As of the last posting, Jennifer was busy looking online and on foot for houses in The Hague. Then, several days lapsed with no updates, during which time we secretly found a house and worked with the real estate agent to get some minor repairs/detailing worked out with the landlord. The house wasn't perfect, but it couldn't have had a more perfect location. In the city center, but not on a busy street (actually, on a beautiful canal street). Walking distance to EVERYTHING. After Houston and Doha, walking distance to everything seems heavenly. But I didn't post that news. Given what we'd heard about HR, I was afraid releasing that information would be enough for them to send the Bureaucracy SS after me. I kept my mouth (and fingers) quiet, and Markus played their game.
They won anyway.
They have officially denied our request to go on the open market. As in Doha, they want to force us into a company house that numerous other families have already rejected. What bites is not living in company accomodation; it's this uneven application of policy that could mean any arbitary decision from whomever you come up against on whatever day that results in us being told where we can live our private lives. Not fun. But also, apparently, not open for debate. Sigh.
So...Markus is now looking at company houses without us. Why, you ask?
Once again, Jennifer and Ellie are stateside. Sunday morning, we had an email from our dear family friend, telling us she would be having an emergency surgery on Monday. It wasn't life threatening, but the recovery would be challenging for a person on her own so Markus and I agreed Ellie and I should be here. Although we are ahead of schedule, we were planning to come for a few weeks around Thanksgiving time anyway. My dad's house is still untouched by the $%&$^%# contractor (two months after the finish date he quoted me when we signed). I need to be here to either light a fire under his behind or get our contract annulled so I can find someone else (though who that will be, I have NO idea because good contractors on the Gulf Coast are booked out til the end of time, apparently). When I called Steve (the AWOL contractor) and told him I was here, the "oh $%^&!" in his voice was pretty clear. He said his flooring guy ran off with a few thousand dollars and he's been trying to track him down, but don't worry...he's got a new guy who will be there at the beginning of next week. Monday, I ask? Well...apparently the new guy considers Halloween a holiday so he won't be in until after the holiday. Wednesday, I ask? Yeah, Wednesday.
How much money do you want to bet that there will be NO ONE there on Wednesday?
Or Thursday for that matter?
What a debacle.
On the upside, Markus managed to get leave approved for Thanksgiving, when he will join us up at my mom's. Thanksgiving is on her birthday this year, so we're really happy to be able to celebrate with her! Since our things won't clear the massive red tape that completely engulfs The Netherlands until at least December, there's no reason to stick around waiting (no pun intended).

Finally, I am happy to report that little Miss Ellie is officially a walker! I set her down in a shop in New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon, and she just toddled off to get a toy across the store. There's no stopping her now!

The settling in process begins!
Yesterday, we looked at a (first of many) house in the Archipel area. It was a large house, excellent location...but the low price of rent tipped us off that there was a hidden catch. Once we entered the house, the catch was revealed in great clarity. The place is in DESPERATE need of renovation. It would be an excellent opportunity if it were for sale, but as a rental, NO WAY JOSE! The walls were awful, greying-white, painted rough concrete. The kitchen hardly warranted the name. The only bathroom with a tub was in the attic. Yes, folks...up four flights to give the baby a bath. No thank you. So the search continues. Last night's internet searching led me to fall in love with a house listed for sale online. It's entirely impractical for our needs (quite old so very inconvenient layout, a bit small, unlikely that any of our American-size furniture will even fit in the door...), but I love it anyway. It's located on (what I've decided from strolling) the prettiest street in The Hague. Hopefully, I can get an appointment to see it today or tomorrow. Reality may affect my swooning. I also found a different one that has good potential as a rental, but it's partly furnished with antiques. Unless we can get it unfurnished, that's out. The last thing I need is to be responsible for our landlord's antique furniture with a baby in the house. Heck, even with just me in the house. Unfurnished is the way we play.
Rumor has it that the company will assign us a real estate agent or at least point us toward one. Stories conflict as to how that actually works. One person said we have to call and find our own agent, but gave us a personal recommendation. Another person said the company maintains relationships with three agents, and we have to choose among them; open market searches are forbidden. Yet another said we will have one assigned to us and that person will contact us him/herself. Hmph. This is why Jennifer is searching online and on foot. I am not waiting for the almight bureaucracy to suss this out. This is company headquarters! We are not the first family to have come through here, yet no one seems to have a solid story. Welcome to HR, right?

