Our lives have settled into more of a routine as of late. Charlotte started a preschool that is near our house. It is called the English Kindergarden. Her year for 4 turning 5 year olds class is called Reception. Then if she were to start at a British curriculum school, she would then begin Year 1. After the first week at this preschool, we realized that she is not ready for starting a British curriculum school. They are beginning to read already and doing the beginnings of cursive writing. The American School of Doha called us for an assessment last week. Charlotte went in with a counselor, and we were told we would hear back in three days. The counselor said that a main thing she was looking for was how she separated from us at the interview. She was able to count to 40 and recognize all her lowercase letters. This is a big difference between the two schooling styles. So, we got the call back and she was accepted into the American school for the Fall. For so many reasons, but mainly so she would gain confidence in herself, we are excited about sending her to ASD. So, right now, she is going to the preschool five days a week from 7:30 to 12:00. She has Arabic lessons everyday from Ms. Fatima. Her teacher is Ms. Anne and her aid is Ms. Fiona from Scotland. (She has a great accent.) We have been working on phonics with her and she seems to really be enjoying it.
These last few weeks we have been going to a friend's compound for lunch and a swim. It has been great fun for the kids to get to play together. Today it was quite hot. Last week's high was 117 degrees Farenheit. It does get hotter here, but it usually isn't this hot so early in the season, say the veterans. It's getting so hot that the water for our house (which is stored on the roof) is heated from the sun, so we never have cold water. In fact it is so hot that I can't bathe the kids in it after about 10:00 in the morning or it burns them.
We had a ward activity last weekend. Everyone brought food from their home country. The young men have a band complete with drum set and electric guitars, and they provided entertainment with acoustic levels fitted for a rock concert. The bishop played bass. The bishopbric also announced at church that we will be moving to a two hour block of meetings in a few weeks because so many people go home for the summer to escape the heat and visit family.
We spoke in church two Fridays ago in honor of Mother's Day. While I spoke, Christoph was playing with toys around the podium and Isaak was screeching in the arms of a young woman. While Karl spoke, I changed Isaak's diaper and Christoph found a dry erase marker on the podium which I took away from him and he lost it. We had to go out about five times with screaming children as we spoke on motherhood. Fitting. This must have been the bishopbric's idea of a bad joke on us.
I had the ladies from the compound over for a luncheon at my house. It went well, but not as many people could come as expected. I couldn't listen to as many stories as I like to hear. One lady said she was at a restaurant with some business associates of her husbands. The manager of the restaurant said that some VIPs were coming and they had to move to a different table. She said no, but when they started moving their plates, they didn't have much choice in the matter. When they moved, they saw the Emir walk in. The Emir is the king of Qatar.
Another story I heard this week was that many Qataris are mortgaged up to their eyeballs. Every so often the Emir simply pays off all the debts of the Qataris. On the one hand it is a generous monarch who shares the wealth of the state. On the other hand, it seems like it creates a people who are not used to regulating their spending or dealing with their consequences. These stories cannot be substantiated, but there were two examples tonight that show people who feel they are entitled to something more. Karl was in line for ice cream. A woman came up to the counter and started ordering. The man said that Karl was here first and she simply started yelling at the man and waving her arms. Karl gestured to go ahead with the woman's order. Secondly, in the parking garage, there was a traffic jam with three cars. One man would simply not back up even though the two other cars could not move. He would not do it even when the traffic guard showed him that he was the only one who could change the problem. I don't know if the pride of the people here make it difficult to work with them or the circumstances that are around them, but sometimes it simply astounds us the way things work around here. I saw a kid's t-shirt tonight at the store: Honey, Ice Cream, Chocolate, Milk. I think this is what the kids around here must live on.
These last few weeks we have been going to a friend's compound for lunch and a swim. It has been great fun for the kids to get to play together. Today it was quite hot. Last week's high was 117 degrees Farenheit. It does get hotter here, but it usually isn't this hot so early in the season, say the veterans. It's getting so hot that the water for our house (which is stored on the roof) is heated from the sun, so we never have cold water. In fact it is so hot that I can't bathe the kids in it after about 10:00 in the morning or it burns them.
We had a ward activity last weekend. Everyone brought food from their home country. The young men have a band complete with drum set and electric guitars, and they provided entertainment with acoustic levels fitted for a rock concert. The bishop played bass. The bishopbric also announced at church that we will be moving to a two hour block of meetings in a few weeks because so many people go home for the summer to escape the heat and visit family.
We spoke in church two Fridays ago in honor of Mother's Day. While I spoke, Christoph was playing with toys around the podium and Isaak was screeching in the arms of a young woman. While Karl spoke, I changed Isaak's diaper and Christoph found a dry erase marker on the podium which I took away from him and he lost it. We had to go out about five times with screaming children as we spoke on motherhood. Fitting. This must have been the bishopbric's idea of a bad joke on us.
I had the ladies from the compound over for a luncheon at my house. It went well, but not as many people could come as expected. I couldn't listen to as many stories as I like to hear. One lady said she was at a restaurant with some business associates of her husbands. The manager of the restaurant said that some VIPs were coming and they had to move to a different table. She said no, but when they started moving their plates, they didn't have much choice in the matter. When they moved, they saw the Emir walk in. The Emir is the king of Qatar.
Another story I heard this week was that many Qataris are mortgaged up to their eyeballs. Every so often the Emir simply pays off all the debts of the Qataris. On the one hand it is a generous monarch who shares the wealth of the state. On the other hand, it seems like it creates a people who are not used to regulating their spending or dealing with their consequences. These stories cannot be substantiated, but there were two examples tonight that show people who feel they are entitled to something more. Karl was in line for ice cream. A woman came up to the counter and started ordering. The man said that Karl was here first and she simply started yelling at the man and waving her arms. Karl gestured to go ahead with the woman's order. Secondly, in the parking garage, there was a traffic jam with three cars. One man would simply not back up even though the two other cars could not move. He would not do it even when the traffic guard showed him that he was the only one who could change the problem. I don't know if the pride of the people here make it difficult to work with them or the circumstances that are around them, but sometimes it simply astounds us the way things work around here. I saw a kid's t-shirt tonight at the store: Honey, Ice Cream, Chocolate, Milk. I think this is what the kids around here must live on.
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