Back to the Sandbox

A year later, I was finished with formal education. I loved the idea that I was free to do whatever I wanted and go wherever I pleased. Well, in theory at least, in practice, not so much. Having spent all my (pretend free) money (student loan trickery), I was pretty broke. So I did what the majority of graduates do straight out of university, I moved home. Only that didn’t involve just a 2-hour train ride back (with a few buses thrown in somewhere along the line for good measure), home was a 7-hour plus flight away.

I also decided that whilst I enjoyed studying public relations, I felt I needed to make a change, do something else for while, after all variety is supposedly the spice of life. And what job can you combine with travelling… the obvious answer seemed teaching. Specifically teaching English as a foreign language. I chose the best course I could find (CELTA) and after a month long intensive short course designed to throw you into the deep end of teaching, I headed back home to Qatar.

Qatar

Until recently, not many people knew about Qatar (cue outcry over FIFA 2022). Confusion often crops up over the pronunciation – “cutter,” “gutter,” “KUH-tar,” and my personal favourite, “Qwatar.” (not entirely sure where the “w” came from). For eight months of the year, the weather is near perfect. For the other four months though, it feels like you’ve been thrown headfirst into the fiery pits of a furnace. Literally. Mid-summer temperatures push 50 degrees Celsius, and the key to general survival is running from one air-conditioned room/car/chilled pool to the next. The heat is unbearable. Even the sea is too hot (baffling). Weather aside, the country is almost brand new, it holds infinite possibility. Opportunities are rampant. 

I then spent the next nine months planning my upcoming journey around the world….’cting! Oh that and sitting by the pool, suntanning, going to the beach, and wakeboarding.  For those who don’t know what that is, picture snowboarding on water whilst being dragged along behind a boat. Basically waterskiing but infinitely cooler.

NB: I may have given a slightly rose-tinted view of Doha. Sure the traffic jams are endless, sure every single road has been dug up…at least twice, and sure the driving is crazy (do you see a common theme here). But I can’t help it, it's my home! 

The desert at dusk

Wakeboarding in the canal

Wakeboarding