Settling in AND the promise of wheels!!!

As of tomorrow, we have been in Qatar for 1 month.  So much has happened, including experiencing  some of the stages of culture shock.  It has been a whirlwind to say the least.  Unfortunately, I got a monster head/chest cold that lasted all week and even kept me home one day...blergh!!!  Feeling tons better and now it appears Jon is heading for the same diagnosis :(. Really hoping the kids stay healthy.  Adam started swimming class and is doing fantastic at the 50meter laps...it's insane how far that is to me...exhausting.  Jay was invited to his first bday party and had a lot of fun.  Jay is really starting to make some connections with some of the kids his age and enjoying all of the playing that goes on around our neighborhood.  The compound is made up of mostly expats so these are the kids that he's met here and also goes to school with them.  He has a couple of Arabic children in his class that he enjoys as well, but due to extremely large families and time that is spent with them, it's not as likely for there to be play dates outside of class.  The boys learned how to write their names in Arabic while in their Arabic classes last week... I am quite lost with the language and letter system but am sort of trying.  Most people speak English everywhere we go so that is very convenient.  Jay won a "caring" award at school during an assembly for all of KG & 1st grade.  I was so proud and so was he.  The only boy to get one out of 5 recipients.  Caring is one of the pillars of the whole learner that is taught at school thru IB PYP (international baccalaureate primary years program). We have finally been told that it looks like we will be taking our sign and road test for our driving licenses!!!!  Omg... This is sooooooo exciting...to be on the verge of independence!!!!  Another difference is that we are only able to purchase our alcohol/pork permit later in the term so we are looking fwd to it.  There is only one place in the entire city to buy these items and how much you can purchase is directly correlated to your monthly income. Very interesting!  Imagine Wisconsin on this system, during Packer season.  Jay was given a bike by a neighbor and is riding around with his buds, feeling quite cool. I made the mega trip to ikea and finally got us on the map for dishes, glasses, enough forks and spoons, and hints of color to contrast all of the white.  It's starting to take shape around our house/condo but it still needs a few more touches to start to feel like home.

Excuse me, has hell officially frozen over?

Lots going on this past week, and we are definitely ready for the weekend.  After last weekend's antics of blood, stitches, hospital ERs, and the anticipation of starting new jobs, new school, and new friends, we were pleasantly surprised to have made it through the first week relatively unscathed.  Jay limped his way around and was extra tough through the pain of his poor toe.  Adam was extra supportive and independent in a lot of ways, making it easier on the rest of us who needed it :)  It was so nice to actually be working in their school and running over to peek through the window or check in with a classroom staff to see how everything was going with my guys :)  What a relief it has been to be right on campus with them.  Jon is right up the walking path at the senior school about 5 min. walk, so we're quite the family pod before and after school.

The mornings come awfully early around here, 5:00am and on the bus to school by 6:15.  Phew. The boys are making friends, melting hearts, and finding their way which is all we can ask for.  Adam starts swimming class next week in the school Olympic sized swimming pool after school and Jay may take on something else as those darn stitches are cramping his style in the pool.  Adam had a rough spot on day three as I received a call from the school nurse...he had puked in the cafeteria, or ran to the bathroom puking, or was also still puking in the nurse's office.  I only knew that puke was involved and I was not looking forward to my poor guy's condition.  But like everything that has come our kids' way so far, he was a champ and overcame it like it was it small potatoes. Of course ibuprofen, hugs, snuggles, and lots of Mom sympathy helped too ;-)

We realized half way through the day yesterday that it was September 11th.  WOW!  All the emotions and memories of where we were and what we heard and how we felt all those years ago.  Who would have ever thought at that time that 12 years later we would be living in the Middle East.  Not us, that's for sure.

We went downtown Doha to check out the City Center mall and some of the downtown.  It was a nice trip and we found a nice restaurant to enjoy.  I did make a major boo boo on this trip, however.  It is very much frowned upon to show public displays of affection, even with your spouse, and I totally forgot and gave my man a big hug and smooch at the ice cream counter.  HOLY CRAP!!!  I remembered at the last minute and so did Jon and we quickly separated and walked apart for a bit, feeling extremely self-conscious. Whoops!!!

There were a few rough nighttime tuck ins and talk of a pet came up numerous times.  PET???  NO WAY!!!!  I mean, we've had a gecko lizard, two hermit crabs, fish, beetles, frogs, and dead mosquitos over the years, and most recently, a cockroach that went right back outside.  Jon inherited a couple of turtles in his classroom that the boys named Toff and Airo (The Last Airbender Cartoon) and I was hoping that was going to do the trick, but this Mom is soft and desperate.  But I do not do animals, people.  I can barely take care of myself and my family, let alone a hungry, hairy beast of sorts that doesn't use the toilet, wear a diaper, eat it's own waste.  BUT...a woman I work with (self proclaimed "cat lady") rescued a cat from school grounds, took it to the vet for all the bells and whistles, and asked if we would be interested in taking it in.  ME???   Cat???  Animal of any kind???  Thinking of my kiddos desperate to love and adore a furry friend, I caved and said, "sure".  I mean come on, did the Vikings win the Super Bowl or something?  That is the only way to explain this phenomenon.  Hell has to have frozen over.  We will see though, it's mostly a trial basis to see how everyone reacts allergy wise and how the cat responds to kids.  Will keep you posted.

