Dear friends and family,
We’ve had a couple of extremely busy weeks at CMU and it has
been difficult to find the time to write. In one week alone we were
guests at the dean and his wife’s home four nights as he hosted nearly all the
CMUQ personnel for outdoor dinners to express his gratitude. Edna was the
hostess and set up person each evening and we attended all four. I’m not
complaining, just explaining. It’s a hard life for me to live, but I suck
it up and attend the delicious meals in one of the most beautiful settings that
I’ve ever had the privilege of personally knowing the people hosting.
Their back yard faces the bay and overlooks the opposite side of the city than
us. They have a wonderful looking pool connected to a Jacuzzi.
Edna and I had to leave the country of Qatar with our
visitor’s visa in order to return to Doha and have our visitor’s visa
extended. We flew to Dubai, UAE for a day. Dubai is one of the
wealthiest cities in the world and after recovering from a recession of a few
years ago, is hustling and bustling again. It is home of large shopping
malls and skyscrapers, including the world’s largest skyscraper, the Burj
Khalifa, which was seen in the last Mission Impossible movie. Tom Cruise was
reported to have done his own stunts without netting, harnesses or other safety
equipment as he runs and jumps along the side of the top of the building.
We’ve seen the building, it’s incredible height and beauty, and can only say to
the “rumor” that Tom Cruise did his own stunts, “Yeah, sure!” 
A Former WPIA, Penn State and NY Giant’s star lives in a
penthouse in the building and has done quite well in Middle East
finances. The Dubai Mall next to the Burj Khalifa is over three stories
of shopping and restaurants, interspersed with a 3-story aquarium, an indoor
ice rink, a waterfall and several stores that are not found anywhere else, such
as a Disney Fashion store. We ate lunch in the first Texas Roadhouse
restaurant we’ve eaten at outside the USA. The food was great and the
servers from the Philippines did their Texas dance. Edna and I did so
much shopping that we walked 16,500 steps according to her fit-bit, which is
7.5 miles.
We flew home that evening. One of the notorious
aspects of living in the Middle East is how poorly disciplined children
are. Qatari children are raised by nannies with no authority to
discipline them. The parents were raised by nannies themselves, so this
all seems normal to them. We’ve been at nice restaurants where the only
ones oblivious to the running and screaming of the children are the parents
themselves. They are little imps in restaurants, malls, airports and even
on planes, as they climb over seats. We’ve seen customers leave rather than sit
in loud restaurants. We’ve seen children doing things on the people movers
at airports that should get them reprimanded by security, all the while, the
parents are oblivious. So when we see well behaved children, we realize
almost immediately that these children are likely not Arab, they are not being
raised by nannies, but by parents, and the families should be
congratulated. Edna is quick to do so, as are others, including waiters
and waitresses which I’ve witnessed.
The magazine in the plane had an ad for Doha. At the
bottom of the picture are boats in the bay. Those boats are in front of
our home. We are on the 15th floor looking into the bay.
Our son Andy said that he spotted me swimming with my Have a Nice Day with
Attitude yellow swim cap, but I haven’t been able to find me yet! J
Besides the other work that Edna does, assisting the dean,
organizing, working with staff and the like, she has been taking different
staff out for lunches and getting to know them and their settings. They
are very special people. One of her assistants gave us a dress from India
for our 3 year California girl, as her gratitude for all that Edna has done for
her in 3 short months. It’s a beautiful dress and our little princess
will enjoy wearing it and playing in it. When another lady heard, she
asked Edna if our granddaughter had a dress from Pakistan. Their
kindness, generosity and appreciative attitude astound us.
We were grocery shopping recently and saw camel burgers, so
I took a picture of the meat. Our son-in-law and daughter commented that
they wanted theirs without lumps!
