The beauty of the desert *.*

Finally the day did come and all grand tour students were invited to have a trip to the desert. Mrs. Ann Mannen, the dean of Stenden Qatar, invited us all on a trip to the beuatiful desert here in Qatar close to the border of Saudi Arabia ;) We went to the sealine resort!

We all met at school, all the grand tour students, three teachers with their children, Mrs. Ann Mannen and two of our fellow students. The best thing was, the company,where we booked the trip with, picked us up with three big Landcruisers. These cars are just the kings in the desert and are best suitable for the experience. It was over an hour drive to the resort. We already had alot of fun during the ride to the desert. The weather was perfect with alot of sunshine plus it was just the right temperature to be comfortable outside :)
When we arrived at the sealine resort we stepped out of the cars. I saw some camels and could not believe it. To see these animals in their own terretory was really cool. I also go the chance to have a ride on one of the camels, which was really great. It was really bumpy when the camel got up and when it laid down again. During the ride it was just the same feeling as sitting on a horse :D but better of course and higher ;) I am really glad I had the oppurtunity to sit on a camel, because this was one of my points on my list, which I wanted to accomplish during my stay here :) And the pictures came out amazing as well :) I think you can see how happy I am on the back of the camel :)

 I just had to take a picture of this sign, because this sign would nowhere to be seen in Europe! "Heads up camels crossing your way!"

 After the nice camel ride, the landcruiser driver deflated the tires a little bit to make the Landcruiser ready for the desert experience: dune bashing. That means driving up and down the dunes. Before that, we all had to buckel up and make sure all our bags were secured, because the chance of flying around the car was huge. The first time we drove up one of the dunes was a very cool feeling but the best thing was to drive steep down the dune again with being almost face forward towards the ground. Our driver was very experienced and he knew exactly how the car reacted to which movement. That was alot of fun and I definitely would do it again ;)

 I always sat in the first car because our driver was the leader of the group!

 Here are some more impressions! So you get a feeling how steep it was! Of course pictures can only tell so much, so you better experience that on your next trip to the Middle East ;)

 Half the way, we stopped on a dune and had a lunch break. The funny thing was, tha directly from the dune, you could see the border of Saudi.  During the break, we had some fun climbing up and down this huge dune. Climbing down was not a big deal :D but going up was kind of a work out ;) but I managed it without hesitation :)

 We had a perfect timing during the lunch break, because the sun was going down so we took the time to take some amazing pictures :)

 We just catched the perfect moment with the beauty of the desert in the back and the amazing sky :) The sun sets really quick over here so we had to hurry up to catch some good shots!

After another set of dune bashing the sun was gone and it became really dark. It is also a very cool feeling to be in the desert by night. It gets pitch black, so the perfect place for me to sleep ;) But of course it can get really dangerous if you don't know the way back to the camp. The sealine camp was located at the water with tents to chill and hang out, a volleyball area and a bonfire place, which we light up to have a nice close up of the beautiful day. We all enjoyed dinner together and had some good times at the bonfire together. 

Thanks to Ann Mannen again, who sponsored the trip to the desert. It was an amazing experience and I hope it was not the last time we went there!

15 year anniverssary Stenden University Qatar

On Sunday Stenden University of Qatar celebrated its 15 years of being present in Doha as a partner school of Stenden Univeristy Leeuwarden. Due to the fact, that every company in Doha has to have a sponsor of Qatari nationality, our school is sponsored by Sheikh Faisal Al Thani, a distant relative from the Royal family.
Because of the anniverssary of 15 years, Sheikh Faisal invited the entire school to his farm to celebrate the occassion in a proper manner. All the students got picked up by little buses to drive to Sheik's farm outside of Doha.

First we had a tour with a tour guide through the Sheikh's own museum, where he placed all the things he found on his travels around the world, such as old timer cars, jewelery, clothes, cuttlery, coins, carpets, furniture and many more. After the official tour, the Sheikh himself guided all off us to his favortie part of the museum, which is not open for the public. He showed us his special coin collection next to other more valuable things.

 

Throughout the entire museum, pictures are hung everywhere, and that one showed some royal families around the world including the Dutch King Willem Alexander. Just for your information, this picture made it into the official brochure of the anniverssary, so we are a little famous now :D 

After the tour we entered the Majilis, where we were supposed to hear some speeches from alumni, the dean and the Sheikh himself. The entire room was filled with fancy round tables to sit on. It really looked so inviting and it kind of felt like we were on a wedding ceremony.

