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[Jun. 17th, 2008|03:25 pm] |
I've been back in the states for just over two months now. The job is fantastic and I'm loving being back in NYC. There are, of course, many things I miss about Doha-- mostly my amazing friends.
I don't think I'll be keeping this up now that I have a "normal" life again. I will probably use this to journal about any travels I take. If you are interested in knowing when this is updated let me know and I send you an email.
Thanks for reading. And hey... who know's maybe I'll do this again in a few years. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 17th, 2008|03:23 pm] |
We arrived to Doha early morning of March 30th. My departure date to return to the US was early AM on April 2. The night of the 30th Alan and I had dinner with friends and then went to the Irish Harp (a bar) to see our friend Glen perform.
The night of the 31st, my friend’s Donney, Dana, and Katra organized a most fantastic farewell party. Not long after I decided I was leaving Donney said she wanted to organize something for me. While I did the huge bash at my place, I asked Donney to do a much smaller, intimate gathering near the end of my time to say farewell to my closest friends. The girls did such a fantastic job. They got food from one of my favorite places in town (Turkey Central) and got a delicious and hilarious cake. See below:
Near the end of the evening, Donney had us all gather around and made each person share a favorite memory about it. It was truly lovely.
My final night in Doha, Alan and I had a quiet dinner and watched movies. At around 1am, he drove me to the airport for the final goodbye. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 17th, 2008|01:19 pm] |
March 29, 2008
Today we were visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels. I had read a great deal of literature about Vietnam over the previous 2 years and was fascinated by the idea of these tunnels. Part of the reason we decided to visit the south was just so we could see these tunnels.
We were picked up at our hotel after breakfast and headed, via mini-bus, with some other tourists to Cu Chi which was approx 2 hours outside of Ho Chi Minh. The ride was bumpy and not pleasant.
The Cu Chi Tunnels is a huge complex of tunnels built by the Vietnamese to hide from the Americans. The tunnel system is complex. It consists of very small passageways which lead to larger rooms: kitchens, sleeping areas, rooms for medical care, etc. Everything the people of Cu Chi needed was underground.
This area was completely devastated by the Americans. Even 30 years later you can see how it not only effected the people but the landscape. We saw massive B52 bomb craters and loads of shrapnel lying around.
Our guide told us of the many ways the Vietcong in those parts outsmarted the American GIs. When the GIs brought dogs in to hunt out the VietCong, the VC began using US soap or wearing the clothes of dead Americans to confuse the dogs. They would place dead American GIs in “vent” areas so the dogs would pick up their scent. The tunnels were heavily booby-trapped and lead to great losses of life.
We were given the option of shooting an AK47. While I was hesitant, I’ve learned in my travels that you have to take the opportunities as they come. It cost us $3 for 10 bullets; so we would each shoot 5. Alan went first. When my turn came, I just fired away. I was amazed at the kickback of the gun. Even though the gun was mounted, when I fired the first bullet the gun hit me in the chest. I can only imagine what would have happened had it not been mounted.
When I finished, Alan asked if I hit the target. I said “What target?” I was so focused on the gun and shooting that I hadn’t even thought to aim at the targets they had!
The tour ended with a crawl through a portion of the tunnel. I had dreaded this since we decided to go, but again I decided it was something I had to do. We were told it was only 40 meters (about 120 feet). I pumped myself up saying that if I just kept moving it would be over quickly. We had to lower ourselves into the tunnel. The first 20 feet or so weren’t bad.
We still had light from above and basically only had to bend at the waist. Then we had to drop ourselves down another little hole. At this point we had to begin crawling and there was no more light. There also was not very much oxygen. My heart was racing and I was sweating. I was constantly reminding myself that there wasn’t much farther to go. Then, the person two in front of me panicked. He stopped moving which meant that the rest of us had to stop to. I could hear him saying he needed an emergency exit. His family was trying to encourage him. By that point, I was really uncomfortable. I was shaking and it was getting difficult to breathe. Finally I shouted: “There is no emergency exit! Keep moving! If you keep moving you’ll be out of here. You just have to keep moving.” They started moving again and before we knew it we were out of there.
