Friday didn't go exactly the way we had planned... Ken doesn't work on Friday, so we thought we could spend some time together as a family. (Friday is the holy day here, so the work and school week is Sunday through Thursday).
Original plan was to attend church at Grace Fellowship, a non-demoninational church that appears to most closely resemble PCA/Baptist background. Yes, church is held on Friday mornings instead of Sunday ... how odd to say "Friday School" after 36 years of Sunday School!! Unfortunately we didn't get the directions in time to make arrangements for a taxi. Strike one...
Then we planned to go to the beach. We can't really go to the public beaches here since I would be required to be covered from my shoulders to my knees, so most expats go to the hotels and pay a fee to use their private beaches. But when Ken called the hotel to confirm the fee, we found out the beaches are only open to hotel guests on Fridays, not the public. We can go any other day of the week. Strike two ...
Next plan was to check out one of the mega malls ... see what stores are available and let the kids play in the arcade/play area that each mall seems to have. About 15 minutes before the taxi was to arrive, I happened to check Facebook and saw a posting that the mall was closed for 2 days. Huh?? The entire mall?? Okay... Strike three...
So we ended up going to the grocery store. OH WOW!!! For my Pearland friends, think HEB plus with a second story and shoulder to shoulder people!! Apparently we went at the worst possible time ... Friday afternoons are crazy packed. I will never go at that time again - ABSOLUTE MADDNESS!! But fun people watching!!! We were able to find most everything we were looking for - even several of my vegan products! Yeah!! I also liked the seperate station in the produce area to weigh and label each item with a sticker to scan. Yes it adds another line, but no more people at the check out staring at my produce asking me, "what's that??" and scrolling through their list because I must be the only people to buy some of these things in the US.
By the time we made it home we were starving. Ken ordered takeout from The Noodle House (super yummy noodles!), while I unpacked all the groceries. I also whipped up turkey sandwiches for the kids who couldn't wait for the food delivery. Jaden and Nicholas kept talking about their ham sandwiches and I kept correcting them ... it's turkey. Jaden insistented it was ham and I explained it can't be ham because we can't buy ham here. Jaden: "Why mommy?" Me: "Because their religion believes that anything from a pig is unclean." Pause, pause, wheels turning, then Jaden: "Isn't bacon from a pig?" Me: (uh oh) "Yes honey" Jaden: Eyes bug out of his head and tears start to well up and "You mean, there's no bacon?!" You see, bacon is one of Jaden's favorite foods and since my kids eat so little and are so tiny, I put no limit on what they want to eat. So bacon away at home! Here, not so much... a rough discovery for Jaden. Not to worry though, he recovered quickly and we have found several new things we love here -- like chocolate hazelnut wafer cookies and fresh pressed strawberry juice!!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Nicholas found the only puddle in all of Doha!
We went on our first errand yesterday to turn in the paperwork enrolling Nicholas in his preschool for next year. I was a little nervous, but all went well ... almost...
Since I don't have a driver's license or car yet, I hired a taxi to take us to Nicholas' school. I was successul in getting a gate access card for our complex (and met a few neighbors along the way). We found the school and had a rather lengthy tour. Boys behaved very well and all was good. Nicholas was definitely getting sleepy and we needed to get back for his nap. He stepped off the curb to climb back into the taxi, but this is a kid who can NEVER resist stomping in a puddle. Apparently the school had just watered their landscaping and a bit of a mud puddle had formed along the curb. Somehow Nicholas managed to trip over his own two feet and he landed flat in the mud puddle. We're talking covered in mud from his shoulders to his toes!!! Poor kid!!! I swear, the only puddle in all of Doha! I had to take him back inside, strip him down, and wash him off ... mud even made it in his underwear!!! The school found us some clean dry clothes and we were off. I so wanted to take a picture, but was afraid it might have been too mean! :-)
Let's see what today brings...
Please don't think all our days are terrible ... just sharing the funny moments. Love you all!
