what expiration date?

I may or may not have been in Qatar for twelve hours this morning illegally without a visa. But whatevs. :)

one step at a time

I'm still working on appreciating what I have at each specific moment, but I'm getting closer every day.

I am content. Right, I've said that over and over, haven't I? Well, I'm so content that I'm approaching the grey area that is encircled by both the content and happy circles in the Venn diagram of emotions, so to speak (Moo/Mom, that reference was for you). And I think that's exactly where I want to be right now.

I have shied away from using the world "happy" to describe my feeling towards this place, this situation. But I will use it now... with a qualifier. I am not only content. I am somewhat happy.

Funny that this comes eighteen days before I leave to go home for Thanksgiving, to spend time with the people that I love and respect in a place that defines happiness for me (I've never thought of it like that... Madison defines happiness for me, but more than that, it's a place that ultimately defines me). But they're different versions of happiness. There's a lot more complacency and contentment with being content in the Qatar version. There's a lot more joy and laughter and love and tears and a much stronger feeling of an indestructable, magnetic bond in the Madison version. Which makes sense, to some degree.

But things are good. I'm feeling equally overwhelmed and centered. Projects and responsibilities are being stacked sky-high, but that's okay with me. There are issues to work through with others, but I already know that my life is incredibly boring without drama... although I prefer to reserve the drama for my personal life. I have painfully few minutes to do nothing, and in that precious time, I should be catching up with friends and family that keep messaging me... but I am taking time for myself instead. We joined a gym and I am working out, which helps me to refocus and not think about work for at least an hour every day. Speaking of work, I can see the members developing, day by day, meeting by meeting, which is so so so immensely gratifying.

I feel more solid, emotionally, professionally, intellectually, personally, physically. Things aren't quite coming together, but I think I've started to settle in to the random craziness of it all. I can't wait to touch down in Madtown and feel the person that I am now melt back in to my perfect world, at least for a few days.

things i learned today

• One in three children is obese in the GCC region, according to this article.
• I can buy stroopwaffles online! Yay!!
• We're going to the Doha Debates next Wednesday, featuring former Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Dr. Ayad Allawi. I know I'm a big dork, but oh man am I excited!

Also, an article came out recently in the Guardian about Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, the second of the three wives of the Emir and an incredible advocate for women, education, culture, modernization and diplomacy in Qatar. The article ends with a quote from her about Qatar's ability to avoid terrorism: "If you want to counter extremism, you have to tackle the root cause. It's not an accident that this product is not selling in Qatar. Satisfaction is the ideal immunisation against terrorism." She portrayes Qatar in the exact way that many of the Qataris wish it were perceived abroad. Read the whole article here.

Echo redux?

Watched the rugby world cup final last night at a place that reminds me of a combination between Echo Tap and a locker room. Had a fantastic time rooting for South Africa. I even learned some Afrikaans and made some new South African friends. I never realized how much I missed the atmosphere of sports, team spirit and friendly competition.

We're joining a gym today. Finally. It's either an expensive one with nice equipment and okay classes that's open on the weekends or a cheaper one that has nice equipment with great classes that's not open on the weekends. Hm. Whichever one it is, all I know is that we need to start working out. I feel like a slob.

Also, coming off of my last post... Maureen Dowd is a little random in this article about marketing Hillary, but it's interesting anyway. In other news, I'm going to start using the world "imbroglio" more often.

Hillary v. Giuliani?

According to the NYT today, "Hillary Clinton leads the Democratic field with 51 percent of the vote. She beats Barack Obama by 24 percentage points among black Democrats. She is projected now to beat Giuliani – or at the very least to be in a statistical dead heat with him in the general election."

And that's assuming that Giuliani will be the Republican canidate [I don't know who Republicans would vote for in that general election...or maybe they just wouldn't vote at all]. As for the Giuliani factor, Politico published an article direct from the Clinton campaign's mouth, declaring that "Clinton can beat Giuliani — and that, in fact, she already has." Says Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, referring to the 2000 Senate race, "We started in New York about seven or eight [percentage points] behind; when he dropped out we were seven or eight ahead. We have gone through a cycle with Giuliani." The thing is that Giuliani's official excuse for dropping out was a bout with cancer. But that doesn't change the fact that she had already gained fourteen or sixteen points on him....

