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 :)