14-April-2014 Current Happenings & Spring Break

Yes, I know it has been almost 2 months since my last blog!  Yes, I know Spring Break occurred at the beginning of March!  Oh well, time is flying and I seem to always be playing catch up these days!  It is hard to believe that the end of this semester is almost here.   What isn't hard to believe is that we hit 105 degrees here today and the heat of summer has returned!  So before I recap our Spring Break in the Maldives, let me give you a brief summary of the past 10 weeks.

The Doha Aggie Club Boot Scoot was held at the St. Regis on Feb. 7th.  It was a wonderful event with dinner and country & western dancing.  The silent auction went well and contributed to the DAC scholarship fund.  John surprised me by bidding on "The Homesick Texan" cookbook which also included an old fashioned cornbread iron.  I really wanted it but I wasn't prepared to bid the price but John surprised me with it at the end of Boot Scoot.  The biscuits are wonderful!

Qatar National Sports Day took place on February 11th.  Each year, Qatar celebrates National Sports Day as a national holiday where everyone is encouraged to get out and do something sporty!  There are events held throughout the city and the event is broadcast over the local TV stations.   Just like last year, we agreed to direct the badminton tournament at the HBKU Student Center.  In 2013, we had over 150 participants and the tournament (even with shortened matches) took over 6 hours. 

We were not going to repeat that again this year so we limited the event to men's and women's singles and capped the events to 64 person brackets.  We hit the limit with the men's brackets but still had slots on the women's side. Overall, we had good participation and we learned a few lessons for next year just like we had learned lessons from last year.  Little did we know that we would receive the biggest treat of all.  Her Highness Sheikha Moza stopped in our gym for a visit.  We stopped all tournament play and John and I were called over to meet her.  She is a very beautiful and personable individual with a great sense of humor! It was an amazing experience!  We were able to take a quick picture with her which is very rarely allowed unless it is an official photo op.   We were blown away and this will always be a cherished memory.  When girls visit my office on campus, they are awed by this picture and this occasion!  Maybe it will encourage them to participate in the HBKU sporting events next year!  Her Highness Sheikha Moza truly is a wonderful role model for the Qatari women. 





The Qatar Total Open took place in mid-February.  We were fortunate enough to see some amazing matches from our seats in the players boxes.  I still can't believe how close we were to some of the greatest women tennis players in the world.  It was great tennis and the weather was wonderful.

For Valentine's Day, we enjoyed an Italian dinner with our good friends, Jeff & Michelle.  The "La Dolce Vita" restaurant is located in the Souq Waqif and I must admit, it was really good.  It is hard to find authentic cuisine in Doha but it was obvious the owner/manager truly was Italian and took good care in ensuring her food is as close to homemade as possible.  I would definitely go back there even though it was a bit pricey.  It's definitely one of those special dinner places for us!

 
Aggie Run for the Ring 5k - took place on Feb. 15th!  Yes, I actually ran it!  We encouraged our ladies basketball team to do the race but could only get 1 of them to actually run.  Several of them volunteered to help so maybe next year, we can convince them to actually participate.  The young lady who did compete did a wonderful job and we are very proud of her!  Her primary goal was to finish and she did it well considering it was her first race! I actually got 3rd place in the ladies division but, I won't tell you how many ladies ran!
 
John participated in the Grace Fellowship Men's Desert Retreat for the 2nd year.  He had fun but he did report that it got a little "cool" during the night and he wasn't quite prepared for those temperatures.  As always, the dune bashing was an experience.

Spring Break - we departed on Feb. 28th for the Maldives.  We went to the same island as last year and I really didn't think they could top last year's experience but I was wrong!  You will hear more about that later.






The ASD Booster Club Softball Tournament was played in mid-March and I played with the "Queens of Swing".  I played third base which I hadn't done in ages and it was tons of fun!  We had a great team and everyone contributed.  I must admit that I did hit an in-the-park grand slam and it felt really good!  Our team had a great tournament and we ended up playing 5 games and bringing home the championship trophy!  Thanks ladies for letting me be a part of the team!

The Minsubazta Tennis League took place in late March.  Rebecca and I played in this tennis league which was more like a tournament that lasted several weeks and we ended up bringing home the Ladies Doubles Championship trophy!  It was fun but I could tell we were not the favorites in the championship match.  I'm pretty sure our opponents were the home favorites! I also must admit that I was not playing well so Rebecca carried us throughout the championship match.  She played really well even though she doesn't believe me when I tell her that!  I've really seen her grow as a tennis player and I hope she continues to do so.  She has a great future ahead of her!

John and I were "asked" to organize the HBKU badminton tournament at the student center this past Thursday.  Because of limited numbers in some of the events, John and I ended up playing mixed doubles and actual got 2nd place.  I won't tell you how many teams there were!  I also played ladies doubles with a student of mine and we also took second place.  The awards ceremony for the HBKU events will be this Saturday!  I guess we'll have a little more hardware to add to our computer desk!

And finally...  John has cooked 6 briskets in the past 6 weeks and has played in 3 golf tournaments.  He won the first tournament and placed 2nd in the second tournament. I think he had a bad day in the 3rd tournament! 

I'm still playing quite a bit of tennis and we hosted a small tennis social where our AFG2 team competed against one of the teams from the Filipino Tennis League.  It was a great evening of food, fun and tennis!


