Inspired

What more inspiration do I need than speaking to my dear old friend Arthur. He's 97 years old and aiming to reach 100. His voice was clear and mood bright as we chatted and laughed together this morning. We imagined two camels in his drive and then us riding them up Marsh Lane together. What fun that would be. Arthur has been to the desert during his active service in World War 2. I think his story is as amazing, as that of Louis Zamperini of Unbroken.
Maybe Angelina and I could work well together telling Arthur's survival story?

A quick glance at my bank balance reveals QR14.75
This is great news. I am a poor, desperate housewife who can only tap away at a keyboard, hoping to make her fortune through writing. It's perfect, I have nothing to lose.

As I pack away the Christmas decorations the future certainly looks brighter wearing my new neon blue, luxury wig. It's even got it's own name, the 'Peluca Lisa Superior.' Thanks a lot Jill, I hope you treated yourself to one too! The full moon suddenly grabs my attention as if jealous of the neon glow from my head. So I decide to carefully admire it for a while through the binoculars.

Next time I go shopping I'm going to see what I can buy for exactly QR14.75

Happy New Year 2015

Wishing all my friends and family a very Happy and fun-filled New Year!

I resolve to get back into the land of Blog this year, whilst writing my best selling novel.
 Hope I'm not being too ambitious?

'Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land among the stars.'
                                                             Norman Vincent Peale

Love Susie xx

Working Girl

Back in the land of blog!
 I so thoroughly enjoyed being home for the summer it was everything I had dreamed of and more.
 A BIG THANK YOU to both our families and friends for making it special and for all the fun we had. It was heart wrenching at times to be staying in our home knowing we had to leave it once again. I recall crying as the rain lashed down on the velux windows in the loft, loving the sound, feeling so safe, warm and rooted. I was probably crying from exhaustion having painted two bedrooms and seeing Nige, the non stop DIY crazy man, fitting a new bathroom with much needed help from both our Dads.
The bizarre happening of the summer must be the demise of our green Vauxhall Astra Estate. We began to break down in North Yorkshire on a I in 3 hill. In the end we had to be towed back to Huddersfield and a big fella came and took it away to his scrap yard giving us a hundred quid for his help.  Alas poor green car we knew so well! The past is gone, the present is here and now.
We have resettled back into our other world with some ease, it is more familiar now. My life has certainly seen a big change as I have begun working full time as a Teaching Assistant at the school. I really enjoy my role and am slowly building up my work confidence and seemingly balancing life and work reasonably well. We have clean, ironed clothes most of the time and something to eat, most of the time. My exercise regime and blog have had to take a back seat but I will endeavour to juggle more balls efficiently as time goes by. It all depends on the size of the balls.
 I miss blogging as it's therapeutic, helping me to make sense of being here.
My big news is that I will be going to hospital on December 16th to have my left leg varicose vein ligated. Say that fast ten times. I beseeched the surgeon to do the right leg at the same time but he said no. If I like the result of the left, then OK, another time he will do the right! Gulp. I was hoping it would be removed so I could re-use it as a piece of rope or fashion some interesting, yet disturbing jewellery out of it. After all it has been such a big part of me for years, do I really want it to just disappear? YES I DO!
Mum and Dad came back to visit us in October and it was great to have them here again. I think knowing they were coming out made it easier to say goodbye in August. I have never been good at goodbyes. Are you?
They enjoyed the beach club facilities and had the place mostly to themselves the whole day until school finished. We enjoyed their company in the evenings and as always the time passed by too quickly. Then they were straight back into winter.
The school had a visiting author recently and I was excited  to go along and listen to him perform. His real name is Donavan Christopher, aka Rappaman. He had rasta hair and charisma and as soon as he opened his mouth I heard the rapturous honeyed tones of my homeland, those elongated lazy vowel sounds of West Yorkshire. At the end of his reading, rapping, fast talking hour or so I asked which part of the county he was from. He retaliated, 'which part are you from?' I replied 'Shepleeeey' and he 'Faaaartown.' Was it just a literary love connection or could he have been that lad I disco danced with once when I was about 14, dressed in 80's style lemon yellow? I certainly felt a connection to him and appreciated his way with words.
We all camped out in Ship's Canyon on the Hash festival. It was a a torchlit, starry night trail, followed by fine food, then campfire singing. It was a really relaxing atmosphere as everyone joined in with the songs they knew. The kids did torch dance moves in time with the music. Their huge shadows looked great against the big backdrop of the jebel. It was mutli sensory magic. I finally plucked up courage to sing Martha's Harbour but felt really nervous and as though my heart was going to explode in my chest. I also had the joy of sleeping with Josh in a two man tent. He was so excited and wouldn't sleep for ages and kept fidgeting. We eventually managed to get some sleep but as the call to prayer reverberated around the canyon at four or so am, I acknowledged it was going to be a difficult day ahead. Definitely worth it though, for the great evening before. 'It seems like everybody's got a price, I wonder how they sleep at night?'
Nigel completed his first triathlon, here in Dukhan. I tried to talk him out of it but he was determined. He did really well, completing all three disciplines, recovering well afterwards. I was in a trio, the 'Triathamums,' and did the 35km bike ride which I found really hard at times. It took me about two hours in temperatures of about 38 degrees, but I sang as I cycled to keep me on track. Eleanor was also in a team and did a 3km run in 18 minutes. Joshua played football most of the day with anyone he could. He is loving kicking around in his birthday footy boots, or even barefoot.
We have just had our half term holiday and have had fun relaxing and socialising here. As the temperatures start to drop it will be a welcome relief and even more time will be spent playing outside.
To date I have received two wages, my first in ten years and had two illnesses. I have just read Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo (children's fiction) and can't wait to begin Walking Home with superman Simon Armitage.
Please bear with me followers and I will keep you posted on my continuing Arabian Adventure. Wishing you all well on your adventures x