And although I doubt her choice of accessories from time to time, Hillary is lookin' good, at least for the Democratic primary.

The Kingdom

I just saw The Kingdom. It was too much for me. I was near tears for almost the entire movie.

I wanted to cry for being an American and slowly understanding more of the responsibility and the risk of carrying that title. I wanted to cry for the senseless message of hate that is transferred from generation to generation, whatever the country. I wanted to cry for the self-perpetuating cycle of violence. I wanted to cry for the butchering of a beautiful religion in the name of extremism.

It would be difficult not to feel angry or intimidated watching the movie if one were not familiar with wahabi islam and the arabic culture that surrounds it. But at the same time, seeing that movie in Qatar gives me more of a clash of emotions than I think I would experience otherwise, because, at least, I am starting to understand.

The America that I know is made up of my family, my friends, our actions and my experiences. And that America tries to be just, compassionate and hardworking. There are flaws, significant ones at that, to the American system and to citizens as individuals. But if a few of us are trying to do what is right and listen to the world instead of telling it what to do, then everything is made a little bit better.

live blogging the rugby world cup quarter finals

Argentina v. Scotland. Yeah, baby. Makes me wish I had caught the All Blacks game yesterday... even though their awesome level of play did not win them the game.

First impressions: Rugby is a bit of a stupid game... but maybe I kinda like it. In trying to figure it out, I was told that it was derived from soccer and american football was derived from rugby. Which totally makes sense.

Favorite move: When a team is kicking off, they boost a member of their team up reaaaly high and he catches the ball. It looks like he's jumping six feet in the air.

Current thoughts: The sport, at first, seemed to be a bunch of men jumping on top of each other and the ball. Then the match started to evolve and the ball was moving around the field, which made things much more interesting. I even began to discern passes, field goals and penalties.

The Argentinians, as seems to be the case in most things in life, brought a certain finesse, seemingly interested in outsmarting their opponents more than boorishly running into them over, an attitude which I believe nicely becomes their blue-and-white striped jerseys [for which I have a great affinity... they're just so... pretty!].

Speaking of prettiness... I still prefer soccer players. I thought I'd just throw that out there. Hmmm... but the Scots are definitely hotter than the Pumas... fo sho.

...halftime...

Update: I just found out that there are fifteen players on the field for each side at a time. Doesn't that seem a little excessive?

Score: currently 16-6 Argentina!

Off-topic update: Oooh! Found awesome computer backgrounds for Argentina. Oh yeah.

Argentina just let Scotland gain 50ish yards. They're on our 1 [yes, I realize that I'm using American Football measurements here].... aaaaand they scored. That's okay... we're still ahead 19-13.

Fifteen minutes left. An Argentina player just got hurt. Eh... they're doing fine, though. I'm beginning to lose interest.

Eight minutes left. I've decided that #10 is my favorite for Argentina. I've also decided that the stops and starts are worse than American Football. Also, the French commentators are very amusing... a while ago, they said "Oh la la la la!" to describe a play. Haha.

Audience observations: There are a lot of women in the audience, surprisingly. I'm disappointed with the lack of team spirit, team colors and facepaints. I think that the audience could use a few thousand big foam fingers in sky blue and a taunting student section. :P

Three minutes left. The Argentinians seem to be in the right place at the right time a lot. But Scotland has also had greater time in posession of the ball in this half. But Argie is holding them well, so far, which is really all they have to do.

Two minutes left. It's clear that the players are getting more desperate. Hold 'em, Argie! Vamos!

45 seconds left. Score is still 19-13 Argentina.

10 seconds left. The maylay that ensues is hilarious when Argie doesn't know what to do with the ball and the player with the ball runs in circles.

