Yum, pie

Isn't it pretty? I put cinnamon and sugar on top so that is the dark brown. It smelled really good too. Bad thing about a pie, you can't sneak a piece early, people will always know. I taking it for tonight's dinner at a friend's house, tomorrow I will do mashed taters.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Update

So it has been about 33 days since I posted, sorry. Let me update you on the happenings of the last month.

My classes are finished for the semester. I submitted grades on Thursday of last week for the lab course and for the lecture homework, so I am now finished with that until January. I have been able to make some progress with research in the last week, just a little bit of progress, so that is good.

Vacation starts next week. I have been counting down the days since, well, October. I am looking forward to Germany but I can't wait to get home. It has been almost a year since I've been in Alaska and I miss it more now than ever. Can you give a state a hug? That is what I want to do when I get off the plane.

Oh, bugs. Bugs dominated my week last week. They were these little beetle looking things, similar to a weevil but not, that got in my kitchen. Two cans of RAID and 1 exterminator later they were finally dead. Unfortunately I had to throw out most of my spices, very sad. I ordered some Tupperware brand spice containers from the states, they should be here the day after I leave. I will be stocking up on some spices in the states but most I'll get here.

I hosted the knitting group this week. We had about 8 or 9 ladies at my place and I made breakfast, with help from a friend. I was having a hard time with the pancakes but the carrot cake and cream cheese frosting turned out good. I had to pull out every chair in my place for people to sit.

I am still debt free, which is a big accomplishment for me. I have been listening to financial people to keep my head focused on the goal. I also realized that the vacations that I have planned for next year are going to have to be more limited. I was planning trips to Dubai, Egypt, UK, Poland, and home. I think I am going to eliminate the UK trip and see if I can make those work. The airline tickets are expensive for some of these trips so we will see. I am thinking Dubai for 3 days/2 nights at spring break.

Did I mention I have 9 days until I leave? Oh, so we now get the 8th of December off as well so my vacation hours have been returned to me. I called Lufthansa to see if I could change my flight and leave on the 3rd instead of the 5th. It was going to be a 100 euro change fee PLUS a $503.94 change of ticket fee, I'm staying until the 5th. i was ready to pay the 100 euros, but the ticket fee is just a wee bit too high.

Well, I know this is an exciting post but that is all the exciting stuff that I want to share right now. I'll be home for Christmas on the 14th of December, assuming I make my connection in Amsterdam, and I leave to come back on the 1st of January.

Hope you are doing well.

21 cans of Cambells Cream of Mushroom Soup

I have 21 cans of cream of mushroom soup. This is a shopping story worth telling. I haven’t been able to find cream of mushroom soup for about 2 months so when I saw it this last weekend I bought 10 can of the reduced fat/low sodium kind, not my favorite but it works. Then I went to another store and found the regular kind there, so I bought another 10 cans (it isn’t like they expire). I used 2 over the week and then a friend who is leaving Doha gave me her extras, so I now have 21 cans in my apartment. Oh, I only have about 4 cans of tune left but I can find that any time.

Work has been busy. TAMUQ (Texas A&M University at Qatar) had our ABET evaluation this last week and we did great but it put me behind. So last week, and the first part of this week was spent playing catch up. I am currently adding ice to cool a reaction until I can put it in the cooler for the evening.

Oh, let me tell you my moments of brilliance on Sunday. So I wrote my quizzes for class, got everything out and I was ready. I gave my quiz to the students and they all did horrible, even my really good students! I told them afterward that they need to be sure to read the procedure I before coming to class. Then one of my students asked what lab we are doing so I told them that looking at the syllabus and knowing what lab is being performed would be very helpful when being prepared to class. I told them that we were doing the Phase Transfer Catalysis lab when then said that wasn’t the experiment listed on the syllabus. Oops, does anyone have a fork for my humble pie? I didn’t read the syllabus and I prepped the wrong lab. So, my awesome students did the catalysis lab and did a really good job. Then, oh yes there is more, I email my students for the next to tell them which lab we were doing. I went home, had dinner, read for a little bit and checked my email. A student emailed and asked “We have lab tomorrow?” I was thinking “OH. MY. GOSH. DON’T THEY KNOW THEIR SCHEDULE!” Until I realized that I didn’t know this student because I emailed the wrong class! I went to bed on Sunday hoping that I would wake up able to repeat the day and do it better.

So in 43 days I will be onto my next vacation. This one will be long, and cold. I finished my wool hat for Germany, my scarf is done, and Leigh is almost finished with my gloves. I should be ok if it isn’t too cold. I don’t know what my next knitting project will be yet, I think hats for my nieces (I already finished one for my nephew.). Oh, about the long part, I will be in the States from the 15th through the 31st of December. I have some things already planned, like doctor appointments, scratching the dog and playing with the nieces and nephew, but I would like to see lots of people when I am home.

Not much else is going on, other than me being a dunderhead. I figure I should start my US shopping list soon. I think I’m just going to go visit Fred Meyers for kicks, well, any store that has a pork section.

More Czech pictures!

These to men were relaying the cobblestones in the street inside Prague Castle. They were working pretty fast but still had a lot of work to do to finish the street.
We also went to Terezin Concentration Camp. This is the outside of the camp where many of the victims are buried.
Back in Prague in the Jewish Quarter the old Jewish Cemetery. There are about 100,000 people buried here. When they filled up the space the people brought in more dirt for another layer. There are about 12,000 headstone that you can see now in the cemetery.
Konopiste Castle, the last residence of Frans Ferdinand d'Este, was a not a planned stop but a very good stop. We took one of the tours inside and it was very interesting. Frans killed about 275,000 animals while hunting in his life and I think about 274,999 are mounted on the inside walls of the castle.
So navigation was difficult in Prague. Street signs weren't obvious, not that we know the Czech language anyway, but it was difficult. This is Mom and Vickie trying to figure out how to get back into Prague and then how to get back to our apartment. People were very good about giving directions, especially if you drove on the sidewalk.