 

All at sea

Recently Eleanor and I did  bit of sea swimming and chased some fish around the jetty together. I also perfected the art of the underwater handstand and back flip combination which is great fun. Ellie is developing into a lovely little mermaid. It had been a fun, relaxing Friday but by 6pm I was anxious that time was marching swiftly on. Having gathered the kids I needed to rein in the husband as our babysitter would be arriving soon. We were going out. Woo hoo! I had the kids in the car when to my utmost disbelief saw Nigel wading merrily out into the sea with a bikini sporting mature lady. I became quickly incensed and the little mermaid set off to shout at her Dad for me. Was he wearing his newly purchased Daniel 007 Craig swimming shorts at this point? No I don't think he was. I was incredulous that he could consider another dip in the Gulf was acceptable when we were due out in 15 minutes and my 20 jacket potatoes were on the point of cremation in their individual tin foiled wraps. So I drove off.
 Joshua started to cry while I ranted all the way home. A five minute car journey, a 20 minute barefoot walk for some. I got ready in record time, fed the one kid, stopped the spuds from a near death experience and welcomed the babysitter with a hug. She had already been round earlier at the arranged time to find no-one in. I opened the door to go and pick up Bond and mermaid when they magically appeared before my eyes. My angry fire soon dissolved to laughter as I heard the excuse for the last minute swim. Our friend in the bikini had been snorkeling around the jetty and spied some money on the sea bed but couldn't dive down to get it. The challenge was there for yours truly and off he went diving for Riyals. He gathered 180 altogether (approx £30.00) and the pirates split it between them. Nigel divided our share of treasure between Eleanor and Joshua. I of course, would have handed it in to the club so that whichever poor Qatari boy who had lost his money at sea, could buy his burger, fries and fizzy pop that evening.