ARGIE WINS! Nice match, muchachos. Semifinals, here we come. The only problem is that we're playing South Africa next. Which, according to a South African friend of mine, means that Argie is going to get "its ass kicked seventeen different directions." Uh oh.

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.

Omanilicious!

I traveled to Oman this past weekend, partly because I needed a visa change and partly because I wanted to see the MC members there... two of them were with me in AIESEC in Madison and the third is a fellow @US member.

Oman was great!! It was wonderful to see my friends again and to be with people that "get" me. I could just be myself and enjoy a much-needed relaxing (two day) vacation.




The guys don't have a lot of contact with Omanis, but they're working on it. They're just starting things up, trying to become legal, talking to the universities, understanding the culture and the challenges that it may present. It's so exciting to see things when they're just getting started, and I have no doubt in my mind that these guys are the right people to create something amazing.

My first night, we had a great conversation with some local students that the boys brought together through their small network, most of whom were half Omani. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the feasibility of bringing AIESEC to Oman and why the students would be interested in an organization like ours. It turned out that most of the students had already done MEPI (Middle East Partnership Initiative - part of the U.S. State Department) exchanges, so they were already sold on the idea. Basically, we had a great three-hour discussion about philosophy, religion, tradition and, of course, AIESEC. It was especially great for me, because I don't really get the chance to have many of those conversations with members in Qatar.

On Friday, we went for a four hour drive in search of the (supposedly) most beautiful beach in Oman. It was supposed to be an hour and a half away, but because of the floods from the hurricane earlier in the year, many of the roads were washed out and it was hard to find our way. When we arrived (finally), after almost running out of gas, gorgeous views and multiple backflips by Brett, we found that we had to hike/rock climb for about 45 minutes along some rocky cliffs to get to the water. So we did! When we arrived at a spot that we decided was far enough in, we all jumped off cliffs into the cool, deep, greenish water. I had never done anything like that before... it was awesome!




Those were the highlights of the weekend... but most of all, it was so good to sit down and have long chats with old friends again. We did take a video camera with us on some of our adventures, and David edited it into this hilarious masterpiece... Enjoy!

ode to a moosta

I haven't had the chance to chat with my little sister as much as I would like since I've been here. The few conversations we do have, whether on the phone or through AIM, are hilarious and feel like home. Here's a taste, in no particular order and out of context, because it's funnier that way:

Annika: shouldn't you be in bed

Me: it's only 11

Annika: EEEExactly

Me: homer is intense

Annika: yeah..that cat wasn't messing around

Annika: cuz it's baller stat

Me: ?

Annika: you don't know him personally, do you?

Me: i used to

Annika: so you used to know him?

Me: i wouldn't think he'd remember me, though

Annika: uh..he kinda does

Me: really?

Annika: he thinks he sorta knows you

Annika: i'm so not shallow

Me: what class are you in now?

Annika: classical mythology

Annika: it's pimp

Annika: STEAK!

Me: YUM!

Me: WITH BAKED POTATO!

Annika: BLOODY, JUICY, MOOING STEAK!!!

Annika: yum

Me: AND BROCCOLI!

Annika: uh...

Me: and man, how about those packers?

Annika: on fiaaaa

Damn, I miss that that girl. Props to you, little sista... you work hard, keep finding things to do to follow your passions and keep on rockin' Cornell College to the core.

i couldn't have said it any better...

9/11 Is Over

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Op-Ed Columnist
The New York Times
September 30, 2007

Not long ago, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a fake news story that began like this:

“At a well-attended rally in front of his new ground zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11. ‘My fellow citizens of 9/11, today I will make you a promise,’ said Giuliani during his 18-minute announcement speech in front of a charred and torn American flag. ‘As president of 9/11, I will usher in a bold new 9/11 for all.’ If elected, Giuliani would inherit the duties of current 9/11 President George W. Bush, including making grim facial expressions, seeing the world’s conflicts in terms of good and evil, and carrying a bullhorn at all state functions.”

