

City of Amman from the Citadel (ruins in foreground, Roman Theatre in centre)












The next day Wieslawa and I visited the Roman ruins in Jerash - a city about an hour's drive north of Amman. It was a huge site which was so interesting; but our experience was marred by masses of adolescent boys who were on school field trips and who harassed us quite a bit. It was unnerving and at one point I actually felt swarmed and very uncomfortable. The ruins are extensive and it would have been nice to wander around it more, but we had to leave to get Wieslawa to the airport for her flight back to Doha.

The last day I went to Mt. Nebo and stood where Moses did as he saw The Promised Land.

What an amazing amount of history surrounds the area. Not far from here is the site where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

From here I went to Madaba which is known as Mosaic City because of the many mosaics that have been unearthed in excavations. Two churches in Madaba are renown for their mosaics, but my driver knew of a man who had a site that has been closed by the government. The driver said his friend would be happy to show me the mosaic for a couple of dinar. I am glad we stopped there as it was very large and beautiful and more well-preserved than the others I saw later.  Of course, the others didn't have tons of tourists traipsing around them every day either!

The most famous mosaic is the map of the world as it was thought to be in about the 6th century.  It is in St. George Greek Orthodox Church:

As you can see, not as well preserved as the one above, but very cool to look at all the work that went into this piece.


















Then it was back to Amman where I caught my flight back to Doha.  It was a great trip to a country that is rich with history.

I'm now in the last months of my time in Doha. I am going to Calgary for summer vacation on July 12th, and it is uncertain at this point whether I will be returning to Doha or not. My contract is officially over in mid-October, but if they find a replacement for my position who can start in August when the other new faculty and staff arrive, then I won't need to return. I expect I will know for sure by the beginning of June, but the uncertainty is hard to take right now.

I am very much looking forward to being home with my family and to reconnecting with friends and activities in Calgary that I have missed. I know how blessed I am to have had this opportunity, but now it is time to go. They say you know when it is time and I certainly concur as I definitely feel the call of home. 

A couple of links to articles that might enlighten you a bit more about life in Qatar:

http://thebillfold.com/2013/04/the-cost-of-things-in-qatar/

In the following article, I can say that #5 and #11spoke to me:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/9990816/Fifteen-signs-you-have-lived-in-Qatar-too-long.html

Phabulous Philippines

In mid-January my friend, Isabelle, who is Canadian but originally from the Philippines, asked me if I wanted to spend ReadingWeek (Feb. 17-21) in the Philippines. She had to go to take care of some family business. I accepted her invitation without hesitation and I am so happy that I did. The Philippines is a country I never imagined I would visit. Of course, 4 years ago I never thought I'd see anything outside of North America!

We spent 2 nights in Manila, then 2 nights at Isabelle's brothers' dive resort in Anilau which is in the province of Batangas, south of Manila. We then returned to Manila for another couple of nights.

We started with a great walking tour of Intramuros - the old, old part of Manila. It is the old walled city which survived a number of earthquakes, typhoons, fires and wars and finally was destroyed when the Americans liberated the Philippines from Japan at the end of World War II in 1945.  In 1979 a degree was issued creating the Intramuros Administration which undertook the restoration and development of Intramuros as a historic site. The tour was guided by an actor who is passionate about the history of the country and also about sharing that history with his fellow Filipinos and visitors to the country. He is equally irreverent in his delivery taking jabs at the various invaders, Filipino leaders and the church. It was equal parts entertainment and education!

Shopping in Manila is as much a national pastime as it is in Qatar. The malls are huge and you can get anything there. In one of the malls there is an entire floor of spa, beauty and medico-cosmetic services. You could get anything waxed, massaged, injected, etc. - you could go in looking like Godzilla and come outlooking like Jennifer Aniston! The knock-off market where you can get knock-offs of shoes, clothes, purses, technology was also huge. When you have a population the size of the Philippines I guess you need a lot of markets.

We got up at 4:30 am to beat the traffic to get out of Manila to head down to Anilau.  It's about a 2 hour drive, but if we had started much later it would have take double that amount of time or more. The two days we spent at Planet Dive (Isabelle's brother's dive resort) were restful and relaxing. The staff there were wonderful to us, the food was plentiful and delicious, and I went scuba diving for the very first time ever!

Getting some last-minute instruction
















A smiling face after the dive.  I did it!













The resort is right in front of an area called Twin Rocks which is a world renown sanctuary for coral and sea life. I saw so many beautiful creatures and the colors of the fish and coral were amazing.

View from Planet Dive - reminds me of a tropical version of my friend Jean's cabin on Shuswap Lake









We drove up a mountain to catch a sunset view and along the way we saw this typical house. Even the most humble of homes has lots off flowers around them.

After another day of relaxing, touring some islands in the area and snorkelling, we headed back to Manila by way of a city called Taal which has retained many of its heritage homes and the traditional city square built during the Spanish colonial period.  We visited the market where they sell many of the national costumes from fabric make from bananas and pineapples.  From there we went up into the mountains to Tagaytay where we overlooked Taal Lake and the Taal Vocano Island which is in the middle of the lake. Tagaytay is a lovely resort area - a great place to escape the heat of Manila, so many wealthy Filipinos own property there. There is a lot of building of resort property going on there now.

Back in Manila, we went to the Ayala Museum which is an art and history museum where we saw exhibits of gold, ceramics, and textiles, as well as an exhibit of 60 dioramas that depict the history of the Philippines. There were also collections of paintings by two Filipinos artists. 

