Middle Eastern Dish of the Week: Yogurt Marinated Chicken+Tzatziki sauce and grilled cauliflower

So, I read about a middle eastern spiced yogurt marinade and tried it last weekend.  I was quite disappointed in the marinade, as I had burned the chicken quite quickly on the grill.  Luckily, Mark then took over and saved the chicken from being bricks of charcoal.  Even though one side of a few pieces was slightly burned, we were not impressed with the marinade and will not try it again.

The Tzatziki sauce (yogurt, mint, garlic, dill) on the side made for a great dipping sauce and the grilled cauliflower was delicious.  So, the meal wasn't a total bust, but the marinade is not one I would recommend.

Middle Eastern Dish: Syrian Chicken Stew

So, I realize I have slacked on the Middle Eastern dish making and I think I forgot to take a picture of one within the past few weeks, but oh well.  I recently made a Syrian Chicken Stew that had cinnamon in it to add a sweet kick to the stew, that we enjoyed.  We both liked it, but next time will make it with different chicken.  The chicken we bought at the store was a bit chewy, hopefully it was still safe to eat. ;)   I had mine with some roasted garlic cauliflower, which was delicious.

"Midterm" Break

So, although we are not quite halfway through our 2nd term, we just finished our week long "midterm break".  It was originally supposed to be the following week, but the SEC (Supreme Education Council) decided to change it to last week a couple of months ago.  They actually extended it to a two week break for the country, but our school fought for the one week in order to avoid having to extend our school year.  Luckily, Mark and I were not planning on traveling anywhere, so it didn't impact already purchased plane tickets and such, as it did for others.

Considering we just went somewhere in December, it was nice to stay in Doha for this week long break.  We wanted to give you a snap shot of what we did this week.  Mark already posted about the concert and I mentioned our trip to the ER.  Otherwise, it was so nice to get school work done, spend time with friends who also didn't travel anywhere, and just relax.

Museum of Islamic Art Park Bazaar 

Park Cafe' to plan our trip to Istanbul...I love the view. :)

We may be in Qatar, but that doesn't mean we can't watch the Super Bowl and enjoy junk food. 

Purchased the NFL ticket so we were able to watch the game the following day instead of 2:30 am our time.  Thanks to Tory and Maureen who let us connect our computer to their TV to watch the game on the big screen. 

Spring Festival at the Souq

Iranian Restaurant at the Souq -  (left-Mark and I, middle-Maureen and Troy (our Canadian neighbors), back-Suzanne- (another Canadian teacher), right-Cecilia (South African teacher--she's also teachers Year 5)

The flushing out of the ear--thankfully after 30-45 minutes Mark could hear again!

Date Night - Enjoying an Italian dinner and some shopping

Gulf Adventures Desert Tour - Dune Bashing (pictures don't do justice)

This was really our faces at certain points of the trip.  I would look down and just see a cliff and if we went slightly to the right we could just roll the SUV.  It was such a thrill and our driver did a great job; he was a lot of fun! 

Sand is covering the windshield -- We are going down a dune at this point--it feels like we were on a roller coaster in the dunes.

"Home is wherever I'm with you" 
We may be 1000+ miles from what we once called "home", but no matter where we are, Mark is my home. This has been such an amazing journey and I'm so grateful to experience this with my best friend. We've had our challenges, but prayer and strength from our Father has helped us each step of the way.

Mark and Majid (dune bashing driver)

Dune jumping

Being silly :)

It was scary to jump off the end of a dune

Just got to the camp and are enjoying some Chai Karak (tea+milk) 

yummy food in a cute tent--we were sitting on large pillows on the ground.  This place was adorable!

Let the sand boarding begin

A natural

As Mark would say, "We're making progress"--he's excited to hopefully get me on the slopes for some snow boarding.

Mark teaching me how to board and helping be down the hill~

This is what happened when I went down by myself...haha! I made it most of the way without falling. :)

Let the games begin -- we spent the afternoon playing games - ping pong, darts, foosball, and chess 

The desert trip was amazing! I have to thank my student's dad who works for Gulf Adventures who gave us a complimentary full day desert tour.  We hope to go with friends in a couple of months and hope it's warm enough to swim that time.  

We finished the day by meeting up with some friends to watch the Winter Olympic opening ceremony. Overall, we had a great week off and are trying to get our heads back into "school mode".  Our next "midterm break" is in the middle of April and we will be going to Istanbul, Turkey for the week.  

