The Journey/First Impressions

We have arrived in Doha safe and sound after 20 some hours of continuous flying.  Although we were tired, the excitement of arriving in Doha seemed to wake us all up.  Passing through customs was a breeze, and it was there that I made my first connection in Doha.  My customs officer and I happened to have the same birthday!  I took this as a sign of good things to come.  After arriving at the airport we took off for the American School of Doha.  The entire ride was spent soaking in the feel of this new, foreign country. In Doha you must be prepared for traffic, hectic, crazy traffic.  Thank goodness I was not driving, otherwise we would not have made it to the school. After arriving at ASD (American School of Doha) we were able to finally meet the families we are spending the next two weeks with.  Everyone here is incredibly friendly, and we hit it off right away.  After a quick meeting to work out some details we were able to head off to our host families' homes.

On the ride home we made a small detour, and by small detour I mean a complete tour of Doha. My family was kind enough to take us on a ride around the city in order to help us get a feel for the culture and city in general. Our first stop was at the Marmara Istanbul Restaurant, my host family recommended that we try Shawarma, as this was the place to get it. The restaurant is pictured on the above, with the Shawarma underneath. And the Shawarma? It was  delicious.















After dinner we got a short tour of the city, driving past the Royal Palace, the Souq Waqif, and downtown, which our family called the west bay.

Pictured on the right is the Palace, it was beautiful at night.

The building on the West Bay. Doha is increasing at an incredible rate.  Eight years ago there was only 1 building to light up the skyline. Today the skyline could remind you of Minneapolis, but even larger and much more modern. The Doha skyline was incredible - here's a picture of my favorite skyscraper.

This was the sight from our balcony when we woke up this morning. Our family lives on one of the Pearls, which is a completely man-made island extending out into the Persian Gulf.









Now that we are all settled in Doha we are ready to go get our official credentials from the conference center. Tomorrow we finally get to begin our UN Climate Change experience.