Day 5 at LeaderShape

Today I had the opportunity to sit and listen to a group of participants talk about the situation on the Gaza Strip. It was fascinating and enlightening to hear the points of view from people living in Arab countries. It was also inspiring to hear the students talk about how they can work to make a difference in their own countries as well as work to unite all of the Arab countries. I am learning a lot about this part of the world. I'm also realizing how much I don't know and that I want to learn more.

I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but the weather has been a bit cool here. Well, today it turned. It was warm and there was no breeze with the sun shining. It was beautiful and lightened everyone's spirits. It was nice to be outside, taking pics, dipping toes in the Gulf, and soaking up the sun. I hope tomorrow is the same way.

Off to dinner........

Dancing Queen

I just spent the last half hour dancing Bhangra with our students to Indian music. They had a lot to teach me. It was awesome!

Tired on Day 3

There are so many things going on and there are so many things I want to share here, but I'm a bit tired and my mind is a bit full. I'm going to do my best to make sense of it right now. I may revisit some of these ideas later.

One of the things that I appreciate and enjoy most about The LeaderShape Institute is the opportunity to sit and talk with people. I love learning about where they come from, what they care about, how the LeaderShape experience is impacting them, etc. Here are some of the things I learned today!

I was able to connect with a couple of students I had not yet spoken with. I learned about how difficult it is for some of these students to get visas for travel. A student here who is from Iraq can travel almost nowhere. The European countries and Americas will refuse his request or give an excuse. This situation is similar to an Afghan student here. It certainly makes me keenly aware of the opportunities and privileges I have which based solely on where I was born.

On the other hand, some of the students hold passports from many countries. It seems as though this increases their opportunities for travel.

I also had the chance to again sit and speak with Ameena. She was sharing with me about the abaya and shaila that she wears. The abaya is the robe that women wear over their clothes and the shaila is the head covering. What I learned is that the abaya is a tradition associated with the region. The shaila is related to Islam.

We also talked about the journey to Mecca. It was very interesting, but I'm a little tired to go into it now.

Today was the day that the participants make a pass at creating a vision statement. It is always moving to read what the participants say about how they'd like to see the future. This session is no different. I was inspired as I read what these students are passionate about and how they would like to impact their communities with that passion.

Ok...it's incredibly late here and we have a big day addressing life as fascinating, reframing fear, and exploring the concept of power. Phew! My brain needs to be working well for all of that.

Much love to my friends and family!

Do you see what I see?

Here is a picture of the view here. It doesn't really do justice to seeing it in person. The water is beautiful shades of blue and green. The boat you see here is an old pearl diving boat. Pearl diving was once and important trade on the Gulf. The combination of Japan's man-made cultured pearls and the extreme dangers of pearl diving has ended this vocation.

Day 1 and a beautiful beach resort

Greetings from Al Khor, Qatar! It's been a great day here at LeaderShape. Our first day has gone so well. The students are already engaged and the energy level is strong. The faculty are connecting well to one another and to the students. It's a good start to the week. Hoorah!

I am learning that time is a bit relative here on the Gulf. This is a bit challenging to me as I do like to be on time. Additionally, the LeaderShape curriculum is pretty time sensitive. I will certainly need to work on balancing my time expectations with the cultural practices here.

I'm also trying very hard to learn and correctly pronounce the names of the participants. Many of them are from Qatar and the Middle East and, of course, have names of the region. They are unfamiliar to me, but I want to be able to address folks by their names without butchering them. I'll keep trying! :)

We are staying at the Al Sultan Beach Resort. It is a lavish hotel. Check out the photos of some furniture in my room. I have a bed fit for an Emir! My room also had a lovely fruit plate, bottle of water, and dish of pistachios waiting to energize me when I arrived.

The hotel is also located right on the water. The view is stunning. I will be sure to take photos and post them here. It was extremely windy today, making it a bit unpleasant to be outside longer than it took to walk from one building to another. Who knew such a cold wind could blow in the dessert.

Where we hold the large meetings of The LeaderShape Institute is called The Learning Community (see photo with chairs). Next to our LC, we have a lounge for the students to relax in. Here are a couple of pics of the lounge (photos with couches). It is very fancy! In the States these sessions are held at camps (like church camps and 4-H camps). The lounge space has never looked like this. It is interesting to learn about the differences in expectations when it comes to retreat space. :)

It has been a long day and we have breakfast at 7:45am so it is off to bed for me! G'night all!