It was the Sports Presentation Evening recently and we all went along smartly dressed to the Cinema. The P.E Department awarded certificates and trophies to individuals who had represented the school in various teams and tournaments throughout the year. Eleanor received 3 certificates in total and I am so proud to say she received a trophy for year 5/6 Girls Player of the Year. Not wanting to be left out of the limelight Joshua trotted proudly up onto the stage to receive a certificate for a swimming gala he didn't actually attend. He was sat with some older boys a distance away from Nigel and I and when the teacher announced Key Stage 1 swimmers, off he went much to our horror and subsequent fits of giggles. The head of P.E, a Sheffield lad said " Looks like we've got a ringer on stage," over the microphone. However, they still gave the little fella a certificate and he looked proud as punch having his photo taken with the genuine gala swimmers.

My husband forced me to do something he has wanted me to do for years.Water ski of course. What were you thinking? I was really nervous, getting the skis on was challenging enough. Once in the water I had about five failed attempts and then whoosh up I went for approximately 30 seconds or so. It was a great feeling.

My most listened to songs at the moment are:
Back to you, by Bryan Adams
Maybe Tomorrow, by the Stereophonics which I belt out at top volume and heartily sing along to.
" So maybe tomorrow I'll find my way home."
Of course this Friday 6th July I will definitely be finding my way home. The suitcases are waiting. My heart is racing.
Aaaaaaggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The Loop

The Loop

The heat is on
as I begin the loop,
out of bounds
leave the safe compound.

Start to sweat,
pedal hard
past the bizarre abandoned golf course on my right.
Khatiyah de-gassing plant on my left,
where two gas burning candles, constantly celebrate.
Ahead, cat's eyes sparkle in severe sunshine.

Begin to climb the incline,
my replacement Fulstone route.
Same distance,
so very different.

Jagged rocks,
small prickly bushes,
a discarded bucket.
Blown out tyres,
tracks in sand,
empty bottles and cans.
A cracked open hard hat,
yolk free and void.

Two trucks thunder by
then silence.
Only the whirring of my wheels
and the thoughts in my head.

Broken pipes lay scattered,
colossal cigars and cigarettes.
Is this a giant's playground?

I reach the summit of the slight up hill
and prepare for take off in top gear.
In the heat hazy distance
large, rocky jebels line the horizon.

Hurtling down into the hot head wind
approaching the bus and truck busy road,
I swerve to avoid a camel grid on my obstacle course.

I spy with my little eye,
a lost and lonely glove
with a weathered finger pointing left.
Carrying straight on, I ignore the detour.

Back in the comfort of the compound,
birds shelter and twitter under the Sidra.
Bulging from the palms, dates begin to ripen
safely gathered in green nets.
My palms ooze sweat,
my helmet trapped head feels like it's stuck under one of those Granny hair dryer hoods.

I come full circle.
Loop the loop, back to base.
Ecstatic to see my home place.
Replenish roots,
feel the cool wind on my face.
Walk the woods
frequent the pubs
share the same space,
with you.

Bravo!

I almost forgot to mention that whilst I was chief cook, bottle washer and laundry maid I discovered that mum and I have exactly the same bras from good old M&S. I hasten to add they are different sizes and colours and bought 3000 miles apart but never the less an uplifting coincidence.
Nigel recently entered a duathlon in Dukhan which consisted of a run, cycle, run. Of course he didn't train for this event being reasonably fit. I was concerned because the temperatures suddenly soared into the early 40's and I knew he would go for it. After an hour or so as I was sweating it out over the ironing I received a phone call informing me husband had a puncture. I  thought, God does work in mysterious ways. I abandoned the ironing and rushed to his aid where he was dripping with sweat and covered in oil, pumping furiously away at the tyre. Determined not to fail he set off again. I tailed him in the fire engine all the way back to the beach club where he had to do the last run, which he did and finished last. Deflated, recovery took a while.