That evening we attended a play entitled “Livin’ La Vida Imelda” a play by the same actor who was our guide on the walking tour of Intramuros. The play chronicles the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos – another great history lesson; and quite hilarious!

The weather was wonderful – warm and humid, but not too humid.  Isabelle is a wonderful guide.  It was definitely helpful to have someone who spoke the language.  Even tho English is taught in the school system in the Philippines, when we got out of Manila not many people get to school and thus have very little, if any, English.

Now back in Doha . . .  awaiting the next adventure which will be Jordan in April. Can't wait for that!

Update

Yes, it's been a while . . . and I've had a few people ask for an update of what has happened in my life since I last posted on this blog. I have to admit that my life seems to have settled into such a routine that it doesn't seem interesting enough to write about; but here goes . . . (I hope I can remember what has happened in the last 7 months).

This past summer I was determined not to spend much time in the summer heat of Doha, nor to be here during Ramadan.  I was able to schedule my 4-weeks of vacation to coincide with Ramadan and butt up to the Eid holiday (the week of holidays at the end of Ramadan), so I was able to have 5 weeks off.  I first flew to San Diego to see my mom for a week. We had a wonderful time talking, shopping, visiting with her friends (most of whom I have gotten to know fairly well over the years my parents have lived in San Diego) and, of course, eating. Whenever I go to San Diego I have my favourite things I have to eat that I can't get in Doha. Wonderful reuben sandwiches and the amazing dill pickles at the Jewish deli, Italian beef sandwiches, ravioli at Dad's favourite Italian restaurant (Bruno's), etc., etc. Mom and I managed not to drive each other completely crazy. At the end of that week I went to Calgary.  Despite falling down the stairs and badly spraining my ankle the first morning I was home, and subsequently sliding into the back of a love seat on which I broke a rib, I enjoyed 4 weeks of wonderful weather, seeing family and lots of friends, and just being in my house.  My wonderful neighbours surprised me by weeding the very overgrown garden, and planting some pots and hanging baskets so I would have some lovely colour in my yard when I got home.  I surprised them with my much longer, straight hair.  I had such a giggle when the doorbell rang and I opened it two my neighbours, Janet and Glenys, who could only stare at me in disbelief wondering who this woman with the long straight hair was!

I arrived back in Doha a week before most of my friends came back, and we (the staff in Student Services) all hit the ground running to prepare for all the new and returning students. When I first came here we had only about 65 students, and we were struggling to find more. The main problem was that most of our students are sponsored - meaning that their tuition is paid by an organization (usually a hospital) for which the student will work following graduation (a sort of indentured service arrangement).  Because of Qatarization, whereby the emphasis is on training Qatar citizens for nursing positions, there was reluctance to sponsor permanent residents of Qatar who are not Qatar nationals. The problem is that there aren't that many Qataris (of a present population of 1.8 million in Qatar, only about 300,000 are Qatari) who want to be nurses!  Slowly, the powers that be have figured out that if they are to have enough nurses to look after this enormous population, they will need to sponsor non-Qataris. This has resulted in tremendous growth for UCQ. In the Fall 2012 term we had 292 students registered! Still a small number in comparison to UofC's 30,000, but it's huge for us. There has been growth in my department as well. When I arrived here there was a Director and 4 staff.  Now, in addition to the Director (me!) there are 8 staff and they are doing wonderful work to recruit, admit and support students. I will tell anyone who will listen that Student Services has the best team on campus and that it is the 'heartbeat of the university". Everyone is quite tired of me saying that, but I truly believe it!

In October I met my son, Ian; his wife, Rachel; and her mother Mary Ann in Greece. We spent two days in Athens and then did a 4-day tour of the Peloponese - Corinth and Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi and Meteora. We were all blown away by everything we saw, the incredible history and the beautiful country-side of Greece.

View of Athens from the Acropolis

Ian, Mary Ann and Rachel at Delphi

Three goddesses (Mary Ann, Rachel & Kathy) at Mycenae

Temple of Athena at Delphi

View of monastaries at Metora

After our tour of the Peloponese we flew to the Greek island of Santorini for 6 days of complete relaxation. It was end of the tourist season so many hotels and restaurants were closed. In fact, the hotel we reserved was closed but there was a sign on the gate directing us to go to the hotel next door.  It was owned by the owner of our original hotel's brother! I think we lucked out - it was a great family-run hotel and we were the only guests! They treated us so well. We all agreed we would go back in a heart-beat.

Rachel & Ian in Fira

View from Fira

Hotel Matina in Kamari, Santorini

Sunrise in Santorini

Mary Ann in Fira

Once back in Doha it was time to prepare for the Convocation ceremony for our graduates. UCQ's convocation ceremony takes place in late November each year. This year we had only 11 grads, so we hoped it would be a low-key affair. But, it was not to be since Her Highness Sheika Moza decided to attend. This required that we change the date of the ceremony - moving it up a day. Fortunately, the hotel where we were holding the ceremony was able to accommodate that change and all the other demands that were placed on them. It was actually quite a circus, with may glitches that only the organizers were actually aware of. For the graduates and their families it was fabulous! They were all so pleased that Her Highness attended - and she came up on stage, shook each of their hands and had a short personal conversation with each of them as well.

