Finally Edition

At last!

This will be my last entry while standing on this rock called Qatar.  We are holding our breath each day, waiting for the next shot across our bow.  I’ve been called in twice and yelled at just to make sure I still know who is in charge. All I got from that was I still know who is crazy!  I got told that I had no right to share grades with my students.  That they would be given grades on the last day of school and not before – so much for transparency and reflection!  I was also told that I had no right to tell them anything about next year – the students have no right to ask questions that don’t concern them like who their teacher might be next year.  The statement that caused me to bite my cheek was, “there are too many questions being asked and no learning happening in the class.” The director told me that she “will” make changes just so they don’t know and “she” will tell them when they walk back in next year.  Wow!  Who’d of thought?  Got a letter from the principle yesterday saying that all my comments were wrong and I needed to retype them – strange since they had already been approved by the HOD and MYP coordinator – just another show of authority.  During the last reporting period, my comments were used as an example of how they “should” be written.  However, only 5 more days of bi-polar education left.

We still haven’t been paid and that has been a stress for the past few days.  It will get to a point that we can’t get our money out of the country before we leave.  They limit the amount we can send out each day and we are restricted on how much cash we can carry.  The school is still telling us it is so that we don’t run away – just another control game, because they still are holding our passports and have not issued exit visas.  We are supposed to close our bank accounts before we leave, but will not be able to get our money out – we just get the shoulder shrug when we ask.

Shippers come tomorrow after school, so that will be one more thing off the worry list.  We have a little more than we thought, but still less than half of what we brought.  We have been taking stuff to school every day to give to the workers – amazing how much happiness that brings to them. 

It sounds like we have some HOT weather on the way.  Dust storms in Central Saudi Arabia are having temperatures in the 60’s (140+ F) and the storms should be here later this week, time to go!

5 more days - 6 and we will be home.

Lesson of the Week: Can’t fix stupid.

Love you all,

Doug and Missie

Less than 2 weeks to go!!!!

Wow,

Fourteen more days and we can be free.  We no longer have access to a car, so we are reliant on the good will of friends.  I guess it is a good thing – I finally got my first speeding ticket on a trip to the store last week – it was a fair ticket, so I can’t really complain (other than the cost of $137.)  The frustrating thing was that it was my last week of driving and I had made it unscathed for almost two years – but still better than most.

Grades are done and reports are in – bad thing is that the kids know it.  With two weeks of school left, it is going to be a struggle to keep any resemblance of order in the classroom.  Then again, we are just as fried as they are and I foresee games and movies as a core platform to the educational experience for the last 9½ days.

Shippers should be here on the 23^rd and our stuff should beat us home by a day.  Not much to ship home, but just too expensive to check extra bags.  We are actually bringing back about 300 lbs. less than we came with, so I guess that is good.  Each time we do this, we realize how much we can live without.

For those of you that follow news in the Middle East, you might have seen the recent discussions about the slavery in Qatar and how several of the watch groups are now bringing it to the world’s attention.  Hopefully the 2022 World Cup will force Qatar into accountability with the rest of the world.  Here is a News Special about the issue – some of the statistics were very interesting to me, especially the number of citizens vs. the number of workers.  A simple slow down will cripple this country – and the workers are already discussing it.  

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/06/201261472812737158.html

We are well compensated, but we have been victims of this “sponsorship” system they have here.  Being prisoners unless your sponsor says you can have an exit visa, no rights when they change contracts, and the constant fear that they can have you deported and take your earnings.

Back in AZ on June 29^th at 5:10 PM – can’t wait!!!

Lesson of the Week: Money is the true corruptor of the world.

Love you all,

Doug and Missie

Fire and Dust

Howdy,

Down to the last few enjoyable weeks in Qatar.  I’ve mentioned over the past couple years about the beautiful dust storms we get here that last for weeks – well, they blew back in on Thursday and are expected to last the week.  Constant winds at 50 to 70 mph and difficult to breath even inside with all the dust.  We cleaned Friday for several hours and today, can’t tell the difference – dust covering everything.  I tossed in a couple videos from our trip to the grocery store this morning - right up to the door of our abode.