~Kristin

Emergency Room Visit #2

Well, Mark and I made our second trip to the ER since we have been here, but this time it was for Mark. We are unfortunately still waiting on our health cards that we were finally able to apply for about a month ago, so until then all medical trips need to go through the ER.  Luckily, our trips have not been for anything life threatening, and we are grateful for that.

Earlier this week Mark was cleaning out his ears with a Q-tip and must have pushed the wax in too far, because he has not been able to hear out of that ear ever since.  It has been quite annoying for him (and I), but I keep joking with him that his is just an excuse for him to ignore me. ;) 

Anyways, after several days of this and trying various home remedies and ear drops from the pharmacy (you don't need a prescription to get quite a few medications from the pharmacy, but the pharmacy at the hospital has different drugs), we opted to see a doctor.  Going to the hospital here is quite different than in the States, well if you're going to the public hospital at least.  We first tried going to the family ER that I went to, but found out they only see woman patients.  

So, we then proceeded to the Male ER entrance and boy was that quite different than the female one.  The female/family ER wasn't very packed at all and had both men and woman, but they were sitting in separate areas.  When we walked into the men's ER, I stuck out like a sore thumb as I was literally the only female, minus a few nurses, inside among about 50 sick men.  I'm quite used to the ratio here, but this was a bit extreme in such a confined area.  After seeing the long line for registration, I told Mark I would get us a few seats.  As soon as I sat down, a man with a surgical mask, who was hospital security, came and told me that I was not allowed in there.  He told me I had to wait outside.  Mark and I were both frustrated at this, as we just wanted to be able to stay together. 

This is definitely a frustration here as it is part of their culture/religion to separate the men and women as much as possible.  So, as we were questioning if there is anywhere we can go to be together, the security guard did tell us that I would be able to go in with Mark to see the doctor.  So, I went and found a chair just outside the waiting area and read.   Mark came out and sat with me for awhile as there was quite a lot of people infront of him and we were expecting to be there for quite some time.  We definitely saw a few interesting people come through, but luckily we didn't see any severe cases.  

After waiting for a little over an hour, we finally heard "Mark Daniel Wilcoxen" announced over the intercom.  We walked back into this area where they had about 6 "cubicle" medical areas, and Mark is directed to go sit in one of them with a couple of other men.  Lets just say they were doing their best to get people in and out of here as quick as possible.  The doctor, who happened to be the same one I saw when I went, looked at Mark's ear with his handy dandy medical ear scope and said there wasn't a hole in his eardrum and it was just a build up of earwax.  We were hoping he would flush it out, but all he did was write a prescription for it.  

So, one and half hours later we were walking home after spending less than $1 USD on his prescription and nothing for the hospital visit.  We were somewhat disappointed in that they didn't do anything but prescribe medication, but were hopeful that it was strong and would work quickly.

Well, that was two days ago and the problem still persists.  We came home from our small group last night and I began researching more home remedies/suggestions.  I then proceeded to look into the medication that they prescribed to Mark, and couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw that it was not for ears but they were eye drops instead.   

The moral of the story, ALWAYS check the prescription before taking the medicine any doctor here prescribes.  That's probably a good rule of thumb anywhere, but I can't help but think that it's more rare of something like that happening in the States.

I'm not sure Mark sees the humor in the situation as much as I do, but you could definitely say we go out moneys worth. ;)

PS- Any suggestions you may have are welcome! We are going to attempt to find Hydrogen Peroxide today, as that is not something they have at the the pharmacy or grocery near us.  

Side Note:  It was brought to our attention that people were not able to "follow" our blog.  We have finally figured it out, and you need to enter your e-mail address in the box under "Follow by Email" (top right).  Afterward, you need to click the link they e-mail you to verify your e-mail address.  This was a widget we needed to add, so mission accomplished. ;)

Go The Distance

These past two Fridays at "The Place" (Sundays in other parts of the world), singer/songwriter/Grammy artist Geoff Moore lead worship.  It was his first time to The Middle East so that was one of the key things that we had in common with Geoff.  Another thing, more notably for me, given the size of the university and its current graduating class, was to learn that Geoff attended/graduated from Taylor University.  Like any TU alum, the most popular question was where did you live on campus?  And that was where our commonalities ended as he lived in Wengatz Hall while I was in Sammy Morris.  Oh well; Geoff is a solid guy.

I'll leave you to research and look up other biographical information on Geoff while I continue to share our experience with him these past couple of Friday mornings.  This past Friday, Kristin and I were chosen to help him sell CD's.  The combination of Geoff's heart piercing music and the pretty girl next to me help sell quite a few CD's.  Afterwards, Kristin and I got to meet Geoff (hence the first name basis) and his accompanying guitarist, Mark (need I say more) who were both real humble, down to earth and easy-going people to strike up conversation with.

We're hopeful that Geoff and friends of his like Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman will come across the pond to play and lead worship.  In our conversation with Geoff and Mark, others were saying how often people return to Qatar so that is a positive.  Having both of them was a real treat and blessing as they shared their music with us that spans generations.  One of our favorite songs that Geoff played both Fridays was "Listen to Our Hearts".  Check it out at the link below, and may it pierce your heart and give praise to The One who gives us new life.

"Listen to Our Hearts" by Geoff Moore

Perspectives

      So, although Mark and I work at the same school, I can tell you that our experiences are quite different. Not necessarily always, but overall our time here is a bit different, mainly when it comes to school and tutoring.  The school was in a bit of shambles until more recently, but we have new executive counsel members who have been turning it around within the past few years.  It is great to be part of this improvement movement.

     It appears as if they are trying to work their way from the bottom up on this improvement plan.  I have storage closets of random resources (not necessarily all that I need and definitely need more, so won't say that's perfect), team planning and true cooperation among teachers, ease of getting new supplies for the classroom from another storage closet (laminate sheets (miss the industrial laminator machine), dry erase markers, notebooks, pencils, sticky tack, etc), professional development tends to be a bit extensive for primary teachers (when we have true sessions), and overall organization among the staff.  Obviously, no school is perfect and the primary division of our school is far from it, but compared to secondary and what Mark's experience is, it is run quite well.  Also, my students are very different than Mark's, as mine are at the age where they still respect their teacher, love learning, and are easy to please.

     For example, we had parent night this past week.  For me, we sent out letters to parents and allowed them to schedule a specific 10 minute slot to meet with me.  There was communication sent back and forth from parents and teachers.  The parent was ask to come a few minutes early and wait outside the teacher's classroom until it was their turn.  It was from 4-7 pm and I had 15 parents sign up.  So, it was fairly organized.  Our principle and assistant principle were in our building to help burn out any "fires" if anything arose and to support us.  I had 11 of my 15 parents show up, but overall it went great.  Keep in mind, I have an absolutely amazing class and unfortunately the parents of my lowest kids didn't come.  It always seems to work like that.   I needed a translator for one of my student's parents, which I was a bit nervous about, but it went well.  It made me have a whole new appreciation for his child, who is a decent reader and writer and doesn't have support at home, only because her parents can't help her because they don't know English.  Talk about good work ethic for a child and representation of her maturity.   I also didn't have one mother who was completely covered, which was nice because I sometimes feel uncomfortable when I can't see their face and I'm talking to them.  So, all in all, it was a long night, but great to meet more parents and discuss their child's progress, behavior (all positive for the parents who came), and areas to work on.  So, from my perspective this was an organized event that went well.

~ Kristin

As for Mark's parent night I'll let him tell you about it...

        Well, where should I begin?  School communicated about the conferences by giving students letters to take home to their parents, which I must say worked surprisingly well considering what others have shared with me about the night's attendance from previous years.  Whenever papers are sent home from the school, they are sent with your registration class.  Since I do not see the same class during the same lesson throughout the week, I try to wait till I have my registration class at the end of the day which is on Tues/Wednesdays.  With Parent Night, it worked out well this time so I was pleased to find little papers scattered throughout my building (B-Block) let alone throughout the campus grounds as I left school for the day.

        The night of parent's night started off really slow.  I was seated at a small table that ideally seats no more than 6 yet somehow 10 chairs were finagled around it.  I sat next to another teacher where I was then shared how the evening will pan out for the next three hours.  While hearing the lowdown for the evening, our conversation abruptly ended as my colleague had his first parent of which you could only see two brown eyes as she wore an abaya and hijab.  I found it a little odd to sit next to a colleague's parent meeting where I was easily within earshot to hear the whole thing assuming I chose to listen in.  Fortunately I did not have to twiddle my thumbs for long as my first parent sat down.  From the moment the first parent/tutor sat down, I was constantly talking for the next 2 hours and 55 minutes (not that I took notice at my watch from time to time for a split second).  I was surprised, but I did have over 30 out of 125 parents/tutors come which was better than I thought.

        When the parent or tutor (for that matter) is a muslim woman, I'm always hesitant to introduce myself with a handshake which only happened once.  It just seems different compared to what I had been used to the last four years of teaching and having parent meetings.  Overall, I met with more woman than men, and I must say the men that I did met with did not seem all that interested or thrilled to be in attendance that evening.  Most of the men that came mentioned how they were just passing through because they were home for a week after bouncing from country to country for business.  The few men who were genuinely interested were not from gulf countries which I found to be interesting.  Another interesting thing I took away was that the student's who had interested dads that came, are doing well in my classes.  I'm obviously not a dad, but I hope to be a father who is actively interested in my kids' lives both academically and non-academically.  I can understand some of the parents' frustration with their child's grades for the term, but when I hear that they (the parents), are not home much and have tutors and nannies that raise the kids I don't feel all that sorry.  I know this is not the case with all of my students, but its just an observation that I've been processing with a good number of my students.  It seems like some families are simply trying to "buy" learning for their students and are willing to throw any amount of money at the situation which leads to Kristin's perspective on tutoring.

~Mark

        We have quite different perspectives as the male and female roles / social rules are quite different here.  Mark already shared one previous experience as to why he lost his tutoring job, because he saw the mom for a brief second and she was not covered (wearing clothes, but hair was not covered).  Women should only be fully seen by their husband or family, otherwise they are covered when they are in public.  This week, Mark picked up a new student and with that was able to help me to pick up more tutoring with a couple of the siblings.  We went yesterday for the first time.  I am temporary tutoring their Year 1 (kindergartener) who is trying to pass the admission test for our school.  He has already failed it once, but they are trying again.  So, I went yesterday to tutor this young boy and Mark and I pull up to their house, which consists of several buildings.  Some of the buildings are for different family members and one is a men's meeting building.  The boy pointed in the direction of the main house for me to go to, while him and Mark went somewhere else.

      I walked up to the front door and was greeted at the front door by the mother.  This was my first time in the main house of a Qatari, as my other student I tutor just has me tutor in the men's meeting room (separate building).  It was very nice, but only saw the very front of the house.  The mother had sent up a work station for us to work at, while she stayed and helped to translate when needed and make sure her son was following directions during our tutoring session.  It was an interesting hour, as this boy doesn't know his alphabet or numbers.  Luckily, I was able to use some of the strategies that I learned at Creekside working in their Special Education Department to help this child and felt like we made progress.  The progress was minimal, but plan on working with him for 2 days a week.  His English is extremely poor and we had a hard time communicating, but he definitely knew what "high five" and jumping meant, as we did a lot of both together. :) I'm sure it will be an interesting experience with this boy, but look forward to helping him improve in his English. I also can't complain about the extra money that we can earn with the additional tutoring jobs.

~Kristin

      I'm grateful for the opportunity to tutor again.  I need to be more careful that I don't squander this opportunity like I haphazardly did with the previous one :).  Needless to say, I'm certainly more hesitant in where I walk around the compound of houses/villas.  Luckily, the two times that I've tutored my Year 7 (6th grade) student, he has come to school with his driver to pick me up to then lead me into our tutoring venue.

      My tutoring takes place in what I have learned (almost put learnt, British English is getting to me) is the male lounge area when family/friend gatherings happen.  You walk in and it is pretty ornate with chandeliers, wall-to-wall with couches and a few tables which are littered with chocolates, candies and biscuits.   I have consumed my fair share of these treats in my mind as they have been covered and/or are in packaging.  Perhaps one of these days I'll get to see what my tastebuds think of these items.

      The student and I get along real well as he finds my tactics silly, fun and helpful at the same time.  I'm thankful for my teaching experience and vast array of previous one-on-one tutoring experiences back in USA as they are helping me now.  Yet, tutoring students over here, so far has been incredibly challenging as they are lower than any students I have worked with in tutoring (and teaching in class thinking of my students) before.  Despite the challenges, it is rewarding at the same time, as I seek to instill confidence along with learning how to find the mean, median, mode, divide fractions, etc.  So we'll see how this experience goes and how far its course will run assuming I don't screw this one up :).

~Mark

Winter Holiday Travel Adventures

      When Mark and I first took the job in Doha, we sat down and created a "Dream Travel List".  The opportunity to travel was one of the main reasons why we began teaching abroad, in addition to the growth and adventures this opportunity would bring.  While discussing where we wanted to go, Mark suggested Israel and I immediately said I thought it would be neat to be in Bethlehem on Christmas.  I feel very grateful to look back at that conversation of dreaming about our travels, as we were able to make that dream a reality.  

    We spent about a week in Israel traveling to some of the holiest sites in the world, walking where JC walked, lived, and taught.  It was truly an amazing and unforgettable experience and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go.  This past year we continued to be blessed with the opportunities He provided for us and am grateful for this experience.  Below we will try to give you a snap shot into our trip with pictures and explanations.

Day 1:  We arrived and got to our Hostel.  This was our first experience staying in a Hostel and we learned that when we travel again for longer periods of time, we will be sure to switch it up between hostel and hotel. Although it was extremely cheap to stay there, the luxury of our own room and bathroom is priceless at times.  After we checked in and unloaded our bags, we went exploring Old Jerusalem. Our Hostel was located in Old Jerusalem in the Muslim Quarter.  Old Jerusalem was very different than I imagined.  It was enclosed with walls and the inside was a maze with shops everywhere.  We walked around and saw some of the amazing sites, but didn't spend a lot of time at each as we were taking a tour of the Old and New City the following day.

In front of the door to our hostel.  To the right is a guarded Muslim entrance to the Dome of the Rock.  There were guards there most of the day in full uniform with automatic rifles. Lets just say we were never allowed in that entrance, although it was just feet from our door.

Inside Old Jerusalem

I loved all of the small doorway entrances in the Old City.

More pictures of the Old City to get an idea of how it looked like a maze.

Mark and I in front of the Wailing Wall (Western Wall) - only part of the original temple still standing. 

Birthday dinner outside fully bundled (not used to the cooler temps of 50s and 60s), but it was delicious and had good company. :)

Hostel Night 1:  I was awoken in the middle of the night by a woman having night terrors.  She started yelling in Chinese and then was quiet for a bit and then would begin yelling in Chinese again.  It was quite terrifying to wake up to, but just added to the experience of hostel living. Of course Mark slept right through this.

Day 2: Old & New City Tour

This was by far our favorite tour of the three we went on. We had an awesome tour guide, Sylvia, and a great group.  Plus, it was well organized and extremely informative.

Going up the Mount of Olives

View from the top of Mount Olives - cemeteries below for the three main religions for this area, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian.

The Olive Tree represents where they think the last supper happened.

The Wailing Wall and Dome of the Rock behind us--We were able to go and pray and put in a prayer at the Wailing Wall and I was truly moved thinking about this is where JC taught.  It was such a great experience as we were able to truly reflect on where we were and the significance of the site.

We walked most of the stations of the cross - somewhat hard to truly picture as were were waling through the Old City with tons of people and shops on both sides.  It helped me get a better idea of how long his journey was and have me an idea of the distance between different sites.

Holy Sepulchre Church- Where JC was crucified and buried - they have built a church over the holy sites, which is what they did with most holy sites in this area.

Day 3: Holocaust Museum

Mark and I spent the afternoon touring the Holocaust Museum.  We didn't take any pictures inside as that was not allowed, and also wouldn't seem appropriate.  The museum was filled with artifacts, written information, and video testimonies.  It was very well done to represent the events.  Although it was depressing to go through, we both truly appreciated the information displayed throughout the museum.

Hostel Night Experience: Unfortunately, there was a loud snorer who was sleeping in the bunk below me.  I was awoken multiple times throughout the night with someone hitting on our bunk to try to quiet the snorer.  I later found out it was Mark hitting my bed... Needless, to say I didn't get much sleep with the snoring and the banging of my bed and we had a very early day for our tour.

Day 4: Nazareth and Galilee Tour

Overall, we enjoyed the different sites we went on during the tour, but didn't like how much time we spent in the bus.  We were gone for a little over 12 hours and spent about 7-8 hours in the bus.  The sites were great, but we didn't like the tour guide as much as the first one we had, who we absolutely adored.  Below are some pictures of the different places we visited.  The signs will hopefully help explain where we are in each picture.