We headed back to HCMC. We found a restaurant called Pho 2000. They has some of the most amazing spring rolls ever. We actually had to order a second helping! Apparently, Bill Clinton visited there during his visit to Vietnam.
Afterwards, we walked around one of the large markets. I found a lovely set of chopsticks. We had a coffee and then headed back to the hotel to depart for Doha. As we were boarding the plane, we were told we were being upgraded to Business Class. This was quite a thrill as by that point we needed some luxurious surroundings. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 17th, 2008|01:15 pm] |
March 28, 2008
We woke up early to head out to see the sites. We walked to the War Remnants Museum (formerly the War Crimes Museum). This was an incredibly interesting visit. The galleries are housed in 4 buildings surrounding an open courtyard which has replicas and originals of tanks and weaponry. The various buildings contain photos, news clippings, and memorabilia about the Vietnam War. This was not a fun experience but well worth it.
Some thoughts:
Because of my age, Vietnam is a “country not a war” (to quote Demille’s book Up Country). Unfortunately, Vietnamese people in my age range are still living with many effects of the war. Many of them were crippled from the effects of Agent Orange or had limbs blown of because of unexploded ordinance.
There was a special exhibition about unexploded ordinance in countries which have seen war. The ongoing effects are devastating. In Vietnam alone, the number of people in 2007 who were injured or killed by UXO and landmines was nearly 3000!! Unbelievable.
One of the exhibitions had the medals of an American solider. He sent them to the museum with a note of apology for what America did to the country. It was heartbreaking.
Overall, I didn’t feel that the museum portrayed America in a very bad way. In fact, it was exceedingly fair (if I were creating the museum I would have likely been much harsher). There were numerous places where they reminded visitors of the protests going on in the US and the number of soldiers who actually attempted to assist the Vietnamese people.
Alan made a very interesting comment. He wondered whether we would be visiting Iraq in 30 years. I can only hope so.
After the museum, we stopped for lunch at a lovely café. It seemed to be the hangout spot for many Vietnamese on their lunch break. We had fantastic food and enjoyed Iced Vietnamese Coffee. I think we were the only Western people in the café. We were viewed with a great deal of curiosity. I think they were waiting to see how we would handle our chopsticks!
I was struck by how friendly the people were especially compared to the north. A few times in our wandering we stopped to check maps. As soon as we did so, people would stop and ask if we needed assistance. The South Vietnamese looked generally happier and healthier. I gleamed from the conversations we had that the country is still very clearly divided.
After lunch, we visited Reunification Palace. This is where the war finally ended when the North Vietnamese crashed through the gates in their tanks and took the palace.
Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel and took well needed showers then headed off to the shopping area so Alan could do some shopping. We found a large shopping complex where you could find pretty much anything you need at bargain prices. Alan got some really great dress shirts for very little money.
Having heard that the rooftop bar at the Sheraton was the best place to see the sunset, we headed over there for a cocktail after the shopping. We hung there for a while and then went back to the hotel to drop off Alan’s purchases and then returned to that same area and had a lovely dinner at a place called Lemongrass.
Sheraton Rooftop:
Our next stop was for cocktails at the rooftop bar at the Rex Hotel. This was a favorite spot of the American GIs. It was also talked about a lot in the book Up Country so I was insistent that we check it out. We had a fantastic table overlooking the street below. There was live music. The band clearly loved the song “Hotel California” because they sang it three times in the hour or so we were there.
After the Rex, we went to the Caravelle Hotel for drinks and some food. We stayed there listing to their live band and people watching. We took a cab back to the hotel because the city seemed to shut down early and I was hesitant to walk back. The hotel wasn’t too far so the cab driver just told us to pay him whatever we wanted. I gave him $5 which was probably too much but I figure that’s about what I would have paid in NYC for a similar ride. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|03:29 pm] |
3/27
We left the hotel early. We stopped at another to hotel to pick up other people on the tour. A young couple, whom Alan and I called “Kissy Wissy and Schmoopie Pie” because they were always hanging all over each other, were late coming to the bus. Everyone else was on board waiting about 30 minutes for them as the tour guide went off to look for them. When they got on they acted like everything was fine. You could tell that the rest of the bus was completely fed up with them.