I’m doing more events as an admission consultant, including
a few late night events. I’m speaking with more possible applicants and
their parents. This week, they even trust me to go to a school on my own
for a four hour event. Many folks ask the same questions. My hang-ups
include the following: first, folks often speak softly due to their lack of
courage using the English language, which is usually not their mother
tongue. On top of this, frequently they either say words poorly or accent
syllables in ways I’m unfamiliar. This means that at times I’ve had a
hard time understanding questions, and by the time I figure out what they are
asking, I’ve answered questions that weren’t asked. On top of that, I’ve
committed a couple cultural errors. One, I’ve found myself leaning toward
the speaker as they speak softly, especially in noisy areas. I’ve been
advised to ask them to speak louder because since leaning in intimidates them
and invades their “space.” I’ve also finished a positive conversation or two
and reached out to shake the potential applicant’s hand. This is fine for
men. Not for women. I’m supposed to wait for them to offer their
hand. I’ve caught myself a couple times and the girls have gone ahead and
shaken my hand. Some bow. Another problem is that not all schools
are the same, and the ones in the British system use a different vocabulary for
their courses than the American model schools. But I’ve also learned that
being an older, white, American male has its privileges in the Middle East.
Folks like to get the advice I give, regardless of the person standing next to
me knowing more and having more experience. I’ve learned that the same is
true of professors; students want an older, white, American male teacher over
others. Surprisingly, not everyone knows that I’m American.
Recently, a father told me that he thought that I was Scandinavian! When
he learned of my identity, he complimented all Americans by telling me that in
his travels to NYC, DC, and Miami he has found Americans to be the nicest,
kindest, most helpful and quickest to laugh at jokes from foreigners and to
forgive their mistakes than others in the world, especially Europeans.
(Except for the Irish and Scottish, I’d likely agree).
Edna and I are worshipping with the Anglican-Episcopal
church. We love that their worship is organized and Christ-focused, they
read the scriptures 4 times a service, they celebrate the Eucharist each
service and invite those of other traditions, and that they preach the good
news of Jesus. The priest and his wife, along with the assistant priest,
hosted us for dinner a week ago. They are happy to have us and want us to
use our gifts for ministry in their congregation. They have asked us to
host and lead a home Bible study, which we intend to start in January.
They are pleased with my standing with the Disciples of Christ, and our long
tradition in scripture, theology and ecumenism. They also do a lot for
the poor and displaced in other
Ironically, I’ve been sought out by devout Muslims who want
to discuss my being a Christian as well as a pastor without a
congregation. Some are Muslim because it was the religion of their home
and culture growing up. Others are seeking a deeper path to worship God
internally. They acknowledge that many Muslims simply go through
religious requirements without seeking to go deeper in their search for God’s
pleasure in their lives. They acknowledge the issues and problems with
folks like ISIL (ISIS), Al-Qaida and the like, which they believe is totally
off base. Some of these have read more about Jesus, and have mentioned to
me that the Quaran has an entire section on Mary and speaks more about Moses
than any other singular individual, including Abraham or Mohammed. One of
the issues I’ve learned is that Islam does not deal with sin and
repentance. They believe that a prophet is one who never sinned anyway,
so bringing up Jesus in this regard is of little value. What they don’t
recognize is that Adam, Abraham, Moses, David and Mohamed among others ever
sinned. They do not have the sections of their sins recorded, as we do in
the Bible. They believe that these people were so close to God that not
only did they not sin; God spoke to them because of their sinlessness.
They also have difficulty with Jesus as God and with Jesus as God’s son, dying
on the cross. If that happened, then they believe that God tricked the
people at the last moment and substituted a Jesus look alike. Four things
that they do not consider, and I suggest that most Christians haven’t either,
is that if God substituted another on the cross, then someone weaker than God
did God’s dirty work. Therefore, God kept his hands clean as it
were. That’s the opposite of God becoming human and doing the dirty work himself,
the work that no one else was capable or qualified to do, because he continues
to love his creation. Likewise, they don’t appreciate that on the cross,
God actually put all sin and evil together (the reason for giving the law and
allowing sinfulness to increase) and stomping it to smithereens! Third,
they do not have the appreciation that in the resurrection of the Son from the
dead, Jesus makes possible for us to share the victory that he has won over
death and destruction. And finally, that Heaven is not a place, but a realm,
and that when God finally lifts the curtain that separates Heaven from earth,
the two will be intertwined finally, and the earth will be transformed and
renewed the way that God intended from the beginning in the Garden. Rightly
understood, this evokes courage and confidence for Christians as well as
hope. The difference between a strong Christian and a strong Muslim is
not so much that Christians are better, smarter, and more correct or the like,
but that we have hope. That becomes evident in how we pray and
live.