President Elizabeth Cannon, Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, Chancellor Jim Dinning
with some  of the grads at UCQ's November Convocation Ceremony

For the winter break, I went to Calgary for nine days and then to San Diego for 4 days. It was entirely too short a time to travel that far/much. There was a method to my madness, tho, as I wanted to see if I could hack cold weather in Calgary. I had been having feelings of wanting to go back to Calgary and had been asked to state my intentions about whether I would renew my contract beyond October 2013. I knew the test would be whether I could take the cold in Calgary or not. I actually enjoyed the cold and that helped me to make the decision to not renew my contract. There were several other factors that led to the decision, and, although the experience in Doha is incredible, I am very much looking forward to the next stage of life when I return to Calgary.

But that's more than 8 months away and between now and then I will be traveling to the Philippines in February with my friend Isabelle. She is originally from the Philippines so I will have a native guide to show me around. We will go to her brother's dive resort where, if I chicken out on learning to scuba dive I will at least do some snorkelling in some of the part of the world for diving and snorkelling. In March I hope my friend, Chris, will come for a visit; and there are preliminary plans for a trip to Poland in late June. Then I will have to start thinking about packing up my life here in Doha. It amazes me that I moved here with my life in only two suitcases, and now I have an apartment full of stuff that I will have to sell or ship. Not looking forward to that at all! I hope I will have more interesting things to share before then.

Spring

I know Spring is still trying to burst forth in Alberta, but in Qatar the heat came quickly and with a vengeance.  After a cold (by Qatar standards) winter, we had a week of slow warming and then BAM! it became bloody HOT!  My daughter, Ayn, came for a visit in mid-April and was here during the week of slow warming.  She enjoyed being somewhere warmer than Alberta was at the time, and was so happy to see where I am living and to meet the people I talk about.

While Ayn was here a TEDx Summit was held in Doha. (For those not familiar with Ted talks, go to ted.com and check out some of the talks.)  We attended the opening night of the summit and listened to several speakers. It was a lovely evening and we sat outside in the huge amphitheatre at Katara - a new cultural centre in Doha which is right on the ocean so there was a nice breeze.  The topics ran the gamut from population and religion to restoration of ancient books to a comedian poking fun at the Arab world to an artist who makes a 200-year plan.  

After touring Ayn all around Qatar - she got to see camels in pajamas - we headed to Spain for 10 days.  Starting in Madrid we stayed right near all the tourist action and walked our feet off.  We especially enjoy the Prado museum, tapas and rioja, Retiro Park, tapas and rioja, the Royal Palace, more tapas and rioja, all the amazing buildings, squares, people, more tapas and rioja! After 3 days we moved on to Seville.  The train ride was easy, on-time and gave a views of the beautiful Spanish country-side.  It's a 2 1/2 hour trip and we passed through quite a variety of geography - a beautiful country to be sure.  

Seville was so beautiful - clear, blue skies and temperatures of about 25 degrees celsius every day.  It as perfect - made more so by our hotel.  The Hotel Amadeus is down a street so narrow that we had to walk in from a wider street that the taxi could navigate.  The hotel, as you might guess, had a musical theme - our room was the Wagner room - and it was decorated with all sorts of musical instruments, had lovely classical music playing all the time, and was old and quaint.  There was a rooftop terrace where we had a beautiful breakfast every day.  There were lounge chairs and a hot tub, so we spent our mornings walking and visiting all the tourist sites; then came back to the hotel for a rooftop siesta.  At about 7 or 8 we would head out again for dinner - usually tapas and rioja.  The tourist sites we enjoyed were the cathedral - which is the 3rd largest in the world after the Vatican and St. Paul's in London; walking the Bario Santa Cruz (the Jewish Quarter), Alcazar, the Plaza de Espana, the Plaza de toros (bull ring) and just walking and soaking in the atmosphere.

Then on to Barcelona where we spent 3 days exploring the Pedrera, Sagrada Familia, the National Museum, La Rambla, Barri Gothic, the Barcelona Cathedral, Placa de Catalonia, the Montjuic area where the Olympics were held and the National Museum of Art and the beautiful fountains.  A P.E.O. sister, Claire Morrow, her husband and 3-month-old daughter, Cerie, met us for some tapas one afternoon too.  It was so good to see a familiar face from Canada on our travels.  Ayn left to fly back to Calgary after 16 days of being away from her family.  I think she had a great time - I knowI did - and I am so grateful to her family for letting me have her for so long.

Tragedy struck in Doha earlier this week.  My friend, Jackie and I were on our way to lunch when we noticed heavy black smoke coming out of the Villagio Mall - a huge shopping mall very close to UCQ. We carried on to Subway for lunch and were very frustrated that it then took us almost an hour to get back to the university due to traffic being re-routed to permit emergency vehicles through to the mall.  I was certain all would be under control and the fire would be contained quickly.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  Nineteen people lost their lives in that fire - 13 of them children who were in a play centre where parents leave their children while they shop; 2 firefighters, and 4 of the teachers from the play centre.  An investigation is underway, and all business/institutions are under scrutiny now to ensure safety precautions are in place.  UCQ is not immune - we haven't had a fire drill since I've been here.  We'll be remedying that this coming week.

So we're on the home stretch to the end of the school year.  Faculty, staff and students are tired and ready for a break.  Just about everyone will be back next year.  Most had signed 2 or 3 years contracts, but nearly everyone has renewed for at least another year.  That's a good thing as it will give more stability to UCQ, and I'm awfully glad that all my friends will be returning in the fall.

It’s a Woman’s Prerogative . . . .