Back to reality?
Since we arrived in The Netherlands last Thursday morning, we have felt more like we are on holiday than a move. In addition to city touring on foot, we've been blessed with visits from dear friends every day! The combination of having new places to see and explore and old friends to chat with has been so wonderful that we feel we must be on vacation again! Today, reality may start to settle in (which is still okay). Markus has to report to human resources. He even has to wear a suit and tie, clothing that hasn't seen much attention in the past five years in the casual environs of Dohot and New Orleans. Jennifer has been keeping an eagle eye on housing during city strolls, and today she'll start making calls. Yes, it seems we actually are going to stay here. Amazing!

Today we spent the day in Delft, a first visit for Ellie and Jennifer. LOVED IT! Of course, it helped that we had picture perfect fall weather. The sun was shining but the air was cool. So wonderful! We even found a cafe in the afternoon that was child-friendly (you can't imagine how surprising it is to find a nice place that has friendly staff, toys, and a changing table in the bathroom)! After today's excursion, Delft is definitely in the running for a potential place to live. It's only 5-10 minutes by train from Markus's office--a better commute than central living in The Hague would be.

Hi everyone! Greetings from Den Haag! We made it and how wonderful to be able to go for long walks OUTSIDE (someone turned the outside temperature down from 37 to 18...wow)! We're in the transitional process and connectivity isn't consistent, so blog updates and emails will be back up and running before too long. Meanwhile, wish us luck settling in as smoothly and quickly as possible.

Greetings one and all! We are back in Qatar for two days after our uber-fabulous trip to the Seychelles! For "non-beach people" (Ellie may well be an exception to this!), we managed to have a wonderful holiday on a true island paradise! So much fun in the sun! Here's a pictorial taste of our vacation (more to come!)...

Whew! What a day!
We woke up at 8 (hooray!) and went downstairs for breakfast. Markus’s phone rang as we went into the kitchen for the cereal. It was the movers, on their way to the house. Fifteen minutes later, they were in the door, bringing in boxes and packing tape and paper and bubble wrap… Ten minutes after that, they were spread throughout the house, packing almost every room simultaneously. For those of you who know how Jennifer feels about moving day, you can guess how thrilled I was about this process; however, I have to give it to them for their professionalism and efficiency. With all the to-ing and fro-ing and on-again-off-again planning surrounding this move, the actual moving day snuck up on us. We weren’t quite ready for the packers, but they came and it all worked out fine. They will be back to finish tomorrow, so we’ll check into the hotel tomorrow afternoon. In a couple more days, we’ll be off on vacation! Yippee!

Last night, we went out to dinner at a pizza place we like in a nearby mall. After dinner, Ellie, as usual, wanted to go for a stroll. This usually involves a hunched-over Markus supporting her with both hands as she makes her little steps anywhere she finds interesting. Last night, however, they came back to the table with Markus holding Ellie by one hand only! She was soooooo proud of herself! She went walking all over the mall holding just one hand (actually, her hand was holding one of our fingers…so sweet!), taking such confident steps. The look on her face was priceless. She kept stopping to grin at everyone who passed and give them a little wave with her free hand.

Today, she was eager to practice this newfound skill. She walked and walked and walked around the club and again at home after dinner. Just before bed, Markus had her by the hand while she was walking around our room, but she let go to pick something up. She didn’t seem to notice that she didn’t have his hand when she started walking again—this time all by herself! Markus had her by the back of her onesie, and she tottered around for a few minutes all on her own! Our baby girl is starting to walk!

Today is Jennifer's 30th birthday! Yippee!

In honor of my birthday, Ellie decided she needed to keep me occupied every single second doing EXACTLY whatever she had in mind at that second. I think she must have been concerned that I would get distressed about the 30 thing, so she left me no time to contemplate the birthday at all. She is one busy baby, and she has some big opinions to share! Blessedly, Markus came home from work and took her to the pool for a little while. I tell ya, in terms of birthday gifts, sitting in peace for twenty minutes is right up there with jewelry! Not that I'm complaining! Our girl is a doll and you can see from the photo taken this past Saturday that we have lots of good times together! She's growing and learning and refining every day, and it's truly a miracle to witness. Still, I did force a hole into her demanding schedule to bake myself a decadent chocolate cake. It is, after all, my birthday.