Prague pictures!

That is Prague Castle in the background and the Charles' Bridge too. We did walk across it many times. Very pretty and under construction, actually, restoration.
Mom and Vickie at the end of the Charles' Bridge. You can kind of see the bridge vendors off to the right side. That afternoon/evening going home there were tons of people and lots of vendors.
Ah, Mom and Vickie waiting in line at the Prague Castle to use the potty. This one was free, if you could wait that long.
I wanted to make sure that this picture made it onto the blog. We rented an Opal Astra stationwagon and then had to fill it up. This works out to be about $64 (USD), not too bad when you split it 3 ways. Oh, 30.90 Kc/Liter is about $7.09/gallon.

I AM DEBT FREE!!!!

Ok, this is very exciting. I am debt free. The only loan I have right now is the car loan for my vehicle here which TAMU is covering with the transportation allowance so that is covered. I don’t have any credit card debt or student loan debt. This is an exciting day because I am finally working for me, well, for the next vacation.
Mom should be home now. Mom left on the red eye out of here on Sunday morning 12:25am and should have made it to Alaska 7pm Ak time. I hope the trip wasn’t too aweful. It is a long time on the plane and in airports.
Work is going well. I have 3 more labs to teach for the semester and then I’ll be finished. This semester has flown by so fast. It feels like we just started the semester and now we are about ready to end it. The good news is that I’ll be home for Christmas soon.
Oh, to all of you Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving.

Prague pictures coming soon!

Prague and the Czech Republic were awesome. Mom and I made it to Qatar on the evening of the 4th and she is currently at home while I am at work. We had a great time and pictures will be posted soon, I'm still in the sorting process for the 629 pictures that I took.

Hope all is going well.

Being Vested and Qatarded

There are 2 things that I would like to share with you all. The first thing is that I had some good news about my retirement plan for A&M. After 5 years in the system you are considered vested which means that if you choose to remove the money that you have put into retirement you get to keep the matching funds. If you leave before hand you lose all matching funds. This can be a large amount of money lost especially if you only plan on staying 3 years like I do. Then I found out this key piece of information, my time in Texas working as a graduate student counts toward my 5 years. I’m not going to lose the money! This will be about $7,000 in matching funds that will go toward my retirement. How cool is that!

The other thing I wanted to share with all of you a new term. It is Qatarded. Pronounced cu-tard-ed is usually used to describe something in Qatar that is done is a stupid or backward manner. For example, “the road construction here is Qatarded.” It can also be used in a question, for example, “is the process to buy a car here Qatarded?” (The answer is yes to that question.)

Other fun news is that in 10 days I will be in the Frankfurt Airport waiting for Mom and Vickie to magically appear from their loooooong flight. I will be bored to tears after spending 3.5 hours sitting in the airport not being able to read German. I really should pick up some German. I did learn in July that you can go a long ways in Germany with the following 3 words: bitte (please), danke (thanks), and Visa (Hand over your credit card so I can charge a lot in euros). It is amazing that with just those 3 words you can go all over Germany.
Ramadan is over half finished now. It is an adjustment but things aren’t as bad as people say they were going to be. I would like to have water at my desk though.

Hope all is well with you.

Contract

Well, today I signed my new contract today. This means that I am employed through June of 2010. My new contract goes into effect December 1 and will last through June 30, 2008. If you listen really carefully right now you can hear my parents celebrating and singing "Yes! She's employed!"

Actually, what it really means is that I now have the money, or will soon, to pay for the plane tickets and hotel reservations that I've already booked. Just in case you are wondering I leave Doha for Berlin on December 5, to Alaska on December 14, 2008, and then I return to Doha from the 1-3 of January. On the way back I overnight in Frankfurt so I get to break-up the 4000 hours of flying, coach. I know the amount of sympathy I will get from this statement is, well, nothing, but I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean 3 times but never in coach. I've always had business class. If only there was a conference in Anchorage that would be worth my boss sending me there.

Hope all is well with you.

Ramadan

Welcome to the world of Ramadan! The month of Ramadan started last night at sundown and will continue until the next new moon. All Muslims are fasting during daylight hours, which means from about 4am to 6 pm. What does this mean for me? Well let me tell you.

No restaurants are open during the day for the month, not bad except that means you have to bring lunch or eat at the cafeteria, I don't mind it so much though. I heard that grocery stores aren't open until sun down too, but I have not confirmed that. The other things are not being able to eat or drink in the car, in my office (I have windows), and having students that are especially whiny. One thing that many people have told us is that we should drive in the last hour of daylight. That is when people are rushing to other people's homes to be able to break the fast so the driving is awful. There are more accidents during Ramadan than any other month. So, I am currently sitting at work, waiting for the sun to set so I can go to the knitting group.

I am hungry too. I've been fasting since lunch.

Thank you God for AC!

So I get the opportunity (must think positive) to take Organic Chemistry, yes again, this semester. Yes, I did have to take it to graduate undergrad but I don't remember anything and since I am teaching the lab this semester I thought it was good. However, the AC wasn't working in the classroom this morning. It was 29C in there, which is almost 85F. It was very hot, enough that I was sweating by the end of class. It took me forever to cool down afterward. The good news was the class was at 8am, not 2pm. That room gets hot anyway, ouch!

