teaching, traveling, taking pictures
With the Last Jedi coming out on December 13th, I have been wondering about the best viewing experience for the latest installment of the Star Wars series. My theater quandary has prompted me to write this week about my pop culture diet in Doha. At first, the idea of writing about the media that I consume seemed… Continue reading Feeding My Pop Culture Diet in Doha
Image Source Apologies for the late post. I started to write a rant for this week's blog post about the tax reform that was passed late at night by the Senate Republicans, about the direction that I saw the US heading, and about how I was glad to be outside of the US during the remainder of the… Continue reading Ghazal for Doha: A Blog Poem
There was nothing special leading up to November 23, 2017—none of the holiday cues that I associate with “American” Thanksgiving. I didn’t have an abbreviated work schedule at Qatar University: teach on Monday and Tuesday, have Wednesday through Friday off. Stores in Doha weren’t pushing Halloween costumes and then Thanksgiving/Black Friday sales. (Strangely enough, the… Continue reading American Thanksgiving in Doha, Qatar
Apologies for the belated blog post. I was busy this weekend; plus, I don't have internet at my new apartment yet. The building supervisor tells me it will be about month. Inshallah. Still, I wanted to stick to my weekly regimen of blogging—better late than never! A lot has happened this past week. I hinted… Continue reading My Days in Doha: Retrowave Edition
Too tired. Here're some nutshells. Enjoy! New Apartment Thank God, Ikea delivers—and assembles! Banana Island Resort Sun. Sea. A coconut drink. Bliss. Driving Test Need to pass. Tired of Uber! Teaching Observation Hoop after hoop. Jump, jump, jump.
This past week was the seventh week of the semester and midterms for Qatar University (QU). Lots of stressed out QU students and staff members. For me, it was a busy week: my friend Bryan visited me the previous weekend—we had fun, but I didn’t get much done; I had my unannounced classroom observation on… Continue reading Midterm Assessment
This weekend I am hosting my first guest from the US, a friend and colleague of mine from my days at UW River Falls. He and I will be venturing out into the desert and hanging out at Souq Waqif, so I won't have time to blog about my very busy week—mostly a lot of… Continue reading “#hashtags”: A Play Scene about the Qatar Blockade
On Saturday, October 21st, I will lead a TEFL Qatar workshop. This will be my first professional presentation in Qatar and the EFL setting. I am quite excited for the opportunity, and in lieu of my normal weekly blog post, I decided to work on my script for the presentation. So, this post is approximately… Continue reading Presentation Script for TEFL Qatar Workshop
Parked in the desert A colleague of mine from the Foundation Program English Department invited me yesterday to accompany him and a friend of his to go dune bashing in the desert near the southeast coast of Qatar. Dune bashing is a pretty big activity amongst the men in Qatar; however, my colleague said that… Continue reading My Dune Bashing Experience (Memory and Media)
Artist rendering of Eco-Wadi Park located in the heart of Lusail City This week was another busy week for me, per usual. I had to prep and administer a number of assessments in my courses; attend requisite sessions and workshops as part of my probationary period; and confirm my committee work and department tasks for… Continue reading Permanent Housing and a Sense of Place
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