We again boarded the small boat which we took to meet the large boat again. The large boat took us back to Halong City where we met our bus. After stopping for lunch we took the bus back to Hanoi, the ride seeming longer and more treacherous on the way back. This was compounded by the fear that we would not make it to Hanoi airport in time for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City that evening.
The highlight of the ride back was when we saw a large bull, which has obviously gotten away from his master, running down the middle of the street. This was clearly not something that happens all the time as all the people on the street, on bikes and in cars stopped to watch this amazing site.
We were supposed to get to Hanoi by 4pm but didn’t get back to our hotel until 5pm. We hopped a taxi to the airport panicked that we would miss our 6:30 flight. We made it to the airport and checked in and got to the gate just in time… only to find our flight delayed. We were pretty hungry but there weren’t very many food options plus we were out of cash and there was no ATM.
The 2- hour flight felt very long. We had booked our hotel in Ho Chi Minh (HCMC), formerly Saigon, through the hotel in Hanoi. It was a good choice. The hotel was centrally located and clean. In the taxi ride from the airport, we were struck immediately that HCMC was a much more happening city.
We went to a little restaurant across the street and had some amazing Pho (traditional Vietnamese soup). I ordered one that had dumplings stuffed with chicken and ginger. Delicious. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|03:24 pm] |
3/26
Breakfast was on the boat. We transferred to a smaller boat to continue our tour of the bay. The transfer was made by them pulling the two boats near each other and then climbing from one to the other. This was slightly challenging, as the one boat was smaller and lower than the other. We stopped at a one of the islands of Cat Ba where we were to ride our bikes about 2.5 miles and then hike. It was amazing and serene. The town we biked to was very small. I spoke with one of the people there. I was trying to get an idea of how far people go from their island. I asked if he had ever been to Hanoi. He hadn’t. The farthest he’d been was Cat Ba City.
We hiked through a bit of the jungle. It was supposed to be a longer hike but because it had been raining they were concerned about the conditions.
Back on the boat, we went a large raft in the middle of the bay where we had lunch and then took kayaks out on the bay. I had never kayaked before but really enjoyed it. Afterwards we visited Monkey Island. We got to see a couple of monkeys but not nearly as many as one would expect on “Monkey Island.” At this island, we literally had to walk a plank to get on and off the boat.
Alan "monkeying" around on Monkey Island:
Our boat then took us to Cat Ba City where we stayed in a really nice resort. It was nice to finally be in a place with hot water, a comfy bed and other amenities. We took a long walk on ramparts above the bay. It was really incredible.
We had dinner (which was included) at the hotel. We were clearly given the “western” menu. We saw tables of Koreans being served “eastern” food. While we would have preferred the “eastern” menu the food was excellent. Exhausted from the day’s adventures, we went to bed. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|03:16 pm] |
5/25
After another lovely breakfast at our hotel, we set out for Haling Bay for a 3 day 2 night trip. The first night was to be on a “junk” boat and the second in a resort. It was approx a 3 hour drive from Hanoi to Halong City in a small mini-van over some pretty bumpy roads. The farther we got from Hanoi we saw fewer motorbikes and more traditional bikes. The people carry EVERYTHING on their bikes from food and drink to large glass windows and chickens. We even saw on motorbike with a pig on either side. Our rest stop along the way was at a ceramics factory/store. There were some truly amazing pieces there. I was tempted to buy a beautiful tea set but fear breaking it before it could arrive back to Doha let alone the US. (This will prove to be a very wise idea as you learn more about the trip to Halong Bay).
