Back home from Qatar

Doha skyline
We arrived home from Qatar Saturday night and life has been eventful since.
But first, the trip.
We had a great time catching up with old friends, the Kents and the Franklins who are over there working with Texas A&M's extension campus in Doha, and exploring a new part of the world for us - our first time out east and all. I took a ton of pictures, but had trouble getting all I wanted since the women in full cover do not want their picture taken. Of course these were the women I found most fascinating - isn't that just the way. But I managed a few from afar and then some great shots of camels - lots of camels about.

Our friend Brenda took us to the live animal market in Doha where we were able to see some guys loading camels into a truck. This is not an easy task requiring chasing a camel around a pen, and once getting a hold of him, tying him down into a sitting position so a crane can lift the camel up out of the pen and into a truck yelling his guts out in the process. A camel yell is not a pretty sound. After all was said and done, the two camel-getter guys came over to us wanting high-fives for their efforts. We duly congratulated them.


We also made it out to an Afghan restaurant with everybody where we sat in a little cubicle room on the floor with pillows and a plastic sheet over the rug as our dinner table. The food was good, and the company even better. Among the other sites we visited were the sand dunes at the Persian Gulf - Qatar is one of two countries in the world where sand dunes meet the water - climbing these monsters was a workout; the Souks Wakif - the local market full of irresistible colors, textures and smells - and a perfect place for getting some great pics;



...and the new Islamic Art Museum - the architecture of the museum itself is a work of art.




Oh, and did I mention the world class men's tennis tournament that is held every first week of January in Doha? Didn't even know I could get into tennis, but I was right there yelling for Andy Roddick with everybody else. It was just cool. Oh, and did I mention the pearl guy, Zafar, from whom John was going to buy me a beautiful set of black pearls, but instead, he gave them to me because we were "Brenda's friends". I love being Brenda's friend - for more than just the pearls...really!

And last but not least, although it was first on the agenda, our whole reason for going over - the first Worldview Academy Camp in Doha. Todd is one of the founders of Worldview Academy, a camp held all over the US every summer with the sole purpose of instructing high schoolers in discerning why we believe what we believe and how our beliefs about the world (our worldview) affects our whole outlook on life and work. It's an amazing organization. Four college students , Worldview staff from this summer, came in to join Elizabeth, also WVA staff this summer and oldest Kent girl, to run the camp. John spoke 6 times on "Defeaters" - those arguments generally brought up against Christianity, such as the Problem of Evil and suffering, is there really only one way to God, etc. It was amazing and although he was speaking to an audience of young people between the ages of 12 to 22 or 23 the students seemed to be tracking well and really taking in his teaching. We were so honored to be asked to be a part of bringing the 3-day camp to serve the youth and families in this way.

We had a great time, and were spoiled rotten by our most gracious and hospitable friends, family Kent and Family Franklin. They took such good care of us, that we were begging to come back again next year. Although I think if that happens, Justin or Kevin will be calling dibs over me. We shall see.

Aggies near and far

Doha skyline at night

I am in process now editing and uploading all of my pictures to our Flickr. Just check in from time to time over the next week. They should all be up soon.