Jon's new buddy

Proud Papa

Proud Papa #2

Phy Ed. Day

Aren't they beautiful :)

No alcohol mojitos

Dinner Downtown

Hanging at the clubhouse game room...can't swim with stitches.

My limping, stitched up adorable 1st Grader :)

FIRST DAY of School 9/8/13 Doha, Qatar

Sunset with clouds

Blood, sweat, tears, but not necessarily in that order.

It is Hot!!!  How hot you ask???  DAMN Hot!!!  106 today with nights cooling down to 95.  Things have been moving fast and we are trying to catch our breath.  School starts on Sunday and we are doing our best to get our rooms/curriculum AND our boys ready for a new school, culture, schedule,all without a car as there is no public transportation here.  We aren't used to being so dependent on others so we are adjusting to this new feeling of helplessness when it comes to getting from point A to point B.  The boys continue to thrive in their new environment and we couldn't be happier for them.  We hope to have a drivers license in the next week which will be quite an experience, so we hear.  Only American expats have to actually take a road test while everyone else just shows their license from home and gets one for here.  Fingers crossed that all goes well with that because the roads and driving here is enough to give a person a heart attack!!!  Speeding, round abouts everywhere, blurs whizzing by every which way...it's enough to make me cry. But I plan on being a pro in no time.    We had a dinner to go to for work last week and the boys had a wonderful babysitter by the name of Rebecca.  They are requesting that she come back again and loved that she played games with them and was a lot of fun.  We loved that when we got home at 8:30, they had brushed their teeth and were sound asleep in bed.

The weekend is upon us and has been quite relaxing.  The boys found their very own cupboard space on our ridiculously empty kitchen which made for extra fun just when they thought they had run out of creative mischief.  I had coffee with our awesome upstairs neighbors, Cherie and Anthony, getting more of the scoop on shopping, kid activities, clinics, and Emergency room info, just in case.  AND boy oh boy was it ever a good thing because Jay was playing laser tag with his friend in the house when I returned and sure enough, he mysteriously split his adorable toe open, with blood everywhere. Poor baby!  We still haven't a clue what happened outside of his toe turning to hamburger, but Adam is determined to solve this mystery.  We went to the hospital straight away and are awaiting the little man's stitching of his toe back together.  It's really not that bad but this Mama sure feels some serious empathy for her brave boy.  On a positive note, we know where the hospital is and are experiencing a new part of the city :)

Work dinner with our New Zealand colleagues

Got my MacBook Pro from school and am loving it

My office is under construction and will hopefully be ready to go by Sunday.  I'm so excited to actually have my own office :)  

McDonald's at the mall

Riding the bus with their buddy from New Zealand

The cat who lounges outside of our house.

Cupboard Fun!!!

More friends from school child care.  

Toe Mishap

Dinner Date

The stitches

The finished product

Al Ahli hospital was like a hotel....quite nice.

These are the Days of our Lives

The days are just flying by and things are going pretty darn well at this juncture.  Today, Friday, was our weekend and we had a chill evening of ordering in Papa John's pizza and swimming at the pool.  Photos are prohibited at the pool so you won't be seeing any photos from our time there...Jon already got a talking to by security after snapping a couple of pics the other day at the clubhouse pool.  Photo taking is very private here and if it looks like someone else may be in your photo, either accidentally or on purpose, it can be offensive.  There are also some Islamic dimensions to be considered when it comes to images such as photos...we're still learning.  

The boys and a Swedish friend they met at a Science dinner...chilling. 

We met some lovely people and have been to some dinners and gatherings in our first week.  The boys are quite good at trying new foods (not finishing them) and being polite and patient while we head to these new outings.  They have most everyone who meets them in awe of their self control and manners and we are incredibly proud.   

The boys were discussing pet possibilities in the beginning and we were keeping our options open, even though we're really not pet people.  Anything for the kids.  This was sparked by Jon's Mom getting an adorable little kitten before we left the States and the fun they have with Lucy, the cat my Mom & Dad share with their neighbor ;-)  Our upstairs neighbors got a kitten just the other day and we brought the boys up (Adam mostly) to see how they would react with allergies, hives, etc.  They did ok but Adam definitely broke out in hives on his face and neck :(  Jay is such a little bug lover and has been on the lookout at all of the new creatures.  He was very excited to find a new "beetle" the other night and held it in his had our whole walk home.  He'd gaze at it and then tell me that he couldn't believe how much his "beetle" loved him.  By the time we made it home the "beetle" had disappeared from his hands and Jay was devastated and in tears.  "Luckily", just before walking in, I saw it crawling up his back and shoulder and grabbed it and showed him that I had found his beloved bug.  Needless to say he was THRILLED and ready to go and create a habitat for his new pet.  I had him show me his beetle in the light of the kitchen before finding him a jar, and sure enough, my non-biased entymologist had himself a big old cockroach.  OMG!!!  I calmly grabbed the bug and told Jay that he'd have to bring it back outside.  He was devastated and sobbing about having to release him into the great unknown and he is still quite cross with his discriminating mother.  "What's wrong with a cockroach? Wall-E had a cockroach and they're great pets"!  What oh what to do :)  When we were unpacking the toys the next night, and what should we find but his battery operated cockroach.  I told him that was the only one I would allow.  He got kind of a kick out of that.  