Yesterday morning, a good friend sent us an email giving us serious flack for not updating the blogspot...and rightfully so! We have been very very busy of late, but the thing is, they haven't really been very blog-worthy doings. Our routine is pretty fixed, as I've said in the past, and we've been keeping busy going through those motions. Ellie is always making us smile with new (and not-so-new) and wonderful things she's doing, but not everyone wants to check in on the baby all the time. So we've been remiss in the blogging arena lately. We apologize to our regulars!

We do, however, have news!
The dates are set. The bureaucracy is in full swing. Our move is afoot!
As it stands now, the movers are coming to pack the house on September 30 and October 1. They will load the truck on October 2. We will spend those nights in the Ritz again (woo-hoo!). On the 3rd, we will fly from Doha to the Seychelles for a family vacation between postings. Yippee!!! We will spend three nights on La Digue and three nights on Mahe before flying back to Doha on October 9. Then, it's back to the Ritz for two nights before we fly to Amsterdam on October 11th. The Hague, here we come!

For those of you who don't know the Seychelles, it's an island paradise made up of over 100 small islands off the eastern coast of Africa (above Madagascar). It is supposedly one of the world's most beautiful diving spots. Though diving is pretty much out with Ellie in tow, we're looking forward to some good snorkeling! La Digue is still home to indigenous giant tortoises, which we expect Miss Ellie will love! The beaches are paradise from what we hear! But, you think to yourself, you guys aren't really beach holiday people, so why are you going? Well, consider the location. This is probably the closest we will ever be to the Seychelles, and it's an excellent opportunity to see paradise for a few days! Can't possibly complain about that, although to escape our desert life we're more up for a trip to the cool mountains someplace than a tropical beach. We know it will be gorgeous, so we're excited!

In the meantime, we're trying to wrap things up here, which is no easy matter. We thought things were inefficient in New Orleans. HA! Everything takes three times as long as you expect it to here, and that's based on expectations that it will take three times longer than it should. One interesting factor is that while they are incredibly inefficient in almost every respect, they have somehow centralized all computing to the degree that you will not be cleared for departure at the airport unless all of your accounts are closed and finalized. Any open or unpaid utilities, traffic violations, what-have-you will show up on the screen when they swipe our passports, and if anything comes up, we are not free to go. Amazing. They don't make it easy to close things out, either. Markus inquired with our bank this week about closing the account (we can't even have an open bank account here when we go). We have a credit card attached to the account, though we don't use it. The bank informed Markus that we have to give 45 days notice before the account will be closed and finalized. During those 45 days, our account balance will be frozen to 170% of the credit limit of our card. The only way around that massive mess is to find someone remaining here in Qatar to go in person to the bank and sign forms to be responsible for any charges that might arise (even though the card is frozen and unavailable for use). We definitely went with Option B on this, because 1) we don't have 45 days to be money-free and 2) we are 95% certain some issue would arise on their end that would entangle our money even longer or make it impossible to retrieve once we attempt to depart. This place is crazy.


Qatari national flag hanging in City Center

It has had its upsides, though. We have made some wonderful friends here, and we will be very sad to say goodbye so soon. We will also miss the club at the Four Seasons. We've spent many a happy afternoon splashing about in the pools and frolicking in the spa there. Just today, Jennifer went for an early birthday girls' brunch at the Four Seasons...incredible array, folks! Just the dessert buffet had its own room! Only serious foodies need apply!