. . . to change her mind, and in keeping with that notion, I have altered my plans and will now extend my contract in Doha beyond October 2012. There are just too many exciting and interesting things going on at UCQ and I want to be part of them! Life is exciting here – we have just announced our new diploma program, there is a new associate dean coming, the student services team is growing, student numbers are increasing, we are building student life programs, a graduate program is likely to come on stream in the next year – all wonderful challenges which will be so great to work on.

My amazing family has been wonderfully supportive of my staying in Qatar for another year or two – it gives them more time to come and visit! I read somewhere that the Middle East is now the fastest growing tourist area in the world. They have a way to go with tourist amenities, but it is a very interesting part of the world – change is coming fast here. If any of you are thinking of visiting, I would love to see you!

Yesterday I took a trip out to the Musfer Cave (a 100 meter deep sink hole in the middle of the desert) and the Singing Sand Dunes.

Leslie at the mouth of MusferCave

Along the way we saw goats and camels roaming around the desert. The main dune was really huge and the people climbing up the face of the dune looked like ants:

We took a different approach up the dune which wasn't quite so vertical, but it was still quite a slog.

Me on the way to the top of the dune

Silly me, I thought the dunes just ‘sang’ as you stood there and listened. Oh, no, you climb to the top of the dune, sit down and skootch yourself down on your butt. The skootching action gets the sand moving and starts the dunes to ‘humming’ – a very cool sound, especially when you have about 20 of you starting at the same time! The skootching was really hard work on my legs – a good workout! Check the video:

The sound you hear is the dunes 'singing/humming.' That's Chris Jensen, our latest addition to UCQ staff, right ahead of me capturing the moment on her tablet which she is holding up in front of her. She's getting right into life in Doha!

Today, Saturday, I flew to Abu Dhabi for a visit with my friend and former P.E.O. provincial board pal, Nancy Racicot. She is visiting her nephew who is living and working in Abu Dhabi. It was fabulous to spend the afternoon with Nancy, chatting, eating and walking! So great to meet an old friend while we are on the other side of the world!

Nancy and me on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi

Another (better) photo of Nancy and me in the hotel w/out wind.

As we walked along the corniche, we watched the start of this sailing race:

One of the boats had some really inexperienced sailors who ran into a lot of trouble and were quite hilarious to watch; they actually came careening right into the concrete abutment where we were standing. There was a lot of shouting and waving of arms as the 'sailors' were trying to keep the boat upright, in the first instance; and then to get it back on course. They eventually got going. I wonder who won the race - they were quickly out of sight.

The mosque in Abu Dhabi is supposed to be the most beautiful mosque in the world. I have never been in it, but here's a photo of the exterior which I took asI drove past it on the way to the airport:

All in all, a great weekend!

Catching up

I have been negligent and need to catch you up on the Vietnam/Cambodia trip. Things will be a little out of chronological order because I posted the Halong Bay Christmas Eve/Day photos before I finished what we did in Danang and Hoi An, so I'll be backing up a bit.

On the way to Hoi An, we would have driven over the Truong Son Mountain Range, but it was so rainy and foggy that we took a 6 km long tunnel instead. It was much safer, but a bit disappointing that the weather was so socked in that we couldn't take the other route and see what is supposed to be spectacular views of the South China Sea. We stopped in Danang and visited the Cham Museum which is an open air museum of sandstone carvings. The Cham people are an ethnic group that likely started as Hindus but later followed Islam. The carvings we saw reflected both traditions. The museum also had photos of present day Cham celebrations and festivals - very colorful events.

We resumed our drive and passed China Beach which is a very long beach area where American GI's took their R&R during the Vietnam War. It is now being developed (over-developed, in my view) with large 5-star resorts and hotels. The up-side is that it is bringing much needed employment to this impoverished country.

We then stopped at the Marble Mountains which are five hills made of, you guessed it - marble. They were once islands and are said to represent each of the elements - metal, water, wind, fire, earth. There are many caves in which Buddhist sanctuaries have been built over the centuries. We took an elevator (yes, I wimped out on the climb) to near the top (but there was some climbing left to do once we got off the elevator) and visited some of these cave sanctuaries which were so mystical and awe inspiring. We walked all the way back down and it was a fairly difficult since the stairs were not of uniform height, were made of marble and were quite slippery, being made of marble.

Inside the cave temple at the Marble Mountains

On we went to Hoi An - a lovely, now small city which was once a major port for ships traveling to the far east from Portugal, Italy, Spain, etc. The market here was so interesting and very colorful.

Market at Hoi An

We took a boat trip on the Thun Bon River to Kim Bing Village on Cam Kim Island where there are families who have been shipbuilders and wood workers for generations. We then visited a silk making shop where we saw a demonstration of how the silk is gathered, spun and woven - and of course, saw a variety of beautiful products they make from the silk. Couldn't resist and had a silk jacket made - delivered that evening to the hotel.

Silk lanterns outside of silk shop

The next day was Christmas Eve and we left Hoi An very early to fly to Hanoi where we were picked up and driven for 3 hours to where we boarded the boat for our cruise on Halong Bay (see previous post). The area is a World Heritage site which is made up of about 2,000 limestone karsts and islets of different sizes and shapes, each with lush vegetation and rising dramatically out of the ocean. This is obviously a huge tourist draw.