Ok, now for the segment that everyone really wants to know about!

SPRING BREAK IN THE MALDIVES! 

It truly is paradise on earth and we really didn't believe it could possibly get any better than our trip last year.  We were so wrong.  Some of our friends joined us and we returned to the same island, Maafushivaru (Maa for short) and surprisingly some of the same staff members were there and remembered us. 

Because we were returning guests, we were treated to a wonderful candlelight dinner on the beach on an evening of our choice with a menu selection of our choice.  We also came in one morning after snorkeling and the room attendant had made a heart of hibiscus pedals for us on our bed.  

Also, on the day of our arrival, we had champagne and chocolates waiting for us in our room and throughout the entire week, everyone was attentive to our every need.  One of the waitresses observed that we enjoyed the trail mix from the bar so much that on our day of departure she prepared a plastic container for us to take with us.  It really was another experience of a lifetime. 



While on the island, we did an excursion where we swam with manta rays and saw a whale shark.  I don't have a picture of the whale shark because I was too slow getting in the water with the camera.  John caught some video but due to the file size, I'm not able to upload it!
 Most days, we spent 4 to 6 hours snorkeling around the island as well as going over to Lonubu, the sister island, where we saw our first eagle ray and also encountered a beautiful sea turtle.  We decided not to scuba dive simply because we were enjoying our time on the island enough and really didn't think anything could top what we had already experienced.  I'm really hoping we go back (maybe for the last time) next spring break.  Here are a few pictures to enjoy!

15-Feb-2014 Busy January

 January was a busy, fun filled month of various activities!

To summarize:
-John's Parent's arrived shortly after the new year and stayed almost through the end of January;
-We celebrated Mom's birthday at a brunch at the Marriott;
-We enjoyed a day-long exhibit by the Rugman at our compound;
-The Spring 2014 Semester began and that week we also visited the Souq Waqif;
-We took a weekend trip to Dubai;
-John and his dad volunteered at the Qatar Masters Golf Tournament;
-We enjoyed sightseeing in Doha with Mom & Dad Campbell; and
-Finally, John and 3 of his students participated in the TAMUQ Chili Cook-off.

That was the quick recap so now let me elaborate!
We had the pleasure of hosting Mom & Dad Campbell from January 8th - January 21st.  While they were here, we were able to enjoy many activities together.  Their stay was kicked off by a brunch at the Marriott where we celebrated Mom's birthday. 

The next day, we enjoyed a history lesson and rug exhibit presented by Mr. Riyaz Bhat (aka. The Rugman).   


It's funny how we should never-say-never like for example, "We'll never buy a rug!"  

After a great day learning about the history of these beautiful tribal and silk rugs, I think most of the people who attended walked away with at least one rug, including us!  Dad was hoping for a flying carpet so he is testing out his new carpet.  Unfortunately, the only way it is going to get airborne is through the use of the hangers on the back!

After the rug exhibit, the semester got underway and we welcomed our students back from the winter break.  Some were excited and some not so much.  This semester, I have the pleasure of teaching Indoor Cycling, Yoga, Strength Training and Tone & Flex.  John is teaching soccer, strength training, ultimate frisbee and basketball.  We also showed mom and dad around campus a bit where they got to enjoy a few minutes in a tent Majilis outside the Student Center. 

That same week, we made our first visit to the Souq Waqif where we stopped at the camel and falcon souqs.   A falcon owner was gracious enough to allow us to get up close and personal with his falcon.

Next stop - Dubai!  John and I had yet to visit Dubai since our arrival in Qatar.  John's parents' visit presented us with the perfect opportunity to check out the infamous city.  I personally had little interest in visiting the city after having heard how commercial and "ritzy" it is but after our brief weekend visit, I must say, I am impressed and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. 

 

While in Dubai, we made our way to the top of the Burj Khalifa, did a city tour, walked around The Marina observed "The Fountain" show and ate at The Texas Roadhouse - twice.  I look forward to the opportunity to visit again.

After our trip to Dubai, John and his dad participated as volunteers at the Qatar Masters golf tournament.  They had the opportunity to see professionals such as Sergio Garcia and John Daly.  John lucked out and carried the scoreboard for Sergio Garcia's group while dad enjoyed being a marshal at holes 1 and 10.  What a good looking pair of volunteers below!!

 

 

The week after the golf tournament, we visited other Doha sights such as Katara, The Pearl, and of course the Souq Waqif (two more times)!  While in Katara, we walked around the grounds then ate dinner at the fish market (which was delicious) and just enjoyed the evening out and about.

Below we are having coffee at the Souq Waqif!

 Mom & Dad's visit culminated with an evening of chili making!  John's chili cook-off team came over the night before mom & dad left and made a huge pot of chili.  They cooked over 6 kilos (13.2 lbs) of meat in one evening.  The problem was that the chili was so good and the boys had never been treated to chili before so when it was done, they ate half the pot!  John had to cook some more the next day in order to ensure that there was enough for cook-off night!

 

All of their hard work paid off because on January 31st, 2014, the "Red Hot Chili Pepper's" were named the 2014 Chili Masters!  It was definitely a great way to kick off the semester!  Good job guys!

 

 

And that concludes a fun filled January!  February has also started off with a bang so I will try to update everyone on recent happenings soon so stay tuned!!