Finally, we have really appreciated the eye-opening cultural experience. This is our first time living in a Muslim country, albeit a fairly Westernized one. Ramadan starts in a few days (though we'll happily escape most of that...it's too hot to think about not even being able to drink water in public or in our cars). It's amazing how the differences that were once so obvious (men wearing all white, women wearing all black, the HUGE sunglasses, everyone and their brother driving Land Cruisers...and more serious things like the regular calls to prayer broadcast all over the city, in the malls, on the radio...) have faded into normalcy over the months. It would be nice if Ellie were old enough to remember any of this, but we're ready to make some new memories in Holland!
Soon, we will start the settling in process all over again, but don't worry...we're definitely planning to look for a home with plenty of guest room and we expect visitors!


crosswalk sign

Now that we've got the blog working again, it's time for the scoop on Dubai!
It was sooooo wonderful to get out of Dohot for a few days, even though it was just as hot in Dubai. At least there were new things to see, new places to go...
Dubai is a shopping mecca, and malls abound. The malls have different personalities too. Ibn Battuta has five "neighborhoods", each with a different country in mind. There's a Chinese section, Indian, Egyptian...



The Souq Medinat Jumeira has more crafts and imports, furniture and clothing from throughout the region. It is brand new, but designed to look like the old souqs. It's also located next to Dubai's most famous landmark, the Burj Al Arab.






Burj Al Arab, the world's only seven star hotel
Dubai, UAE

Finally, there's the Mall of the Emirates, most known for its indoor ski arena, Ski Dubai. I had most been looking forward to taking Ellie to play in the snow in the desert, but unfortunately, they had a strict no-under-3s policy. We got to look through the window, but that was about it. Ironically, when we stepped out of the elevator at the Mall of the Emirates, they were blasting the theme to Mission Impossible.




outside Ski Dubai (the top of the slope)

Finally, a word on our hotel. No, we didn't stay in the Burj Al Arab. I think you need to be a millionaire to stay there comfortably. Rumors have it that the nightly rate can be in the thousands. No, we're not quite there yet. Instead, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt in town, which was a mere five stars (the compromises one has to make!). It was a gorgeous hotel. The interior had a huge garden area with a running brook stocked with fish... Outside, there were three beautiful pools: a massive one for adults, a smaller one for children that had waterslides and fountains in a climbing fort, and a little one for babies. There were huge grounds with lots of grassy playspace and an outdoor jogging trail. The breakfast spread was the best we've ever seen in a hotel, and it was included with the room. We can most definitely recommend staying there!





Of course, we begin to wonder how we will ever keep Ellie in the style to which she's become accustomed. At five months, she lived in the Ritz Carlton for six weeks. She plays in the pool at the Four Seasons. And when we holiday, she stays at five star hotels. I think we're in trouble.

Our baby is growing up! Ellie celebrated her first birthday yesterday, and what a fun day she had! In the morning, we celebrated with her friends at our standing Thursday morning Dairy Queen play group. Pancakes, cupcakes in ice cream cones...yummy! Then, we met Papa for lunch at City Center, and he bought her a Minnie Mouse balloon (balloons are her favorite!). After her nap, we had a special playdate with her new friend Cy and met his pet camels (though we don't have pictures of her with them...they made her a bit nervous)!
We can hardly believe her first year has gone by. She is growing and changing so much every day. What a miracle and a treasure that we are blessed to witness daily. Happy Birthday, Ellie! We love you so much!

Although she's been walking with help for about five months, Ellie has seemed to lack the confidence to have a go on her own...until recently. For the past week or two, she has been standing free and doesn't seem so nervous about sitting back down again. She's been quite a cruiser around furniture too. But the other day, we had another big first...Ellie strolled the entire length of the mall while holding onto her stroller. She was soooo proud to do it all on her own!

To kick off our new year, we are going to Dubai this weekend...our first vacation in ages! Off we go to the land of opulence and riches, the land of shopping shopping and more shopping! Of course, we're just going for the sights and the chance to escape Dohot for a few days. Trading heat and humidity for heat and more humidity, but at least there will be new things to see and different places to go. I'm looking forward to seeing Burj Al Arab (the famous sail-shaped hotel), the massive gold souq, and of course, the indoor skiing arena. The fact that they have built an indoor skiing facility in the desert defies the imagination. Friends have told us that you can go in to a small area for 10 riyals just to play in the snow and throw snowballs. I wonder what Ellie will make of snow! Pictures and stories to follow!