Like all good satire, the story made me both laugh and cry, because it reflected something so true — how much, since 9/11, we’ve become “The United States of Fighting Terrorism.” Times columnists are not allowed to endorse candidates, but there’s no rule against saying who will not get my vote: I will not vote for any candidate running on 9/11. We don’t need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate.
What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.

It is not that I thought we had new enemies that day and now I don’t. Yes, in the wake of 9/11, we need new precautions, new barriers. But we also need our old habits and sense of openness. For me, the candidate of 9/12 is the one who will not only understand who our enemies are, but who we are.

Before 9/11, the world thought America’s slogan was: “Where anything is possible for anybody.” But that is not our global brand anymore. Our government has been exporting fear, not hope: “Give me your tired, your poor and your fingerprints.”

You may think Guantánamo Bay is a prison camp in Cuba for Al Qaeda terrorists. A lot of the world thinks it’s a place we send visitors who don’t give the right answers at immigration. I will not vote for any candidate who is not committed to dismantling Guantánamo Bay and replacing it with a free field hospital for poor Cubans. Guantánamo Bay is the anti-Statue of Liberty.
Roger Dow, president of the Travel Industry Association, told me that the United States has lost millions of overseas visitors since 9/11 — even though the dollar is weak and America is on sale. “Only the U.S. is losing traveler volume among major countries, which is unheard of in today’s world,” Mr. Dow said.

Total business arrivals to the United States fell by 10 percent over the 2004-5 period alone, while the number of business visitors to Europe grew by 8 percent in that time. The travel industry’s recent Discover America Partnership study concluded that “the U.S. entry process has created a climate of fear and frustration that is turning away foreign business and leisure travelers and hurting America’s image abroad.” Those who don’t visit us, don’t know us.
I’d love to see us salvage something decent in Iraq that might help tilt the Middle East onto a more progressive pathway. That was and is necessary to improve our security. But sometimes the necessary is impossible — and we just can’t keep chasing that rainbow this way.

Look at our infrastructure. It’s not just the bridge that fell in my hometown, Minneapolis. Fly from Zurich’s ultramodern airport to La Guardia’s dump. It is like flying from the Jetsons to the Flintstones. I still can’t get uninterrupted cellphone service between my home in Bethesda and my office in D.C. But I recently bought a pocket cellphone at the Beijing airport and immediately called my wife in Bethesda — crystal clear.

I just attended the China clean car conference, where Chinese automakers were boasting that their 2008 cars will meet “Euro 4” — European Union — emissions standards. We used to be the gold standard. We aren’t anymore. Last July, Microsoft, fed up with American restrictions on importing brain talent, opened its newest software development center in Vancouver. That’s in Canada, folks. If Disney World can remain an open, welcoming place, with increased but invisible security, why can’t America?

We can’t afford to keep being this stupid! We have got to get our groove back. We need a president who will unite us around a common purpose, not a common enemy. Al Qaeda is about 9/11. We are about 9/12, we are about the Fourth of July — which is why I hope that anyone who runs on the 9/11 platform gets trounced.

our shwarma guy

I'll post about the fabulousness that was my trip to Oman in my next post... I just needed to share this bit of awesomeness that happened today.

We have two shopping obsessions: perfume and shoes. Today was a perfume shopping day. After sniffing what must have been fifty perfumes, many of which were the strong Arabic potions with which Qatari women douse themselves, and after negotiating at four or five different places for a specific Gucci fragrance we wanted, we decided that we were hungry. And so off to our favorite "shawerma" place where Eitikin, our favorite shawerma guy, always takes care of us. We just drive up, honk the horn, and he comes to our car, chats with us a bit and brings us our shwarma with some (usually free) drinks. This time, Lonneke asked for a Coke... but the place only has Pepsi. But our shwarma guy takes care of us, like I said, so Eitikin talked to another shwarma guy, the guy took a Pepsi, walked to the second-rate shwarma place a few doors down, exchanged the Pepsi for a Coke and walked back to Eitikin. We were elated when we realized what was going on. And Lonneke, of course, got her Coke.

It's nice to know people in this town, even if it's just to get a juicier shwarma and the drink of your choice. :)