I played a soccer/football on Thursday night. I was asked by a colleague at Carnegie Mellon to play on the Doha Rugby Club's soccer/football team for this ladies tournament happening at Aspire (the fancy sports training complex). I said yes not really knowing what I was getting myself into because I just wanted to friggin' play some ball. And by not knowing what I was getting myself into I mean walking into the stadium and feeling like I was on another planet. Everything is in Arabic. All ladies, no guys (BTW I could never imagine not having my dad at one of my games...I respect the culture, but it is so sad). Lots of staring by local women at the unusual sight of a few Westerns in their presense. And Security takes your mobile so you cannot take photos (it is like a coat check, including receiving a number for your mobile (mine was number 174) to reclaim later...and then they put it with the thousands of other phones in a few suitcases in the corner). And they do these fancy introduction of everyone before the games (when they called my name I totally did a funky curtsey...it rocked compared to the serious Nazi-like salutes of nearly everyone else...you gotta have fun, people, in an environment like this!). But we lost 1-0. It was so frustrating! We were way better than the other team. I am not going to lie and I know I sound full of myself, but I could handle about three of their players at a time. But you cannot win games on your own own and we defeated ourselves almost immediately. Many of my teammates were intimidated (I am finding not much really freaks me out nowadays thanks to my time here in Qatar). Plus, since we (except for little me) were bigger, I think many of my teammates were afraid of doing damage to one of our opponents. I do not mind losing if you give 100%, but if you do not, I get REALLY frustrated. I even tried to create a little magic in the second half to help us get more shots on goal by colliding with players on the other team, especially down on their end, and then overdoing a fall to get a call (I think I could win an Academy Award for acting out these falls because they are done just right - I do not act like I get injured or cry or anything like that, I just use my small size to my advantage). But it was still a very cool cultural experience.
And then on Friday I took a few students to the American School of Doha to volunteer at their Friendship Festival (do a green audit and then help out with games and such). ASD might be the nicest K-12 school I have ever seen (I think it kind of looks like a cruise ship) and thus I do not know why they need to do fundraisers like this. I just hope the money raised goes to scholarships to help kids whose families do not have the means for such a great education. But volunteering nevertheless was a lot of fun. I ate a lot of ice cream and ran the bowling booth. My booth was very popular with the kiddies. I even roped in two kids - Alexa (5) and Sebastian (6) from Venezuela - to help me run the booth. They made sure others stayed in line (because usually there was a line), they helped me collect and deliver balls, they loved counting the number of pins out loud to let the kids know how many pins they successfully knocked down, and they REALLY loved cheering on the other kids. We were a great little team. One of my favorite moments of the day was when Alexa asked me where I was from and my answer was, "You tell me." She then said, "The North Pole!" "Not quite," I responded. Then Sebastian said seriously, "Russia." I finally told them the United States and in unison they said, "Really?" It was great. Being around kids is good for the soul, or at least my soul. There is supposedly a couple great pictures of the three of us at work and so if I get them, I will try to remember to post them.
And THEN yesterday I went on my first and likely last (because it is starting to get really hot again) desert trip. I went with a colleague who works at Texas A&M and some of his friends from his church (many who were at the ASD Friendship Festival and remembered me: "You did bowling yesterday! My kids could not get enough of that!"). They go out to the desert at least once a month (but usually more) and thus I felt I was in good hands (in fact, the two leaders of the group (there were nine SUVs total) are I guess pilots for the Emir and thus fly Qatar's equivalent of Air Force One). It was quite bumpy at times, but a whole lot of fun! Here are some photos:
Off we go!
It kind of randomly reminded me of skiing...
Made it! There was a really steep dune that a couple of the SUVs had trouble going up. But in the end everyone got up it. We got up it in our first try with power to spare. I learned it is good to have a light SUV with a powerful engine.
Now I think this is a dope picture of me on top of a massive dune. Thanks, Justin!
About to go down a really massive dune. Yikes!
And down we go! It does not look that steep from this angle, but it is. Trust me. But I would have loved to sled down it.
Driving through one of the flat areas.
Stuck! The sand in some spots can be really soft and thus a heavier SUV needs to be careful or it could get stuck...and that is exactly what happened to this guy. But that is why you go in groups with experienced folks who know how to remedy the situation.
Just a picture of some of the dunes. I used a setting on my camera to intensify the color.
That is Saudi Arabia across the Inland Sea! Ahhhhhh!
I think it kind of looks like the Badlands of South Dakota (minus the water).
Time to play in the Inland Sea and BBQ it up!
The water was so clear...and kind of cold (I was surprised that it was not super hot). But it felt so good!
Me in my bikini. Swimming in the waters of conservative Qatar. With ultraconservative Saudi in the background. And a sand/duststorm is developing. Am I the only one who finds this picture amazing?
Driving home. Nothing but flat desert!
So that is that! And in 24 hours I will be on my way to the airport for a trip HOME!!!
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