Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was a little bit different for us this year.  We didn't have Connor with us so we made up for it by inviting two other families and five Americans from the military base located here in Doha.

It was probably one of our best Thanksgivings - good company, good food, and so much to be thankful for.

 We created an outdoor living area, with some rented carpets and moving the couches out.

With everybody's help, we managed to get all of the traditional dishes served.

Seating for sixteen in our now living and dining room.

Rob also created a firepit area and scavanged for wood from building sites.

Dhow Festival

On Friday evening we went to a dhow festival.  We didn't arrive until later in the evening, but enjoyed the display.

 They had a visual movie display showing against a fountain which was impressive.

These are the traditional dhows used during the pearl diving industry.

 This is an old style anchor.

 This is a weight that a diver would slip around his foot so he could sink quickly to the bottom.  He would then search for oysters.  After surfacing with his oysters, the weight would get pulled back up and then be reattached to the foot.

Al Zubarah

For a class fieldtrip, we took our fourth graders to Al Zubarah fort and town.  This fort was built 75 years ago by the Al Thani family.  There were never any attempts to breach the walls.  The fort is now being maintained and restored.

The triangular prisms were made to drop rocks on enemies that got too close to the wall.  The holes are used to aim rifles.

At the top of the walls are crenallations.  These triangle shaped walls are to hide behind should gunfire come toward you.

Then we went to an archeological site.  The town of Al Zubarah, was once a thriving village that got its wealth through the pearl diving industry.

This is a small portion of a palace that has been unearthed.  It contains the kitchen, bathroom, date press room and possibly some servant quarters.

The archeologists have been working at this site for 5-6 years.

This is where the date syrup is collected.

Outdoor Adventures

After taking a course in school about how to kayak, and how to flip the kayak, the students were taken to the mangroves to give it a try.  They got to miss some school classes in order to do this.

Men With Their Flying Machines

Lots of hype built up for Qatar's first flugtag.  So we headed to the Museum of Islamic Art Park.

There were 15 entries

And some recruiting by various teams

Certainly comical to watch.. although we only stayed for a few as it was in the high 80's and pretty hot with little shade.

(Photo courtesy of dohanews.co)  
This was our school's entry.