We arrived at the port where thousands of tourists were milling around and cruise companies were collecting their passengers and getting them onto the small tenders that transfer them out to the cruise ships. There were passengers going on day cruises as well as those, like us, who were going on overnight cruises. What a circus it was! But we eventually got on our tender which took us on about a 20-minute ride out to our large wooden junk. It was a lovely ship with about 28 cabins. We were first taken to the dining room where we met some of our fellow passengers - a couple from Hawaii and another couple from St. Petersburg, Russia shared our table. The man from Hawaii was about my age and was originally from Chicago so we shared some stories. The Russian couple were very interesting - he is a lawyer whose English was a fair bit stronger than his wife's - an economist. There were a couple of excursions from the ship to some caves, but I took a pass on those, feeling a real need for some down time; besides, the scenery was amazing in and of itself!

It was unseasonably cold, however, and our Christmas Eve dinner was held on the upper deck where we were all wearing jackets - Pam even had on a toque and the Hawaiian couple had on parkas! The crew had planned all sorts of games and activities for the passengers for Christmas Eve. They handed out a list of games and the rules for the games; however, the English was so bad that we really couldn't figure out the rules! We had to wait for demonstrations and eventually got them figured out - with much laughter!

On Christmas morning there was a huge brunch on board the ship, another excursion to some caves and then we cruised back to port. The day was beautiful and I spent the cruising time on the top deck enjoying the sunshine which we hadn't seen for 4 days. When we got back to port the tender took us to a different place than where we had been dropped off. Everyone else seemed to have drivers waiting for them, but our driver was no where to be seen. A nice British family noticed that we were without driver and offered to have their driver phone our tour company. Thank goodness for that. He found that our driver had not been informed that we would be dropped off at another location, and was waiting for us where he had dropped us off the day before. It was only a 5 minute drive, but when our driver arrived he was stuttering and seemed so terrified. I imagined he thought he might lose his job or at least his tip because of the mix-up. I felt so bad for him and tried to reassure him that all was ok.

So off we went back to Hanoi where we met a new guide who, because we arrived quite late in the afternoon, took us on a rather whirlwind tour. We started at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum where we witnessed the changing of the guard. Then we went on to a pagoda, the name of which I can't remember. It was so interesting, tho, and it was the first university in Vietnam. We then were taken on a cyclo tour - that's in a cycle-driven rickshaw. We were toured all around the old quarter of Hanoi during the early evening when there was lots of traffic - the lights were beautiful. We were dropped at the theatre where we saw a water puppet show.

Pam in front of the Opera House on our cyclo tour of Hanoi

The next day, following some free time to wander the old quarter and poke into the many shops, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I was starting to feel quite tired and not quite right. We arrived in Siem Reap at about 9:00 p.m. and taken immediately to our hotel. The next day I woke up with a bad case of "la tourista" and could not leave the hotel. Pam and our guide went to see a few sites and brought me some Imodium. By 4:00 I was feeling better and we headed out to see the Bayon Temple. It was amazing! This is the temple that has huge stone faces on the exterior surfaces. We were fortunately enough to see this at sunset when the light makes it look so mystical and serene. Quite an experience.

Bayon Temple - see the faces in the side of the rock?

On our last day we had to make up for lost time. My body was suffering from being so dehydrated despite the massive amount of water I drank. Everything was still off-kilter. We headed off to Angkor Wat - the largest and most well-known temple.

Angkor Wat temple

You walk in about a half kilometre to the temple. It was beautiful and there was so much to learn about it. Our guide was so knowledgeable and told us about the temple in great detail. However, it was very hot and after about an hour, I was starting to show signs of heat stroke. Our guide had to get our driver to come into the grounds (usually not permitted) to pick me up. A half hour of sitting under the air conditioning vent revived me enough, however, that I was than able to walk around the next temple. After lunch we went to Ta Prohm which is being excavated, but is overgrown with tree roots and foliage - from the size of the trees and roots, it is amazing to think how long this site had gone before being discovered.

Tree growing up over Ta Prohm temple

That evening we headed back to Doha on an overnight flight through Bangkok. The entire trip to Vietnam and Cambodia was wonderful, but it is always great to get home to my own bed and belongings. We had a few days before returning to work, and it was a good thing we did as I had come down with a low-grade cold/fever thing and was generally just exhausted from being on the go for 12 days. I was truly grateful for the down time.

New Year's Eve was a non-event for me and on New Year's Day I think I slept the entire day. We headed back to work on Jan. 2nd and hit the ground running as we prepared for the new batch of students and the returning students. Our numbers are growing and things have been very busy. It's a good busy as we are so pleased that interest in our programs is growing.

One of my favorite places to go here in Doha is The King of Frames - a framing shop that is a real dive, but so much fun. Choosing mats and frames for pictures I have picked up in my travels is about the only creative thing I do and I love it! The 'King' is an old man who normally sits in a chair by the door and says nothing while we (I generally go to this shop with at least 2 friends) pull out our pictures and try different colour mats and pull frame samples off the wall and try them out. There are 3-4 other men who work there who offer their opinions and suggestions. The 'King' would only speak up when we asked, "how much?" He says an amount (which is ridiculously low by Canadian standards - labor is very cheap here). There are no receipts, no one writes down frame or mat numbers or colors - they just remember it all. Occasionally, if there are more than three of us, he will write down on a scrap of paper the number of pieces and the amount. You can leave a deposit, if you want; or you can just pay the whole amount when you pick up your pictures - usually only about 2-3 days later. The results are always beautiful. These guys have gotten to know us - we are rather good, frequent customers. I used to imagine that when we walked in they would roll their eyes and think, "Not these crazy Canadian ladies again!" But now I think they actually like us and look forward to when we come. In fact, the old guy has gotten a hair cut, dresses a bit better and the last two times we came in, he talked and talked like we were old friends! He's looking for a new wife because he only has 13 children and wants to have more than his mother did - 19! I think I'm out of the running for that honored role!

