I am changed

We have been in Qatar almost 3 years and its time for this life experience to come to an end. Would I do it again, in a heartbeat. This experience has been of the highest caliber , like buying your first home or having moving out of your parent's house, it has been transformational.
What I mean is that our life here has given me an awareness and confidence that we can pick up go any time and do this again, that my life doesn't mean finishing my work in a particular place, retire there and grow old there... I now see a kaleidoscope of options because I haven't chosen to nail myself down to any one location, I am free.
I have also learned that I can adapt as can my family to huge change. I have learned that the world is a small place and that we are not so different no matter where we happen to be. I have learned that people everywhere are good and kind. I have learned that Canada is rich beyond what many people over here can possibly imagine. Our rights and privileges are second to none. I have learned that school kids are the same and the conversations we have as teachers, about kids, back home are the same ones we have here.
Kids love Facebook over here too, and sometimes its hard to get them to hand in there homework as well. I have learned that more money for education does make for a better classroom no matter what politicians say. A class size of 23, 2 preps and a load of 5/8 helps to make my classroom sing, I am a better teacher in that environment and I have a ton more energy for many other things too.
As we leave I have had time to reflect on what I have enjoyed here in Doha and what has been irritating. We'll start with the crummy stuff...

What I won't miss when I leave Qatar ...

1. Drivers who honk the horn outside a villa every morning at 4:47 am to pick someone one up.
2. Drivers who think nothing of driving on the right hand shoulder to get around traffic and then merge, while they talk on their cell phones and their kids jump around unbelted in the car.
3. A 6 dollar grande latte.
4. Car mechanics who can't speak ( or won't ) English.
5. No fresh water lakes
6. The color beige
7. Cinema patrons, who don't watch movies but talk on their cell phones.
8. The green wiry weed that passes for grass here.
9. The lack of things to do... perhaps my unstimulated imagination.
10. August, September,October, May and 1/2 of June.
11. Roundabouts on major thorough fares and their inevitable back logs and "close calls" as you navigate through them.
12. The lack of proper street addresses.
13. Being called Mr. Barry. As opposed to Barry.
14. Vegetable weighing counters and getting your price stickers.
15. Grocery selection. Having one thing you love one week and not seeing it again for months...I miss my Miracle Whip and my coffee cream!
16. Sport stores that don't sell hockey equipment, not a single one... Even the one next to the ice rink... with over a couple hundred hockey players who all break hockey sticks on occasion.
17. An artificial lake that you can look at but can't go near.
18. Al Ahli hospital waiting room.
19. Dust storms
20. Doha airport.

What I will miss leaving Qatar

1.  I will miss ASD.  The faculty, the kids, the support staff and the facility . We new we would travel and see wonderous things but we never expected all the gifts we received at ASD. 
2. Call to prayer at any time other than sunrise. Its still the quintessential Arabic experience.
3. Hockey in the mall. I had given up playing hockey but it took coming to the desert to rediscover how much I love the game.
4. Walking to school in the morning every day and never needing a touque (eh!) or an umbrella.
5. Our front courtyard outside our house which has transformed into a leafy,green, pastoral oasis.
6. Playing tennis with my son at school.
7. Going out for dinner with my wife to these cool little hole in the wall restaurants to eat food that I've never seen before.
8. Swimming in the school's outdoor pool all year long.
9. Being in the middle of so many cool places and being able to fly to them cheaply.
10. Parties in villa courtyards outside through out the year.
11. Dhow cruises in the Persian gulf.
12. Souq Wakif, the smells of sheesha and spices.
13. Tennis tournaments, at 30$ a ticket to see Nedal or Federer or the Williams sisters... as well as soccer friendlies, volleyball tournaments...
14. Soccer tournaments in Abu Dhabi!
15. The syndicate, not the inconvenience, just the idea of it, 1 liquour store in the whole country and you need your employer's permission to go there.
16. Creatively decorated roundabouts on minor roads.
17. Doha sunsets.
18. Reasonable taxi cab rates.
19. Free workouts and  free swims!  I haven't paid a riyal in 3 years
20. NO income tax or tax of any kind for that matter

It is done. We are much richer for the experience and wiser of the world. I started this blog 3 years ago, its been fun. It hardly seems possible that we've been away and now are back!! These 3 years will stand alone in my life for their energy, uncertainty and jaw dropping experiences.