its official...

I'm moving back to the United States of America on August 1. I'll be moving to DC to work on a Master's of Conflict Resolution at Georgetown. I'm excited. And nervous.

So if anyone out there is still reading this, start planning my homecoming party. I expect booze and bacon.

Birthday Weekend :-)

I had the most amazing weekend for my birthday. On Friday afternoon we hung out at the pool for a couple of hours, and that night my friend Andy hosted a wonderful "Happy Ramadan and Caryl's Birthday" party at his incredible house. There was dancing in the upstairs living room, live music on the landing, chill out space on the first floor living room, and plenty of couches and beds for people to crash in when the night finally ended around 4:30am. Andy also decided that the theme would be a black and white party, so everyone came dressed in black and white and we all looked very classy. Nalani made an incredibly delicious chocolate and vanilla layer cake, which Ben was responsible for carrying during the singing because we were all afraid Nalani would drop it. A bunch of my friends came, and they brought their friends, and Andy's friends came... it was awesome. Highlights included Brendan's "black and white" outfit, Andy's maids timidly asking me at 3:00am if they could go home and wishing me a happy birthday, and my wake-up call from Russ the next morning. As people were leaving they requested more parties at Andy's house, and of course we always aim to please.

Pictures, courtesy of Jinnyn...


mmm, I dream of this cake. too bad "Ben" forgot the plates and we had to eat it off of paper towels.















Abir (who missed the black and white memo), Jinnyn (the photographer), me, and Samira (who brought awesome chocolate)














Amanda, Aussie queen of the punch; Charles "I brought you some of my liquor stash, so you know I like you" Nailen; Jinnyn again; Henri (Quebecqois!); Nalani, queen of the birthday cake; and me again!














My actual birthday was a couple of days later on Sunday, which is a work day. Usually our staff has birthday lunches, but since its Ramadan, there's nothing open for lunch. So what did my wonderful team do? They got creative (and generous!) and had a birthday potluck with everyone's specialties. One of my bosses even offered to host it at her home. And Darbi, another queen of birthday cakes, made delicious chocolate, coffee, coconut, walnut goodness with candles on top :-)

That night, I talked with my dad and brother on the phone for a bit and then played squash with Greg, and then Nalani and Ben took me to Chili's for some good old fashioned American (tex-mex) food. And the Chili's staff sang their hearts out for me and gave me free dessert. Overall I would say it was one of my best weekends in Doha yet! I missed my family of course, but my friends did an awesome job. Along the line of Darbi's recent posts - they are my "I'm grateful for..." of today. And most days, really.

Woohoo weekend!

In an effort to update my blog more often, I risk boring you with the little details that you don't really care about. Eh, we'll see how this blog blitz goes and then maybe over the summer I'll try to find a happy medium :-)

The weekend was so good. I should mention that the weekend was destined to go well, since last Tuesday I finally got my lazy butt to Qatar Distribution Company to renew my liquor permit. Thursday night we went to the Intercontinental Hotel for our faculty and staff party, then I sat on Ramzi's couch and watched a movie - super chill way to end the craziness that was last week.

On Friday, I found cute cheap patio furniture at Carrefour (if you need a comparison, its like Super-Duper Walmart) and spent the afternoon watching Love Actually while putting it together. Also while putting it together, I realized that my Jeep came with a whole set of tools that I never knew about - how cool is that?! That night I had people over to drink my newly purchased booze and sit around my newly purchased patio table. Then we went downstairs to Silvia's apartment for the most ridiculous party. There are pictures but I would need permission from people to post them. And possibly risk having my blog censored by Q-Tel. But - here's a good one from the party. Tim, myself, Ramzi, and Ryan...

I'm gonna miss my boys so much!












Anyway, after finally getting to bed around 3:30am, Ryan and I woke up at 6:30 on Saturday to go to campus and proctor the ACT test for a group of 200 high school boys. They were not taking the test seriously at all (I don't even know why mobile phones are allowed in the room!), but it was worth the getting up early - I got QR300, free starbucks, and the chance to teach a couple of Qatari boys why its a bad idea to mess with white women.

After the test we went to the mall, where I picked up my ring from the jewelry cleaners - now, not only does it sparkle, but they bent it back into a proper ring shape! Then Ryan and I went to the high school botball competition that is sponsored by CMU-Q, but alas we had no idea what was going on and were both pretty much asleep. I went home, took a nap, and woke up just in time for the NFL draft to start!

I watched until the Steelers pick, which happened around 10:30pm Doha time, and then had to go to sleep. I liked the draft - it caught me up on all the NFL and college news of the past year in just 4 hours. On another note, for those of you who saw it, how impressive was Brady Quinn? Poised, articulate, and good-natured in each of the three interviews over the course of the first 21, even though after the Dolphins at #9 he had to be some combination of worried and pissed. It is so unfortunate that he finally went to Cleveland, 'cause now I have to hate him for the rest of the year. Oh well, it was a nice couple of hours.

Political Ideology Test

I got this test from Steph's blog - I like it because it doesn't stick to the Democrat and Republican labels.

You are a Social Liberal (75% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (13% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

In my case, however, it definitely tests ideology. My brain tells me that socialism isn't practical, at least not in the United States. But when these tests give you specific "I believe" statements and ask you to qualify yourself in regards to those statements (no neutral response is available), then I always end up in the socialist category. I at least consider myself lucky to have my beliefs line up with one political party in the States; I consider capitalist-social conservatives to be equally lucky. We are probably much less conflicted when election day comes around. I wonder how the libertarians make their voting decisions. I'll ask Steph. Her political tests come out the same every time, too.

Pittsburgh girl

I was looking for something in old emails and found this from Christi. And since I'm returning to the 'burgh in less than a week, I figure now is a good time for it :-)

"A Pittsburgh girl knows just as much about football as her guy friends, in some cases, even more. She drinks beer b/c it tastes good but knows when to be classy and drink something more sophisticated. She owns a Steelers jersey not just b/c it's cute but because she supports her team and understands the game.

She loves Kennywood and isn't afraid to order cheese fries from the Potato Patch b/c let's face it - Pgh girls wear winter coats and scarves a lot more than bikinis and flip flops.

A Pgh girl loves St. Patrick's Day, even if she's not Irish b/c green beer is good for the soul.

Pgh girls don't have a funny accent. They just speak a different language. The word yinz is dear to her heart, even if she would never say it herself.

A Pgh girl bleeds black and gold and knows how to have a great time. She's stylish and sweet, has a great education, and loves her friends and family.

A Pgh girl goes to church on Sunday hung over, only to be let out by the priest early b/c the Steelers kick off at 1.

A Pgh girl might not live by the beach, but The Three Rivers are just as good!

She has seen all 4 seasons and has a reason to love and hate each of them. She's the type of girl you can call late and night and spill your heart to. She's the type you can take home to Mom and Dad w/o worrying they won't like her. B/c everyone loves a Pgh girl.

If you need a girl to take to the game, she'll be there. If you need a friend to help you out, she's there. If you need a drinking buddy, she'll be there with her IC Light in hand.

You can take the girl out of Pittsburgh, but you can never take the Pittsburgh out of the girl!"