Top Ten

These are the First Ten things I plan on doing when I get home...

1. Get my hair colored/cut.
2. See lots of friends.
3. Shop at regular stores like Gap, Old Navy, Express, Forever 21...
4. Go to Barnes and Noble just to go there (we don't have any comparable book stores here.)
5. Eat normal, American food--nothing with lamb or humus for a change!
6. Drive around to observe how safely and calmly people drive in the States.
7. Go to a restaurant and order without having to repeat my order 3 different times/ways for the non-English speaking waiter.
8. Enjoy not being stared at like I'm from a different world.
9. Wear shorts (we can only wear knee length or longer clothes in this country)
10. Speak in a Middle Eastern accent to surprise people (just kidding).

That's my first ten...and I can't wait!!!!! :-)

Accepted!!!

YAY!!! I'm accepted to Georgetown!!!! I got an email this morning, and I'm THRILLED! All the odds were against me being accepted, so this is truly an answer to prayer!

Hello from Qatar

My Dad has told me to start a blog ever since we moved to Qatar, but my response has been-- "Blogging is so last decade." :-) Well, now I'm eating my words as I write. So, here goes my first attempt...

I've officially survived my first eight months in Qatar. While I would like to tell you that I'm living in a tent, eating bugs, and roughing it, that is not the case. In fact, the Qatari culture is rather conducive to laziness, pampering oneself, and generally not being productive. The Qataris favorite pass-time is driving around the mall parking lot in a Land-Cruiser and talking on a cell phone while attempting to block traffic as much as possible- yes, these are grown men. Eating is their second-best hobby, and they are really very impressive eaters. For people who only exert as much energy as is absolutely necessary in any situation, they do expend a lot of energy on chewing. Actually, chewing and swallowing are their prefered forms of exercise, and they are most dilligent about it.

Anyway, enough about the Qataris. I'm sure you're wondering what on earth I do in this foreign land. Basically, I haven't been nearly as busy here as I was in College Station. I've had much more time to workout, read, and become more of a nerd than I already was. My only complaint about living here is it's rather lonely. Naturally, this is to be expected from living in a foreign country, and I must admit that I haven't been as friendly as I perhaps should have been. In any case, I've become friends with a neighbor from Britain. She goes to a Boarding School in England, so it's been fun hearing her stories. Her school sounds just like Hogwarts! :-)

As far as my scholastic life, I'm finishing up my Senior Year. I'm hoping to attend Georgetown University (in Qatar) next fall, but I'm still waiting to hear if I've been accepted. If Georgetown doesn't work out, then I'll do as the British and take a gap year (a period taken by a student between secondary school and higher education.) During my gap year, I would travel, possibly do an internship with an Embassy, and hopefully volunteer in a mission situation. As you can see, this plan still has a lot of "possibly" and "hopefully", so nothing is final yet.

I'm already wrapping up the year here because I'm leaving May 7th. Dad has a conference in Helsinki, Finland, so I'm going to accompany him there for a week to do some sight-seeing and touring. Then, on May 13th, I'll fly home to Texas while Dad returns to Qatar. I'm going to take driver's ed. in May before the summer festivities begin.

Well, this seems like a good start to blogging. :-) I'll try to write regularly, but no promises.