A lot of little things

I am quite tired tonight. I woke up at 3am last night and could have sworn it was time to get up. Perhaps the jet lag is hitting me. It's going to be straight to bed for me after this entry.

Dust in the Wind
Would you like to know the weather? I do love the weather. It was a windy day in Doha today. This meant lots of dust. I saw one quick glimpse of the sun when I woke up and then not at all for the rest of the day. It was cool by Qatar standards (about 70) and most people were bundled up.

Go, Speed Racer, Go!
Let's talk about driving in Doha. It seems the practice is to drive as quickly as possible on the straightaways and then just as quickly slow down when entering a round-about. There are a LOT of round-abouts so this process is repeated over and over and over again. Hoorah for sea-bands as they are helping me to not get too terribly ill on the drives. There are also almost no stop lights. There are 2-3 lanes in each round-about. There are rules for each lane, but I don't think people really stick to the rules.

LeaderShape, Day 0
I spent the day at EC with my fellow faculty members for The LeaderShape Institute. We spent the morning getting to know one another. Each member of the faculty is so interesting. I am eager to work with them this week. We had an awesome lunch with falafel and a wrap filled with potatoes and peas. YUM-O!

I do worry a bit that the afternoon wasn't as inspiring or engaging as I would have liked it to be. I was reviewing the curriculum with everyone and I have not found a lot of different ways to go through it. I think it's important to focus on the information. The curriculum really does come to life during the session though, so I am confident that they will feel more connected throughout the week.

Tomorrow we travel to the session site for Day 1. I hear it is lavish and will be sure to post pics. The participants will be arriving in the afternoon and we will be starting at 4pm! The students are from 26 different countries and from the 6 universities in EC. It will be unlike any experience I have ever had. I am both eager and nervous about the week.

A continuation from yesterday...
In my post yesterday I mentioned a meeting going on in the soccer stadium near where I had dinner. It was front page news in Qatar's Daily Newspaper, The Peninsula. It was reported that 15, 000 people were in attendance. The pictures showed people holding signs saying "End the Occupation" and "Stop Killing Our Children." The group was addressed by members of Qatar Univeristy, Qatar Charity, a Qatari poet, and more. Just thought I would share with you what the news was saying since I mentioned it yesterday.


Until tomorrow, I hope you all are doing well.

My First Day of 2009

I started off my morning by walking to the beach and sitting on a bench by the Gulf. It was just beautiful. It was warm and breezy, much different than the weather in Illinois! It was a lovely and relaxing way to enjoy the morning.

Around noon, I was picked up by Ameena, a woman who works in campus life at Education City. She took me on a driving tour of Doha and then to lunch. I really enjoyed talking with her about Doha, her family, and her job. She is very honest and willing to share her thoughts. I appreciate that I am able to speak with a Muslim woman about her life and experiences. Her perspective is certainly a different one from that which I have gotten in the States. I am going to enjoy my time with her at LeaderShape.

So - the city of Doha. It is undergoing a great deal of construction these days. The new buildings are grand! They are glittery and large and say, "Look at me!" This new Doha is quite different than the old Doha. Those buildings are, well, older. They are small and plain. Ameena said that they are taking down the old Doha to put up all the new buildings. This means no more old Doha and a great deal of construction, traffic, and dust for those living in the city.

Following lunch we took a drive around Education City (EC) and to the campus life offices. Like the city, there is a great deal of construction going on in the EC. The Qatar Foundation (QF) has a lot of very ambitious plans for the project. The architecture is really beautiful inside the EC.

After a bit of rest, Lindsay took me to dinner at an Indian restaurant with folks from residence and campus life. They were all nice folks. We were very near to one of the soccer stadiums, which was holding what looked like a pretty large meeting in support of Palestine. The situation between Israel and Palestine is, of course, very much in the news over here.

I tried two new things today. Mint lemon and date pudding. A mint lemon is a fresh lemonade with mint in it. Very refreshing. I plan on drinking more of these. The date pudding was more like a cake with a sauce on it and totally delicious. I haven't really eaten dates before but they are very popular here.

Tomorrow is Day 0 of The LeaderShape Institute - Faculty Training. We'll be at the EC getting ready for LeaderShape. It's time to focus on the task at hand now.

Here are a few pics...enjoy! The first is the view from my room and the next is a picture of the skyline from the beach.