Two quick observations

I made it back to Doha. I will post a lonnnggg entry in a couple days with all the details and picture goodness. But before I forget:

1. Everything dies here. My plants, even though they should have lived since they do not need a lot of water, have died. And there are more dead cockroaches. This place sucks the life out of everything.

2. The baggage claim is the great equalizer. Some of you might not agree (or even realize it), but the 'isms' (racism, classism, sexism...) are alive and well at airports around the world. It is quite staggering. However, there is no getting around the baggage claim. God bless the baggage claim. :)

I am not going to say anything...

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=260186&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

One of the Most Boring Weeks Eva!

What is there to blog about? NOTHING. Nothing is going on. This week is Eid al Adha (Or Eid #2) and thus we have the week off. However, I am on-call and so I am relegated to sort of working. I gotta keep the on-call phone with me at all times, cannot go too far from Education City (nor do I want to anyway because I hate, hate, HATE driving here), must check email and such on a regular basis, etc. But to make matters more dire, the network is down and thus access to the internet is rather sporadic and I have no access to my files, printers, or voicemail. I really cannot do much of anything yet I cannot go anywhere...

So I am bored out of my mind. I sleep a lot (I am gaining a better understanding concerning why people sleep until 12 or 1 - they are bored, not lazy). Go for runs around Education City. Pack for my trip to Mexico (but I might be the world's most efficient packer and as a result it takes me basically no time to get my crap together). Read (but I am afraid to read too much because the books I have are supposed to be for my trip). Simplify my stuff (I am always on a quest to organize what I have...it is slightly OCD). Take baths. Kill cockroaches. Paint my nails. Research on the internet (when it is working): Kerala (I am going there for a week in January with my boss to attend a wedding (perhaps I get to wear a sari) and then check out the famous backwaters and hill stations), Lasik (I am so over wearing glasses and thus I want to get my eyeballs fixed this spring), and real estate (I am leaning towards only doing a year here and hence I want to buy my own little abode if I move back to the States this summer).

So there you go.

This might be the last post until I return from Mexico. So happy holidays! And viva Mexico!

A week of freedom!

London was what the doctor ordered. I direly needed a break. I did not do a lot on this trip. I have been to the UK several times before and thus I was not going to do the touristy stuff. The plan was to just visit friends, walk A LOT, browse shops and museums (art!), drink loads of hot chocolate in cafes, watch bad television, etc. It really was about being able to be me and getting back to my normal routine that I miss so much (like being able to walk places!).

I left Doha last Saturday on British Air's red eye flight to London via a quick stop in Bahrain. The massive 747 plane left Doha with only about ten people on it. It was kind of bizarre to have a whole section to oneself. See:

But more passengers did join the flight in Bahrain. Who the hell lives in Bahrain? BTW horrible airplane food! Not a strength of BA, but it is really not a strength of the British period. You do not go to the UK for good food.

I spent most of my days with Christina. She used to live next me growing up in Sedro-Woolley, but her family moved back to Greece where she finished high school and then she moved to the UK to attend university and has never left. We have always stayed in touch and it feels so good and real to be together every single time we meet up. We can chat endlessly about so many things...and laugh a lot (Favorite Christina quote of the week: "Cheese in this country is so poncy."). Fantastic times!

However, she had to work during the week and thus there were times I was on my own. No problem! I am not the biggest fan of London, but I think I lived there in a past life. I got the place down after my very first visit years ago. And I tend to have such good days in the weather department in London. It only rained on Tuesday. The other days were sunny or partly sunny. And cold, but I wanted it to be cold. It felt so good! I also visited my friend Nick "Chulo" Cross in Bath. He and I met last year in Boston through our friend Mike Kavulic and have stayed in touch ever since. However, I could never completely get away from Qatar (my reactions when I saw this: "I cannot get away from the f**kers!"):

This trip was so great, but it only added fuel to the fire that I need to change something about my current situation. I want my life back! AND the number of massive dead cockroaches I found in my apartment when I got home: 8. Yuck! But a week from today I leave for an almost two week holiday to Mexico with mi familia! I am thinking these trips are both good and bad - I get a break, but then I do not want to come back...