Wow, I can't believe that the first month has gone by. Since my last update in January, we've had lots of activity and February is promising to be a month packed full of exciting times. So here's a brief recap to catch up a bit. During the last two weeks of January, we were able to do the following:
- Go to brunch at the Marriott;
- Play singles in my first tournament here in Doha;
- Win our semi-final match in the mixed doubles tournament hosted by our compound;
- Visit various shops such as QStudio, Oriental Trading and Red Lobster;
- Participate in the TAMUQ Chili Cookoff!
While these events may sound a bit trivial, I promise you they were extremely exciting. Let's start with brunch. The brunches here are no ordinary event. I would liken these events to lavish evening dinners on the cruise ships only you don't order from a menu. Each type of cuisine has its own station so you simply eat via buffet style. I know what you are thinking - buffet - really?? These amazing buffets are filled with any type of food you want and the dessert area is heavenly! The sushi was excellent and the shrimp were huge. John made his way to the Mexican area and while the fajitas were good, they still weren't quite like home! With regards to desserts, they offer everything from pies to custards to ice cream to chocolate served in all styles. Going to a brunch is an event not just a meal. They offer a play area for the kiddos where they play games, get their face painted and can just entertain themselves. The usual time spent at a brunch is about 3 hours! Here are some pictures to enjoy!
As for my first tournament playing singles, I can say that it didn’t quite go as planned. I lost in the first round and it was single elimination so I was out of the tournament. I was a bit disappointed in how I played and we will just leave it at that. I still had fun though. It was a great experience playing on courts where professional tennis players had been. I’m really excited about seeing the ladies come play the Qatar Total Open. Plus, maybe John and I can redeem ourselves in the mixed double finals that we play this evening! I’ll keep you posted on how that goes!
Next on the list was shopping! Shopping here is a big deal and it is done quite frequently. So once again, we ventured out with Michael Mahlmann and visited several places. The first stop was a furniture store that was marketing “American” furniture and while we did see some Ashley furniture, the selection was still a bit outside our taste. We did find a lazy boy type recliner and possibly a small table with 6 chairs for our breakfast area. The table had a few blemishes so the store manager said they would try to refinish it and then call us when it is ready. To be honest, it is probably one of those “inshalla”situations and we will never receive that phone call! The next stop was QStudio where we dropped off 12 pictures to be framed and requested three canvases be made each of which will be 102x80cm’s. The objective is to get some artwork on the walls. When they rung up the total bill, I was pleasantly shocked at the price! For all of this, we are paying about a quarter or less than what it would have cost in the states! On top of that, they said they would be ready in a week. We are planning to stop by tomorrow to check but if they truly are ready, I will certainly be shocked. QStudio also knows what it means to provide good customer service. The people who helped us were great. I can tell, I’m really going to love this store especially as we return from places like the Maldives where I’m hoping to get some really beautiful photos. Our next stop was Oriental Trading. We didn’t have long to look around because on Saturday’s most places close from 12:30-4:00. I don’t really know why but you have to work your schedule around it. In Oriental Trading, I saw some things that I really like so we will definitely return. This is where they make lots of things from old doors and other relics from the past. It’s hard to describe but they had some very unique items. The good thing is that Oriental Trading is right next to the Red Lobster! Oh – a taste from home! It was great. I know John isn’t a big fan of Red Lobster back home, but I thought it was great! The coconut shrimp hit the spot.
So finally, yesterday evening, John entered a team in the annual TAMUQ Chili Cookoff. His team consisted of 3 students who came over on Tuesday and helped cook the chili. Their team name was the “Gymmers”. They should have called themselves the International Gymmers because everyone was from a different place. One was from Iraq, one from Bahrain, and one from Sudan. I’m fairly certain this was their first experience making “Texas”chili. It was fun watching them get into the experience. No, we didn’t win but we gave it our best shot and I can promise, the chili was quite delicious!
After the cookoff, we hung around and watched the last quarter of the men's basketball game. It was TAMU vs. Carnegie Mellon! It was very loud in that gym especially when it came down to a final free throw by A&M to tie the game. Unfortunately, the free throw was missed and CMU won the game. You would have thought they won the national championship. We did note that international rules must be different than U.S. rules. I guess international basketball allows for things such as tripping, travelling and taking practice shots during timeouts. In addition, when a player gets injured and the coach comes out on the court, it does not appear that the injured player has to be replaced with a substitute! Somehow, I think the officials pick and choose which rules they want to enforce!
Well, I had better cut off this blog. Here is what is on tap for February!
- This evening, we play our Mixed Doubles Finals match and take our chances at another chili cookoff.
- Tomorrow, we are playing in a golf social which I'm sure is going to be interesting.
- Next weekend is the Boot Scoot and the Camel Races.
- The weekend after that we have the Qatar Total Open
- The weekend after that, John may go to a men's church retreat where they go spend the night in the dessert!
- I think we are also going to be coaching the TAMUQ men's volleyball team!
Hopefully, I will do better and providing an update as these events unfold! Take care and we hope everyone is doing well back home.
In addition, I did the "Run for the Ring" 5k that TAMUQ Student Life puts on every year. My time wasn't good but I finished so I consider that a victory! We also convinced many of our students to participate so it was good to see them out and about.