Last week was a sad week in Qatar.  There was a fire in Villagio Mall in Doha that killed 21 people.  Almost all of the victims were expats – 13 of them children in the nursery.  Two families lost three children each – one was a set of triplets from New Zealand.  http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/qatar/qatar-studies-smoke-pockets-in-deadly-mall-fire-1.1030510

The blame game has started, but we all know that it will get swept under the carpet and people will get paid off to keep quiet.  The Minister of the Interior issue a “warning” to media by ordering anyone arrested that spread rumors.  The arrest warrants went out before the building was safe to enter – blame someone first before a finger gets pointed at me.  All of the construction in Qatar is the same – disaster waiting to happen.  I wonder if this will catch the eye of the 2022 World Cup Committee???

School!  Hmmmm???? Well, we just have to laugh each day to make it through.  We are now prisoners.  They took our Passports, Resident Permits, Visas, School ID Cards, Parking Permits, and Insurance cards, so basically we are incapable of conducting any type of business.  That should be a challenge next week when we are trying to ship things home.  We should get ALL of our final pay on the 15^th, so they say it is to keep us from running away.  Such trust!!!  They will be keeping about $1000 each from our pay – they can’t show us the policy, but they say they can keep it if we don’t turn in all our paperwork (and they have made that threat multiple times.)  They will give us a checkout list on the 27^th and we fly out on the 29^th – nothing like last minute.  Our half-day on the 28^th has been cancelled – no reason given, just cause!

Spent the weekend packing and sorting.  We think we should be able to keep the shipping to less than 250 lbs.  I think it is pretty good since we shipped 500 lbs. and were able to bring 4 - 70 lbs. bags here on the plane.  We can only bring 1 - 50 lbs. bag + carry-on home with out running up some huge costs.  As usual, we will be giving a lot of stuff to the workers at school.  Just can’t see selling it for a few bucks when it means so much to them.

Lesson of the Week: We have a choice – many others don’t.

Love you all,

Doug and Missie

Dubai Edition

From the outside

Experts Only :-)

Sit here, smile and wave

Trouble maker

Just plain wrong how they are mounted

Sneaky Eel

Hi,

Well we finally did it – we hopped over to Dubai for the weekend.  Yes, it is just like they say – everything in Dubai has to be bigger and better – at least to middle-eastern standards.  We did all the things you would never be caught dead doing if your friends were watching.  We went skiing indoors at the Mall of the Emirates – it was so laughable it was actually fun.  We felt like experts, because the “Expert ONLY” run was about like our driveway after it gets plowed.  We could make it from top to bottom in about 15 seconds (really, I timed it) and right back on the lift –usually 10-15 empty chairs in front and in back of us. 

Next it was off to the Mall of Dubai and the Burj Khalifa.  We wanted to get some good grub before seeing any more tourist attractions, so we headed to the Texas Roadhouse.  ALL USDA beef and run by folks from the states that remember what customer service is all about.  Had a great plate of ribs (beef L, still no pork) and a couple great steaks with all the fix’ns.  Next it was out to look at the tallest building in the world.  It was certainly tall, but I can’t say it really impressed me.  A ride up is about $110 USD and we were told it was a disappointing trip since you only go about halfway.  We opted for a couple pictures and back inside for what we came for – diving in the aquarium. 

Yes, only in Dubai can you scuba dive in a shark filled aquarium to the amusement of 1000s of onlookers.  Unfortunately, there was only one slot available when we got there, so since this was Missie’s fantasy, she got to go (plus the water was really cold and I didn’t really want to wear a wet suit).  I got to take pictures, so it all worked out.  Missie really had a good time – not really an exciting dive, but it was certainly a unique experience.  Just to say she did it!  It was quite funny how they were absolute control freaks about it.  She took out her regular to smile at me and you would have thought she “bang sticked” a shark.  She got scolded for several minutes and she had to hold the regulator to keep it from falling out while she laughed – that would have been a real breach of protocol.  She was told to come sit here (and wave to the people), then swim over here, sit and wave to the people and finally come over here and sit, wave at the people in the tunnel – keep smiling and holding the regulator in.  There were some pretty big sharks in the tank and a couple wanted to get too close, so they had to be pushed away – wonder how long that is going to keep working J. 