Yesterday I bought my plane ticket to fly from Frankfurt to Anchorage over Christmas. I still need to get a ticket to fly from Doha to Frankfurt but I am getting there. I am excited about going home but not about sitting on a plane that long. (Since I am paying for it I am flying coach.) Mom already asked me what I wanted for Christmas, isn't that a bit early?

Classes started this week. I am teaching 2 sections of organic chemistry lab and creating the homework for the organic lecture course. Should be a learning experience for me but I'm not thrilled with going to organic lecture again. I slept through most of the classes the first time I took it so hopefully I can stay awake this time.

Hope all of you are doing well!

There is a Cold Stone in the desert.

I tried something new today. Cold Stone opened in one of the malls today and a coworker and I went to go try it. Not bad, the workers are funny. However, they don’t have Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and their cookie dough is made from very granulated sugar. The ice cream artist did put caramel on top of the ice cream as well though, so that was good.

Larry the Lizard

My parents taught me a lot of things when I was a kid. One thing that they failed to teach me was how to catch a lizard. I know we don’t have a lot of lizards in Alaska but still. Learning how to catch a lizard would have been pretty helpful. Before I learn how to do that, let me tell you the story of Larry.

Larry is a little gecko-type lizard that is white and green and may be poisonous. This type of lizard will come into homes to find food, shelter, TV, DVDs, and other forms of entertainment. The other weekend Larry came in my house. I saw him, thought about how to catch him, and then lost him. Since I didn’t see him I figured he went back to his lizard family and I was lizard free. I was wrong; Larry was looking for a home. On Sunday night I was making pink lemonade from knitting and the proceeded to spill an entire pitcher of the sticky stuff down the back of my fridge and onto my floor. I grabbed a bucket and started to dump water on the floor so I could mop it. I dumped some soapy water and saw something wiggling at the other end of the kitchen. IT WAS LARRY!! Trying to drown him, I don’t like freeloaders, I dumped more water on the floor and Larry swam over to and then crawled underneath the stove. So I pushed bucket after bucket of warm, ok hot, water underneath the stove. No Larry.

Well, I figured the floor wasn’t sticky anymore so I went to bed. I got up late the next morning to find out 2 things. The first thing is that the floor was still sticky and something gross and sticky had pooled and dried underneath the front right corner of the fridge. I was late so I figured I would clean it up after work. I got off late from work and didn’t have time to clean it up before people came for knitting. Knitting was fine and then cleaning up I saw something in the goo, IT WAS LARRY!! Not knowing how to clean up a dead lizard I went to bed to deal with it tomorrow. The next night after work I decided, with some advice from some friends, that I should try to scrape Larry of the goo. Well, the goo was too sticky so I figured I would dissolve the goo with water and then sweep dead Larry into the dust pan to through him out. Pretty smart says I. So, I got some soapy Clorox water and poured it on the mess. That wasn’t working so I took a bucket of water, 2 cups of Clorox, and poured it on the mess. That was when I figured out something. LARRY WASN”T DEAD!!! So, I did what any Alaskan would do, I called a friend.

My friend from IT who lives just a little bit down the road was home so I called her and asked her to come catch Larry. Which she did do and I was very grateful. So, that is the story of Larry. Larry is outside, I think, and maybe even alive after being stuck to the floor and drowned in Clorox water.

Next time, I try straight Clorox.

Comments

Mom has commented a few times about how hard it is to leave comments on my blog, so I have chagned the settings. It is now open to all comments but I will be monitoring them to see which ones get posted. This monitoring will allow me to block comments that aren't in English or other such stuff.

Hope all are doing well.

The kindness of a Qatari

This blew me away yesterday. Qatari people are not known for being nice when they are in vehicles, or really out of them. They will cut in front of you in line when you are in a store, ride your butt when you are on the road while flashing their lights, you name it, they will do it. Yesterday I went to the Al Meera store, it is convenience store but it has the best deals on stuff. Anyway, I was going to my car, pulled out my keys, put my groceries in and got in the car. I looked behind me to back up and there was a Land Cruiser behind me. The driver, a Qatari, was getting out so I just waited. He walked over by the front of my car, picked a 1 riyal note and gave it to me. He got out of the car to give me back the equivalent of 30 US cents. I was blown away. I still am blown away. What really makes this impressive is that it was REALLY hot and REALLY REALLY humid yesterday, like a sauna, and he got out of the car! Thank you Qatari man, I am blown away by your kindness.

July Pictures

This is the entrance to the pedestrian area in Munich. This portion of it is known as Karsplatz, or Karl's plaza. This area feeds into Marienplatz and everything in that area.
Me and my Beer. That was about all I drank, I smashed my finger and didn't want any more after that. Also, Beer+vegetable soup isn't as good as you would think. Next time I'll go for the pork.
This is on top of Cannon Hill above Rowlesburg, West Virginia the day of the reunion. Dad came out to see me and so we were the family representatives of the Chuck Shaver family, lots of fun.

My July trip

Ok, so it has been a long time since I posted, but that it ok cause I haven’t been near a computer. So let me update the masses.