Sheikh Faisal giving a speech

 Having the Sheikh around was very normal. He talked to everybody, at least to the ones who could speak Arabic :D He was also very proud to show his accomodation to us. After the speeches we were invited for dinner. around the tables was a buffet situated with many kinds of food. It was all great and of course I ate too much :D Even though I had no more space in my tummy, the dessert table had to be conquered :D
At the end of the day, the Sheikh got a book from school, which displayed the last 15 years of Stenden University Qatar and every student got one exemplar as well. So I took the chance to take a picture together with him and catch a signature as well :) 

Very cool that we were part of this celebration. I enjoyed the day alot, because you don't go to a Sheikh's farm every week right? :D

National Day in Qatar

On December 18th it was National Day in Qatar. The entire country celebrates the king who made the country grow and develop so fast up until today. Since 2008, Qatar celebrates this day and it became a national holiday for everybody.

Let me tell you, everybody goes crazy  and the country is not the same anymore on that day. The streets, malls and houses are decorated with flags and red and white ornaments to show honor for the day. And not to forget all the cars, which are covered in a special foil with special pictures for the national day:

Early in the morning, there was a parade at 7am at the corniche with the military, camels, marching bands, air planes and several other groups to honor the Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

Current Emir and Father Emir

 

 

 

Due to the fact, that the entire city was full of traffic, we rather stayed at home to watch the parade on Tv than being stuck in traffic for the whole day. But here I found somepictures to descirbe you what was going on on that day:

Parade at Corniche

 The airplane show was insane. Many helicopters and military air planes made a very cool show with colored smoke and parachutists showing off their special skills.

Air plane show

Later that day, Inge and I went to Darb Al Saae, a public place with tents and houses especailly set up for the time around the national day. In that area, many activities and companies were present to show off the beauty of Qatar.
Besides amazing tradiational Qatari food and drinks, there was alot to explore. The Souq offered many little shops with merchandise from , scarves, jewelery, clothes, parfumes etc. At dusk they turned on these pretty light bulbs everywhere, which gave a beautiful atmosphere to the whole public place. 

Part of Darb Al Saae

 
 Another highlight during my time here in Qatar was, when I finally got the chance to hold a falcon *.* I just love these animlas so much since I am here, because here they have a totally different status than in Europe. falcons are traded here with high prices and are used for hunting purposes. A special section at the Souq Waqif has all the accessories you need for these animals like the headpieces to blind them in order to calm them down. I finally can cross of that attraction off my to do list in Qatar.

Next to falcons and camels at the Darb Al Saae, they also had an Arabic horse show. All the horses were decorated as well with pretty nice sattles and blankets in the national day colors.

We also saw little camels for the first time in real life. The little camles were a little bit shy and always hiding close to their moms :D A very happy day at the end with alot of new impressions of the Qatari lifestyle in terms of celebrating the National Day. Happy National Day Everybody!!!

Some Christmas in Qatar

Due to the fact, that the Arab world has more Muslims than Christians, Christmas is not really celebrated or displayed anywhere here. Also the warm weather does not help to get nto the christmas mood at all. Luckily, all the Hotel around Doha offer Christmas lighting celebrations with Santa and some christmas music to offer people the opportunity to get a least some christmas here. Therefore, Inge and I went to the Intercontinental in Doha City to catch up on our christmas mood, since we don't even notice when the 1. advent, 2. advent is on a sunday, because this is when the week starts here and we have to go to school ;) Everything is different here ;)

So we went to the Intercon and this big and beautiful christmas tree greeted us when we entered the lobby. It was of course no real tree, but the ornaments were pretty and it got us into the christmas mood. The tree was surrounded by houndreds of people with their children waiting for Santa to arrive.

 Santa had a long way to come to Doha, therefore the Christmas charol sang some songs to make the time in between more pleasurable for everybody. They sang songs like "Oh christmas tree, Oh christmas tree" "Feliz navidad" etc.

 The entire lobby was decorated with ornaments and pretty lights. On top of that, A real life ginger bread house was standing in the back.

 Finally, Santa came and all the kids had their eyes wide open. They were so cute when they sat on the lap of him. All the parents tried to get a good shot of their loved ones with Santa on the side to put it into their christmas frame at home to keep the memory. After a long time of waiting and letting all the small children go first, it was finally my time to get a picture with Santa.
I am very proud to have this one. I had a great time over there and it really did the trick to grove us into the christmas mood. Thanks Santa :)

Visit from Rianne and a new room mate

During the first week of November, Rianne Meijerink flew in to Doha to support us during the exam week as well as checking on us how we are doing and how we like Qatar so far. We all went to Katara, the cultural village to show her around and have a nice walk through the beauty of the scenery close to the water. Later on we went to the Marriot Hotel and enjoyed dinner all together, which as very nice to catch up with everybody.

all Grand Tour Students from IBMS and Rianne

 Also in the first week of November, our house got a new room mate called Inge. She is from Leeuwarden and studies Hospitality management and is in her 2nd year. She is the only one from her batch so school to her on a small orientation day and we were lucky to join her getting the first glimpse of Qatar. During her time, Inge will share a room with me. Finally, I can practise some Dutch again :D

 from left Angela, Me, Julia and Inge

 For Inges orientation, we went to the MIA, the Museum of Islamic Art, where I haven't been to yet. It is a beautiful building from the outside and the inside designed by a famous architect called I.M. Pei. 