I have to learn a new skill now - how to use a blow dryer, flat iron and/or curling iron. I had my hair straightened! Since I've not had long hair since my kids were tiny - more than 30 years ago - I need to learn to use the new peraphernalia to keep it straight. Wish me luck!

Do you recognize this woman?!

Merry Christmas . . .

. . . from Halong Bay, Vietnam:

. . . 'nough said!

More Vietnam

Have had three surprising days in Vietnam. I don't know what I expected, but have very much enjoyed these past few days. On Monday, we drove out of Saigon for about an hour and a half to My Tho, where first we visited the Vinh Trang Pagoda. I loved the huge laughing Buddha!

Like many of the temples in Vietnam, it is not for only one religion so you see a mixture of Buddhist, Daoist, and Hindu statues in the temples, which we found very interesting.

We then headed to the harbour where we boarded a boat to some islands in the Mekong Delta. On one of the islands there are several family-run operations where they make everything from coconuts - candy (which is really good), carvings, etc. The scenery was beautiful, but seeing the industriousness of the people and how they wasted nothing was so interesting. Following a tour of one of the businesses, we were taken across island in a horse cart. Vietnamese horses are quite small - about pony size, but they are full-grown horses. The carts are mostly driven by young women. We went to another family-run place that produces honey and all sort of sweet, honey-based items. We saw a boa constrictor there (ugh) and had a short concert of Vietnamese music by a group of about 8 musicians and singers. The performance was quite good. We then took a small boat navigated by an oar in the back of the boat (sort of like a gondola) up a small canal to another part of the island where we had a wonderful lunch before we got back on the larger boat to head back to the mainland.

Back in Saigon we were taken to Chinatown and the main wholesale market. The place was so crowded and busy - the last time I felt this claustrophobic and overwhelmed by a crowd was in the bazaar district of Istanbul. I had to keep talking to myself so as not to panic! The hustle and bustle of the market was incredible, and the amount and type of merchandise was mind-boggling.

Yesterday we flew to Hue where we were met by a new guide, Thanh, who is a young, very animated and funny man. Since we arrived at about 12:30 our first stop was for lunch. We are never going to starve here in Vietnam - the food has been very plentiful; Pam and I can't believe the quantities of food we have been served - and it has all been so good! Anyway, lunch was in a former French colonial house which was very lovely with lots of shiny woodwork. After lunch we went to the Imperial City which is modelled after the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Pam and me in front of the Imperial City, Hue, Vietnam

The city was built in the 19th century by the last of the dynasties to rule Vietnam, the Nguyen Dynasty. The Imperial City was attacked during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and bears many scars, and was bombed and very badly damaged in 1969. The site is now a UNESCO heritage site and is under restoration. Despite the damage, it is still very beautiful and the restoration will be done in time for our grandchildren to be toured through it by Thanh's daughter - who is 2!

Throne in the theatre of the Imperial City in Hue, Vietnam. The king sat facing the audience and the performers performed to the king; so the performers' backs were to the rest of the audience!

Last night we walked from our lovely art deco hotel to the central business district where there are lots of shops selling silk embroidered pictures, lacquered art works, clothing, leather goods, paintings, etc., etc.We had a not-so-great dinner - badly done western-style food. We will likely stick to Vietnamese food from now on. It was quite dark and very rainy, so the walk back to the hotel was kind of creepy. The creepiness was capped off when I saw a dead rat in the gutter!! Anyone who knows me knows that I have such an aversion to rodents; this really creeped me out!!! Made it back to the hotel and had a great night's sleep!

Today we took a boat trip down the Perfume River for about an hour to the Thien Mu Pagoda. This is a Buddhist monastery and is such a lovely and peaceful setting. Some of the novice monks are orphans who were deposited at the monastery as newborns whose mothers could not care for them; some are sons of families who want their sons to become monks. The pagoda and surrounding buildings are beautiful. This is also the monastery of the monk who drove to Saigon and lit himself on fire to protest the government's anti-Buddhist law in 1963. I remember that event so vividly from the news reports. The car he drove to Saigon and news photos of the event are on display here.

We then went to the Tu Duc Tomb (fourth, I think, emperor of the Nguyen dynasty). Again, the grounds and buildings are lovely, although very much deteriorated through neglect and natural weather damage. It is also now a UNESCO site so funds are available to restore the buildings and grounds. The work is ongoing and what has been restored is beautiful; but the parts that are yet to be restored have their own beauty as well. As with the Imperial City that we visited yesterday, I like to walk around these places and think about what it might have been like to live there during those times. What a different life it would have been!

We stopped on the way to our next visit site to see how they make the Vietnamese bamboo hats and incense. There were several vendors selling fruit as well and we bought a mangosteen which was really delicious - looked like garlic cloves, but tasted like custard, if you can imagine!

Our guide, Thanh, with the woman who sold us the mangosteen.

Our last stop of the day (besides lunch, of course) was Khai Dinh which is the last monument built during the Nguyen dynasty. It has beautiful mosaics and gold work. Since this dynasty went until 1943, there were photos of the last emperor and his family. I always find that photos, unlike painted portraits, help me understand better and to realize these were real people. The monument has some long stairways and some wonderful sculptures. The architecture reflected influences from Europe as well as from Buddhist and Chinese styles.