Munich, Germany- I had a great time here. I was a little frustrated at the railway stations in Frankfurt cause nobody had signs up explaining what was happening. Of course I don’t speak or read German so that wouldn’t have mattered so much. A very nice lady was also on her way to Munich and helped me get there without getting lost or really confused. I did learn that ‘glies’ means track in German, handy piece of information to have when riding the train in Germany. Anyway, found my hotel in Munich and then slept for about 1.5 hours. I didn’t sleep much on the train or plane and was REALLY tired. I then took a 1 hour bus tour of Munich which turned out to be very helpful for planning the rest of my stay. I found my way to Karlsplatz and Marienplatz and did a little bit of shopping, got dinner, and then drug myself back to the hotel. The next morning I just walked around the city taking pictures and enjoying Munich. I had lunch at the Hofbrauhous and then proceeded to smash my figure on a chair in the beer garden (hey, beer gardens are dangerous places.). I wasn’t hungry after that but I had a little more of my soup, pretzel, and beer. I couldn’t finish my beer, it was ½ liter and I know that all of my Sarvela ancestors are turning over in their graves. I went into a cathedral and when I came out it was pouring down rain. I waited in the awning for about 20 minutes with a man from southern part of Eastern Europe who spoke no English. Interesting time there, but when the tourist gets rained on, the tourist will knit. I found a store that had yarn and needles and made it back to my hotel for a nap and some knitting. That evening I went to the Oktoberfest grounds, Julyfest is not so exciting, and then found dinner to repack up stuff for the train back to Frankfurt. The train to Frankfurt left at 5:23am, yes in the morning, and I made it just fine. Then back to the airport and on to Atlanta.

Atlanta, Georgia-I did a lot of shopping and went to a wonderful teacher training. I enjoyed Mexican food, Target, T-mobile, and a bookstore that was closing. Shopping is good in Atlanta and got even better when I found the REI store.

West Virginia-I GOT TO SEE DAD! That was probably the highlight of the trip was having Dad fly out to see me. We went to the Shaver family reunion, I won furthest traveled, and just did a lot of talking and eating and eating and eating…. I was able to see cousins that I hadn’t seen in a very long time which was nice. Dad went home after the reunion weekend and I stayed on for another week. I also managed to get a cold which turned into an upper repertory infection. Before bed and my Great Aunt’s house we would take our pills together, kind of funny. Since I wasn’t feeling well I stayed in the Kingwood area and rested. I found out that Claritin D is my new best friend for flying. I would take pill about 1 hour before landing so my ears would clear.

Back to Doha-I made it back to Doha just fine if not tired. On the plane leaving Doha I sat next to a man who was going to Oregon and we talked about Oregon since my sister is there. When I boarded the plane to go back to Doha from Frankfurt I was sitting next to the same man! Funny funny.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the brief update, I’ll try to post pictures later today.

He once was lost and now is found.

GUS IS HOME!!! It turns out that he was found in the middle of the road on Friday and was picked up by a very nice lady. She took him to her house, she has a kennel, contacted her vet for some reason, and then gave him a bath and kept him at home. Dad was calling vet clinics and on the 3rd try the person at the vet told Dad where Gus was. He was a little hungry, he doesn’t like changing food, but he is fine. I am so thankful that he is ok. I got to see him on the web cam so that was good.

I leave tomorrow for vacation so I'm getting ready for that now. I've got a train ticket to Munich and a hotel and a map so I'm set. I have packed up a lot of stuff but still have more to go tonight and then the last minute stuff on Thursday after work. Exciting!

Gus

As most people know, I am a little bit attached to our dog, Gus. We got him 1 week before I graduated high school and I spent that summer working and playing with the dog. I got a little bit found of the dog (and he got a little bit spoiled). The bad news is that Gus is missing. We think he went after a bear that hanging around our place and he hasn’t come home in 36 hours. Dad went looking for him but couldn’t find any trace of him. He has a few more placed to look tomorrow but it isn’t looking good.

Only a few more days until my next trip. I am excited about that, in fact, I am ready to leave now. Well, give me a few minutes to pack and then I can go.

I need to go check on a reaction in the lab.

Wow, life is exciting, isn't it?

So I was going to start this post by listing all the exciting things that are happening but there really isn't anything going on. Most people are getting ready to leave on summer vacation or have already left, I am with the former group. I leave in 8 days for a 3 part trip, none of the parts are very long. I am spending next weekend in Munich, Germany and I am excited about that. I really want to change my ticket and leave early but I'm not going to do that. It wouldn't be honest and I don't have it in the budget for this month. Europe isn't cheap to visit.

I have a new toy. It is a Sony eReader for ebooks and I love it. I figured that since I got the stimulus money I should help some economy so I spent most of it on the new toy. It is very handy and nice to have. I have probably spent about 10 hours on it so far and the battery holds the charge nicely. The screen doesn't hurt my eyes either. The interface for buying books is similar to iTunes, dangerous but Continent. (New books are only a click away!)

I am watching my neighbor's dog for about 2 weeks, until I leave next week. It is nice having a dog, but she isn't my Gus. Before my friends left I asked if Rosie, the dog, needed to be let out in the middle of the day. The owner said that I could try but she probably won't go out. One day he went to let her out and she stuck her nose out, sniffed, and would leave the air conditioning. She is lonely but ok.

Anyway, that is all that is exciting for now. Take care!

Devil Snow!

The picture above is from Wednesday morning on the way to work. Visibility was, as you can see, almost nothing where normally you can see a couple kilometers at least. We are all hoping that the dust will settle down but it does have some benefits. For example, my skin gets exfoliated just walking to the car, ok, not really. It has been less hot that it normally is this time of year so that is good.

Have a good weekend!

The in between times.

So it is the middle of June and not a whole lot is happening. I was sick last week (trust me, you don’t want to know) but am feeling better now. Work is going fine, I finally got a reaction to work that took about 3 weeks to figure out, now I’ll start working on a different system, the desired (but more expensive) system.