After the dive, we went back out to the Burj Khalifa and watched the water show (sort of like the one out side the Bellagio in LV).  It was good, but LV is still better.  At that point, we were touristed out and headed back to the hotel.  Hung out at the pool, a little dinner, couple drinks at the bar, and down for a good nights sleep.  The next day we relaxed around the hotel, had some lunch back at the mall and headed to the airport on the metro.  Overall a fun weekend!

We have 30 more days here on the Qatar rock.  We think we can do it—or at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.  Just a few more stresses and we can wash our hands of it.

Lesson of the Week: They got it all, but it still ain’t the USA.

Love you all,

Doug and Missie

12 days of Freedom Remain

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lull in my writing – buuuurrrrrnt out!  I thought the end of the year last year was tough, I don’t think we have even hit the high point yet and we are fried.  We got told last week that we had to turn in everything (passports, residence permit, parking permit, school ID, proof of plane tickets, and our insurance cards) by June 1^st or they will not pay us.  Threats, threats, threats – apparently the only way to get compliance in this country.  At that point, we will basically be under house arrest since we can do nothing without ID.  They will physically escort us to the plane June 29^th and give us our passports and exit visa.  We can no longer get into the pool or any QF facility – just keeps getting better!!

So, we must have one last hurrah!  I’ve booked tickets to Dubai next weekend and we plan on a big day of tourism to the max.  Heading to the indoor ski resort in the morning and then diving the Dubai aquarium in the afternoon.  What a hoot – we just gotta do it, just to say we did! 

A lot has happened since I last wrote.  Missie jumped on a plane and made a quick trip home.  She got to see the whole family; of course Koen too.  But, it was a whorl wind trip – about 60 hours travel and about 50 hours in AZ.  She came back happy and I know her mom was as well.

I sold the car the same weekend, so are now splitting the rental costs of a car with the couple we went to London with, Robby and Irena.  Seems to be working out okay, they sleep in late and stay up late – we go to bed early and get up early.  Young vs. old J.

We are now working out the last of the details in shipping stuff home.  We don’t have that much, but Qatar Airways is charging so much for extra baggage now (about $260 US per bag) if you connect with an American Airline, that we just had to find an alternative.  So we should be able to ship a 100 kg or so to PHX for about $600. 

The weather has gotten back to where it was when we arrived in 2010.  Averaging 46°C (115°F) with 75 to 80% humidity.  Now after all this time, the school decided that it is dangerous for students to be outside in the heat (doesn’t seem to stop them after school), so we are on indoor recess for the rest of the year.  Oh boy!!!  I’m back in my old pattern of school and then hitting the pool at our complex for an hour or so to read – seems to help me keep my sanity. 

Check out the pics of our new toy – gunna do some back road exploring this summer.

Lesson of the Week: Head down, eyes straight ahead.

Love you all,

Doug and Missie

Got the Score

Hi,

It was another fun week at the zoo.  Next weekend we get to spend it testing applicant students for next year – a little hypocrisy involved.  My fearless (rather worthless) leader stated back in November that they would need to fail half of the 4^th grades this year to get the class size down to one 5^th grade class next year.  One of their “new” big buzz phrases this year has been “Backwards Planning” (10 years old in the US).  Basically it means looking at what the goals are for students and then building instruction to meet those goals.  Unbeknownst to the children, our English Head of Department was backward planning their demise at our school.  Strange that I will be testing six new 5^th grade applicants – guess they will have to get rid of a few more students if I accept them.

