After many good-byes and lots of love we have arrived in the city of Doha at 6 pm local time (we are eight hours ahead of American central time zone). The journey began on Saturday with some breakfast tacos and a Machicek gathering in the backyard. Followed by a Mexican lunch because nobody does Mexican like Texas. Once we arrived at the airport we were pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to pay any money for our luggage. Of course we had to do some shifting around because my bags were five pounds over and Josh's were five pounds under. He likes to be prepared and I like to sneak items in until the last minute:)
First we flew to Chicago, which was a very predictable flight that many of you have taken. Once we arrived in Chicago everything became real. I am one of those people that is in denial of what I have gotten myself into until it is far to late to freak out. Waiting to board our flight to Qatar there were people from all over the world speaking all kinds of languages. After a summer of small town Texas and small town Minnesota I was not used to seeing so much culture. The first thought I had was "Wow what the hell are we doing?" Of course after accepting my fate I decided to embrace the culture and I remembered why I force myself to do crazy things like this, because it is good for the soul. The entire time Josh is cool calm and collected and this is his first big traveling experience. He never ceases to amaze me.
Once we have boarded the plane we are seated next to three small children that can't help but cry for love and who knows what else. The people in front of us proceed to put their chairs all the way back and once again Josh is super chill about it. He just moves his movie screen and carries on. I of course proceed to stretch out because we were lucky enough not to have someone sit next to us. I continued every chance I got to push on the seats in front of us to let them know their actions were unacceptable.
After sixteen total hours of flying we arrived in Qatar and it was night time here. The heat as we walked down the jet bridge was like coat of humid hot air that brings instant profuse sweating. We realized real quick that the heat people told us about was real. The bus dropped us off at customs where we quickly met five other teachers that are going to be with us and living in the same apartment as we are. They are all very nice and interesting people, Special Education teachers are a very interesting bleeding heart kind of people.
We were then greeted by our principals and many others to help us get to our apartments. This is when Josh and I discovered an email was sent out to inform us we would be staying in temporary housing because our apartments are still being built. I was really excited for my light up bath tub we saw on Google Images of the Pearl Apartments. The new place is ok but no light up bath tub. My heart is disappointed while my head is saying "Emmy in Peace Corps you would have considered this place a mansion." I am just waiting for my head and heart to reconcile this debate or for the Pearl Apartments to be finished...
Qatar is the hottest coldest country I have been to so far. We haven't figured out how to control the AC so right now I have on sweat pants, a sweat shirt and a scarf. I stepped outside while my fourth piece of toast for the night was cooking and set my body into major confusion, is it winter or is it blazing hot summer? I guess it is both, Qatari's can afford to turn the AC to 60 degrees, Natural Gas is not a scarce resource in these parts.
It is now 2:43 in the morning and I have taken my nap and ready for the day. Josh is sleeping like a baby in the next room. He has never had to get over jet leg before and he will probably be ready for whatever life brings him tomorrow. I on the other hand have decided that I needed to get up and eat another piece of toast with Laughing Cow cheese and some popcorn from the Chicago airport.
Tomorrow at 8:15 we will get picked up and then spend the day being poked and prodded so they can make sure we are fit to stay in Qatar. After that we are going on a shopping trip which is a must. I have already created a long list, starting with some nice sheets that don't feel like sand paper. The time has come for me to try to force myself back to sleep.
We will be in touch to inform you of all the adventures that come our way in the next couple of days. We have arrived safe and sound, now the fun of acclimating begins!
Love you,
Emmy
P.S.
Many of you have been asking for our address:
Emmy and Josh Machicek
Awsaj Academy, Qatar Foundation
Education City, PO Box 6639, Al Luqta Street
Doha, Qatar
I love snail mail and always looking for pen pals.
First we flew to Chicago, which was a very predictable flight that many of you have taken. Once we arrived in Chicago everything became real. I am one of those people that is in denial of what I have gotten myself into until it is far to late to freak out. Waiting to board our flight to Qatar there were people from all over the world speaking all kinds of languages. After a summer of small town Texas and small town Minnesota I was not used to seeing so much culture. The first thought I had was "Wow what the hell are we doing?" Of course after accepting my fate I decided to embrace the culture and I remembered why I force myself to do crazy things like this, because it is good for the soul. The entire time Josh is cool calm and collected and this is his first big traveling experience. He never ceases to amaze me.
Once we have boarded the plane we are seated next to three small children that can't help but cry for love and who knows what else. The people in front of us proceed to put their chairs all the way back and once again Josh is super chill about it. He just moves his movie screen and carries on. I of course proceed to stretch out because we were lucky enough not to have someone sit next to us. I continued every chance I got to push on the seats in front of us to let them know their actions were unacceptable.
After sixteen total hours of flying we arrived in Qatar and it was night time here. The heat as we walked down the jet bridge was like coat of humid hot air that brings instant profuse sweating. We realized real quick that the heat people told us about was real. The bus dropped us off at customs where we quickly met five other teachers that are going to be with us and living in the same apartment as we are. They are all very nice and interesting people, Special Education teachers are a very interesting bleeding heart kind of people.
We were then greeted by our principals and many others to help us get to our apartments. This is when Josh and I discovered an email was sent out to inform us we would be staying in temporary housing because our apartments are still being built. I was really excited for my light up bath tub we saw on Google Images of the Pearl Apartments. The new place is ok but no light up bath tub. My heart is disappointed while my head is saying "Emmy in Peace Corps you would have considered this place a mansion." I am just waiting for my head and heart to reconcile this debate or for the Pearl Apartments to be finished...
Qatar is the hottest coldest country I have been to so far. We haven't figured out how to control the AC so right now I have on sweat pants, a sweat shirt and a scarf. I stepped outside while my fourth piece of toast for the night was cooking and set my body into major confusion, is it winter or is it blazing hot summer? I guess it is both, Qatari's can afford to turn the AC to 60 degrees, Natural Gas is not a scarce resource in these parts.
It is now 2:43 in the morning and I have taken my nap and ready for the day. Josh is sleeping like a baby in the next room. He has never had to get over jet leg before and he will probably be ready for whatever life brings him tomorrow. I on the other hand have decided that I needed to get up and eat another piece of toast with Laughing Cow cheese and some popcorn from the Chicago airport.
Tomorrow at 8:15 we will get picked up and then spend the day being poked and prodded so they can make sure we are fit to stay in Qatar. After that we are going on a shopping trip which is a must. I have already created a long list, starting with some nice sheets that don't feel like sand paper. The time has come for me to try to force myself back to sleep.
We will be in touch to inform you of all the adventures that come our way in the next couple of days. We have arrived safe and sound, now the fun of acclimating begins!
Love you,
Emmy
P.S.
Many of you have been asking for our address:
Emmy and Josh Machicek
Awsaj Academy, Qatar Foundation
Education City, PO Box 6639, Al Luqta Street
Doha, Qatar
I love snail mail and always looking for pen pals.
I have accessed the blog; now I can use this space to vent about everything I don't like about the world. I will try not to take over. Actually I just wanted to see if this would work.
ReplyDelete