Since I don't have a driver's license or car yet, I hired a taxi to take us to Nicholas' school. I was successul in getting a gate access card for our complex (and met a few neighbors along the way). We found the school and had a rather lengthy tour. Boys behaved very well and all was good. Nicholas was definitely getting sleepy and we needed to get back for his nap. He stepped off the curb to climb back into the taxi, but this is a kid who can NEVER resist stomping in a puddle. Apparently the school had just watered their landscaping and a bit of a mud puddle had formed along the curb. Somehow Nicholas managed to trip over his own two feet and he landed flat in the mud puddle. We're talking covered in mud from his shoulders to his toes!!! Poor kid!!! I swear, the only puddle in all of Doha! I had to take him back inside, strip him down, and wash him off ... mud even made it in his underwear!!! The school found us some clean dry clothes and we were off. I so wanted to take a picture, but was afraid it might have been too mean! :-)
Let's see what today brings...
Please don't think all our days are terrible ... just sharing the funny moments. Love you all!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
My first day in Doha...
I thought I'd celebrate my first full day in Doha with a nice glass of wine. Of course the wine bottle opener broke before I could get the cork out, so Coconut Juice it is! :-) It made me laugh as I thought back over the day and thought I'd share a few snippets of my first day in Doha.
Quality ... it's just not the same as the US!! I already mentioned the opener for the wine bottle broke on first use. We've been warned that the glasses provided in our "fully furnished" townhouse will warp in the dishwasher ... not the plastic ware, the glasses!!! The measuring cup has no lines on it! The baking sheet warped on it's first use. All the cooking utensils (spatula, etc) are metal and the pots and pans are of the non stick variety -- metal utensils scratch them all up. The stove blew a fuse 3 times while making dinner. Ken tried to reheat something later and couldn't even get it to turn on! The dead bolt on the front door doesn't work. There is no hot water in the boys bathtub ... I filled it up using hot water carried up from the kitchen! And that's just the things I remember!
Pool and mini market ... my only outing today was to explore the club house and mini market within our townhouse community. We live very close ... only about 5 units away! yeah!! The pool was nice, but the water was cooler than I expected. My little munchins were shivering in the water after about 45 minutes! It was later in the evening (about 5pm), but it had to have still been 90 degrees F. The mini-market was fantastic!! They have these great little baskets on wheels and I picked up some fresh fruit and veggies for dinner. I have no idea how much I spent ... I still don't have a grasp on the exhange rate. It's kind of like monopoly money! Turns out I can open a tab and pay later. They also deliver the groceries to your door! Crazy fun!!! :-)
Dust ... when Ken said things were dusty, he wasn't kidding!! I don't know if today was typical, but the sky was hazy gray all day. It's not clouds, it's the dust in the air! As the sun was setting, it looked like the moon through a hazy night sky. Ken said that not all days are this bad ... I hope so!! You can smell it in the air, it can't be good to breath all that fine sand!
Quality ... it's just not the same as the US!! I already mentioned the opener for the wine bottle broke on first use. We've been warned that the glasses provided in our "fully furnished" townhouse will warp in the dishwasher ... not the plastic ware, the glasses!!! The measuring cup has no lines on it! The baking sheet warped on it's first use. All the cooking utensils (spatula, etc) are metal and the pots and pans are of the non stick variety -- metal utensils scratch them all up. The stove blew a fuse 3 times while making dinner. Ken tried to reheat something later and couldn't even get it to turn on! The dead bolt on the front door doesn't work. There is no hot water in the boys bathtub ... I filled it up using hot water carried up from the kitchen! And that's just the things I remember!
Pool and mini market ... my only outing today was to explore the club house and mini market within our townhouse community. We live very close ... only about 5 units away! yeah!! The pool was nice, but the water was cooler than I expected. My little munchins were shivering in the water after about 45 minutes! It was later in the evening (about 5pm), but it had to have still been 90 degrees F. The mini-market was fantastic!! They have these great little baskets on wheels and I picked up some fresh fruit and veggies for dinner. I have no idea how much I spent ... I still don't have a grasp on the exhange rate. It's kind of like monopoly money! Turns out I can open a tab and pay later. They also deliver the groceries to your door! Crazy fun!!! :-)
Dust ... when Ken said things were dusty, he wasn't kidding!! I don't know if today was typical, but the sky was hazy gray all day. It's not clouds, it's the dust in the air! As the sun was setting, it looked like the moon through a hazy night sky. Ken said that not all days are this bad ... I hope so!! You can smell it in the air, it can't be good to breath all that fine sand!