It seems all of the tours going out on the bay leave at the same time so there was some serious boat gridlock. We saw about three boats “crash” into each other. At one point, one of the large junk boats almost capsized a tiny rowboat. I was glad I was in a large boat.
We arrived in Halong Bay and boarded our boat “The imperial Junk”—which was actually quite nice. Our room, while small, was very clean and nice. We had opted to pay slightly more for the trip and stay on nicer boats to avoid some of the nightmarish stories we had heard about rats and such on board. Lunch was on the boat. The first few dishes they brought out we all deep-fried but then an array of fresh vegetables and fish arrived. The food was served family style. At our first meal we sat with an older French couple. They were friendly but didn’t speak much English. Luckily, Alan and I both speak French (his better than mine) so we were able to converse a little.
After lunch, we moved to the top of the boat to see Halong Bay. It was a bit overcast but still a spectacular site better seen in the pictures below than described.
We stopped at one of the islands and visited some pretty amazing caves. Afterwards, there was time to swim but it was really too cold to do so. We had some coffee on the rooftop and then a quick nap before dinner on the boat.
At dinner we sat with an Australian couple who were at the end of 3 weeks through Vietnam. They had enjoyed their trip but seemed happy to be going home. After dinner, most of the people on the boats went to bed. Alan and I sat out on the boat’s roof for a while. It was incredibly serene. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|03:10 pm] |
5/23
Easter Sunday- I realized that over two years I had spent most of my holidays in very expected but incredible ways (Thanksgiving in Sri Lanka, Christmas in Thailand, etc).
We had breakfast at a lovely café where with some good people watching opportunities. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and took a Tuk Tuk to the airport to find that there was a $25 per person “departure tax” we weren’t aware of. We flew to Ho Chi Minh City and then to Hanoi. It was 11pm before we got to Hanoi. We booked a hotel at the airport. We were hoping for something good since we were paying $20 per night (a decent amount in Vietnam). We were very disappointed. The room was a bit moldy. The bathroom sketchy. The shower was just a hose on the wall. I decided better to be grimy for one night.
5/24
We woke early and left the hotel immediately and set off to find something better. We found the fabulous Viet Anh hotel which was recommended in our guidebook. The rooms were very simple but clean. It included a free buffet breakfast which they let us eat that morning even though we hadn’t stayed that night. The only downside of the room was that it was on the 4th floor of the walk-up. We were again thrilled that we packed so light. We set off to explore the city by foot.
Hanoi is completely overwhelming. The traffic is like nothing I had seen before. There are few cars but millions of motorbikes which drive with a system I could not figure out. They whiz all around you constantly honking their horns to alert other drivers and the few pedestrians of their location—I actually found this counter-productive as there was SO much honking I couldn’t figure what it was supposed to be warning me of.
We learned that the majority of museums and sites are closed on Mondays. Therefore, we opted to wander the city and see what we could see. We walked a ways and found a lovely Buddhist Temple. It was amazing how walking just about 50 yards from the street into the gardens how serene it became. We wandered the gardens and the temple. I’m always amazed at how some tourists are completely unaware that they are in a religious place of worship. They talk loudly and walk right in front of people praying to Buddha.
We left the temple and continued on a ways next to the lake. I saw swan paddleboats and decided that we should do that. Again Alan asked for life jackets and got a confused look from the man showing us to our paddleboat. The boats were clearly designed for the much smaller Vietnamese people. Our long American legs were in our chests as we tried to paddle. We paddled out a ways and then just let ourselves drift watching young Vietnamese couples who used these boats as a way to have romantic meet-ups away from the eyes of their conservative elders.
Paddling back, against the current, was hard work. Back on shore we decided it was time find a café and have a coffee. I had fallen in love with the iced Vietnamese coffee—a very strong brew of coffee ice cold with condensed milk. Not exactly a low cal option but absolutely delicious. After our rest we continued on our walk. We found the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum. After walking through the fairly dismal and unkempt city, it was shocking to see this place so lavish with beautiful gardens and elaborate buildings. It was a clear example of why communism doesn’t work.
