Pictures to come...

The madness continues.

Driving in this country may, in fact, make me crazy, but as long as everyone survives and leaves the country uninjured, I can deal. I must note, however, that I am horribly saddened every time I pass a vehicle with Arab children roaming freely about the seats (front and back). I can't imagine how many children end up hurt or dead from traffic accidents here because car seats (or seat belts) aren't legally required.

The worst of it? We still have no routine. No groove. Every day seems to be a tiny bit better, but there's no rhythm, we merely survive. More than half the children in our compound are still on holiday, so Hannah is a little disappointed in the slim pickings she has for friends right now, especially since she's not allowed to go swimming by herself. Eliza started visiting her Montessori this week, and she'll start full time next week. That will help, simply because we'll be forced to get up early enough to get her there on time in the mornings. The administrative workers are trying to get us "processed" as quickly as possible, but sometimes this involves calling us at 9:00 a.m. to let us know they need one of us there within an hour, which isn't easy with three kids.

I'm very happy to have a friend of ours over helping us for the week! She's the exact opposite personality from me, so she's relaxed, chilled out, and willing to do anything. Without her, I'd be in tears daily. We've gotten lost going to or returning from several places more times than I can count now, but I'm determined to keep trying. I still have no sense of my meal planning/cooking routine. After a week and a half, we've managed to eat two meals at their normal times, which probably isn't a big deal to anyone but me, but ya know?? It bugs the shit outta me!

On top of everything, Eliza got a quick stomach bug last week and we were completely dependent upon the driver from Human Resources--Mohammed-- to lead us to the hospital. He's from Yemen, so English is not his native language, and it turned out that he led us to an emergency pediatric clinic. He promised that this is the place where he takes his children and that "they speak good here" (as opposed to the other hospital where they send you from desk to desk and want lots of money up front). This man went beyond the call of duty as he picked up my vomit-covered child out of her car seat and carried her into the clinic to get us checked in. Within a minute she was admitted to a triage room and they began examining her. Because we'd only been in the country 6 days and she was exhibiting 2 of the symptoms (fever and vomiting), she had to be tested (the booger sucking tube) for Swine Flu. They gave her a shot for the vomiting, waited, then said if she could hold fluids down after 30 minutes we could go home. She did, and though the doctor wanted to put her on Tamiflu, I never gave her the medicine because I knew she didn't have the flu. The whole time, Mohammed kept a close eye on Eliza, making sure she was comfortable, getting her a blanket, asking the nurse questions to make sure he understood how they were treating her, and getting everyone to move promptly. When it was time to go, the whole thing (which took just over a couple hours) cost approximately $3.00, which he refused to let me pay. $3.00 freakin dollars!! This is an unfathomable contrast to what happens in emergency rooms back in the States. I still can't believe how kind everyone was. One of my worst fears was immediately put to the test, and everything turned out fine. Eliza was back to her normal self by bedtime that night.

There's simply too much difference, too many experiences, too many small details to fit into a few posts, so I'll have to be choosy. For now, it's safe to say that nothing could have ever fully prepared me for living here. It's not just another country. It's another culture, another language, and they are both completely foreign to me. Little things like not knowing the Celsius scale so I could give the doctor Eliza's temperature, or knowing how much lunchmeat I'm asking for when I say 250 grams, or taking for granted the all KFCs in the world serve biscuits....these have turned out to be huge reminders of how small my world has been my whole life. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret coming. But there are definitely some things I wish I'd thought about, learned about, and/or brought with me before leaving the U.S.

Dispatch from Doha - The Early Days

We're here. I've taken in an enormous amount of information in the past 48 hours, and there's too much to cover in one post but some of the highlights include:

• Children that did beautifully on the flight over (15 hours)
• Children that are just barely getting over jetlag. The first two nights, the oldes two woke up at 3:00 a.m. hungry and wide awake. They had pb&j's, eventually went back to sleep, and didn't get up until we woke them up at noon!
• Our home phone still doesn't work, and it costs a small fortune to make an international call on the cell phone. This sucks because I can talk faster than I type, and I can squeeze in a phone call much easier than I can the time to compose an e-mail.
• I've visited three separate grocery stores in two days, spending more than $800, and I still have a one-page list of things I need for this "furnished" house (i.e. dish towels, hand towels, bigger pillows, baskets, cereal bowls, etc.)
• It's 5:20 am here, and the baby still hasn't woken up yet, so this is very good.
• We can't find Amelia's formula here. They have several kinds of Similac, but not the Sensitive Formula for babies that are gassy. Our options right now are to ship it (expensive), use lactose-free (not sure we need to do that), or see how she does on the regular formula. I bought a container of the regular stuff for now, and a friend suggested that we look at a pharmacy to see if they might have it there.
• A new order/restriction is in place regarding driver's licences. There's a chance I might not be able to take my driver's license exam for more than a month. This is very, very bad for all sorts of reasons.
• We blew up the portable DVD because we didn't have a converter (just an adaptor), we are in dire need of expanded cable or immediate entertainment for the children. Hannah has already made a couple of friends, but one is leaving for Saudi today, and the other is kept on an unusually tight leash (slightly weird, but extremely nice, home-schooling Mom, who btw had three bags of toys and blueberry muffins waiting for us when we arrived!!) They'd also stocked the house with some basic items: milk, bread, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, etc. Then I came to find that she only has these items because she's been having them shipped weekly from the states. Evidently, one can't actually get grape jelly in Doha.
• The call to prayer is beautiful. It's a somber, comforting reminder that many people are stopping whatever they're doing to be dutiful to their religious practice, no matter how inconvenient. I gotta respect that. Don't get me wrong, I'm soooo happy that I can't hear it from inside my house unless the front door is open, but I do like listening to it.
• I drove for the first time yesterday. The roundabouts weren't as bad as I though they'd be, but it will still take a lot of getting used to in terms of finding my way back home and figuring out the consequences of not having left turns.
• I can't wait for our stuff to get here! I've done my best to make it feel like home, but right now it still feels like we're on vacaction in a luxury home in an American compound.
• Still no word on the American School for Hannah. Or, I should say, one set of people thinks she'll get in, one person yesterday said he didn't think any other kids that weren't already accepted have a snowball's chance in hell. Thus, we'll look at a couple of other schools and let her see the campuses.
• The first night here, on the way home from the airport, I did the unthinkable. I rode in a vehicle with Amelia in my arms. It's a long story, but it involved her screaming at the top of her lungs, projectile vomiting her bottle up all over herself because she was so worked up, and her really just wanting to be held. I not-so-nimbly flew into the backseat and picked her up and held her for the 15-minute drive home and prayed we didn't have an accident.
• Nothing could have prepared me for how different things are here...even our previous visit.
• Oh, and they don't really believe in tampons. That's just freakin great. I packed enough to get me through my next cycle, but I'll be having my friend stash extra in her suitcase when she comes over....and THANK GOD someone is coming over to help! We just need an extra set of hands right now.

This is just a nutshell version of the first few days. Today is my first day on campus, and the driver is coming to pick me up in a few hours, so I'm off to shower, make myself presentable, and get formula made for the day. I'm hoping to get to post more frequently once the kids get back to their regular schedules, but everything is just a bit crazy now. Until next time, the roller coaster ride continues :)

Spring Break 2009: Doha or Bust

Good News:

The tickets are being booked today for our Spring Break trip to Doha! We leave on Saturday, March 14th, around noon, and get to Doha Sunday evening--a 26-hour trip if you include layover time, etc. Then we return Friday, March 20th. I'm exhausted just thinking about it, but hoping that I won't be so excited that I can't sleep on the first leg of the trip.

My mom and I actually had a productive and healthy conversation yesterday about the move. She was receptive to my suggestion that she take a look at the Relocation Binder available online and provided by the support office here at my university's home campus. The girls were originally going to be in Home State over Spring Break, but we'd scheduled H's time so that she'd have some alone time with my parents before going to her dad's house. Because of our trip, that's no longer possible, but my Mom took the change with a grain of salt and said no big deal! At first, I thought she must be self-medicating, but it appears that her Jeckyl & Hyde mood swings are the result of menopausal hormone issues, so there you go. Too bad there's not a schedule she could give me to let me know which are the good days and which are the day ;)

Also, she said she isn't ruling out international travel! She isn't making any promises to come, but she's not saying it's out of the question. This is progress people!

Bad News:

We found out Hubby, who has been teaching 2 classes at a local CC this semester to help us put back enough money for the summer and pay off medical bills from my neck surgeries last year, won't have ANY summer teaching opportunities! Evidently, the full-time faculty are scared of the unknown economy, and ALL of them have requested summer teaching, usually something happily delegated to the part-timers. Luckily, between our tax refund, which we put into savings, and the extra money he's bringing in this semester, we should have enough to make it through July and August. At that point, our salary from the new positions should kick in, but I'm still checking on this. Either way, we'll be moving before August 1, and our living expenses for the month prior to the start of the fall semester are covered. What does this all mean???

More Good News:

Both Hubby and I will not be teaching this summer! He'll be able to help take care of the new baby, while I continue to get some dissertation work done, and we'll be able to work together on the relocation process! On one hand, I kinda feel like we're being lazy bums. I've NEVER not worked...ever...like since I was 15. This already feels weird. On the other hand, I have no doubt I'll be plenty busy and in definite need of hubby's help with both baby and relocation, which also includes a massive garage and moving what we're not selling into a storage unit back in home state.

For those of you who've dealt with international relocation, what are the biggest glitches you've run into?

The Best E-Mail Ever

...came yesterday morning and it said, "Our English committee met today and we would like for you to join our English faculty at" Home Univ. in MidEast. Hubby got the same offer. Our first year on the market, we've both landed job offers that will provide economic, professional, and cultural benefits we just can't get here in the States.