We then had another fabulous lunch in a beautiful setting. I've been so impressed that we have not had the same dishes over and over again at these lunches that have been included in our tour. Each meal has been unique . . . and delicious!

Tonight we are going to treat our tired feet to a massage at the spa at our hotel. They deserve some pampering after all the walking on brick and stone walkways!

Good Morning Vietnam!!

OK, I'm sorry, that is a really bad title, but here I am in Vietnam - a place that figured so prominently in my youth (the mid-to-late 60's). To visit the country where a war was fought that so affected my generation, and the first war to be brought to our homes daily via television is quite interesting and amazing to me. I certainly never thought I would be able to visit this beautiful country. Vietnam has been fighting off invaders for so many millenia - and all they wanted was to be one country and to determine their own government. I remember about 10-15 years ago when someone said to me that Vietnam had the most beautiful beaches they had ever seen. I was astonished; that just didn't compute in my head because all I could remember of Vietnam was Agent Orange and how the country had been stripped of its beauty.

Ho Chi Minh City is big and busy. There are motorbikes EVERYWHERE - and it's a good thing. If all these people were driving cars the traffic would be ridiculous. As it is no one can go very fast and it is truly like a dance to watch how cars, trucks and motorbikes all jockey for position on the roads. Fortunately, helmets are required by law, and although we never went over 60 km/hour (and I don't think anyone else goes over that speed) but I wonder if there are still a lot of accidents and injuries. I'll have to ask our guide - Hong, who is so knowledgeable.

This is indeed a beautiful country with kind and gentle people. They have chosen to forgive their invaders - from the Mongols, to the Chinese, to the French to the Americans, and to simply move on; looking forward instead of wallowing in the past.

Today we began by touring the Cu Chi tunnels - the 210 mile network of tunnels used by guerilla fighters from 1940 through to the end of the Vietnam War (the war for reunification) in 1975.

Me at the entrance to a tunnel -that's as far in as I would go since I'm claustrophobic!

The tunnels are now part of an historic site where tourists learn about how the traps and weapons used by the guerillas in the Vietnam War were all made from pieces of bombs and artillery courtesy of the US military! They were quite ingenious in creating some really nasty traps and weapons. It was actually quite a disturbing place to visit - there is actually a shooting range where tourists can pay to shoot some of the guns used in the war. So all around us we heard gun-fire - which was unnerving, but I had to remember that this is what the Vietnamese people lived with on a daily basis.

From Cu Chi we went back to Ho Chi Minh City, had a wonderful Vietnamese lunch with each dish presented as a sculpture and then went to tour the Reunification Palace. This was formerly the Presidential Palace, built by the French in 1870-something (can't remember the exact year). It was destroyed in a bombing in 1962 and could not be restored. A new palace was built in a totally different style - designed by a Vietnamese architect. It is a beautiful building in which the rooms have been restored to how they were when the president of South Vietnam lived and worked there. It is now open the public as a tourist site. The wall in this photo is all done in lacquered wood and is so beautiful:

This is the palace that the North Vietnamese tank crashed into the gate which resulted in the surrender of the South Vietnamese on April 30, 1975.

We then visited a painted lacquer factory where we saw how they make the beautiful mother-of-pearl and eggshell inlaid pieces. What painstaking work! Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office were the final stops today. The post-office is a pink French Colonial building that is open every day of the year from 7AM to 7 PM.

After a bit of a rest, Pam and I went to a restaurant called Lemon Grass for dinner. The meal was wonderful and there was a woman playing a stringed instrument the name of which I will have to ask our guide tomorrow. The music really added to the atmosphere. After dinner we walked through the neighborhood looking at/in the shops . . . and, of course, picked up a few things!

It is Sunday night, but you would have thought it was New Year's Eve. So many people were out looking at all the Christmas decorations. We asked our guide about Christmas celebrations in Vietnam. He said it is celebrated, but not for the Christian reason; rather it is just a good excuse for a party! There are lots of decorations all over the city - the parks, store windows, hotel lobbies - and it was incredible to see people posing and having their photos taken in front of the decorations. Motorbike traffic was unbelievable - some streets looked like wall-to-wall headlights and helmets! The people were all having such a good time. Unfortunately, my camera battery had died. I will try to get some photos tomorrow night.

PORK!!

I had a BLT sandwich for dinner the other night. This is remarkable in that we have only recently been able to buy pork in Qatar. This is very exciting news indeed! It is sold at the liquor store where only people with permits can buy liquor - and now pork. Go figure!

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.

Autumn Update

So sorry for the long silence, Old Kathleen fans!

I survived the summer and we are now well into fall. The heat and humidity of August, September and October is starting to break and I have actually gone for a couple of walks on the Corniche. I realized recently when I was on the first walk, that it was the first time I had been outdoors in Doha for more than 10 minutes since May! It felt wonderful! I was a sweaty mess by the end of the walk, but it was glorious to be outdoors.

Since my last update, I enjoyed a Baltic cruise at the end of August. Four of us boarded the Costa Luminosa in Copenhagen. Costa is an Italian cruise line and of the nearly 3,000 passengers on board, only 80 were native English-speakers. Lots of Italian, Spanish, German and Russian was being spoken all around us. With all those languages being spoken, no wonder most of the entertainment was dancing!

We spent an evening and a day in Copenhagen before we boarded the ship. The evening was spent at Tivoli Gardens and it was a beautiful evening. The flowers were so lovely and since the weather was so nice, and it was a Friday evening (end of the work week) there were many, many people out enjoying the rides and attractions.