Jay's battery powered cockroach...imagine the real deal

MN teams were well represented at a gathering 

Primary School entrance

Senior School where Jon works

Not in Sweden anymore :)

Today was a good day filled with lots of good chats and conversations with both new friends and colleagues.  Adam and Jay met an adorable boy from New Zealand who loves playing "Dragonvale" as much as they do and they had their first, albeit impromptu, first play date here at our place ... He only lives 3 houses down where they've made numerous other friends :). The boys seem to be adjusting well, although Jay wakes up telling is that he isn't going to orientation week child care, and yesterday, as we approached our flat, I said, "Look guys, I see our street right there, we must be close"...in which Jay replied, "that's NOT our street Mom, Congress Street is OUR street!!!"  I hear you, sweet boy...you miss home.  Overall though, both he and Adam are laughing, playing, and their usual sweet selves.  Fingers crossed that it stays that way.  Our packages arrived today after Jon made some things happen at the airport cargo customs area.  It's a lengthy, frustrating process, but my guy got 'er done.  A very nice, fragrant man with a long beard delivered everything today and it's like Christmas with all of the boxes and reintroduction a to toys...not to mention my shoes and wine opener ;)

We took the trek out to Ikea tonight and it was quite the experience.  First off, drivers got a bit confused, bringing some of us to a large gray, concrete warehouse (not quite Ikea, but I see the resemblance).  Another driver took a group of us to a Kia car dealership (closer yet, but not there yet).  We were really hungry and eager to get our plate of ikea meatballs...order up.  Not the same meatball, much more lamb tasting and a different overall flavor...not good in our opinion ... big bummer but ice cream saved the day.  We scored our current must haves and headed home where early bed is in high gear.  

Sunday = Monday!!!!

My two cool guys with their nerd glasses, ready to head to head out.

Today was our first official day of work and it all seemed to go quite well considering the night nerves that showed themselves in two little boys in the dead of night.  Saturday night here is like Sunday back home as the work week begins on Sunday and ends on Thursday.  Friday is the holy day in this part of the world so we plan on getting used to this small change in our calendar rather quickly.  Jay woke up around 1:30am to tell me that he couldn't sleep because he was too nervous about attending the child care arrangement at school with the newbie kids.  He was quite upset and that woke Adam, who then wanted to know how many miles we were from Minnesota.  I felt so bad for them both, but after a snack, lots of snuggles, and some silliness, everyone fell back to sleep around 3:30am...Oy!!!

The morning went well, trying a couple of exercises of having them cast their worry and nerves on Mom and Dad.   They definitely liked that idea and were out the door, ready to go without any drama...Yay!  Such a relief to this Mom.  We sat in on numerous presentations for banks, culture, driving (this has me quite nervous), and checked out our offices/classroom.  Jon is wowing everyone with his brilliance (not surprised in the least).  The boys did great and the child care (kind of like discovery club in St. Paul) teachers found me at the end of the day to tell me that they wish the could have "400 more boys just like those two" ;). They really are such well behaved boys.  Jay was so worn out by the end of the day that he fell asleep alongside a colleague's son on the way back to our flat...so sweet.  Tonight we were fortunate to meet our super cool upstairs neighbors...Cherie & Anthony from New Zealand.  They were very kind and we enjoyed their company quite a lot.  Should be fun getting to know them and others even more so.

Adan's 2am snack was a quesadilla that ended up looking like Minnesota just when he needed a bit of home :)

Grocery Shopping and a Visit to the Club House

Outside our apartment near the bus stop

Grocery Shopping

The Club House at night

I took a shuttle to check out the grocery store today while Jon and the boys slept.  Jay and Adam slept around 11 hours in all...impressive.   The grocery I went to was like a super duper Target and you can find any and everything you are looking for...even many familiar brands, which was comforting on my first try at grocery shopping.  Just haven't found milk that has the "right" taste, according to Jay, and no luck on the rice milk, but soy is an option, so we'll see if Adam notices the difference ;). We had a nice teacher luncheon with our kids and other newbies...met a lot of really great colleagues from all over the world.  We also discovered the clubhouse on our compound and it was amazing.  Game rooms, squash and tennis courts, spa, and restaurant.  The temp of the pool is like bath water and the boys were loving our time there.  Whatever will we do when have to actually start working and the boys start school ... Curriculum to write, papers to grade, homework to do, deep breath :)  ?  All in all, a great day!!!

At the pool

Our Street and view of our apartment