Jet lag is no fun!
Praise God the boys did AWESOME on the plane! They watched a couple of movies, slept for about 7 hrs, and then watched a couple more movies and then we landed! It couldn't have gone better! Getting through customs and immigration was a breeze thanks to the ExxonMobil service.
We saw our first nationals. The men wear white robes and head dresses showing their face and the women wear black and cover their face. We walked out beside a man, his 2 wives, and a little Asian servant girl pushing all their luggage.
It was warm when we arrived, but not too hot. Probably because it was night time. It was almost 8pm when we arrived and it was pitch black. Ken tells me the sun sets around 6:30 and the sun was up by 4:30 this morning!
Of course since the kids slept so well on the plane, they had no interest in bedtime. I finally got them to sleep and they woke up just 3 hours later. Guess their bodies said it was nap time, not bed time. I couldn't convince them to go back to bed, so we all got up. :-(. We were all exhausted by mid morning and naps lasted longer than I should have allowed. How long will this take to adjust? Hopefully only another day or two!
I'll post some pictures soon...
We saw our first nationals. The men wear white robes and head dresses showing their face and the women wear black and cover their face. We walked out beside a man, his 2 wives, and a little Asian servant girl pushing all their luggage.
It was warm when we arrived, but not too hot. Probably because it was night time. It was almost 8pm when we arrived and it was pitch black. Ken tells me the sun sets around 6:30 and the sun was up by 4:30 this morning!
Of course since the kids slept so well on the plane, they had no interest in bedtime. I finally got them to sleep and they woke up just 3 hours later. Guess their bodies said it was nap time, not bed time. I couldn't convince them to go back to bed, so we all got up. :-(. We were all exhausted by mid morning and naps lasted longer than I should have allowed. How long will this take to adjust? Hopefully only another day or two!
I'll post some pictures soon...
Monday, June 11, 2012
Goodbyes and Contact Info
Goodbyes are never any fun! Which is why I prefer see you next summer! And it's true- we look forward to coming back next summer to visit both Houston and St Louis (and maybe a few extra stops if we can squeeze it all in).
After the packers came and packed everything up, we stuck around Houston a few days for a very sweet and emotional goodbye party at our church. We were given a beautiful canvas subway art representing our Houston years...I was especially moved to see our dear friends Jax and Britton's names included. I also teared up over Radar's name! He was such a wonderful dog!!! It was very sad to return him to the Humane Society, but we weren't able to take him with us. I tell myself we were just his foster family. We adopted him about 1 1/2 years ago and he had both heart worms and intestinal parasites. We nursed him back to good health and hopefully he is much more adoptable now. Another family is going to love him!
We were able to spend a lot of time with Ken's family before driving up to St Louis to see my family. What a week we had -- bowling, six flags, zoo, purina farms (my personal favorite St. Louis attraction), and Dave and busters. I especially enjoyed our day at six flags with Maria and her girls and the night at D&Bs with all my extended family!! Never dreamed so many people would show up to send us off! I love my family!!
We were scheduled to leave St Louis on a 4:15pm flight, but when we arrived at the airport, we immediately realized we forgot a very important bag at my parents house (who live over an hour away from the airport!). We ended up having my brother bring us the bag, but we missed our flight and had to take the next flight. Of course that flight wasn't direct so we ended up getting into Houston late. I figure if that's the worse thing to happen, we did pretty well!
Today we stopped by the house one last time... Almost made me cry thinking about all the wonderful memories inside those walls. But it was quickly replaced with excitement for our adventures ahead! We are looking forward to what ever God has in store for us. This summer will be hot and difficult as we settle in and learn our way around, but at least we will be together. I counted on the calandar and ken was only home for 13 out of a 70 day span. I hate being apart like that!! Together will be much better and it will be fun to explore a part of the world we would otherwise never go!!
Well it's almost time to head to the airport. Guess I'll spell check this post and add pictures later. Very quick I want to include our new contact information.
Mail (letters and cards only):
Ken and Laura Doan
Doha, Qatar
PO Box 4490
Houston, TX 77210
The line Doha, Qatar is required!!
