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Last Visit 2021-12-07 08:02:03 |Start Date 2005-05-26 16:50:55 |Comments 1,827 |Entries 526 |Images 1,337 |Videos 8 |Theme |

05/06/09 06:08 - 51ºF - ID#48599

enrique

Enrique Iglesias concert tonight :) Going to have a free listen on my balcony instead of paying the absurd $100 for bleacher seats, $250 for 'OK seats', or $500 for VIP. Which I don't think even gets you a meeting with him. Whatever, I can see and hear just fine from 100 feet away :)

Happy Belated Birthday (e:Jenks)!
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Category: about doha

04/28/09 07:01 - 58ºF - ID#48526

death for dressing like a man?

Not a lot of time to write but I wanted to put this crazy article out there. Honestly, even living here for 2 years I still find some things shocking. I mean, death for dressing like a man??? I'm still not sure exactly to what extent they mean this, but I find it far more difficult for a woman to dress like a man, since wearing pants and jeans and t-shirts are perfectly acceptable today.

We made a quick visit to UK and then stop in Rome. I'll get those pics up this weekend, I hope. Things are very, very busy with the ending of the school year. Miss you all, really looking forward to July!!!

Cross-dressing seen as a 'serious menace to society'
Publish Date: Sunday,26 April, 2009, at 12:27 PM Doha Time
By Anwar Elshamy

A leading academic has sounded an alarm against the growing trend of cross-dressers among boys and girls, saying that it is a "serious menace to society".
Speaking in the monthly Lakom Al Karar TV programme, telecast on Friday night by Qatar TV, Dr Saif al-Hajari, the deputy chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, described the emerging trend of "manly women" and "womanly men" as a "foreign trend" which, he said, had invaded the Qatari and Gulf communities as part of the "globalisation winds".
"This is an issue which can harm all our social and religious values. It needs some sort of bravery to address it. I have never imagined that one day I can see such behavioural deviations in our streets, schools or universities," Dr al-Hajari said.
The episode, which discussed behavioural deviances among youths, was part of the heated debate over the issue of "Boyat" (girls dressing and acting like boys).
Transgendered people, who reportedly are seen in public places, were the subject of a heated debate during the past few weeks as clerics, educationists and sociologists cautioned against the new trend spreading among girls and boys.
Dr al-Hajari said that the efforts of both the state and society are required to address the trend.
"There is a lack of legislation organising the public code of ethics. There is a need to develop our legislations in this regard," he said.
However, he also blamed it on what he called "foreign fingers and groups" seeking to cause harm to youngsters.
"These cases of behavioural deviations we have are not working alone. They co-ordinate with similar groups on regional and international levels," he added.
To a question whether foreign education institutes established in Qatar are responsible for the spread of the phenomenon, Dr al-Hajari said that Qatar Foundation, which is the umbrella of foreign universities in Qatar, should set up a mechanism to protect young people in such universities from "invading behaviours".
"We need to educate the administrative and teaching staff of these universities on the special traits of our society.
"Some foreign schools and universities hire staff hailing from communities that do not see any problem in what we think of as deviations. This is a problem that should be dealt with."
The participating audience, mostly students, was "divided" on how to address the emerging trend. Some of them suggested capital punishment for those who indulged in "transgendered behaviour", while others said that the organisations concerned should reach out to these groups and deal with them as patients.
"This problem can only be addressed if the community rejects this type of youth and punishes them," a participant said.
However, another participant said that students who have such behavioural deviations should be engaged rather than isolated.
Another participant called for launching a public campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of behavioural deviances as well as educating families on how to protect their children against the social menace.
On the motion "This house believes that the concerned institutions and ministries are performing their duties to correct the behavioural deviations", 100% of the audience voted that these institutions had failed to do their duties in this regard.
In a survey, which was conducted by the Amina bint Wahab Secondary School for Women, and included 500 girls aged between 15-20, a majority of 45% of the surveyed students saw those girls behaving like boys as victims, while 40% said they are guilty.
In a move to curb the phenomenon, the presenter of the programme, Mohamed al-Marri, announced that HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad has established a new social rehabilitation centre "Al Awin" to deal with such cases.
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Category: engaged

04/23/09 02:02 - 44ºF - ID#48482

the ring

There she is!

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Category: birthday

04/07/09 05:16 - 26ºF - ID#48314

happy birthday rory!

HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY RORY!

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Category: potpourri

04/06/09 01:36 - 45ºF - ID#48309

todays bits and bobs

My former student/fashion design major just left. We had our first wedding dress meeting. I'm so excited that she can help me do this. It means a lot to me to keep things tight, as in having friends and family contribute to the process and necessary components.

Meanwhile, I'm over the work thing. I vented my frustrations. I called the situation out, and I feel much better. I'm going to be just fine with it all.

Last night I spent several hours working on the "Pit of 100 Trials" in Mario Paper. You literally have to complete 100 levels of bad guy battles without any save options. Wouldn't you know it. I get to room 99 and then I die. For serious!
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Category: work

03/25/09 07:30 - 37ºF - ID#48193

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Update on previous post: no one lost an eye!

There are some changes happening at work. I have a temporary divider wall to allow (e:Rory) to visit me in my home but that will be coming down next year because we need more space for students (my end of the hall currently houses me and 2 contingency rooms). No divider would mean he couldn't live with me once we're married because the country's moral codes don't allow co-habitation in this setting, even for married couples.