After a good lunch and some rehydration we set off to Doha for some shopping. Travelling from one shop to another the car suddenly started playing up. What kind of endurance test was this day proving to be? We had to stop as the water pressure gauge shot up and as we turned the engine and air conditioning off we instantly plummeted into the depths of Dante's Inferno. As Nige began to panic and overheat himself I remained as cool as a cucumber and put my Born Survivor, Bear Grylls tactics into practise. I assessed how much water to ration out and informed the kids to sit still and not expend any extra energy, all the while feeling like a chicken roasting in a hot oven wrapped in tin foil. Miraculously our friend appeared about five minutes into the basting and hero and Nige went for water to replenish the fire engine's engine. Me and the kids were then whisked away to the shopping mall in the delicious air con cooled rescue mobile to wait for the simmered down husband and less fiery engine to return. Phew! A testing day with all things bearing wheels. By the way Bear can grill me anytime round a cosy campfire under the stars.

We bought VIP tickets to go to the Samsung Diamond League Athletics meet at Qatar Sports Club last weekend. It was awesome. We sat on the second row next to the track ( the first was kept vacant for security reasons). There was so much to see and hear, a real writers paradise. We were with two other families and their kids and they all had the Union Jack painted on one of their cheeks, which became more smudged as the sweat began to drip from their heads. The stadium was super brightly lit and as the sky darkened above I saw the city lights come on and some scaffolding light up like a constellation. There was a hugely colourful Ethiopian crowd, singing and dancing and shouting for their athletes throughout. Some Qatari boys behind began flicking the kids hair and chucking pistachio shells and sunflower seeds at our backs. Nige gave them the teachers glare but it didn't do much to deter as a couple of dish dash wearing dads were sat with them ( a dish dash is a thawb/thobe, the white traditional robe worn here).
The meet got under way, there was long jump, shot put, pole vault, 800m, 400m hurdles, high jump, 200m, javelin, 100m, triple jump,1500m, 100m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, 400m and 3000m.

It was such a great night and so exciting to see the worlds top athletes preparing for their Olympic dreams this summer in London. The 100m was amazing, blink and it's over. Justin Gatlin returned from his ban in supersonic form, taking first place in 9.87 seconds with Asafa Powell hot on his heels in 9.88 seconds. Will the lightening bolt (Usain) strike him out? I know that wherever we will be in the UK in July/August we will be glued to the TV screens watching with bated breath. We cheered the British and Qatari athletes on especially Stephanie Twell in the 3000m. She broke away from the group and led most of the way until the gazelle like Kenyans glided past on the second to last lap. Eleanor thought she had not paced herself well and exclaimed she wouldn't have done that. She knows, you know.

After each track event an appropriate song was blasted around the stadium. Canned Heat (Jamiroquai) was the excellent choice for the 100m. As Gatlin jogged his victory lap the kids rushed to the front and got his autograph, Nige shook his hand. I remained seated taking it all in, totally unaware then that I would be sporting the front cover of the Gulf Times the next day in a photograph, behind one of the little nut and seed flickers.

I may have been in the Huddersfield Examiner occasionally as a member of the school netball and hockey teams and one time at a fruit and veg fair, displaying my wares as a Saturday girl. But front cover material never before. Tea with the Emir next week then?

While my beloved home village is revving up for its Spring festival I will be raving at a beach party. As Elkie Brooks is singing about Pearl, I may have to go pearl fishing if I get too hot on the dance floor. I know where I would rather be. Folk rocks!

http://www.shepleyspringfestival.com/

Ex-pat living alright

I feel exhausted by recent events not least being run off my feet looking after the latest VIP guests, aka mum and dad, but more so battling through a determined army of head lice camping in Joshua's ginger mop. Arabian nits seem much more prolific, maybe it's the hot, sweaty, under hat conditions they thrive on. Anyway they are banished for now, but only time will tell if they visit again. Am I talking about my parents or the nits?
Mum brought me a palm cross from the church service at home which I thought was lovely and funny at the same time as it was probably made out here in the Middle East from the many palm trees here. How many air miles can a palm frond collect? We also gratefully accepted Cadbury's Easter eggs and a large box of Yorkshire tea. Brilliant.