Joseph's dwelling

Village of Nazareth behind us

Sea of Galilee- - Where JC walked on water and near where he fed 5,000

Shortly after we took this picture we went and watched someone get baptized in the Jordan River.

Day 5: Our own explorations

We toured around the Old City ourselves and enjoyed a hike up the Mount of Olives.

Enjoying a mid morning treat~

Garden Gethsemane - where JC was captured before his crucifixtion

After our hike up Mount of Olives...it was quite a hike, but totally worth it! Enjoying a nice glass of wine and the pretty view.

Singing Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve - - quite a neat experience to sing with people from all over the world and in different languages.

Day 6: Christmas Day - Bethlehem and Jericho Tour

The beginning of this tour started off great.  We visited a site where Mary took JC, Shepard's Field, and the birthplace of JC.  While we were at Shepard's Field, we read the scripture that talked about when they were informed about JC's birth.  It was pretty powerful to read at the location where it happened and was glad that our tour guide recommended it.  Our tour guide was also a follower, so we had a good perspective of this area.

   

After Shepard's Field we went into the city of Bethlehem and visited the site where JC was born.  It was amazing be there on His birthday, but it was quite crowded as you can see from the pictures.  We went in to the church that is built ontop of the site he was buried and began to wait in line to see the actual spot he was born, but it would've taken us quite a long time to wait and see it.  So, we decided to only have a few people from our group go, as that way the could go through the exit door.  It was supposed to only take 30-40 minutes, but 2.5 hours later, they came out.  I can only imagine how long it would've taken if we would've all waiting in the long line together.  While we waited we were able to go to party of a nearby Christmas Service, which was nice.  

With the long wait, we were late to our Jericho tour and got a very late start to that.  So the tour was a bit rushed.  We also missed lunch and the combination of being starving and the swerving roads did not set well with me.  I got car sick on the way, but it was luckily at a stop to view Temptation Mountain, and there was a trash can.  

We went on a short tour and also enjoyed a Falafel sandwich.  

This is the site where JC was tempted on the mountain.

Day 7: Dome of the Rock and Travel to Oman

The Dome of the Rock is owned by the Muslims, so it is only open to the public certain days of the week and certain hours.  Mark and I got up early to get in line to visit the Dome of the Rock.  This is where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside the Dome, but were able to walk the grounds around it.  It is such a beautiful building.

After the Dome of the Rock we departed for the airport to begin our travels to Muscat, Oman.  

Days 8-11: Muscat, Oman

After nearly missing our flight in Dubai to Muscat, because we both fell asleep, we finally arrived to Muscat early Friday morning.  Overall, Muscat was just okay.  It reminded us a lot of the neighborhood we live in now, but enjoyed having the beach within walking distance.  We enjoyed the lounge chairs of the 5-star hotel that was a few minutes away, rented a car one day (quite a pain with contradicting maps/internet directions), visit a fort, their souq, and enjoyed eating their cheap food with fun different juices (big in the Middle East).

We love flying Royal Jordanian - - they give you a free meal (tastes good), even if your flight is less than 3 hours and a complimentary drink! 

Muscat, Oman

We stepped it up a bit this time and actually had our own room.

The food was so cheap - this meal was $9 for the two of us, with juice drinks

Enjoying the 5-star hotel chairs ;)

We loved this guy- he was right across from where we stayed.  His naan (bread) was delicious! We went several times while we were there. It was cool to see him make the bread and cook in near the fire.

Sunset on our roof :)

Palace behind me

Juice hopping--this was more like a dessert than anything. 

Coconut drink = never have again, it was gross!

Our travels went very smoothly and we were grateful, considering we took a total of 8 flights.  We did experience something quite traumatic while were in Dubai on our way home to Doha.  As we were sitting in our chairs we heard a loud smack and a woman started screaming.  We stood and turned around and saw a man beating a woman with a cane.  I have never witnessed something like this and was very shaken up.  Luckily the guards came and took him away, he definitely didn't fly out that night and they took the woman to get checked out and hear her story.  We have no idea what it was about, as they spoke in a different language, but it was quite scary.  

Getting off the plane back in Doha this time was drastically different for many reasons than when we first came in December.  One difference is I could actually breathe when I came off the plane, and wasn't suffocated by the heat/humidity.  It was nice this time getting off in cooler temperatures and it feeling more like home.  Although, we had a great time on our trip, it was good to be home.

Kristin