August 29, 2005. One year ago today was Hurricane Katrina. One year ago, we were waiting it out in a hotel room in Houston, watching the news and feeling fairly certain that we’d be able to head home in the morning. The storm came and went, and all seemed relatively well. But then the water began to creep through New Orleans. By the following morning, our worst nightmares had just begun. The horrific images on the news only told a small part of the story. The tremendous failures from the local, state and federal government left people dying in their homes and in the streets; those who survived were lacking in any food, water or medical care. Most of the city was submerged. Though we soon realized our part of town had escaped the flood, we were unable to return for six weeks, not even to check what and if we had anything left.

Meanwhile, over on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, things were far worse. The New Orleans flood and the city’s racial, socio-economic and political tensions made the news, but Katrina wrought some of the most unspeakable damage on the coast. Gorgeous historic homes all along the beach were wiped away in an instant. In Biloxi, the devastation went back at least five blocks back from the beach. Further west (closer to the eye of Katrina), the damage went back for miles. The town of Pass Christian was completely gone, not a single structure left standing. To the east in Ocean Springs, where my dad lived, the news trucks never came…but the storm certainly did.









One year later, she’s still there. Katrina is present every day on the Gulf Coast, in New Orleans and throughout South Louisiana. The people who survived her all have stories to tell. We are no different, but those who know us have heard it too many times and so have we.
It’s been quite a year, but this is our New Year’s Day. The world is made new again.

I just got Ellie to go back to sleep after she took a too-short nap on a very challenging day.
Baby: 10,756,934
Mama: 1
I'M ON THE BOARD!

There hasn’t been much news on this end of late, and the blog and emails are getting weak. I apologize. For those of you who really want to know about our days, you are being seriously short-changed, and that’s not good. I’m going to try to make amends here.

Miss Ellie Bee keeps us happy and fulfilled. She is quite a busy girl and sooo happy! She’s such a joy! Whenever she’s with one of us and she catches sight of the other, she breaks out laughing and flapping her little arms…or if she’s trying to walk, she comes running! She still isn’t walking on her own, but she can and will pull up at every opportunity. She is also starting to “cruise.” Last night, we watched her delighted progress as she made her way down the length of the coffee table. Then, she got stuck at the end and didn’t know what to do…which led to great baby frustration. Oooo…she does NOT like being stuck. Being stuck also happens in her crib. Ellie has taken to sleeping on her belly. From this position, it’s easy to push up to sitting and then pull up to standing…at which point she gets stuck and becomes excessively indignant about the whole situation. Partly because of this, she is not yet sleeping through the night. Jennifer is still pulling all nighttime duty, largely because Ellie hasn’t weaned yet but also secretly because Ellie has her papa completely wrapped around her baby fingers. After only a few minutes of her crying, he can’t take it and he surrenders, usually bringing her to Mama or insisting Mama go in to her. Many men can’t take the crying because it makes them irritated or mad. Markus can’t take it because it breaks his heart. Oh yes, she has him whipped!

Our routine has become just that. During the week, Markus heads out by 5:30 or so, squeezing in a brief swim or some other exercise at the club before he heads to the mines. After having awoken three or four times during the night (only twice on good days!), Ellie wants to get up at around 6:30 or 7. A bleary-eyed Jennifer begs her to go back to sleep, which Ellie always finds very hilarious. By 9 o’clock, the two girls are out the door in search of adventure. Our favorite hang-out is the Landmark Mall, where there is a large, well-lit, relatively clean soft play area Ellie loves. Fortunately for us, she’s still so small that they don’t charge us admission yet (all kiddie play areas have fees), so we find ourselves there multiple times each week. Jennifer has taken to consuming more coffee than she has ever consumed in her entire life. This could have something to do with the fact that even in college, she usually got more than four consecutive hours of sleep at night.
We always try to be back home for naptime. Ellie’s favorite new game is testing how short an afternoon nap can possibly be. This is proving to be an exciting new challenge for her mama as well.
In the afternoons, we try to meet Markus at the club at least two or three times a week. Ellie really likes splashing about in the pool, especially when we’re all there as a family. She has quite a fan club at the Four Seasons. One pool attendant in particular—Jamal—has a big crush on her. He always comes running over when he sees her, and he plays with her as often as he can while we’re there.

