Days in the Middle East

A New Beginning

Moving to a new city usually requires a great deal of planning and preparation. The responsibility of packing, arranging for transportation and/or shipping of goods, informing friends and acquaintances of your departure, and overall mentally preparing for the changes that are about to come can be a bit overwhelming. However, since I’m not one to do things the “usual” way, I find myself sitting here in my new home in Doha, Qatar after an impromptu international move, prepping for another week of teaching at Al Hekma International School.

I recently began a new life teaching Social Studies to 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students, which after only two weeks of teaching has proven to be an intense & emotional activity (but that's a story for a different post). The demographics of the school are reflective of the demographics of Qatar as a nation. If you look inside one of my classrooms you will find students from all over the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula: Egyptians, Syrians, Palestinians,  Jordanians, Tunisians, very few Qataris, and sometimes even the occasional American. When you meet someone around the city, the conversation starter is typically "Where are you from?" and their response is never "Qatar." People always assume that I'm from Africa for some strange reason, which makes me want to give them a history lesson about the slave trade,  but I guess I can't really blame them for their ignorance because all the Arabs look the same to me regardless of their country of origin. 

Getting picked up from the airport
by a co-worker

My first few weeks in Qatar have been very eye-opening and certainly different from my normal life in the United States, but I can't say that I have had any real moments of culture shock, at least not in the way that I have in the past.  Although I wasn't met with any wonderment or amazement upon leaving the airport and moving into my new home, the transition from American life to Qatari life, has required me to make many adjustments to my lifestyle. As a citizen of "the land of the free," I am not accustomed to living in an environment with such restrictive laws like the modest dress code for women, gender segregation, limited web access due to blocked sites, and the prohibition of alcohol and pork. Luckily, however, I live and work with other westerners who can share my aversion and can provide me with a little piece of home in a sense. So far they have shown me around the area and have accepted me as a part of their family, and I am looking forward to learning more about life in Qatar and Arab culture.

- FBG

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, 

other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin