teaching, traveling, taking pictures
And I miss you/ Like the deserts miss the rain Everything but the Girl “Missing” During my first year in Doha, it only rained one time. It was a cool spring night. I was at the Pearl siting outside smoking shisha. Then, suddenly, the rain started to come down. At first, I was… Continue reading Rainy Days in Doha
While living abroad for the past year, I have had the pleasure of exploring a multitude of new sensory experiences, and most of the time in my blog posts, I try to convey an approximation of what I have experienced through visual and auditory imagery: I want my blog reader to see what I have… Continue reading Building a Better Koshari
In the past several weeks, I have spent more than six hours in a hospital ER—not for my own medical treatment, mind you, but to help others with their unforeseen emergencies. So, after these curious curative experiences, I thought I would spend this week’s post detailing them and ruminating about the state of medicine in… Continue reading On Medical Matters
I. Setting: The scene takes place on the Doha Corniche. A MAN and a WOMAN are about to walk together. [MAN] Ready to do this? [WOMAN] Are YOU ready to do this, old man? [MAN] Show a little respect for your elders. My generation gave the world Nirvana, Friends, Jurassic… Continue reading The Corniche: A Short Screenplay
This week I've been busy teaching and grading; however, I have also been approached and contacted by various people to present on something for the department. Wanting to be a good professional, I have been considering what I might offer my very accomplished cadre of colleagues. Then the idea of 10-minute activities occurred to me.… Continue reading 10 Student Activities for the First 10 Minutes of Class
Younger me? No, you're the wack me, it's funny but so true/ I'd rather be 80-year-old me than 20-year-old you/ 'Til I'm hitting old age/ Still can fill a whole page with a 10-year-old's rage “Killshot” Eminem The other night I was invited to a birthday get-together for the new colleague that I have been… Continue reading Midlife Mullings While Sipping a Mezcal Mule
In a year so much can change. At this time last year, I was living in temporary housing at Al Safa Hotel; needed to catch the shuttle every morning at 7am like a schoolboy, regardless if I taught in the morning (my first course was at noon); and was focused on completing the myriad steps… Continue reading Doha Year Two
Earlier this evening, a colleague invited me over for dinner. His wife was cooking a Korean meal. Wanting to be a good guest, I knew that I should bring with me a small gift of appreciation for their hospitality. However, I was unsure what I should give them. Then I remembered him telling me that… Continue reading Printing and Gifting Photographs Nowadays
After a couple month hiatus from blogging, I am having a difficult time resuming my writing routine—which is too bad because I traveled to three interesting destinations this summer and would like to share my stories and insights from these locales. So, for this post, in order to inch my way back into blogging, I… Continue reading Photo-Essay of Three Summer Trips
On June 29th, I was flying back to the US. It had been 10 months since I had left the Midwest, and I was about to spend 4 weeks in North America (3 weeks in the US, 1 week in Canada). Prior to my return, I wondered, what aspects of American life would seem strange… Continue reading My Days Back in the USA
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