The cosmic lyrics from my last post were:

Yellow by Coldplay
Cosmic Girl by Jamiroquai (my most favourite band ever!)
Underneath the Stars by Kate Rusby

Hope you got them.

Life here is simplified in that we don't receive any junk mail at all and the only time our landline rings is when the school nurse (nitty Nora the bug explorer) is sending one of the kids home or one of Eleanor's friends wants to chat. There are a lot of comings and goings with relatives and friends magically appearing then disappearing and many people go travelling over the holidays to Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines etc. The fluid lifestyle doesn't really suit me and makes me homesick as I want to properly belong. My Yorkshire roots run deep and will not be cut loose.

A bold step for me recently was to visit a GP to discuss my varicose vein scenario. The doctor was kindly concerned, recommended surgery and gave me a complimentary bare breast examination at no extra cost. I gave an emphatic "No thank you," (for the come for one problem and get two extra ones free) when she suggested a 'pap' smear, stating I was all thoroughly up to date on the down below deck checks, which is true. Phew!

I was enjoying time at the beach with my parents one day and decided to have a wander along the shell strewn shore. I spotted a comely bikini clad guest, slowly stealing up to photograph a resting cormorant on the edge of a concrete jetty. As our paths crossed we chatted together and after a few minutes we noticed a young Bangladeshi man skulking past with a boulder in his hand. It turns out that the lovely bikini lady was an avid animal lover and she became rather quickly concerned that the boulder holder was going to kill the cormorant. I down sized this concern suggesting that maybe he just wanted to make the bird fly away. I do like to hope for the best in human nature. As the man creeped cautiously along, the bold bikini bearer became more and more distressed. Her instincts however, were surprisingly correct and as the cormorant killer hurled the boulder she screamed and started shrieking at the man. "Is it OK for me to throw a stone at you?" At this point I was quite unsure what to do having given the lad the benefit of my doubt, it turned out he had intended to harm the beautiful black bird. I tried to calm the raging bikini down. He returned more slowly back down the jetty, looking rather scared as if he knew he was in BIG trouble. Like the mariner who kills the albatross in Coleridge's Rime, his fate was sealed.
"Why did you do that?" came the  harsh accusation. "What did that bird do to you?" In his pidgin English he tried to justify his actions saying that in his culture these birds are disliked and it's part of their religion to get rid of them. He said they eat up all the fish.
 I wondered if someone had told him to do this and he was just obeying orders, scared not to comply. I tried to intermediate, sitting safely in the middle on my self constructed fence, fully appreciating both sides of this bizarre happening. Our 'mariner' retreated to less stressful surroundings as I suggested that we go and examine the cormorant. We found him sheltering in the jetty rocks. At first I thought he was injured but later on in the day my dad informed me he was swimming about quite happily. I thought it was better not to mention the recent deaths of  two Grand National horses to my ardent animal loving companion.

We were ceremoniously named at a recent Hash with the following:
Nige is 'to be decided' because that's what he was
Ellie is '60 seconds' for her speed
Josh is 'lipstick' because he always gets fizzy pop around his mouth after a drink

My name is 'I'll come again' arousing a lot of adult sniggering, when my comment was literally about attending the Hash once more. I would have much preferred 'chatterbox' or 'smiler' other reasonable suggestions but the majority vote won.  I'm stuck with it unless I bravely elect to change it at the forthcoming Hash ball.  People say you get an even worse name though, so I will stick with my wholly innocently intended double entendre remark.

Obviously during the holiday we went on our pilgrimage to see the dolphins and were delighted to meet Splashy and Jefferey's offspring as they swam around the boat. Another happy family together, as we were. They seemed unfazed by the hundreds of alien like jelly fish of all sizes also sharing their sea space.

Thank you to all who are reading my blog, I really appreciate you spending your time with me. x