Thanks to Magic Jack, our new home phone has a local Houston number. Just remember we are 8 hrs ahead (of central time). So between about 2pm and 9pm central time, we will be asleep!
The number is: 713-570-9007
And of course email and Facebook won't change:
Ktd0570@yahoo.com
Lauradoan2005@yahoo.com
Facebook: Laura west Doan
Okay, We're out of here... See you all next summer, unless you come visit before that!!
After the packers came and packed everything up, we stuck around Houston a few days for a very sweet and emotional goodbye party at our church. We were given a beautiful canvas subway art representing our Houston years...I was especially moved to see our dear friends Jax and Britton's names included. I also teared up over Radar's name! He was such a wonderful dog!!! It was very sad to return him to the Humane Society, but we weren't able to take him with us. I tell myself we were just his foster family. We adopted him about 1 1/2 years ago and he had both heart worms and intestinal parasites. We nursed him back to good health and hopefully he is much more adoptable now. Another family is going to love him!
We were able to spend a lot of time with Ken's family before driving up to St Louis to see my family. What a week we had -- bowling, six flags, zoo, purina farms (my personal favorite St. Louis attraction), and Dave and busters. I especially enjoyed our day at six flags with Maria and her girls and the night at D&Bs with all my extended family!! Never dreamed so many people would show up to send us off! I love my family!!
We were scheduled to leave St Louis on a 4:15pm flight, but when we arrived at the airport, we immediately realized we forgot a very important bag at my parents house (who live over an hour away from the airport!). We ended up having my brother bring us the bag, but we missed our flight and had to take the next flight. Of course that flight wasn't direct so we ended up getting into Houston late. I figure if that's the worse thing to happen, we did pretty well!
Today we stopped by the house one last time... Almost made me cry thinking about all the wonderful memories inside those walls. But it was quickly replaced with excitement for our adventures ahead! We are looking forward to what ever God has in store for us. This summer will be hot and difficult as we settle in and learn our way around, but at least we will be together. I counted on the calandar and ken was only home for 13 out of a 70 day span. I hate being apart like that!! Together will be much better and it will be fun to explore a part of the world we would otherwise never go!!
Well it's almost time to head to the airport. Guess I'll spell check this post and add pictures later. Very quick I want to include our new contact information.
Mail (letters and cards only):
Ken and Laura Doan
Doha, Qatar
PO Box 4490
Houston, TX 77210
The line Doha, Qatar is required!!
Thanks to Magic Jack, our new home phone has a local Houston number. Just remember we are 8 hrs ahead (of central time). So between about 2pm and 9pm central time, we will be asleep!
The number is: 713-570-9007
And of course email and Facebook won't change:
Ktd0570@yahoo.com
Lauradoan2005@yahoo.com
Facebook: Laura west Doan
Okay, We're out of here... See you all next summer, unless you come visit before that!!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Nicholas' Really Bad Day!
Oh the perils of a preschooler!!! Today was the boys last day of school and as I was entering Nicholas' classroom, his teacher stops me and pulls me aside to warn me that Nicholas was going to say he had a bad day. Sure enough, as soon as he saw me, he put on his very best pout, stomped over to me and said, "I had a really bad day!!" Why you ask?? Apparently it was 2 things - first, he couldn't find Jaden on stage during the end of year program. He told his teacher "I don't think that was a very good program. I couldn't even see Jaden" and then he proceeded to cry for 10 minutes. Nicholas is crazy attached to his big brother - most of the time it's a blessing to witness the love between them, but sometimes it can get a little ridiculous. And then, after the disastrous program, they went back to their classroom and played Candyland, but Nicholas didn't get to be the blue guy!! Oh NO!!! He had to be ... green?? GASP!!! What ever will we do??!!! Like he said, it was "a really bad day!"
At least yesterday balanced it out ... I've never seen Nicholas happier!!! All year long, all he has wanted was to be part of Jaden's class - and yesterday, his dream came true!! Together we went to Jaden's End of Year Program and then his class party. Of course, the best part of the whole thing were the water games at the end!! Who knew a couple of buckets and sponges could be so fun??? The kids has a BLAST!!! Here are a few pics...