Now if we Christians would show more love to Muslims as our
fellow humans for whom Christ died, that would be a bonus. We are finding
these people to be some wonderful, kind and generous people. Far from desiring
our harm, their hospitality is a thing of beauty.
We’ve realized a bit of a break in the oppressive heat of
the desert. It is much more comfortable than when we first came.
We’ve been able to sit and stand outside for lengths of time waiting on buses
and taxis. It’s been beautiful. We know that recent flights from
Pittsburgh to Qatar with exchanges in Philly, NYC and the like, have been
cancelled due to weather. Friends have seen snowflakes in Chicago and the
Midwest. Here, it is like summer, with temps in the high 80’s, low
90’s.
We are asked frequently how safe we are. Obviously,
the Middle East has much turmoil and it is in the news more in the USA than
here. But it’s not next door. It is several countries away.
However, we are kept abreast by national security concerns, rumors and leaks in
communications by those who are doing damage in Syria, Iraq and the like.
We are advised to always be careful, but by and large, there is very little
crime in this country.
When we flew from Doha to Istanbul in August, the air
conditioning wasn’t working in the plane, and we sat on the runway for an hour
as mechanics sought to repair it. People in economy got very angry and
yelled at the pilot and at the police. They were rightfully concerned for
small children and the elderly. I told a Middle East lady from Jordan
that I thought that at any time they would pull out knives, a caricature of
Middle Easterners. My friend laughed and encouraged me to blog,
since I tell stories with such humor. There are often car wrecks
here. We keep the police phone number and a couple of Arabic names from
CMU who are here to rush in when we have wrecks and issues. Drivers
constantly honk their horns for any and every thing. We asked one of our
drivers one day if they ever have road rage here. He couldn’t believe
that in the USA drivers might have guns legally (or illegally) and harm other
drivers. He shared that you will see people yelling after accidents and
the like, but they seldom point, because that is considered a rude
gesture. They never punch either, because if you strike a person and draw
so much as a drop of blood, you will go to jail! So he said that it’s not
rare to see two guys yelling vehemently at each other after a wreck and then at
the end, smiling and shaking hands. Another gentleman told me that people
are deported for such things as assault and the like, and most know that they
will never receive the type of pay they get here. So the Middle East way
is to yell, knowing full well that they will not take it further nor will their
opponent. There’s a confidence. So we Americans see Middle East folks on
the news yelling and we think that’s all they ever do, which in a sense it
is. But they don’t have shootings, road rage and the like, so maybe they
are better off?
Last evening, we attended a dinner at the Dean’s house on
his back patio again with faculty and special guests from Pittsburgh’s
CMU. We learned that Janet Jackson the singer is married to a Qatari man
and is rumored to have become Islam. Reportedly, she is moving a couple doors
down from the dean and his wife on the Pearl Island in Doha, into a mansion
that is not quite finished yet. I guess that means that Edna and I will
only be the second most famous Jacksons living in Qatar!
Edna and I are bringing my mom here for a month long visit
when we return from Christmas holiday. We are looking forward to
it. I’m sure that she is, too. We hope that this is not her
only time to come with us, but we shall see what she thinks. To be fair,
we would not bring her here if we ever thought that she was in danger.
We’d like for our children and grandchildren to come in time. We’ll see.
We love you all and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
Bob & Edna
