August 2010
3 posts
The grand finale
Last week I drove up to New York for a visit. I met up with:
A lot of former students and got to see how the liberated American lifestyle was treating them. (Some took to it more kindly than others.)
More than half of the TA’s from this past year! Hollin, Jeff, Tony, Noreen, Zack, Aleks. It was so good to see them all again. Seeing them in their natural American habitat shook me out...
July 2010
23 posts
Epilogue time
It’s LIFE, POST-DOHA…
Boy have I been getting a lot of questions from Americans about Qatar. I guess it’s to be expected. Here are some of the most common misconceptions I’ve heard…
Qatar. You can pronounce it “Cutter.” Or “CAT-ar.” But not “Qua-TAR.” And you should really just pronounce it قطر like it’s meant to be...
Welcome to America
I’m finally back in the US. Well I haven’t experienced reversed culture shock yet, but I have noticed a lot of little things that are different. People complain about construction here but not in Doha. My Toyota Yaris handles a thousand times better than the Chevy Optra. Alex (my bro) is taller and his voice is changing. My parents got new glasses in the kitchen. And I can get...
Iceland redux
My last two days in London have been clouded over with the bad news from Marco, I didn’t really feel like doing much today so I uploaded my several hundred Iceland photos. Enjoy.
Iceland
Sadness
Well for the past few weeks I’ve been planning a post here that went something like:
“Surprise! Marco asked me to come back to Qatar next year, so I have to change the title of this blog to TWO years in Qatar!”
But yesterday I found out it’s going to be more like:
“Surprise! You can’t come back after all! Time for grad school!”
And it’s the...
A dangerous precedent: France bans the veil →
So is it illegal to wear a scarf when it’s cold? This bill is purely pandering to Islamophobes. Don’t step on civil rights, France.
هناك كثير الناس يحكوا اللغة العربية في لندن
I’m hearing a lot of Arabic on the streets of London!! I try to understand… but it’s tough…
OMGLondon
Getting from Reykjavik to the hostel in London was a nightmare. I woke up at 2:45 AM to make my flight, everything that could be late was, I missed my nonrefundable train connection, I get to the hostel and it’s one of those MEGAHOSTELS with hundreds of beds and where it’s impossible to meet people. I need to find some coffee and chill out for the rest of the day.
At least...
Hamburg 2
Happy 4th of July
I realized that I have not seen Independence Day fireworks in a while. My last few July 4ths have been away from home:
2010: Riding the bus from Blönduós to Ísafjörður, Iceland
2009: Rocking out at the Roskilde Festival, Denmark
2008: Chilling with the family in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Also, it was the coldest July 4th I’ve ever experienced. In the afternoon we passed a gas station sign...
Krakow
Prague
Berlin
June 2010
28 posts
First day in Reykjavik
A landscape of black rocks forming millions of little hills and every little stone is covered in different shades of moss, dark clouds hanging in the sky, peach twilight recoiling into morning light, cold waves lapping at the shore.
And it’s the most expensive place I have ever been. By far.
"My god, how did you afford that...?"
This is a question I’ve been getting a lot lately, with respect to my travels of the last year… especially now that I’m in Europe where everything is expensive.
It’s not too hard really! The main thing that most people don’t realize that they are indirectly paying for comfort:)
Travel to places that are cheap to be in. Nepal and India top the list, but even...
Warsaw
Catching up on photo uploads
Thailand 2
I'm sitting in Krakow's main square
Stealing unpassworded internet off one of the buildings nearby.
Dad’s gone. I’m traveling solo for the next 25 days.
This morning I had a period where I was wishing I were on the flight back to Chicago with dad… 25 days more! To keep traveling just seems overwhelming, tiring, expensive…
But then I remember that I’m in POLAND, the land of my ancestors (or some of...
The Eurotrip ends for some
but not for all.
Dad leaves Krakow tomorrow morning.
I hang out with a Krakovian couchsurfer I met in Bangkok for a day and then Tuesday I’m off to Hamburg for a week where I’ll see Julia’s side of the family and get a chance to chill and catch up on some things. That’s followed by ten days in Iceland for which I am super excited but woefully underprepared in terms of...
The weather is beauuuutiful here!
In Berlin and Prague the weather has been amazing. 20 during the day, 10 at night. Generally cloudy with rain here and there. And everything’s green! Oh how I’ve missed that color!
Germany and Czech
Berlin was cool… kinda industrial, artsy. Edgy. Met uncle Karl there on Saturday and the three of us have been “bopping around” since.
On to Prague!
Busy traveling vs. lazy traveling
I hadn’t realized how lazy of a traveler I’ve become. Back in the day (2008) I was walking 10 miles a day, going to see every sight there is to see in the city in pouring rain and starving… (Meghan you remember us in Lisbon!) Now after all the places I’ve seen I’ve gotten lazy! I don’t wanna walk, I just want to hang out. I don’t care about memorials...
The weather in Poland
The bad news: Poland is having a heat wave which started the day I got here. As if I haven’t had enough of that already. Sun sun sun every day!
The good news: It’s only 90 F. (32 C) After Doha it’s a relief.
Travel snobbery at its finest
Yesterday a 30-something couple from Northern Island saw us with a map out and approached us. “Do you know how to get to such-and-such palace?” Of course we were on our way there ourselves. They start chatting with us a bit and finally reveal that they are on a “guided tour of Eastern Europe” (ugggggh!!!) And then they pop the question:
“So, what tour company are...
Warsaw
Made it to Poland and found dad here. Without a cell phone! Imagine that.
He’s jetlagging and I have a headache so I think we’ll be going to sleep early… if the European summer sun (9:00 PM and still bright out now) allows.
WCMC-Q IT turned off my email address less than 24 hours after my contract end date. Of course the only ones who I don’t want to be efficient are. ...
Is this how you say goodbye, Doha?
Sandstorm today.
The sky is brown, the wind is fierce, and if you step outside you will be greeted by a million tiny grains stinging at your face.
Wrapped up all my loose ends. Nothing now but to relax, ponder the skyline (safely behind glass,) and wait for my impending flight tonight.
And then there was one
Diane left for the airport a few minutes ago.
Now I’m alone again.
In 48 hours I’ll be en route to Warsaw.
Coursevals are back
Can’t ask for a higher compliment than this:
5. What would you like to change about this course?
Keep this year’s TA’s for next year