I felt we were very much under the watchful gaze of the military guards. It seemed they were just waiting for us to make a wrong move so they could harass us. We continued on our way. The one museum which was to be open was the Literary Temple which was clearly a draw for Alan and me. Before this, we decided we needed something to eat. This was not so easy a thing to deal with. There are very few restaurants in Hanoi. We walked for nearly 40 minutes without seeing any place to eat. When I was just about to gnaw my hand of we found a noodle bar. It turned out it was a Vietnamese chain restaurant but was actually very good. Feeling much better, we visited the Literary Temple.
The Literary Temple was really the first University in Vietnam. It had large lovely gardens. In on of the pagoda style buildings surrounded by lovely gardens we were treated to some amazing local music and dance.
Afterwards, we began our way back towards the hotel hoping to stop at a café which came highly recommended in our guidebook. It turns out the place must have closed because we found the address but there was no café. We settled for another small place. I had a beer (which was cheaper than juice or soda). The local beers were very enjoyable and obviously nice on the pocket. The café was clearly a local meeting place for those finishing up there day. As we sat, numerous Vietnamese men of varied ages came in, drank beer, and chatted with friends.
We returned to our hotel to shower and have a little rest before we ventured out to see the famous water puppet show. Alan ingeniously rigged our shower so that we didn’t have to hold the shower hose the entire time.
I was feeling quite exhausted and on sensory overload as we walked back out on to the, now busier, streets. Taking our lives in our hands we made our way to the water puppet show only to find that it was sold out for the next three days. Again we set out to find something to eat. Although easier than at lunchtime, it was shocking how difficult it was to find restaurants in such a large city. We finally found a nice little place and had some nice food. During our travels we learned you are often best to order some small dishes to sample. We had some spring rolls which you self-prepare (the Vietnamese spring rolls are filled with amazing fresh ingredients and NOT deep fried) and some crab. Still a bit hungry, we went to another restaurant across the street where we had delicious crepes.
Arriving back at the hotel, I was never so happy to be indoors and away from the chaos on the streets. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|03:04 pm] |
March 22, 2008
3/22
Today we planned a tour of the Floating Villages and the Sunken Forest by a private boat drive. We were picked up at our hotel and driven approx an hour out of Siem Reap to a boat dock where we boarded a power boat to take us on the tour. We had the boat to ourselves. Alan was trying to ask the guy about life vests. He clearly didn’t understand (or didn’t want to).
We saw the Floating Villages- villages on the water- which had everything one could need on a daily basis. From your houseboat you would take your rowboat/powerboat to another boat to buy supplies. There were also a number of boats which would “deliver” supplies to the house. We saw a floating basketball court. It looked like a large floating raft completely fenced in to keep from the losing the ball. We wondered if this was formerly a prison of sorts.
After about an hour on the boat, we arrived to a very small village which we needed to walk through to get to the Sunken Forest. As soon as our boat pulled up, there were a number of women and children waiting for us to sell us pencils and notebooks. They claimed these were to aid the school. I made the mistake of giving one of the little girls some money. When I did this more people came to us. They followed us all through the village. Walking through this very tiny village we were as much as spectacle as we were tourists trying to get a glimpse of their lives. It was actually uncomfortable. Because the village was so small and the people so poor (houses didn’t have doors or windows), I felt like intruders.
After walking a short way, we came to a Buddhist Temple which we realized separated two villages. It was absolutely incredible how the people who were following us through the first village stopped at the temple and would not cross into the next village. In the second village, the people ignored us for the most part. While they would glance at us curiously, we got the impression that they were too proud to beg or pay us must attention.
After walking a ways, we gave up on finding the Sunken Forest and turned back. As soon as we entered the first village again, we were followed all the way back to the boat. Though, at this point we had fewer people following us as another boat with two other western tourists arrived so the energies were refocused. Back at the boat, we gave some money to the villages and I handed out some of the granola bars I had in my backpack.
On the way back, we stopped at a floating restaurant for lunch. The food wasn’t great but at that point we were starving and needed something. Once back at the “port”, we met the driver who was to take us back to Siem Reap. He was a highlight of our visit to Cambodia. His English was incredible. He gave us great insight to the history of Cambodia as well as the current political state. He knew of Qatar because he has given a tour to some other people working in education there.
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| (no subject) |
[May. 8th, 2008|01:30 pm] |
March 19/20, 2008
This was my last (joyous) day at WCMC-Q as well as the day we would be heading of to Vietnam and Cambodia. I was exhausted from all the moving around (I had to move my stuff out of my apartment and into Alan’s). It is amazing how much stuff one can amass in 2 years especially when I think about how little I buy/keep! I can’t imagine the life of a packrat.
Our flight was at midnight. I had used some of my Qatar Airways miles to upgrade us to business class. I kept this a surprise for Alan until we pulled up to the Business Class Terminal at the airport (yes in Doha if you are flying business class on Qatar Airways you have your own deluxe terminal).
Since we were going to be so much traveling around on this trip we packed very light bringing only small backpacks. Going through security, Alan realized he left he pocketknife in his suitcase and ended up having it confiscated. It seemed a better option that checking our backs and taking the change on losing them.
Our flight left right on time for Bangkok. It was not a pleasant flight. The plane was very hot, my seat was broken and wouldn’t recline and my TV wouldn’t work. Alan’s TV would only play the movies in German. After flying over night we arrived in Bangkok exhausted. We found our way to the ticket counter to claim our tickets to go to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The flight two Cambodia was only 1 hour.
After getting our visas and making our way through immigration, we emerged into the chaos of the airport. People were pulling us in every direction trying to get us to take their taxi or tuck tuck or bike into town. We had arranged that our hotel should pick us up. They were nowhere to be found. We bit the bullet and took a car to town.
Our hotel, The Dead Fish Inn, for $16 per night turned out to be a nightmare (I guess I should have known with a name like that) even though it had good reviews on tripadvisor and the Lonely Planet Guide. The rooms were dark and absolutely covered with mold. The mold was not just in the bathroom either but all over the room. As we walked through I saw a massive roach and a gecko and decided this was not for us. We thanked the man and left. We were standing outside the hotel looking at our map and trying to decide another option when the guy at the hotel next door approached us and asked if we wanted to stay there. We figured we might as well look at the room. It was simple but clean and in good condition AND it was even cheaper. It was $13 per night but when I told him we would stay three nights he dropped it down to $10 per night. Can beat that.
We wandered a little and then took a nap. That evening we wandered more through Siem Reap. It’s a lovely little town with many cute little restaurants and shops. We made it an early night because we had plans to go to the Angkar Temples for sunrise the next morning.
March 21, 2008
We woke up at 4am to get ready to go to the temples. Thankfully we had a little fridge in our room so had bought some breakfast food the night before. After a quick breakfast, we went outside to meet our tuck-tuck driver (which we had arranged the night before). He would be our driver for the day. It was incredibly dark.
Here's Alan as we prepare to leave at 4am (luckily since I am the one with the camera there isn't one of me!)
I was surprised at how chilly it had gotten. The ride to Angkar Wat was about 15 minutes. When we got there, our guide just sort of waved us off in the direction of the temples. It was a little frightening because we didn’t have a flashlight or anything and it was pitch black. I could tell where we were walking had water on both sides of us but I wasn’t sure how close it was. I could hear dogs barking and monkeys screeching in the distance but I wasn’t sure how far away they were. I was panicked that we would be attacked.
Luckily after walking only a short way, we came across a bunch of tourists who were doing a photography tour so had large lights. We kept close behind them.
We got into position and waited for the sun to rise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most spectacular sunrise but it was pretty amazing to all of a sudden see these amazing buildings “appear” around you as the sky got light.
Here I am... this is after the sun had already started to come up:
We spent quite a while wandering around Angkar Wat. One could definitely spend incredibly amounts of time trying to discover all the little hidden bits of the temple.
