Is anyone out there? After relying primarily on Facebook status updates to keep in touch with friends and family over the last few months, we've neglected our blog again but aren't sure who is reading it anyway. (If you read this, please say hello!)
We just celebrated our first Christmas in the Middle East, which was different from past Christmases in many respects. For one thing, few of the stores are decorated and even fewer play Christmas music--the closest we came to music while shopping was the call to prayer blasting out of the mosque next door to the electronics shop where I picked up Guitar Hero - World Tour Edition "for Ella." :) The weather is also a lot different, since our high temperatures over the past few days have been in the mid to upper 70s. Perhaps the biggest change is that this was the first Christmas we've spent as a family in our own home since we were always the ones to travel to Missouri from the East Coast.
So how was our Christmas, other than the above differences? In a word, relaxing. After attending Christmas Eve services, we opened our family gifts on Christmas Eve as we had done in the past, and then stayed up until 1 a.m. playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band: The Beatles on the wii. Christmas morning got off to a relatively late start, and Morgan was delighted to find that Santa Claus had brought her an American Girl doll with some accessories and clothes. Since it was just the three of us, we opted against cooking and went to Market by Jean-Georges, located at the W hotel, for their Christmas jazz brunch. After stuffing ourselves on traditional Christmas foods like turkey and less traditional ones like sushi and hummus, and taking advantage of the unlimited champagne refills, we had a very lazy afternoon at home before making evening calls to our respective parents.
We also stayed in Doha for Thanksgiving, but cooked a traditional dinner for a houseful of guests; the menu included a honey-brined turkey, corn bread stuffing with pecans and (turkey) bacon, sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes with pan gravy, green bean casserole, beer bread, pumpkin pie, all combined with some very nice French wine.
Another highlight of our fall was a week-long trip to the Seychelles in September for the Eid al Adha holiday. The place was absolutely beautiful, and we kept activities to a minimum other than some snorkeling. Mostly, we lounged by the beach or pool and caught up on reading, frequently with a strong drink in hand.
Here is a recap of what else we've been up to since our last post:
Morgan started a new school year as soon as she got back from Paris in September, and school is going great so far. She has a wonderful South African teacher with 30+ years of experience, who cannot find enough good things to say about Morgan. Morgan continues to make lots of friends, to the point that her music teacher expressed concern at our parent-teacher conference that "Morgan may be too popular." (Apparently other girls fight over who can be in Morgan's group whenever they divide up for class projects.) She is still keeping busy with gymnastics and ballet, both at a fairly serious level (twice a week), and has resumed piano lessons after a lengthy break.
Ella is starting to settle in quite a bit better, due largely to two things. First, she got her Qatari driver's license soon after returning from the summer and now takes the car out on her own a couple days a week. Also, she started an Arabic class that met twice a week through the fall. I've lost count, but I think this is at least the 11th language she has studied, and starting to learn the language has at least made Ella feel like she has some reason for being here.
I have had a busy fall with work. Since the last post, I've had business trips to Turkey, Oman, and Algeria, in addition to trips to Kuwait and Iraq over the summer. The job is going pretty well overall, and while I'm still working hard I enjoy the fact that my hours are much better than at the law firm.
Finally, Serafina (our very large brown tabby) and Lucy (our 7-month-old Boston Terrier) are settling into their new home after arriving in November.
P.S. For anyone who saw the title of my post and thinks I've suddenly become "politically correct"--anyone who knows me well should know there's no danger of that--the title seemed a little catchier than my other choice: "Merry (Belated) Christmas and Happy New Year, in Case I Don't Post in the Next Five Days." :)