That combined with the fact we're running out of space has lead to the decision that RHDs are being moved off campus to community housing. This is unheard of in my position but until our new facilities are built, we are in a pickle. It means we would have to move back to a campus apartment whenever we're on duty...all of us sharing one apartment. I'm both pleased and annoyed by this. Pleased because it means nicer accommodations and lower noise. Annoyed because who wants to uproot their life one week a month (or more depending on vacation schedules) to live in a shared space?

The bigger changes are that people are leaving. A fellow RHD couldn't hack it so she's outie, and I'm totally cool with that. So I knew we had to find a replacement. I helped interview several while I was in Seattle. What I didn't know until I got to Seattle is that my supervisor has also decided to leave. She's been here for 3 years so it's cool. You can only sacrifice so much for so long. I just assumed they would post for that position like all our others and someone would replace her. That is not so.

The other day I was called into the big cheese's office along with another fellow RHD who has been here since the start with me to have a briefing. The low down is, my supervisor's position will be taken over, with some new responsibilities, to her existing equal. The current equal will be promoted. The remaining coordinator position will take over the other responsibilities, which are probably the least fun of all the things you could do in housing - assignments, billing, maintenance, etc.

At this briefing they say they would rather promote from within instead of having to open up the search outside. So, basically we have the opportunity to apply for it. Now comes the part of weighing pros and cons.

Pros:
Chance for a new challenge
Shows upward mobility on my resume
Increase in pay grade
On-call duties marginal compared to RHD position
Opportunity to supervise other professionals
Freedom from petty conduct issues that plague my desk
Work hours much more in line with my future spouse's
Not having to move back and forth to campus while on duty

Cons:
Interaction with the students (for the fun stuff) will greatly decrease
Participation in staff training would decrease substantially
I'm not a morning person so a 7:30am start time makes me cringe
The tasks are purely administrative
My fellow RHD and I are both qualified- if he applies as well it would boil down to a popularity contest which I would lose, and that irritates me on principle
Although I would be happy for him, I cannot say 100% that I would be 'resent free', especially if he then became my supervisor

Other thoughts:
If I don't apply, do I lack ambition to move upward?
Another position, for which my fellow RHD would be most suited for, is possibly opening up next year, definitely the year after...would he get this one, then switch to the other?


Ultimately I want to be happy in my work. There are things I would miss about what I do right now, but I think professionally it would be a wise move, and personally, it would help (e:Rory) and I lead a slightly more 'normal' life in our first year of marriage.

I just needed to talk out loud.
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Category: potpourri

03/19/09 10:57 - 33ºF - ID#48119

cowboys and arrows

So we have these Friday programs called "Friday Night Lights" which our CDAs conduct. It's meant to give residents something to do on the weekends on campus. Sometimes they are separated by gender, sometimes (as long as it's outdoors) they host a joint program.

This week's (and I'm of course on duty) is a 'cowboy' theme. Get this. Country music (Oh My Gag), BBQ, dressing up in 'cowboy' clothes (I'm still unsure what this is going to look like), and shooting bow and arrows!

I almost shit myself when I first saw the program proposal. I mean, first, what do bow and arrows have to do with cowboys? More importantly, I don't want to lose an eye! I asked a lot of questions about who will supervise, what type of arrow, etc. etc. I was informed there were appointed instructors and the arrows were blunt tipped wooden style. So I approved it on condition of a strict protocol for safety and if at ANY moment I see someone being a prick, I'm shutting it down.

Today I finally SEE the arrows. They are aluminium and pointy sharp as hell! What have I gotten myself into?

Wish me LOTS of luck!


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Category: engaged

03/18/09 08:21 - 56ºF - ID#48098

save the date

Promise, last blurb about engagement and wedding for a while! The date has been finalized.

Mark you calendars for Saturday, October 31st! Yes, it landed on Halloween and I didn't plan that AT ALL. But hey, when you project what would make you most happy, all the universe conspires to make it so!
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Category: engaged

03/16/09 07:32 - 56ºF - ID#48077

thank you!

Thanks everyone for your congrats! We are super stoked about it! Rather than planning the wedding surrounding some grand idea I've had since childhood (because I don't have one), we're letting the circumstances play out and kind of determine the details.

Thus far, circumstance has told us it's going to be in the US, most likely in Buffalo. It has also told us it's either going to be October 30th or 31st.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. Yes, I love Halloween to bits but I seriously did not select these dates! But I can see having lots of fun with it, fo sho! Keep your calendars free!

I think we'll try to get to the states late summer to take care of 'in person' details. So, I'm sure we'll throw together a nice big bonfire experience and hope you'll all join us for a little engagement celebration :)

image
Here's a pic shortly after he asked me. I look weird, but whatever, I was all kinds of crying and shaking and it's hard to take two person self-portraits. At least my long arms come in handy sometimes!

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This was our little 'celebration' at London Heathrow Airport while we were waiting for our flight back to Doha. Seriously, the Virgin Atlantic lounge is freaking amazing there!
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Category: engaged

03/14/09 08:09 - 38ºF - ID#48056

it's official!!!

(e:Rory) and I are formally, officially, 100% engaged! We are so happy!

This is how it went down:

He asked me on Friday the 13th in an old graveyard next to the old church in Ingatestone (his hometown). He got down on one knee. I was so overwhelmed with emotion I could hardly speak.

A small group of teenage boys that had just gotten out of school were coming down the path behind us, saw him on bended knee, and started shouting various congratulatory remarks and woohoo's. They passed us as we hung in a tight embrace, savoring the moment.

As we left the graveyard we rounded a corner to the Co-Op and the same boys were standing outside. They lined themselves up by the door and as we walked in started humming/singing "Da dum de dum, da dum de dum". It was very cute.

We just wanted to share our joy with all of you!
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