Photos from Day Two

Here fishy fishy! This is the view of the Gulf from the road to the hotel. Gorgeous blue water, but I hear that it is not the best for swimming. Makes for a nice view, though.

One of the sports stadiums in Doha. The mix of highly modern and rather traditional architecture here is very interesting.

The private British School in Doha. This is just one of the buildings on one campus--it has a pool, a gym, and two other buildings at this campus. It is behind a 10 foot security wall with 24-hour guards. (Everything here is behind security walls...)

Inside the Compass (British) school, a group of "older early years" (ages 4-5). This is the sort of class Hannah might be in next year, equivalent of American pre-k. They are learning to read and write, and they have structured lessons which are very hands on (no worksheets).

This is a map from the "pre-k" class showing where the students originate. In this particular class, only one is American, but in other classes, 4-5 were American. You also have a huge range of other countries represented. The kids are wonderful and very accepting of new people.

A group of fifth graders--closer to what Jack might expect at this school. Classes are ~20 kids with one teacher and one full-time aid. They learn using the "International Primary Curriculum," which differs from American in one main way: the science/math/technology concepts are integrated. Rather than learning about geographical formations in one class, temperatures in another, and computer modeling in a third, they give the students a theme "problem" to explore (all of these may have to do with volcanoes, for example). I like this type of integrated learning and have seen its effectiveness in my own classes.

We went to three different private communities where ex-pats live. This is the third one, "Al Fardan Gardens II." It contains 140 "villas" plus a central exercise/swimming/lounge/etc. building. Many families of TAMU-Q colleagues live here. The kids roam the streets on their bicycles (24-hour security control the gates and don't let kids out). As soon as we entered the compound, three kids (ages 7-9) road their bikes down the street in front of us. They "wander" inside the compound much like John and I wandered around Ft. Worth and Austin/Round Rock as kids.
A living/dining room at one of the houses. They provide new furniture, drapes, sheets, towels, full kitchen supplies, TV, computer, internet and satellite, even basic food in the cabinets when you move in. This house has been sitting empty for two months and so is a little dusty/disheveled.
The kitchen in the sample house (granite counters, all new appliances). This house had a living/dining area, kitchen, laundry room, storage closets, entry hall, guest bath, and maid's quarters (!) downstairs. Upstairs was a separate living area, a master bedroom, three additional bedrooms, and three bathrooms. The whole house had 10-foot ceilings, marble floors, Oriental carpets, etc. The window coverings were out being laundered. It has a **small** backyard with storage area.

The pool at this Al Fardan compound. It is *huge*, like something at a major hotel. The associated club house has a full dining room, a formal room, a TV lounge, two billiards rooms, and a "cyber" room (computer or game room? It was locked). Next to the pool is a full gym with step and exercise classes offered weekly. All of this is included as part of the living situation.

We visited two other compounds. Both were equally nice but varied in size (much smaller pool and only 15 units in one) and location.

In addition to seeing the above, John had meetings and I got to see some far-away friends for the first time in many moons. Joseph (visited his class yesterday) took me to a fantastic Lebanese restaurant where I had stuffed grape leaves, fresh made pita bread, and wonderful hummus and fattoush (vegetable salad). We talked a LOT about our food obsessions! At dinner, which was in a hotel where liquor is allowed (liquor is generally illegal without very special licenses in Islamic states), John and I both ate Hammour, the locally harvested white fish. We also got the scoop on Tex-Mex in Qatar...one restaurant is acceptable but not great, but you can find the various ingredients for things like cheese enchiladas you can make at home.

Tomorrow, we visit the American School of Doha, meet with human resources at TAMU-Q, take a four-hour city tour, and attend a six-family party at a home in Al Fardan (the compound pictured above). The six families have a total of 12 kids ranging in age from 1 to 18, with most of the 10 and under. I am really excited about them--it's pretty cool that they would set aside time to do this for us.

As part of our city tour tomorrow, we are going to a souq (bizarre or market). That should be major adventure! I'll share as soon as I can.

John is already asleep...Time to bunk down and wait for our next Skype call from the kiddos.
Love to you each.