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I'm still alive!
Aug. 26th, 2004 04:40 pmWow, I've been a bad blogger this week. It's been very hectic around here with orientation going on; I've had various events to attend every day, and on top of that was panicking over a 10-minute presentation I had to give on my department. I'm terribly relieved it's over, and lots of people have told me I did well. Today I'm enjoying a fairly light day of work; I worked from home this morning while we got our AC and oven repaired, and spent most of the afternoon moving offices and organizing the library. It's been a pleasant change of pace.
It really has been fun having the students arrive, though. I was a little worried because I don't feel as prepared as I hoped, but I'm glad they're here now. They're all full of energy and excitement about starting college, and when I overhear them conversing in the hallways or lounges, I'm struck that they're like freshmen anywhere, with the same kinds of hopes and dreams and fears.
Other than the busy-ness of work, there hasn't been a whole lot to write about here. Last weekend one of my Qatari [which they pronounce almost exactly like the word "cattery"] coworkers took my neighbor and me to the fabric souq. It was a lot of fun to see a "pro" do the negotiations! When![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
foobart and I went to the souq the previous week, I tried to hang back, avoid eye contact with men, and so forth. But my coworker strode into each souq with both guns blazing, so to speak. When told a price, her eyes would flash and she'd shout, "La la la la la la!" Sometimes she'd make a counter-offer, but usually she'd just strenuously object and, if necessary, berate the workmanship of the object in question. My neighbor and I left with the impression that we had been way too nice when we went to the souq last week!
The other interesting part of the shopping trip was that our coworker, who usually wears an abaya and simple head scarf, wore a full veil to the souq. We almost didn't recognize her when we met up with her there! I had really assumed that a woman either wore a full veil or didn't, but clothing seems more flexible than I expected; a woman might wear one type of veil in one context and another in another. Another of my Qatari coworkers wears an abaya when she leaves the building, and has been wearing one around the students, but she didn't wear one at work for the first few weeks we were here. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that Qatari women wear different clothes in different settings -- doesn't everyone?
Our other outing this week has been to the used car souq, when we were considering buying a car. Since salespeople here are a little more in-your-face than in the U.S. -- expected to anticipate your desires rather than hang back and wait for you to ask questions -- I was a little scared of what an used car dealer might be like here. :-) To my surprise, though, they were a lot LESS in-your-face than American used car dealers. What a relief! What wasn't fun, though, was walking through car lots for over an hour in the heat. It was only 82 degrees F, but with 71% humidity weather.com tells me that feels like 113. And it did feel like 113; I'm not sure I've ever been as hot in my life as I was when we finally climbed back in the air conditioned car to go home. (In happier news, we did lease a car today, so we can stop calling for a driver every time we want to leave the house.)
Well, now I'm off to organize some more books before we head off for the weekend. Since we don't have a librarian here yet, I'm stepping in as the unofficial de facto library organizer. I'm having a ball!
It really has been fun having the students arrive, though. I was a little worried because I don't feel as prepared as I hoped, but I'm glad they're here now. They're all full of energy and excitement about starting college, and when I overhear them conversing in the hallways or lounges, I'm struck that they're like freshmen anywhere, with the same kinds of hopes and dreams and fears.
Other than the busy-ness of work, there hasn't been a whole lot to write about here. Last weekend one of my Qatari [which they pronounce almost exactly like the word "cattery"] coworkers took my neighbor and me to the fabric souq. It was a lot of fun to see a "pro" do the negotiations! When
foobart and I went to the souq the previous week, I tried to hang back, avoid eye contact with men, and so forth. But my coworker strode into each souq with both guns blazing, so to speak. When told a price, her eyes would flash and she'd shout, "La la la la la la!" Sometimes she'd make a counter-offer, but usually she'd just strenuously object and, if necessary, berate the workmanship of the object in question. My neighbor and I left with the impression that we had been way too nice when we went to the souq last week!The other interesting part of the shopping trip was that our coworker, who usually wears an abaya and simple head scarf, wore a full veil to the souq. We almost didn't recognize her when we met up with her there! I had really assumed that a woman either wore a full veil or didn't, but clothing seems more flexible than I expected; a woman might wear one type of veil in one context and another in another. Another of my Qatari coworkers wears an abaya when she leaves the building, and has been wearing one around the students, but she didn't wear one at work for the first few weeks we were here. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that Qatari women wear different clothes in different settings -- doesn't everyone?
Our other outing this week has been to the used car souq, when we were considering buying a car. Since salespeople here are a little more in-your-face than in the U.S. -- expected to anticipate your desires rather than hang back and wait for you to ask questions -- I was a little scared of what an used car dealer might be like here. :-) To my surprise, though, they were a lot LESS in-your-face than American used car dealers. What a relief! What wasn't fun, though, was walking through car lots for over an hour in the heat. It was only 82 degrees F, but with 71% humidity weather.com tells me that feels like 113. And it did feel like 113; I'm not sure I've ever been as hot in my life as I was when we finally climbed back in the air conditioned car to go home. (In happier news, we did lease a car today, so we can stop calling for a driver every time we want to leave the house.)
Well, now I'm off to organize some more books before we head off for the weekend. Since we don't have a librarian here yet, I'm stepping in as the unofficial de facto library organizer. I'm having a ball!
