Pittsburgh trip!

I know, I know, I seriously suck at this "updating blog in a timely manner" thing. Work has been busy since I got back and although I have work to do right now, I've chosen, um, not to do it. Blog post instead. Also, in my defense, I've been writing this post for about 3 weeks now, for about 5 minutes at a time.

In a way the blog post is kind of like work, since its about the trip I took to Pittsburgh with the students! Yes, lots of work, but in a fun way. And I got to see some of my favorite-est people in the world. Chronologically is the easiest way to do this post, I'm thinking.

We left Doha, flew through Amsterdam and Detroit and finally to Pittsburgh. Note: 1.5 hour layovers are not enough time to get eight Middle Eastern students through EU security and U.S. immigration. Thankfully we did actually make it to Pittsburgh, with two bags still in Amsterdam, and two bags still in Detroit. Upon registering all lost baggage, we finally left the airport, made a stop at Target for the half of our students that were missing all of their luggage, and went to the hotel (approximately 28 hours after leaving Doha). Forty five minutes later, most of us were back on the bus headed for one of my favorite events of the CMU year - Greek Sing! Too bad the students were too exhausted to enjoy it. I did though!

After returning the students to the hotel, I got a chance to see Paloma and Justin, Allie and Ben, Josh, Lacey, Little, Jack, Eugene, and BHirsch - all at good ol' PHI. Mmmmm, my first Yuengling in 8 months was soooo good.

On Sunday we took the students (all Muslim) to the Southern Baptist church in East Liberty. I had so much fun - singing and dancing makes church way better - and the students LOVED it. I thought they would like it, but I had no idea it would be such a hit. It helped that the preacher was an awesome speaker with a universal message, and that they got a standing ovation when our presence was announced. After church we had Sunday brunch at the Grand Concourse where I ate lots of bacon and pork roast (yay!) and so did some of the students (oops! - but its ok, its not haram if you didn't know it was pork).

After that I left the students for their tour of the city and met up with my dad, brother, and stepmom. We went to the Science Center, since none of us had ever been, and then got dinner at Monterey Bay, where (as expected) restaurant turnover has claimed all but two of the people that I worked with. Unfortunately I felt really ill and exhausted, but my family had to get back on the road home anyway, so they just took me back to the hotel.

One of the students' photos from their trip up the incline :-)











On Monday, the students took a tour of campus and participated in a leadership workshop while Jumana and I did work for our jobs in Qatar. I took a break to stop by Tridelt and get some truck food for lunch. Then we all went shopping in Shadyside, where I bought a bunch of stuff in about a half hour, then sat at the coffee shop with the boys, waiting for the other girls to finish exploring.

On Tuesday, we started the first of three days of community service in Carnegie, PA, which was devastated by the flooding in Allegheny County in 2004. My memory of this flood is being at a Pitt-Nebraska game, in the stands behind the endzone, and seeing an entire marina float by the stadium and get stuck near the fountain at the Point (all of which was underwater). Somehow it escaped the CMU community that entire towns in the suburbs were completely destroyed - Carnegie was one of those towns. We first took a tour of the area that had been flooded, which included most of the businesses on Main Street, and met the group of Seventh Day Adventist volunteers that we worked with for the week.

Main Street in Carnegie, which was underwater during the flooding in 2004











At that point I left to go back to campus to give a presentation to people who are interested in doing my job in Qatar in the future. It was fun showing pictures and answering questions. While I was gone, the students put together a business plan for an internet cafe that the non-profit group will use to generate revenue for their community projects.

Wednesday was hard labor day! We cleaned out a basement of flood silt, then painted the room with waterproof paint to protect it in case of future flooding. At lunch, we also were able to meet the Turkish man who owns the business, which was enough to give the students the energy to keep working.

Mehrunissa uses her newfound skills with a hammer to attack some stubborn nails in the basement

















Oh that's right, the chaperone did her part!











Even though I was exhausted that night, I managed to make it out to half price at La Fiesta with Paloma and Justin, Little, and GA.

On Thursday we also did hard labor, at the Carnegie Carnegie. That would be the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, PA. The library is actually the reason that the town got its name. We cleaned out the storage room in the music hall, and repaired the 100 year old seats. We also reorganized the children's section of the library. For me, it was like my entire childhood was in this 10 square foot area - they had the Berenstein Bears, Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children - everything I used to read when I was little. And just being in a Carnegie Library is enough to make me nostalgic, of course.


Maha and Nasreen figure out what nuts and bolts are, then repair the loose and missing ones in the Carnegie Carnegie Music Hall.














After the work, we had a reception at the library with people from Carnegie, including the people who had organized all of the community service. The rabbi from the synagogue in Carnegie was there also, and even gave one of our students a yamika, which the student now keeps in his dorm room on campus. Later that night we also went to a performance called campus superstar, which gave a scholarship to the winner and raised money for Hillel. Although it was the end of the trip and the students were exhausted (I've used that word a lot in this post), I think they really enjoyed it. They clapped a lot when the CMU person won :-)

group shot (with Renee and Jim) from the last day











The trip home was uneventful. Some of the students wanted to leave the airport and go into the city of Amsterdam, but thankfully we only had a three hour layover so they couldn't. The last thing I needed was to bring a group of students back to Doha after letting them loose in Amsterdam for a couple of hours. One more piece of lost luggage to deal with, and then thankfully Ramzi was at the airport to pick up his brothers, so I didn't have to spend time, money, and effort getting a cab back home. I finally made it back to my apartment around 11:30pm on Saturday night. And I was at work around 9:30 the next morning. Ick.

Being in Pittsburgh did make me nostalgic, it was great to see my family and friends, and the trip to the CVS and hairdresser were key. I think that my favorite part was watching the students see these things for the first time, because I really wanted them to like my hometown. But I really did realize when I got back to Doha that I was happy to be home then. No hotel, no knowing that I had to be back on a plane in a week. Just back to my job and my compound and the routine of my life here. With the regular nonstop flights to D.C. and New York starting soon, it will be a lot easier to visit the U.S., and that makes me happy, but for now I think I'll stick to travel that doesn't require flying over an ocean.