I am currently in between trips right now. I have been back from Finland for over 3 weeks but have another 3.5 weeks until I leave for the US. I am excited about going to the States, but it is a mixed blessing. The good things are that I get to see Dad, attend a teacher training, see extended family, and be in the US for about 2 weeks. The bad thing is that because I am going to the US in July I can’t come back in the US until the 14th of December. This is also a mixed blessing because I think I am going to go to Spain before I go home for Christmas. So, good and bad, but I can’t wait to fly business class again. Economy on British Airways isn’t bad, but business class is so much better when someone else is paying!

The weather has been hot and dusty lately. Before you paint a house you can sand blast it to get dirt and any other particles off the sides, I now know how the house feels. The sand has been blowing like crazy for the last couple of days.

Oh, so I should tell everyone about the communication mix up that happened yesterday. A TAMUQ library worker and I went to a restaurant called Turkey Central last night. This is probably my favorite place in Doha to eat out and it is pretty cheap. So when we went there I ordered a kilogram of chicken kofta (like a chicken sausage without the casing) so I could have a bunch to take home for leftovers. Well, when our food came there was a regular order (I get leftovers on this too but I wanted more) so I asked the waiter. He was confused and then told me that a kilogram of chicken kofta is 40 pieces of meat! I had no idea it was that much, so I asked for a regular order (4 pieces). We paid, got our leftovers and headed to the car. I realized that the bag was a little heavy and somehow I came home with 20 pieces, or ½ kilogram, of meat! This is a lot, 2 pieces with bread and fruit is a decent sized meal. Anyway, today when I get home from work I need to separate it out into single serving sized and then freeze it. The good news is, when I am craving Turkey Central, all I have to do is go to the freezer!

Nothing else exciting has been happening really. I finished a baby quilt for one of my coworkers, I like the way it turned out. I am crocheting away on a few things, but I am almost done with another crochet project. Anyway, I should go look up flights for more trips (just kidding Mom!). I hope all of you have a wonderful day!

Tourism

I have worked a variety of jobs in tourism. In fact, I can still fold shirts just like I did in the t-shirt shops. But, for all of my folding and dusting and answering stupid questions, THANK GOD I didn't have to dress up in period costume! I guess folding shirts weren't that bad now that I think about it!

My Ode to the Commode

While I was at the Sea Fortress, Suomenlinna, in Helsinki I found myself rushing to find the closest bathroom available (there weren't a lot of places to hide in the bushes). I found this water closet and stepped inside. I tried to turn around but with my camera bag on I couldn't move without hitting the sides of the stall. So with some quick and very motivated thinking I had to place the camera bage outside the stall with the strap wrapped around my leg. It is the smallest bathroom I have every been in in my life! The tiles that you see in the picture are maybe 6 inches to give you an estmate on size.
This is a picture of the King's Commode at the Turku Castle. (It wasn't on the regular tour.) It doesn't look so bad, in fact, if you put some of the blue foam stuff around the seat it could be one of the best outhouse in Fairbanks!

A little piece of Alaska in Tallinn, Estonia. I think I was the only person who took a picture of the row of outhouses, but how could I resist! I honestly didn't know that the blue was a universal color for an outhouse. I would also like to point out that there is a well worn path to and from the outhouse so somebody is using it.

Actually, this makes me very thankful for the large bathroom that my parents have and the one that I have. Although a well placed bathroom, or water closet, in a time of need is enough to make anyone thankful!

Tallinn, Estonia

This is Tallinn, Estonia. The first picture looks out over the old town and to the dock and then on to the Gulf of Finland. The second is the Russian Orthodox church in the old town. The third is a portion of the tower wall that used to surround the town. The fourth picture is the town square and the view from where I ate dinner but not when I ate dinner. The final photo is of another church and the tulips in the park. The flowers everywhere were so pretty.

Hunter this one is for you!

This is by a kid's playground/park in Turku and when I saw it I thought of my nephew, Hunter. This is an area just for driving trucks off road. Actually, Hunter's Dad would like this area as well. I found it when I was on my way to the train station to go back to Helsinki. I think that some Grandparents on the Sarvela side need to think about an addition to the yard!

Turku

The top photo is of the Handicrafts museum, very cool, and is Turku in about 1827. The second photo is of the river that cuts the town in half and most of the tourist stuff is located on this river. The third picture is of Turku Castle, my first castle ever to be able to visit (beside Disneyland:). The fourth pic is of the flower bed, Abo is the Swedish name of the town, and the red building houses a museum showing what wealthy people's homes were like in contrast to the handicrafts museum. The red building also houses a pharmacy museum with 'old' glassware, I still use some of the glassware on a regular basis. The last picture is from the market and all the flowers that were out. They also sold vegetable and fish in these markets too.

Tampere

Ok, the top picture is of the cathedral in Tampere that I stayed right across the street from, in fact, when I opened the blinds and looked out the window that is what I saw. The second picture is one of me in front of the Sarvela Market, yes, I made it to the town of Sarvela. The picture after this is of a barn close to Sarvela, I thought the roof was funny. The 4th picture proves that they have moose too, although, I didn't see any. The last picture is looking over the bridge in Tampere on the morning I left. The other days I was there add cloud cover and that is it. Two more set of pics to post!

Helsinki pics

These pics are from Helsinki. The top left is looking back on the tourist dock, the top right is on Suomenlinna, the Sea Fortress. The vertical picture is from the cathedral in Helsinki with a statue of Czar Alexander II in front. The other two pics are from the Rock Church in Helsinki. It is actually built into the rock and the ceiling, the lower picture, is all copper. More to come

Back from Finland

I have posted 2 pictures from my trip so far. The top one is me in front of a castle in Turku, Finland on Tuesday. The second picture is me from one of the scenic outlooks in old town Tallinn, Estonia. I had a wonderful time on my trip but am happy to be back where things are cheaper.