Afterwards, we made our way back in the direction of our driver but decided to stop and have something to eat. I was accosted by a little girl trying to sell me some bracelets (no matter where you go someone is always following you to buy something). She was so cute. She asked me where I was from and I told her the US she said: Your president is George Bush. He lives in the White House. Your Capitol is Washington, DC. Your independence day is July 4… and so on. She had obviously been taught these facts in order to charm people into buying her wares. Of course it worked.
We had a decent little breakfast and then went to look for our driver. This proved more difficult than I expected as there must have been nearly 200 tuck tucks sitting outside the temples. Luckily, I was awake just enough early that I was able to recognize our driver. He was sleeping. He was smarter than we were.
We set off to explore some of the other temples included Angkar Thom. We were able to find our way away from the throngs of tourists (but still on the “beaten track” as you don’t want to stray for fear of Landmines… no joke… more later on that) and discovered some really cool sites.
Around 1pm, we decided to head back to the city. It has gotten incredibly hot and humid and we were exhausted. Back in Siem Reap, we had a nice lunch and then sat in a café for a while to relax, people watch and read our books. Before I knew it, I was asleep in the chair. I think the jetlag and heat and a bit of dehydration had caught up to me.
After a short nap, we booked a tour for the next day and then went out in search of dinner and drinks. We made it another somewhat early night as it had been a long day and we had another early morning facing us in the morning. |
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| Doha Farewell Party |
[Mar. 16th, 2008|02:35 pm] |
I hosted my final party in Doha on Friday. As usual, it was loads of work but a great time. Here are some pictures.
I'm down to 3 days of work! Woohoo! I leave Wednesday for Vietnam and will be back in the states on April 2. |
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[Mar. 11th, 2008|08:27 am] |
I find the spelling error on this tag hysterical!
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[Mar. 11th, 2008|08:22 am] |
6 more working days left!
The past weeks have been very busy trying to plan for my trip to Vietnam/Cambodia, pack and move, finish up stuff at work, and try to see all my friends.
This past Saturday night at around 7pm Alan and I decided we wanted to go out and do something. We weren't hungry so we didn't want to eat. We didn't want to go to the movies because it would be very crowded. So, what else is there to do? Go have tea at the Ritz Carlton. Duh!
Here's a picture of me in front of the Ritz. You would think the Ritz could afford the whole tree!
Sunday night a group of us went to the Irish Harp (the Irish Pub in the Sheraton) to hear our friend Glen sing. It was a nice evening.
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[Mar. 2nd, 2008|09:31 am] |
This weekend was fun but busy. Thursday night my friend's Joe and Melissa had a BBQ at their place. It was great fun especially because I got to finally meet their new baby!
Friday night Alan had a huge pizza party at his apartment. All the guests were instructed to bring a pizza topping of their choice. Alan and I made 20lbs worth of dough! The rising dough was hilarious. See pictures:
There were some really good and creative pizza combinations. I think my favorite was a white pizza with squid and veggies.
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[Mar. 2nd, 2008|09:28 am] |
Thursday the movers came to take the stuff I'm shipping to the states. Because I had done so much prep work, the process was quick and easy. I was sad after they left though. It made it all feel REAL. While I'm excited to be going back to NY and I know this is the best thing, it's sad to leave my current home.
Thursday afternoon I got to do something very exciting. I went to the US embassy (the process of getting there is a nightmare because of construction and security) to get additional pages in my passport! I think it's very exciting that my passport was FULL of stamps!
Alan and I are going to Vietnam and Cambodia before I come back to the states. I needed additional pages for the visa for the trip! |
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| News |
[Feb. 28th, 2008|01:58 am] |
I've done my best trying to make the rounds, so hopefully this won't come as news to any of my readers...
I'm coming back to the states! I got a great job back at Parsons. I'll be returning at the beginning of April. It's bittersweet as I love Qatar, but the job opportunity combined with being near family and friends and in NYC was too good to turn down.