On a really positive note, I feel like I got the last laugh this week.  After the newest standardized testing (Accer) I was finally presented with the results for English this week.  67% of my seventh graders were within the range of all 7^th grade students worldwide.  Compared to the next highest grade level at 22%.  Again, my all-knowing HOD spent almost 30 minutes trying to discredit the results.  Possibly that 0% of her 4^th graders were within the range – just an Educated guess?   I would think she would have been happy, since she had set the goals for her students to fail and they met her expectations.  I on the other had thought my job was to get them up to grade level and they met my expectations – strange how that worked.  I am extremely proud of them, especially since this is only their fourth year of English and they were performing between 2^nd and 4^th when I started teaching last year.

Again, we are trying to find a few funny things to share each week.  We took a few photos that we thought would get a chuckle.  The first is a picture looking out the window of the men’s toilet at our school.  If you look closely, you can see all the students lined up outside facing the window.  Maybe it is just me, but I really feel awkward standing there looking at students while aiming at the bowl  -- haram, haram!  The second is of a new salon “Rehab Saloon” that just opened – for those that need to look their best when recovering from bad choices and staring new habits.  The last is an oops that we laugh at on a regular basis.  They missed it “by that much!”  Nothing like one section of a bridge before the road goes in to mark the spot.  The cops love to sit there in the shade.  More fun to follow – we hope.

We missed Koen’s B-day this week, but we received several new pics – guess that will have to hold us.  Nick and Fran’s computer took a header this week, so they were without Skype – and we really need our weekly Koen fixes.  So, I suggested I would be willing to buy Koen his first computer – I got notified today that Koen loves his new IPad 3 – the old man got played! :-)

Lesson of the Week: If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.

Love to all,

Doug and Missie

Back with

Being silly at the museum

Mexican Food with friends

Flying with Thomas

View from up high

Last Supper

Tulips

Spargel was in season -- Mmmm good!

Zeppelin Museum

 

Mercedes Museum

We’re back at the grind,

Germany was awesome! More of the same, but even better.  We ate too much, drank just the right amount, laughed a lot, and simply relaxed.  We traveled to the Lake of Constance and the Island of Flowers where we saw over a million tulips blooming.  Stayed in a hotel that was built in 1723 and woke to fresh snow the next morning.  We then visited the Zeppelin Museum and the Mercedes Museum on the way home to Karlsruhe.  We spent quite a bit more time on motorcycles doing daily rides through the Black Forest and into France (so, Missie could get her éclairs.)  Clear air, chilly rainy weather, and the beauty of spring made it even better.

We got back and were met with rain – nice surprise.  Once again that left the next day and the dust storms came back – unbelievable!  We had one nice day this week and promptly ran to the beach after school.  The water is still a little chilly, so we should have a few more weeks before it is to hot to swim – hopefully we can get in some camping.  This has been much harsher weather (dust) this year and has kept us inside even more.  I did get to go fishing with one of my student’s parents last night and had a good time.  It was a little discouraging since they use seine nets, which are very indiscriminate.  No matter what was caught, it was allowed to die – even if they knew it was not edible.  I guess that is why nothing was much larger than 10 inches – including squid and crabs.

In trying to find humor while living here, we had a little chuckle the other evening while eating dinner at the mall.  The music selection in the mall was apparently a mix of songs from famous musicals.  A little “Maria” from the West Side Story, then “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Annie Get Your Gun (I was kind of taking note of the songs because of the overall meanings of the actual musicals) and then the kicker – “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof.  Someone in the music selection department was either really inept or had a great sense of humor.  And to cap it off, the call to prayer was right after it.  For those of you that aren’t up on your musicals – Fiddler on the Roof was a story about Jewish Immigrants – would be definite “haram” here.  Since we have to cut out all reference to Jews or the history of the Hebrew culture from our textbooks, then this was truly funny.

Missie and I are taking more PRAXIS tests today trying to get our certifications in order for Hawaii.  What a blast!  She is taking Math and Social Studies, while I am taking Principles and Practices for High School and Technology Instruction  -- my brain hurts!  I just love that we get to keep paying to take tests (about $600 this time) so we can have the privilege of teaching in public schools.

We have been rethinking our next six months after leaving this place, more to follow.

Lesson of the Week: Life is choices.

Love to all,

Doug and Missie