Education City, Qatar


I'm certainly happy, and I feel much more secure about our family's future knowing that this is a definite option for us. But, I'm scared too. Scared of too many things to list here, and to a large extent, scared of the unknown element. Luckily, my "woo-hoo adventure!" side makes up the bigger part of me, so we're moving forward. Making plans and making long lists of questions to ask. I've even asked H to start making a list of everything she's feeling about the move and any questions she has. The CLA Program Director has an 11-yr old daughter (and 2 younger ones), and he's offered to introduce us to them and let me talk with her about her life in Doha. I told H to think of me as her overseas liason, and I've promised to take lots of pictures for her.

Doha Skyline at Night


Now what to say to my Mom (and stepdad), who are pretty much devastated. Right now my Mom can't even see the economic benefit in this because she's so upset about the idea of her only grandchildren being moved halfway around the world. After a trip to London 10 years ago, she and my dad swore off any future international travel, so they're not even willing to consider the fact that we'd be happy to fly them over to see us. I'm sure they'll come around eventually...I just hope it's sooner rather than later, for everyone's sake, but especially for H, because she's old enough to pick up on tensions between people, and that's not fair to her.

Full Speed Ahead

I officially have my first interview request, which came from the Middle East campus of my home university. The video interview is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Yeah, in less than 48 hours. I'm a tiny bit of a mess.

I've talked with my department head, who visited the campus last semester, and he had lots of great information about the existing administration, the faculty housing, the friendliness of the citizens and students, and the general appeal and safety of the area. He also informed me that I wasn't alone in my application. It turns out that there were several people from our department who applied, two of whom have more experience than I do and have been doing this much longer. After finding this out, I actually felt like I kinda had something to be a little proud of in simply getting an interview request. He, along with my placement director, offered very specific tips on how to handle the interview, which, lucky for me, really won't require any prep beyond thinking about things like:

- How will I teach writing to students who won't have American culture as a context for instruction, examples, etc.?
- How will I help motivate students who have already been assured of jobs upon their graduation?
- How will I handle living and teaching in a multicultural environment?

I have experience teaching developmental English/writing to at-risk students at the college level, which is absolutely something they'll need to hear! I also was part of a pilot program in an Introductory Composition Program at a school that has often been considered among the top rhetoric and composition programs in the country. Finally, that experience will come in very handy as well.

Regarding some of the issues that commenters posted last time--

Visitation Schedule with H's Biological Dad H:
Theoretically, if my ex-husband had ready money and a strong desire to fight me on this, he could. For a variety of reasons, he probably wouldn't get anywhere, mainly because he wouldn't be losing any time with H. The regular American holidays are honored in the private schools, in addition to the native holidays, and a relaxed calendar is in place during major Muslim holidays. For example, there's a one week vacation in September, a month in which she usually doesn't visit him for Labor Day because she's at his house in August right up until she starts school. Hubby and I also agreed that we would return for the summer and rent a place in Home State, allowing H to come and go to his house and my parents as often as she likes. In the end, he might actually see more of her, if *he* would take the time off from his job as the manager of a cattle ranch (a job that's 24/7, literally). Ultimately, I don't think he'll fight it. He won't like it, but he'll see the obvious economic sense it makes for our family and understand that it's only for 2 years. It works in my favor that his father worked overseas for very similar reasons, so it's not like this is a foreign concept to him.

Effect on Future Hiring:
This was actually one of the first questions I took to my advisor and my placement director/committee member. Both agreed that since it's a short-term position (2 years), I'd have the title of Visiting Assistant Professor, and the light teaching load would allow me a significant amount of time to work on research/publishing, it would look good on the CV. Both indicated that it certainly wouldn't look bad. My placement director, for example, said she'd be inclined to see it as something that makes me look more interesting as a job candidate. The only problem is one of logistics: conducting a job search from overseas when the time comes. Hubby has been advised that his department would offer him a verbal agreement to hire him for a one-year term if our later job search was unsuccessful; I'm planning to ask my advisor about how likely it is I could get a verbal agreement for the same thing.

Living Half a World Away:
This one's fairly easy. As long as I have my husband and children, and I can still talk to my mom whenever I want, then I'm fine. That's what Skype is for, right?

Research Trips:
The current package includes $13K per person per year for research and travel. This is in addition to the R/T airfare they provide for each person in the family to return home once a year. We shouldn't have a problem coming back for the long breaks and the summer given this allowance and the fact that we'd have living expenses provided.

Again, I'm hoping I don't have to make this decision. I'm hoping that Regional Campus of Home University - the one that's in this state nonetheless - calls me this week and wants an interview. But if they don't, this is an option we'd be foolish not to seriously consider. Hubby and I have already agreed that we wouldn't make any final decision until we flew over for a visit.

Let's just see how Wednesday morning goes...