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[Feb. 10th, 2008|02:55 pm] |
My return trip to Doha was even more eventful than my trip heading to the states.
I arrived to Newark airport and learned that my flight was canceled. After waiting two hours, I was finally rebooked for the next day and sent to the Marriot Hotel (on Qatar Airways bill). I must say it was a nice hotel and the service was incredible. If anyone ever has the need to stay at a hotel at Newark airport that's the one.
I was back the airport at 6am. I was to fly on Virgin Airways to London. I learned at checkin that the Qatar Airways rep the night before had filled out my flight voucher wrong and didn't write that I was to be on business class. The Virgin Airways guys was able to put me in premium economy not not upper class.
After taxing to the runaway, a mysterious cell phone was discovered on the plane. It didn't belong to anyone so for obvious security reasons we had to return to the terminal to give back the phone. (I thought it would have been much faster and fuel efficient to send someone out on one of those carts to collect the phone). Then we had to refuel because apparently you waste a lot of fuel on the taxi.
Because of this, we arrived late to London which meant I missed my connecting flight. Of course, there were no Qatar Airways ground staff around to assist. Virgin Airways told me when the next Qatar flights were. I found a hotel and crashed. Back at the airport the next day, I was finally put on a return flight and returned safely to Doha late Saturday night (instead of early Friday evening as planned).
That aside, the rest of my trip to the states was wonderful! Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to my party and to visit at other times. |
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[Jan. 18th, 2008|09:24 am] |
My friend Dana returned to Doha early early morning on Wednesday. She didn't have someone from her company meeting her and didn't know exactly where her apartment was. (I think I've mentioned before we don't really have street names nor map quest so it's very hard to find things). At 4am, I got a call from the guardhouse in my compound. It was Dana saying: I don't know where I live! Can I stay with you???
I of course said yes. So Dana had our reunion at 4am. Unfortunately, I had to get up for work at 6am, so I didn't have too much time to chat.
***
Thursday morning my flight to the states was scheduled to leave for Washington DC. At boarding time, we were told there was something wrong with our plane and we wouldn't be leaving until 7:40pm! Now, I don't have a problem with this. If there is something wrong with the plane I DON'T want to be on it. They told us they were going to take us to a hotel. I tried to explain that I live in town and could just go home. For some reason, this was baffling to them so I figured I would just go to the hotel.
First they had to issue us vouchers for the hotel. This took 45 minutes.
Then we had to go through immigration because technically we had already left the country. As I was going through immigration, the woman was totally baffled. She kept asking me where I flew in from. I kept trying to explain that I hadn't gone anywhere. Eventually she had a guy come over and he finally understood. He took my passport off to another room and made me wait. This whole bit was another 45 minutes.
Then I went out to the shuttle bus to the hotel and we had to wait 20 minutes for more passengers who never arrived.
Once I got to the hotel Dana met me and we had lunch. Later Alan drove me back to the airport. I didn't want to go with the shuttle bus because it would have put me at the airport too early.
Once we were on the plane, we were delayed another hour. We finally took off at nearly 9pm. The flight time was 15 hours. We arrived to DC at around 4:30am. By the time I got through immigration, baggage claim, customs, and took a taxi to my hotel it was almost 6am. I'm skipping the morning sessions of my conference to get some rest. |
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[Jan. 10th, 2008|11:26 am] |
Here's one of Alan and I at a goodbye BBQ Russ had before the holidays.
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[Jan. 10th, 2008|11:21 am] |
Another one bites the dust...
My good friend Russ left Doha (for good) on the 29th of December. One of the first friends I made when I came to Doha and my best salsa dancing partner made it very sad to see him go.
In good news, my good friend and faketennis partner Dana will be returning to Doha on the 18th of January to work on "the look" for the Doha Olympics 2016 bid. Of course, as luck has it I'll be out of the country from the 17th-1st of Feb so our reunion will have to wait until then.
Here's Lauren, Dana and I doing our Double Lunge Thrusts on the streets of Bahrain:
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