Happy Halloween!

For mutual tonight we had a great Halloween party. We decorated the kitchen, dressed up, and played games. We played the game where you stick your hand in a bag labeled things like "eyeballs" and then have to guess what it really is. We also had a mummy-wrap contest and told ghost stories. We made carmeled apples and "witches fingers" pretzels. The Philippines celebrates All Hallow's Eve/Day, but it is more like our Memorial Day, so many of our girls hadn't played these games before. Doha doesn't celebrate Halloween, so it was fun to have an extra holiday. Luckily there is one store here that imports a lot of American party supplies.

Kara and Paul had their baby!

Seth Paul Newman

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7lbs 7oz

Healthy and Happy!

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Congratulations!

Overnight Dive Trip

Because of Eid Al-Fitr we had a few days off from work. On October 24-25 the scuba club organized an overnight boat trip. There were about 12 of us that went. This was my first boat dive, so I was very excited. We took two boats to Sharaiwah Island (about 1.5-2 hours from shore.) A brief description of the trip: an afternoon dive near the Island, then onwards to the Sharaiwah island to setup camp, a night dive around the island, overnight camping and socializing, and finally two day dives at the M.O. (the best wreck dive in Qatar) before the return trip home.

By far, the best part of the trip was the diving at the M.O. It was amazing. After our first dive, my dive partner told Jon, “I think your wife is hooked! Every time I turned around her head was down another hole!” I guess my eyes were pretty wide and excited the whole time. We saw a lot of sting rays, angel fish, bat fish, and lots of other fish I don’t know the name of. One of the divers on the trip had an underwater camera. Once I get some photos from him, I will post them here. Until then, here are some details of the dive and pictures above water.

Site Name: MO Wreck
Site Location: Offshore Qatar
GPS Coordinates: N 25° 19.809´ E 52° 26.729´
Depth: 20 meters
Wreck Details: The Alexion Hope was a general cargo vessel of 9,084 gross tons, registered in Piraeus, Greece. She is 148.08 meters long with a beam of 20.4 meters, and she used to draw 8.8 meters. The ship was owned by the Alexion Maritime Corporation, but presumably is in the hands of the insurers now. Launched as the Hellenic Renaissance, her name was later changed to the Konstantis Yem. She was built in 1968 in the Hellenic shipyards at Skaramanga with a 5 cylinder oil burning engine supplied by Sultzer Bros. Ltd.

Hanging out by the fire

Frank preparing "breakfast"--the fish he caught on the dive the night before.

A traditional Qatari Dhow boat

Our boat

The Island

A relaxing boat ride home

Ramadan Feast

Because of the conference and our trip to Austria, we were gone from Doha for most of Ramadan. As a non-Muslim in Qatar, we were expected to observe Ramadan in public (observation in the privacy of your home is not required.) This means no eating or drinking in public from sunrise to sunset--no drinking in your car, no going to restaurants, no chewing gum. Most grocery stores were still open during the day, but all restaurants were closed. Many businesses also had shorter hours. I have heard that by law you are not suppose to work more than 30 hours a week during Ramadan (but I haven't confirmed that fact.)

During Ramadan many hotels (and private groups) set up large tents for feasts once the sun goes does. On the last night of Ramadan, we went to a dinner at the Sheraton hotel. It was really good and interesting to see all the decorations.

The Tent

The Buffet

The bottles in the picture above are actually sheesha pipes. Sheesha is a very popular water pipe that (mostly) men smoke here. It comes in many different flavors. We (of course) haven't tried it.

McRamadan

A lot of the town was decorated for Ramadan. It was really pretty. The best way for me to describe it is to compare it to the United States at Christmas time. All the stores have big banners and garlands and lights. Even McDonalds was decorated for the month.


A little bit about Ramadan (info from Wikipedia.com)

The fourth pillar of Islam which is fasting is also called Ramadan and it is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is considered the most blessed and spiritually-beneficial month of the Islamic year. Prayers, fasting, charity, and self-accountability are especially stressed at this time; religious observances associated with Ramadan are kept throughout the month. God prescribes daily fasting for all able, adult Muslims during the whole month of Ramadan, beginning with the sighting of the new moon.

Eating, drinking, and smoking are not allowed between dawn and sunset. During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam. They are encouraged to read the Qur'an. The fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. Properly observing the fast is supposed to induce a comfortable feeling of peace and calm. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, sacrifice, as well as sympathy for those who are less fortunate, intending to make Muslims more generous and charitable.

In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. Special prayers, called ‘Tarawih’, are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an is recited, so that by the end of the month the entire Qur'an has been completed. These are done in remembrance of the fact that the revelation of the Qur'an to Prophet Muhammad was begun during Ramadan.

The meal eaten to end the fast is known as Al-Iftar. Many Muslims, break the fast with dates and water before praying, after which they might eat a more wholesome meal.

Eid al-Fitr

The Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. Eid ul-Fitr means the Festival of Breaking the Fast, a special celebration is made. Food is donated to the poor, everyone has bathed and put on their best, preferably new, clothes, and communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends.

Big Day for Nixen!

Congratulations to Nikki Purdy and Cameron Kelly! They are engaged and are planning on getting married in New York City in April 2007. We are so excited for them. Cameron must be pretty amazing to deserve Nikki!

Best Trip Ever--Day Eleven--Last Day

Highlights: We packed up our car early for our drive to Munich. We stopped on the way in Oberammergau, a cute little (touristy) German town. They have great Christmas stores (open all year round), but my favorite is the cemetery around the little church in town. When I was here in 1997 I took some of my favorite pictures here. It was fun to go back, find the same headstones and see how (almost) 10 years had changed them.

My mom's version of heaven: Christmas all year long!

After Oberammergau, we drove to Munich. The drive was beautiful--but we were in a hurry so all my shots were from the car window.

After checking in our bags at the airport (and returning the car), we took a train into town and just had time to take a bus tour around Munich.

This really was the best trip I have ever been on. Everything was perfect. It was great to just work on our own schedule and just do whatever we felt like that day. Thanks to Rick Steve's for helping us find places to stay and eat, not to mention save money by giving us self-guided tours.

Best Trip Ever--Day Ten

Highlights: After 9 days of "the best trip ever" we decided to take it a little easy this day. We just enjoyed the countryside around Fussen and finally found an open luge slide. We rode it at least 6 times. It was great fun. See the video below. (For some reason the video isn't working. I will try to fix it later.)

This is the view of Neuschwanstein Castle from our bedroom.

This is the little Bed & Breakfast we stayed at in Scwangau.

Jon found this on our walk. I am not sure what a surf board is doing in Germany, but it made his vacation complete.

Best Trip Ever--Day Nine

Highlights: We stayed two nights at the B&B with the cute German lady. I was coughing so much in the morning that she wouldn't let me leave without an extra coat she gave me. I had a pretty bad cough--but nothing was going to keep me from this trip. This day we toured both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. Neuschwanstein castle was the home of mad King Ludwig--it is the one you have seen that looks like the Disneyland caste. Hohenschwangau was his father's. We were able to find a hot dog stand for Jon (he had been in withdrawal since leaving Vienna.)

We drove around the countryside to find a luge track (like the Alpine Slide in Park City), but they were all closed for the season. We found one place with sleds just sitting next to the shed. Jon wanted to grab them, hike up the mountain and slide down on our own. I didn't think it was a good idea. All Jon said on the way back to the car was, "Zane would have done it." I told him I didn't know if that was an argument in his favor ;)

We had dinner in Fussen and had a nice walk around the town and a lake.