We arrived back from the U.S. On August 7th. We had a wonderful time seeing our family and many of you. The time went by very quickly. It was so good to do some special things with each of our grandchildren. We know we miss a lot being gone but having those homecoming hugs and kisses as well as undivided attention help to make up for it.
We are glad to be getting back into the swing of things. Freshmen orientation was last week. Classes start Sunday. As with all beginnings, there is always new dreams, new relationships and new things to experience. It is an exciting time.
Many of you ask about the heat. Make no mistake--it's HOT. It seems the average heat index is130 degrees. Needless to say, you don't see many people outside unless they are working. We look forward to October when it cools down.
One hard thing about being an expat is people coming and going. On one hand you hesitate to get too close to people knowing it's a short, changing relationship. On the other hand, you are lonely and want to make new friends. I've decided it's worth the risk. We are fortunate some of our friends from eleven years ago are still here. With those friends, it is as if we never left.
One thing has changed while we were gone over the summer. Security is much tighter. The Qatar government seems tower on the side of caution which makes me very grateful. When something bad happens in the gulf region, Qatar immediately has a change in place for us. One such thing has happened in the religious city. You may recall that Religious Complex is the land that the Father Emir donated and designated for churches to build their own buildings. There are four current buildings with another one in process. You can't imagine how big the area is. It is completely "walled in" but, of course, has parking and entrances at each facility. This summer, they closed all the parking within the compound. They erected fences and anti-tank hedge hogs around the entrances and placed police guards there at all times. Everyone must enter the compound through a single gate where you walk through metal detectors and your bags are scanned. We have been told this is in response to a mosque being bombed in Kuwait this summer, as well as three others in Saudi Arabia, but we aren't sure. (The Roman Catholic Church was bombed in Yemen, but worship there was halted when the war outbreak began.). What we know is that the powers that be here in Qatar are doing everything in their power to protect us. We are very fortunate. Yesterday, as Bob and I were walking in the heat because our driver can only get us so close, I was especially mindful of the large crowds coming and going. We are the lucky ones--we get dropped off and it's about 2000 steps to the building (I know because I wear a Fitbit.). I'm guessing that depending on which church building you are going to, you may be walking up to two miles from the back of the parking lot. We saw people with umbrellas, women walking side by side holding pashminas over them (you can get three ladies under one!), babies covered in strollers and men with wet clothes on their heads. What I noticed most was that everyone seemed happy. No one was grumbling and there was no anger or complaining--just joy at the opportunity to worship. Keep in ,ind, it felt like 130 degrees outside. I hope I never complain again about driving to church in the rain or snow and getting from the car to the building.
We still have our good friend Joseph as our driver. It was a great homecoming for the three of us to see each other again. His daughter who was married this summer sent us a USB with wedding pictures for us to see. Of course, she was a beautiful bride. She had three different dresses and the flowers were amazing. Joseph was very proud to have us see his priest and church. I was able to print out the pictures for him, so we had a good time seeing pictures of his family together. He was happy to have the pictures to show his co-workers.
Speaking of co-workers, our colleagues seemed happy to see us. The ten ladies who traveled with us to the U.S. for a week in June gave us homecoming embraces. What a difference a year makes as we know co-workers name and they ours. Many were excited to hear how our travels went and how our family members are. Some were bored with the slow pace of the university in the summer and considered our return as their escape from boredom. We have seen everyone yet, many will be returning within the next week.
We think of you often and as the new school year starts for many of your families, may it be a year of new beginnings, new relationships and new experiences.
Love, Bob and Edna
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