Ellie’s fan club is both a blessing and a curse for her. People here are incredibly loving and friendly to babies, usually to the extent that they want to hold the baby, snuggle and play. Sometimes, they don’t take no for an answer, and therein lies the trouble. Ellie is often not a big fan of being snatched away by a (smiling and cooing) complete stranger. This is something her parents have no trouble understanding, but the complete strangers can’t seem to comprehend. We ran into this very problem today at City Center. A shop girl was very insistent about taking Ellie away to another part of the store, even though Ellie was very tired and became teary at her approach. She tried repeatedly to heft Ellie from Jennifer’s arms, although Jennifer tried to kindly rebuff her. She meant well, we have no doubt, but the opposite effect was achieved.
At times like those, we try to explain to Ellie that this is just what happens when one is truly irresistible. She then looks at us as if to say, “Why do you think I employ two full-time staff?”

Our life in Dohot proceeds under strict adherence to the law: Murphy's Law, that is.
Yesterday, the company had exterminators spray our house for bugs, although I hadn't seen any aside from a few small spiders and one (already dead) small cockroach.
Today, we have ants in the kitchen.
Yep, that's about right.

As you have probably gathered, I am slightly obsessed with food. I spent most of my spare moments today cooking up a storm and then chowing it down with gusto. A little family tradition we have is dining out to kick off the weekend, so last Thursday night, we went in search of a good restaurant to try out. Being too early for most places, we ended up eating at a burger place. MISTAKE! Markus, poor man, got food poisoning and it has persisted for days. Today was the first day I've ever known him to stay home from work because of illness. He usually goes even if he's feverish and miserable, but today he stayed home. That's how sick this poor man is! Fortunately, we seem to have reached a turning point. He managed to eat the dinner I cooked tonight without any troubles, so tomorrow, it's back to the trenches.
Speaking of the trenches...
The almighty bureaucracy that is his employer has mucked with our schedule yet again. Although our leave date had already been set and confirmed by multiple managers and our arrival date agreed with The Hague, although we'd already called the movers and planned a vacation before moving to Holland, Markus's boss decided it would be fun to derail the whole train on a whim and now no date is certain. His boss wrote to The Hague on Thursday and changed the leave date to sometime in October, and so far, there's been no response from that end. Who knows what they will want to do about it. It was all set. Everyone seemed fine and dandy with the plan...too bad it was made when Markus's micro-managing, overly obsessive boss was out of town. Oy.

Today was Saturday, which meant we were out and about in search of new adventures. This morning, we discovered Bombay Silk, a fabric supply store that we'd heard a lot about since we've been here. They have beautiful fabrics, silks, satins, velvet...raw silk, embroidered silk... I purchased three different silks to have some pants copied by a tailor. Tailors are abundant here, and there are dozens in the vicinty of Bombay Silk. A friend had recommended I take my pants to her tailor, but the man working at Bombay Silk went to get a tailor for me to be sure I bought the correct amount of fabric. Later, he took us to that tailor's shop. It was down a corridor from the tailor my friend had recommended. It was a tiny room with two very old sewing machines and two older Indian gentlemen working. The tailor looked over the pair of pants I wanted copied, kept them and the fabric, and promised they would be ready in one week. Three pairs of pants. Amazing.
If they don't mind, I will post a picture of the place when I go back to pick them up.
Afterwards, we went to eat at an Indian, vegetarian restaurant. As with any ethnic cuisine, there's good Indian and there's bad Indian. Sometimes you get lucky and find somewhere authentic and delicious. When we went in and were shown to the family section, one glance quickly revealed that we were the only non-Indians there. And yes, the food was authentic and DELICIOUS! And cheap! 30 riyals total for both of us (that's about $7). I'll definitely be going back, and hopefully I'll get some pictures then too.

Another recipe to try out...
I've made this with hammour (the popular white fish here in Qatar) and salmon. Markus, who doesn't particularly care for salmon, RAVED about this one. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think!

Fish with Tarragon Tomato Sauce
(from "The One-Armed Cook")
4 servings

1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried chives
2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb fresh fish fillets (such as cod, haddock or salmon)

In a large deep skillet with a cover, melt the butter or margarine over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the fish, stirring well to mix. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often. Add fish fillets, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.