We had pork (yes!) ribs for dinner at a restaurant in the park.

Yes, that's lettuce gro

wing on the roof of this building in Tivoli!

Copenhagen is a very safe city and very easy to get around. Our hotel was centrally located, and right across the street from a sex shop! I got up in the middle of the night, looked out and watched a couple of sex-trade workers - very interesting!

The next day we realized we couldn't possibly see everything there is to see in Copenhagen in one day, so we took the hop on-hop off bus tour and got an overview of Copenhagen including, of course, the Little Mermaid!

We boarded the ship late in the afternoon, settled into our cabins and went off to explore the ship. It was my first cruise and I wasn't sure if I'd be seasick or not, so I used a patch that was attached behind my ear. Alice had recommended and bought it for me. It worked, but made me incredibly thirsty!

The cruise took us from Copenhagen to Tallin, Estonia which was the delightful surprise of the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed our time traipsing through this quaint medieval town. The people were welcoming and there was a lot of interesting architecture to see.

Me and my new boyfriend in Tallin, Estonia

The next stop was St. Petersburg where we did a marathon 17 hours seeing the magnificent Catherine Palace, had a river/canal tour of St. Petersburg, and in the evening we had a private tour of the Hermitage.I was so impressed with our guide's knowledge - she never stopped talking the entire day. I just wish I could remember all that she said! She really lighted up when discussing the art in the Hermitage.

The CatherinePalace, Pushkin, Russia

From St. Petersburg we went to Helsinki, Finland. We chose to take a tour to Porvoo which is the oldest city in Finland. The traffic in all these countries was so horrendous that we ended up with little time to spend in Porvoo - less than an hour, but it was interesting and I would have loved to have spent more time there.

Then on to Stockholm here we had only 8 hours to see the city. I thought Stockholm was beautiful, and I would certainly want to go back when I could spend more time there and actually get a feel for the city.

Me and my Swedish beau (I just seem to pick up men everywhere!

All in all I would have to say I'm glad I had the 'cruise experience' but it is certainly not the way to see countries in an in-depth way. The ship was elegant and, as expected, food abundant. I had just lost 10 pounds, having spent much of the summer exercising in the gym and following a low-calorie diet. I am pleased to say that I only gained 1.5 pounds on the cruise, and going back to the gym right away upon my return to Doha helped me to lose that quickly!

The school year got off to a roaring start as we admitted nearly 50 new students. Now, I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but that brought our student numbers up to 180 - and only a year previous we had only about 60 students. So we are very pleased that our numbers are growing. It is so nice to see the students on campus.

A couple of weeks after the start of classes I flew to Chicago to attend the wedding of my sister-in-law, Carol. She was an absolutely beautiful bride, and she and Mike just beamed all day. My daughter, Ayn, and her two children (Anais and Layton) were there as well - Anais serving as flower girl and Layton was to have been the ring bearer; however, just before the ceremony he got cold feet. Even bribery wouldn't get him down the aisle (mom promised him the motor bike he wanted), so his sister - ever the one in charge - grabbed the pillow with the rings and headed down the aisle with her basket of rose petals!

We had an all-too-short visit with the Chicago family. We were also sorry that my son, Ian and his family and Ayn's husband, Chad were not able to be there to make it a true family reunion. I was, however, delighted to meet my nephew, Hans' fiancee, Amanda. They will have the next wedding in October 2012.

Then it was on to Calgary for a 10-day visit where the weather was absolutely beautiful - the perfect IndianSummer. I went for many walks with friends and neighbors, caught up with Ian and his family,spent more time with grandchildren, and generally enjoyed being in my home. I have been struggling with making a decision about whether to keep my house or to sell it when I return to Calgary when my contract in Doha is over. After only a day in my home I realized that I feel so comfortable there that I want to stay in my home when I return to Calgary.

All too soon it was back to Doha where I returned to a new apartment! I had to pack up my apartment before I left forChicago/Calgary, and when I got back to Doha it was to a new apartment with a whole lot of boxes. After a 24-hour flight, entering an apartment with everything you own (except the things in your suitcases) in boxes, it was a blessing that the first box I opened had the toilet paper and some towels so I could brush my teeth, wash my face and fall into bed. I had to be at work 7 hours after I arrived home!

Living/diningroom Kitchen

My bedroom

It took me about 4-5 days of unpacking boxes every night after work to finally be able to find everything. The apartment is on the 13th floor (no superstition here) and looks to the north. I see a bit of the sea and at night the lights are lovely to see. There is a wonderful gym in the building and I have made good use of it, going almost every day. The apartment itself is spacious - has lots more cupboard and counter space in the kitchen than my previous apartment. I actually have some empty cupboards! The furniture, although not very attractive, is at least far more comfortable than the last apartment. My favorite part, tho, is that the air conditioning doesn't roar like it did in the old place. It's actually very quiet. There are a few problems, tho. The internet is included in our rent, but the connection sucks and is quite slow. Skype is hit-and- miss at best. There are a few of us with some real humidity problems, too. I hung my laundry to dry on a recent Friday and it was still very damp on Wednesday!! The building engineers are supposed to be doing something about it, but a couple people gave up and bought de-humidifiers (at considerable expense). One guy pulled over 90 litres of water out of the air in his apartment over the course of 4 days. He has a gauge that measures the humidity in the air. He came to measure my apartment and one day it was in the low 80's and yesterday it was 89%. I think we have a problem!