As I write of my hikoi through Europe, I will also add in some of my best memories of my time in Qatar. I was working there as an education consultant for 5 months and so enjoyed the place and especially the people. I lived and worked closely with 5 very special women, strong, educated, talented, inspirational and best of all heaps of fun. Along the way we came in contact with others, men and women who enriched our lives in so many ways. Living and working in a Muslim country is a privilege and gave me an insight into a culture very different from mine in some ways but very similar in others. The similarities begin with the culture of hospitality. I was welcomed and included in the schools where I worked and in the community.
When we arrived in Qatar it was very cold, surprisingly very cold, so we quickly found the warmest place in the building where we lived, the roof! We spent many happy hours on the roof, drinking NZ coffee from our plungers when we could get it, French when we could not. Laughing, doing pilates and generally communing with each other as women do in a land other than their own. It was also an awesome place to take photos from and I will add some to this post, the first a sunset only possible in the Middle East.
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