Qatar - pronounced QA-ter. Not qa-TAR, as I once did in my own ignorance. I went with six 12th graders and another woman from the school (this was back in January). Why, you may ask?
To attend the Model United Nations conference hosted by the Qatar (Doha) extension of Georgetown University. It was a great conference, and not just because of the 5 star hotel, great food, and excellent room service.
The students came prepared to represent a country in various councils, modeling the United Nations. My students were representatives in the African Union, NATO, Economic and Social Development and last, but not least, Human Rights. My students did an excellent job giving speeches, answering questions and generally showing their own intellectual prowess.
A similar conference was held at my school for Bahrain. Over 400 students participated as representatives, security, administrative aides or press. Its a fairly impressive operation.
Other than that - nothing new to talk about, really. Alison and I are slowly but steadily hammering out wedding plans. Remember kids, August 2nd is the big day.
Hopefully I'll be able to connect with a lot of people over the summer. We'll see though. Right now the plan is for Alison and I to fly to Houston and visit my parents for about a week or so. Then we'll head up to Michigander for the remainder of our lives as singles to put the finishing touches on a world class wedding.
And by world class I mean, a wedding that most of the world could afford (most of the world is poor, mind you).
If I ever come across pictures that I think you would find interesting, I'll put them up here.
Mar 16, 2008
Feb 2, 2008
New Car!!
After five months of being bound to a bike and my own two legs, I got a car!
1994 Suzuki Vitara 4wd manual transmission
Let me tell you. A 4wd is amazing. I am not bound by the laws of physics. Well, maybe by physics, but I'm certainly not bound by roads. In fact, I regularly park on sidewalks and have even once skipped driving on the road to driving through a dirt field to reach my intended destination. And some day, I'll even take it out to the desert to tramps around in.
But really, its just nice to be able to go grocery shopping any time I want.
1994 Suzuki Vitara 4wd manual transmission
Let me tell you. A 4wd is amazing. I am not bound by the laws of physics. Well, maybe by physics, but I'm certainly not bound by roads. In fact, I regularly park on sidewalks and have even once skipped driving on the road to driving through a dirt field to reach my intended destination. And some day, I'll even take it out to the desert to tramps around in.
But really, its just nice to be able to go grocery shopping any time I want.
Jan 23, 2008
An Announcement for the Ages
Most of the people who read this regularly probably already know this - but I feel that announcements such as this are only official if they meet the following criteria:
1) It is published on any public blogs
2) Your facebook status has been updated (this one is key)
3) Your mother knows
But here is the big announcement:
I'M ENGAGED!!
Below is a picture of my fiance, Alison Murphy, and I (I have long shaggy hair which has since been cut).
If you are not already aware, she is a teacher at Al Raja school with me. She teaches 11th grade algebra and 12th grade chemistry.
She is from Michigan and this is her first year in Bahrain. She has spent time, however, in Turkey and other trips outside the States.
We will get married August 2nd in her hometown in Battle Creek, and then return to teach at Al Raja. Which means that I will need to be on my toes looking for an apartment that is worthy of a lady such as this.
That's my story! Any questions or comments - let me know!
1) It is published on any public blogs
2) Your facebook status has been updated (this one is key)
3) Your mother knows
But here is the big announcement:
I'M ENGAGED!!
Below is a picture of my fiance, Alison Murphy, and I (I have long shaggy hair which has since been cut).
If you are not already aware, she is a teacher at Al Raja school with me. She teaches 11th grade algebra and 12th grade chemistry.She is from Michigan and this is her first year in Bahrain. She has spent time, however, in Turkey and other trips outside the States.
We will get married August 2nd in her hometown in Battle Creek, and then return to teach at Al Raja. Which means that I will need to be on my toes looking for an apartment that is worthy of a lady such as this.
That's my story! Any questions or comments - let me know!
Dec 14, 2007
Off Scampering About
I am going to take a haitus from blogging for the next two weeks, which will be disappointment for those of you who have so enjoyed such frequent updates on the escapades in the middle east.
You see, I am leaving paradise island for the Sultanate of Oman. In a sense, I'm leaving the big city for the rustic northwoods. Oman has resisted the modernization, in contrast to cities like Dubai or Manama (Bahrain) that have jumped fully into high rise buildings and
So the next two weeks will be filled with off-roading through the mountains of Oman (using a gps coordinator), doing a SCUBA dive or two and generally scampering about the country.
We have a layover in dubai on the way there and the way back, so we'll be able to leave the airport for a bit and hang out in Sharja on the waterfront.
Dec 10, 2007
The Technological Circle of Life
If you've ever read Zits - the comic strip - then you might find the following amusing.
Jeremy, the 15 year old boy, comes up with a brilliant idea. Cell phones, he says are becoming smaller and smaller, as part of a trend towards conveneince. BUT, he says, what if there were NO cell phones! What if, instead of cell phones, we have a system by which phones are placed around the city for us to use at our own convenience! Wouldn't that be great!?
"Yeah," his dad says. "They're called payphones."
The almost ridiculousness of facebook was realized upon me last night when I recieved an email notifying me that someone had written on my wall. This isn't new.
What was new was that the notification email also contained the message written on my wall. Now that's convenient. I don't have to log into my facebook account to see what's on my wall. I can see it in my inbox. The same now goes if someone sends me a message on facebook.
So now, not only do I get an email saying I have a message, but I get an email saying I have a message with the message in it!!
If only they could set up facebook so that I could just hit reply, and a return message would be posted on the wall of the person who posted on mine. Brilliant!!
OR - I could just write that person an email, since I am at my own email inbox already. But I didn't. I went signed into facebook and wrote on his wall.
Jeremy, the 15 year old boy, comes up with a brilliant idea. Cell phones, he says are becoming smaller and smaller, as part of a trend towards conveneince. BUT, he says, what if there were NO cell phones! What if, instead of cell phones, we have a system by which phones are placed around the city for us to use at our own convenience! Wouldn't that be great!?
"Yeah," his dad says. "They're called payphones."
The almost ridiculousness of facebook was realized upon me last night when I recieved an email notifying me that someone had written on my wall. This isn't new.
What was new was that the notification email also contained the message written on my wall. Now that's convenient. I don't have to log into my facebook account to see what's on my wall. I can see it in my inbox. The same now goes if someone sends me a message on facebook.
So now, not only do I get an email saying I have a message, but I get an email saying I have a message with the message in it!!
If only they could set up facebook so that I could just hit reply, and a return message would be posted on the wall of the person who posted on mine. Brilliant!!
OR - I could just write that person an email, since I am at my own email inbox already. But I didn't. I went signed into facebook and wrote on his wall.