Another funny story for everybody. The last hostel that I stayed in was Helsinki’s Eurohostel. It was a very nice place except for 1 thing, the shower. I went to take a shower the first night I was there and was a little perplexed by the shower. On the temperature control is a small red button and then there is a large metal button on a knob beneath it. So after some experimenting I found that when you push the lower knob the water turns on. It drained from right above me and it was about 3C, very cold. I yelped out of the way, which was not very far considering that I am in a 2 inch by 2 inch shower stall, and pushed the shower head away from me. I then figured out that the little red button, that gives you hot water, very important. So I pushed the large button again and pushed the red button and the water was fine. Since I moved the shower head I looked up and by the time my head hit the water the large metal button had popped up and the water shut off. (You know in public bathrooms when you go to wash your hands the metal push faucet that never gives you enough time to rinse your hands? This is its cousin.) So I pushed it again, but forgot to push the red button and once more cold water came out. I finally managed the shower by using one hand to constantly push the buttons and the other to wash. Funny now, but frustrating then.

Another thing that was great about Finland was the pork. I had ham most everyday, sometimes twice a day. In Turku I found a restaurant that was right on the water, had good food, and had live jazz every night. It was a neat place to be in the evening. It was also right across from the hostel that I stayed at so I didn’t have to walk far at night alone (SEE MOM, I was thinking about safety!).

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the long weekend!

Do I have to go back to Doha?

So I have learned a couple very important things in my travels these last few days. The first thing is that Finland is a beautiful country. It is a lot like Alaska in that it has a lot of the same plants and animals but I can understand the people in Alaska. The other thing that I have learned is that when you have to eliminate something from your diet, like pork, for 5 months, don’t gorge yourself on it. My stomach hasn’t liked that much.

So my first full day in Finland I spent in Helsinki, I love this town, and had a great time. I took tons of pictures but I can’t upload them right now so I’ll do that when I get back to Doha. Shopping has been minimal for a couple reasons. The first reason is that I have to carry everything that I buy and I don’t want to carry that much stuff. (All of my stuff on the way here was 11.3 kg, about 25 pounds.) The other thing is that stuff is expensive here. I got Brook, my sister, her magnet and it was 3.60€, about $6. I am trying to find souvenir stuff for the kids and stuff but am not having much luck.

About bathrooms. Next time you use a restroom in the states marvel at its size. I never knew why Europeans called bathrooms ‘water closets’ until I came here. This is why: the size of the bathroom is the size of a small closet. Tiny. I just had an experience in the bathroom here where I am typing. The lock was broken but it is the type that reminds me of the ones in porta-potties back home. You turn the dial and the ‘lock’ reading becomes red, easy enough. So I get down to the bathroom and I finish and I turn the knob the wrong way, and it won’t turn back all the way. No matter how hard I turn the knob it won’t move. The door is locked! I’m locked inside a bathroom in Tempere, Finland! I start to bang on the door to try and get someone’s attention when I try the door knob, it opens. I was never locked in, oops. If you think about it though, there are worse places to be locked into. At least if you are locked in a bathroom you have running water, in most cases, and you have a place to go to the bathroom.

Tomorrow morning, or early afternoon, I will be off to the town of Turku. It is on the southwestern coast of Finland and is home to a castle. I have always wanted to see a castle so I hope I can get there in the next couple days. I spend 2 nights there and then will go back to Helsinki. This time I will be spending my full day in Tallinn, Estonia, assuming everything works out. I get back to Doha on the 24th of this month so shortly after that I will post pictures on this site.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying where you are.

Rugby and Stuff.

To all the Moms out there, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! a day late. I know you all think you are good, but my mom is the best. Unfortunately, her youngest daughter isn’t the best and didn’t mail the card until last Sunday (oops). It should get there in about 7-10 days from now. Sorry Mom. (Dad, I’ll try to do better for Father’s Day.)

So Friday night I went with some people from work to a rugby match. I had never been to a rugby match and knew nothing about it. It was fun. It was the Arabian Gulf team against South Korea and I don’t think there was one person from this region on the Gulf team. I think they were all people living here but originally from Germany, South Africa, Australia, and any where else. It was fun. Oh, and it didn’t cost anything to go to. Afterward we took Jeremy, one of my friends from College Station who is here to do research for 2 weeks, to a restaurant called Turkey Central. It was so good. Six people ate Schwarma, hummas and bread, and had water for QR118, about $33. I love the local restaurants here.

Oh, and the second picture that I put up is of a kiosk in one of the malls. Dad always says ‘n stuff, well this place really does have stuff.

Oops, that wasn't expensive, was it?

In the last 18 hours I have broken a piece of glassware that is in limited supply and had my car battery go dead. The last day has not been wonderful.

Ok, so an update since I last posted. Not a whole lot has been happening here. The new things are pretty simple.
One of my friends from College Station comes in on Thursday night and will be here until the 23rd.
My grades are finished for the semester so no classes until fall.
The lab is almost set up, but I accidentally broke a piece of glassware today so there will be a delay there.
My lab order is for about $10,000 between chemicals and glassware.
I left my lights on in the car yesterday and ran the battery down, another brilliant move.
I can’t go back to the US before the 14th of December for tax purposes.
I leave for Finland in 9 days (and can have pork!).
Now that is exciting! I have my hotel/hostel arrangements made and Mom has started worrying. It was actually pretty funny because I was talking to my sister and she had asked if Mom was nervous about me yet. I think she will be nervous from now until the 14th of December when, God willing, I will be home.