At least yesterday balanced it out ... I've never seen Nicholas happier!!! All year long, all he has wanted was to be part of Jaden's class - and yesterday, his dream came true!! Together we went to Jaden's End of Year Program and then his class party. Of course, the best part of the whole thing were the water games at the end!! Who knew a couple of buckets and sponges could be so fun??? The kids has a BLAST!!! Here are a few pics...
Jaden's last day of school...
Ready for some water games!!
Pass the sponge!!
Nicholas' turn!
PURE JOY!!!
Another funny Nicholas story ... he randomly started going around the house hitting things and saying "Bam It!!" I have no idea where he got this from, but you can imagine the way it sounds when it comes out. The first time I heard him, I stopped and asked, "what did you just say?" My little smartie pants looks at me and says, "Bam it! You know b-b-b-bam it!!! Like when you hit something and it goes Bam!" I just let it drop. No need to tell him that it sounds like anything else ... right? That night at dinner, he does it again, "Bam it!" Except this time, Jaden was there and he asks the same thing "what did you just say?" Nicholas gave him the same answer, except Jaden explains how "Bam It!" sounds a lot like "damn it" and "damn it" is not a nice thing to say. He went on and on and on. I sat there stunned! I didn't even know Jaden knew those words!!! How do these kids pick up all of this stuff up?!! At least Jaden knew it was a bad word and that we don't talk like that!!! Smart kids I tell you!!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Ken has officially moved!
Ken officially moved to Doha today (on paper anyway).
It was surreal watching him pack up yesterday. He filled a suitcase full of his clothes and that was it. I filled another suitcase with some of my clothes and some of the boys' clothes and a few toys. Might as well send a few extra things along with him! He will be moving into our new (furnished) townhouse when he arrives. Jaden kept asking when we get to move. They are both really excited about our new house and their new schools!! I'm so glad they don't seem the least bit scared or concerned!
Ken will be back for Memorial Day weekend when we head to San Antonio with our friends and then the packers come May 30 - June 1. We plan to head to St. Louis on Monday, June 4. Not sure how long we will get to visit before taking off to Doha. Flights still haven't been booked. It's crazy to me that we only have a few weeks left!!!
And I'm glad I was able to make it to St. Louis this past weekend to do some shopping with my mom, my aunt, and my cousins! We had a great ladies weekend at the outlet malls in Osage Beach! I spent entirely too much money, but I got lots of fun new clothes for Doha! There is a whole team of people to thank for making it happen! My friend Sarah spent the night with the boys Thursday night and got them up and ready for school Friday morning. Nicholas is completely enamored with Sarah! So cute to see a 3 year old in love!!! He was looking forward to Sarah's sleepover for weeks!!! And then my friend Nancy took them to school and brought them home. My mother in law and father in law watched them in the afternoon until Ken flew home from North Carolina. It takes a village doesn't it?!
It was surreal watching him pack up yesterday. He filled a suitcase full of his clothes and that was it. I filled another suitcase with some of my clothes and some of the boys' clothes and a few toys. Might as well send a few extra things along with him! He will be moving into our new (furnished) townhouse when he arrives. Jaden kept asking when we get to move. They are both really excited about our new house and their new schools!! I'm so glad they don't seem the least bit scared or concerned!
Ken will be back for Memorial Day weekend when we head to San Antonio with our friends and then the packers come May 30 - June 1. We plan to head to St. Louis on Monday, June 4. Not sure how long we will get to visit before taking off to Doha. Flights still haven't been booked. It's crazy to me that we only have a few weeks left!!!
And I'm glad I was able to make it to St. Louis this past weekend to do some shopping with my mom, my aunt, and my cousins! We had a great ladies weekend at the outlet malls in Osage Beach! I spent entirely too much money, but I got lots of fun new clothes for Doha! There is a whole team of people to thank for making it happen! My friend Sarah spent the night with the boys Thursday night and got them up and ready for school Friday morning. Nicholas is completely enamored with Sarah! So cute to see a 3 year old in love!!! He was looking forward to Sarah's sleepover for weeks!!! And then my friend Nancy took them to school and brought them home. My mother in law and father in law watched them in the afternoon until Ken flew home from North Carolina. It takes a village doesn't it?!
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