teaching, traveling, taking pictures
The band blares,The naphtha flares,The sawdust smells,Showmen ring bells,And oh! right into the circus ringComes such a lovely, lovely thing...."Circus" by Eleanor Farjeon This past Saturday, I was able to watch the penultimate performance of Cirque du Soleil BAZZAR before the start of Ramadan. There was a circus tent set up across the canal from… Continue reading Cirque du Soleil in Doha
Image source Sunday, May 5th marks the start of Ramadan 2019. Based on the visual sighting of the crescent moon, the month typically lasts 29-30 days. Ramadan is based on the Hijri calendar (a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months of 354 or 355 days), not the Gregorian calendar (a solar calendar of 12 months… Continue reading Ramadan Kareem! and Other Matters Related to #Ramadan2019
Image source In terms of American pop culture, April 2019 has been a momentous month; the final season of the HBO television show Game of Thrones (GoT) debuted while the 22nd MCU movie, Avengers: Endgame (AE), was released this past week. Both GoT Season 8 and AE represent the culmination of sprawling narratives with throngs… Continue reading Pop Culture Comedown
Image Source Since arriving in Doha almost two years ago, I have been experiencing its building boom firsthand. My initial residence was at Al Safa Royal Suites in the Musheirib area of the city. There was a gaping pit near the hotel that was the site of the Musheirib Metro Station. From my hotel window,… Continue reading Cruising the Al Khor Coastal Road
Since the beginning of 2019, I have been thinking about how I want to spend my summer break—not because I am unhappy and itching to escape Doha—more so because I have 11 weeks off, and I want to make sure I maximize my work and vacation opportunities. Last summer, I had nine weeks off. Because… Continue reading Summer 2019 Travel Plans
Over last couple days, I have been thinking about different genres of writing. After the recent mass shooting tragedy in New Zealand, I spent some time exploring the genre and history of the manifesto, which led me to an interesting article in The Atlantic entitled "Manifestos: A Manifesto". Subsequently, I toyed with the idea of… Continue reading An Expat Lenten Calendar
Here are nine days worth of postcards from my spring break trip to Finland and Estonia—written just for you, my reader. Enjoy! (All postcards made using Canva.)
This week's blog post was inspired by too many flooofers and puppoems posts on Instagram. If my doggo bloggo did you a heart boop, then please check out Rescue Salukis Middle East on Instagram and on Facebook. I will owe you a treato.
The other day at work, I attended a professional development session, which I thought was going to give me explicit instruction in how to design items for my appraisal action plan. Instead, participants at the session were asked to consider the things that brought meaning to their life and to create a vision for the… Continue reading 10 of My Core Values
Disclaimer: I am not a tax advisor with advanced training and knowledge of tax law. Do not assume that any information shared in this post constitutes tax advice. Please consult the IRS or a licensed US tax advisor for up-to-date expat tax information and laws.Now that it is nearing the end of January, many Americans… Continue reading Death and Taxes While Living Abroad (More about the Latter)
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