I am enjoying my new car. I am almost at 1200 kilometers on the car, about 750 miles. I have not figured out the gas mileage yet, I know it isn’t great, but gas isn’t expensive here. It costs me about $10 to fill up the car, going to the states this summer is going to suck when having to fill up.

Convocation is happening on campus tomorrow night and a whole bunch of big wigs are coming. I would go to it, but…I don’t want to. I don’t have any students graduating this semester so I don’t feel obligated to go. Next year quite a few will be graduating so I’ll go. I will be ‘missing’ graduation as well. Graduation is on the 15th and I’ll be in Finland, darn.

Anyway, we have a meeting with the president of A&M this afternoon. I don’t remember her name, I think I should figure that out before I go.

Oh, the piece of glassware was only $34.00, not that bad.

Little notes from home

Ok, so this week was focused on how incredibly awesome my parents are. This week I got a package, always makes a good day, with Kraft Mac and Cheese, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of tuna, some cold medicine for the neighbors, and fabric. It was just awesome. Then today I got the bulletins from church in with the funnies from Easter Sunday. How awesome is that! The best part about the package and the funnies is the little note that Mom puts in it. I have one, no wait, two notes tacked to my bulletin board at work. I know they took Mom about 2 seconds to write, but I love them.

Another thing I have found about Qatar. Whenever I say I want something and can’t find it here Mom, Aunt Sue, or Brook will send it to me. Either about 2 days before or after it shows up in the mailroom I find it on the shelves in a store here. How unfair is that? I wonder if it will work if I ask for pork?

I am about 5 weeks away from the Finland trip. I am getting very excited. I have some euros ready for when I get off the plane in Helsinki and I have some British pounds for a ham sandwich when I get off the plane in London. I should probably get some more pounds just in case.

Oh, this morning just as I was about to leave for work my neighbor, Jen called me. Thomas, her 2.5 year old, had found a dead lizard in their house. Jen doesn’t like lizards. She looked out her window and saw that I hadn’t left yet and called. I went over, swept it up and put it in the trash. Very easy (Dad you would have been proud, I didn’t even call it icky.) and quick.

Another thing that I found this morning, eggs for QR 23.75. The catch was you had to buy 30 of them, but it was still cheaper than any other way. That is really cheap. Now I need to eat a lot of eggs.

Oh, this last week at church I found that the church has a library! I am allowed 3 books at a time and they have Christian Fiction, my favorite type of books and my favorite price. I haven’t been home much in the evenings this week so I haven’t finished even 1 book. Weird. I have been picking up a girl on campus for church the last few weeks. It gives me the motivation to get out of bed and go and it is repaying those who helped me. In undergrad in Fairbanks someone from the church picked me up every week in the winter. In the summer up there I rode my bike but I really appreciated it. I am glad that I can help out someone else.

I thought of a new quilt to do while I’m over here. I was trying to think of a way to do a quilt that would link everything here together with my trips. I figured I would do the flags of the countries that I visit. This also means that I will have to look at the flag BEFORE I visit the country. I wonder if I can find a paper piecing book on flags? Something else to work on.

Wow, for nothing special happening I sure did find stuff to write about.

my new subie

Ok, I promised a picture of the car, and it is the top picture. Isn’t it pretty? It is also very dirty. It was nice and clean when I picked it up and by the next morning the car was covered with dust again. Crazy!

The other picture that I posted was some stuff from the wedding that I went to. The flowers were from the table arrangements (yes I had permission to take them). The silver shiny box is what the perfume came in and the pretty little green thing was chocolate. It was very tasty and no, I didn’t save any. It was just a little piece. I think I ate it in front of Mom on the webcam. It wasn’t like I could send any of it home.

Meet my new Subie

Well, after 3 weeks, and a lot of trips to the bank, I have a new car. Actually, Wells Fargo has a new car and they are letting me drive it. I bought a 2008 Subaru Forester in silver. I’ll put a picture up shortly, when I remember to take one but before Mom and Dad get home from Oregon. The funny things is that it is cheaper, monthly, to buy a car, like mine, rather than rent a car. The rental for a Mistubishi Lancer was $540/month while the car payment is right about $400/month. The car payment is also within my transportation allowance which means that Texas A&M University is paying for my car. Pretty nice, I wish all jobs were like this.

On the way home from the dealership I was so afraid someone was going to hit me. I figured that luck would have it that I would buy a new car and in front of the dealership get hit. Thank God that didn’t happen. I called Mom and Dad in Oregon and they have asked for a picture. Soon, Mom, soon. I also sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to my niece Abby ‘cause she turned 2 yesterday.

The other exciting news is that my travel for July was approved. I’ll be flying into Atlanta and driving about 2 hours north for a teacher training. The training will be very good and I am able to schedule about 2 days in Germany and 10 days in West Virginia to see family. Also, I am flying business class. I’ll be gone from Doha about 18 days, which won’t be a bad thing since yesterday the temperature hit 103°F. In July, that temperature will be the low, not the high. I also will be able to see family, do some shopping, and eat pork again.

On Monday I had to do some creative typing. Last week I accidentally knocked over my bottle of water on my keyboard and this made my ‘7’ and ‘j’ keys not work. I had to design my writing so that a ‘j’ was not needed. Makes it interesting and I’m thankful that I didn’t mess up the ‘e’ key instead. I got a new keyboard and all is well.

I’ve been thinking and tonight will be a Hot Chicken night. There is a food place, restaurant is not the right word, about 5 minutes from the house and I haven’t eaten there all week. I love their food, guess what they serve? Lamb, beef, vegetarian, and, of course, chicken. I love their chicken fried rice. It only costs about QR12 (about $3.33) and it is enough for 2 meals. You can go inside and eat or get it to go and never leave your car.