MIA

 Outside on the terrace, the MIA has very nice fountains, which create a very peaceful atmosphere together with the view on the gulf and the skyline.

After the MIA, we went to the Msheireb Enrichment Centre, to explore the history of Qatar, how the early founders managed to live in the early days. I loved to hear the stories our tour guide had to tell, because he was so passionate about everything, which made it very easy to listen to. Furthermore, he also told us the future plans of Qatar to expand and to incorporate traditional building techniques combined with natural elements and present techniques to build houses and shopping areas fit to the standards of this country. This regeneration project is called the World's First sustainable Downtown Doha. If you want to rread more click below:
http://mdd.msheireb.com/

The foto below shows our tour guide on the left Mohammed, Julia, Angela, our skills teacher Mrs. Tahira, Inge, Me and Saja, who is responsible for us grand tour students :) 

From Sushi to an exceptional heavy rain situation

Dear all,
after a long time, I will update you again on how much life in Qatar is going. Time is flying fast for sure because I have been in Qatar already for exactly 105 days, which is 3.4 Months ;) and I only have 44 days left to explore the beauty of Doha, Qatar.

My friend Nadia and I went for Sushi with another friend of her. I haven't had Sushi since June, so we thought it was definetely time for some yummy Sushi again. We went for a Suhsi buffet all you can eat, where you get such a plate and they refill it anytime. Normally that plate if for two people :D but I almost managed to eat it by myseld :-X Let me tell you it was really good *.*

One day we had the open day at Stenden University Qatar and all the Grand Tour students were supposed to help out with the stand. I took the first shift in the morning and discovered heavy rain falling from the sky and flodding everything outside. On top of that we had not power because of that incident for a couple of hours.

In some part of the country the situation was so bad that streets were completely flodded and cars were stuck around water on the streets. On top of that, alot of the new built buildings for the FIFA 2022 including the hotels and stadiums were leaking big time and water destroyed major parts of the property.  Many construction companies are now in a law suit, because this should not have happened to new buildings.

Our flodded 'backyard'

 The picture above shows our flodded backyard where the water just stands knee high and does not flow away. At home you think that does not look bad at all. I thought so too in the beginning, but this country is not made for rain, since it only rains twice a year on a normal basis. When I reached school safely by jumping between puddles like a small child, the situation was insane. The school told us that other schools got closed and send all the children home because it was too unsafe for them. End of story was, almost no students came to our open day, where we put so much effort in.

After all the craziness in the afternoon, we decided to wrap up our stand and drove with our teachers and some fellow students to eat some lunch. Luckily with an SUV you can master to drive through flodded streets and major puddles along the way.

 We had lunch in an Indian restaurant which was very authentic with special rice, different kinds of meat and masala butter chicken :)
Our teachers are very laid back and it is always fun and hang out with them. They are always open for answering questions or giving valuable feedback for our assignments. Besides that they are also very funny to hang out with :) Below is a picture with me and Ms. Anu in the back of the car on our way back to school. She is in charge of many classes like finance and business plan related classes. We always have a great time together :)

Ms Anu and me

Qatar Racing Club Drifting Event

Another very cool event was, when we went to the Qatar racing club to see some extravant cars drifting. It was on a weekday on an early night, not too hot outside. There was a huge tribune for all the visitors as I knew it from American Football games. It was a public event where alot of families and kids went, just to enjoy the free entertainment under the beautiful sky of Doha.

After a while of preparation, the event began. The first car did the parcours for showing off his drifting skills. Alot of cars were really loud made alot of smoke.  The whole drifting event was a competition and there were some pretty good participants in the game. One or two did a perfect drift through all the curves and made it in best time and everyone was cheering along, which was great. But on the other side, there were off course some losers in the game as well, who thought they can drift but they were really bad at it. For example they hit the barriers for the lanes or couldnt even start because their cars had too much power  :D
 

During the drifting there was soo much smoke, it smelled bad and small particles were flying through the air that it was sometimes hard to breath from time to time. After the drifting we went backstage and saw all the cars and the participants fixing their cars for the next session.
the coolest thing was spotting "Bumble Bee" from Transformers ; ) He was displayed very nicely on a stage and Najam and I had to take a selfie with him to capture the moment :P

Just to get a feeling on how the drifing event was, here a little video from one of the best drifters at that night. Please watch out very loud :D Being able to stand so close at the fence to watch those people drift was also a feeling nobody can describe. On one side pretty scary because something can happen, but on the other side you see,feel and smell everything first hand, first row. 

It was a really crazy night with a another cool experience, I haven't done before.After the Drifitng event we celebrated a birthday again :) We went out for Dinner to TGI Fridays :) and had a very nice dinner there.