updates

In other news, I'm still fasting. Also, I got my hands classily henna-ed up last night. And for the record, I've been in Qatar for just over three months.



In my bones, I'm craving the chill of autumn that comes with October (as the true Wisconsinite that I am) but here, it seems like it's a never-ending summer. At the same time, things are changing. Eid is next weekend, and the Qatari summer is beginning to fade away.

I don't know how I'm going to feel without stepping outside and enduring the burn of the sun on my skin, without enjoying the delicious texture of creme caramel after stuffing myself at a Ramadan buffet and searching for the perfect Um Ali at every restaurant we go to for Iftar. It's going to be weird to eat during the day and to be able to drink water when I am thirsty. I am looking forward to businesses being open during the day and having more energy to get things done during the day.

But fasting for Ramadan was something in which I knew I would participate. And I have learned a great deal of self-discipline, the value and pleasure of food, how it feels to actually be hungry and the feeling of community in a place that is not my home. I have also challenged myself, intellectually and physically, in achieving this goal that I had set for myself.

I can cross another thing off my to do list for life. Still left, among other things: attend a Presidential inaugural ball, master the Pavlova recipe, have an article published in the New York Times.

P.S. I may have been persuaded to go to a Spice Girls concert in London, Madrid or Cologne in the near future. If it happens, I blame her. :P

P.P.S. The longer I'm here, the more I find myself missing DC, curiously enough.