Well, I should go and make some more chemicals. I just wanted to let everyone know that I now drive a Subie. You know, I think I had better run some errands in the other building, better go drive the car!

Weddings, Spring Break, and a New Car!

No, I am not getting married. I was invited to a Qatari wedding and oh, my, gosh! I don’t have a lot of fancy clothes (I wore a black skirt from Wal-Mart and a blouse) and boy was I underdressed. I looked presentable but not dressed at the level of the other ladies there. For those of you who are unfamiliar with weddings from this part of the world let me impart all of my wisdom to you (it won’t take too long). A wedding in Qatar is paid for by the groom and his family. EVERYTHING is paid for by the groom’s side. First a dowry is paid to the bride’s family (at least QR100,000 or about $28,000). Then the bride’s dress is handmade for at least QR20000 or about $5500. The groom gives his bride a gift, which is typically the jewelry (necklace, tiara, earrings, bracelet, rings, and whatever else can be bought), and he will also give her a present the morning after the wedding. The ballroom was set up with an elaborate stage with fabric and cushions and a couch, and it was amazing. The tables, I don’t know how many there were because I can’t count that high, were decorated with a tablecloth and a medium size centerpiece. The flower arrangements were not carnations, they were a variety of colors of roses and lilies. I was able to take some home and give them to my next door neighbor. The ‘thank you for coming gift’ from the bride was not mints, it was a bottle of perfume that had the name of the bride and groom on it. I don’t know the name of the perfume, the writing is all in Arabic. Ok, all that I am describing is just for the ladies reception. The men have their own parties (I call them man parties) of which I was not invited. The guess for the cost of the hall rental, stage, and tables was about QR240000, and that doesn’t include the servers, food, or anything else.

When I walked in to the ballroom, a lady had a hand-held metal detector and was checking for cameras. I couldn’t take any pictures, sorry. I walked in and realized that I had never seen the person who invited me without her coverings. She found me very quickly and was an excellent hostess. She introduced me to many of her family members and friends as well as explained what was happening during the reception. Right before the groom came to collect his new wife, my friend went to the restroom. All of a sudden I saw women covering up all over the ballroom. I figured the groom had arrived and then my friend came back and told everyone at our table to cover up the groom was there. There was dancing, not western dancing, which was interesting to watch.

Another thing that I realized from this is that I do actually need a pair of dress shoes. I had to wear my Chaco sandals, which wasn’t exactly appropriate. (These are the same sandals I wear kayaking.) Hopefully I will be able to go to the States this summer and can go to Payless for a cheap pair.

Spring break is here! I don’t actually have any days off but things are more relaxed and I am able to prepare for next week and catch up on other stuff. The professor that I’m doing research for came over the last 2 mornings to help set up his lab area. It was good to get out of the way so when summer hits I can start doing reactions.

Some day some I’ll have a new Subaru. (You were supposed to sing that portion.) Yes, I am buying a 2008 Subaru Forester, no, I am not having leather seats. Mom and Dad helped get the money to secure the loan from the states, and really I mean they ‘gave’ me the money to get the loan. Really, all I have done is call Mom and ask what needs to be done next. Mom and Dad should get all the credit for it. Thanks. I did have to decide which car to buy and get the account information for Mom. I was looking at a Nissan Altima but that was pretty expensive for a non-SUV. Then I went to the Subaru dealership and the Forester is cheaper, not to mention being my dream car. The coolest thing about the whole deal is that the car payments are less than my transportation allowance. Yes, this means I am getting a free car. It is kind of funny/ironic though, Mom did all the work and I get the Subaru. Oh well.

Well, I should get back to work. I came in after lunch today because I had to run errands for the lab so I should get something else done today. I hope everyone had a happy Easter and is doing well.

What happens when you drive too fast in a circle?

It isn’t rocket science. If you drive too fast around a round-about in a top heavy car you will tip over. I think it seems simple. Coming back to campus from lunch today Marvin and I saw this trailer tipped over. We think it is a water tanker and the driver took the curve too fast and tipped. That has got to make things a bad day.

It has been a while since I have posted anything so here is a little bit to catch everyone up. (I just checked the last blog and wow it has been a while!) Nothing monumental has happened in the last 3 weeks. One of my friends who was here on a 2 month assignment left about 9 days ago. She might be back in a few months on a regular contract but we will see.

I am learning to knit. No requests just yet as I am VERY slow. I like it though. Pretty soon it is going to be really hot, so it will be a nice indoor thing. I got my air conditioning fixed so things will be better on that front.

Not much else is going on. A student invited me to a Qatari wedding this week, it should be a very interesting time. (This wedding is no alcohol by government regulations!)

I hope all is well where you are. I have less than two months now until my next ham sandwich. YES!

Trip to the rocks

Ok, the first picture in this set is what the research is about, why we went to this set of rocks. The marks, for lack of a better term, are carved into the rocks in all sorts of depths and designs. very interesting and very desolate. We were close to the Emir's palace, in fact we drove right past it, no, we weren't asked in for coffee, go figure. The group of four of us then tried to find the other end of the line of rock carvings. We walked a ways through the desert and we saw 'wild' camels. The camels previously seen were at the livestock market to be sold, these were eating. I didn't get too close because camels are mean and the spit and bite. (It could have been an interesting blog but I didn't feel like having to explain that to the hospital. The last picture of this set is of 'camping' along the coast of the Persian Gulf. Some of these tents are really big and have air conditioners set up. I didn't get to go in the gulf but soon. When we were out there the wind was blowing steady at about 30 mph. It would have been very warm without the wind but the wind made it very comfortable.