aloha, doha!

Just woke up from one of the most necessary naps I have ever taken. I am seven or eight hours ahead of Virginia-time here in Qatar and consequently woke up at 3:16 AM (about four hours after going to bed) starving and unable to fall back asleep. I rolled around in my big white bed - photos of plush pad + city later, been too sleepy to take any (Sorry danny!) - for two hours, and then had the silly idea of going to the gym!
My apartment is like a long-term really nice hotel with a big shiny lobby and porters and a coffee shop and "saloon" downstairs and, I found out this morning, a tidy little gym with sauna+steamroom+jacuzzi AND a reasonably sized outdoor pool. Went for a run on the treadmill with other folks who were up at 5:30 AM, watching the company coach buses load up with residents from the area and drive off. After coming back upstairs, I realized that I had more time to kill before pickup at 8 and went back downstairs for a swim. Regular swimwear is permitted in the immediate vicinity of the pool, for those curious. The pool is at least twenty five yards long and heated for reasons I cannot fathom, and has the most surreal view of skyscrapers all around you as you float about.
So that was delightful.
We were picked up and taken to work at WCMC-Q and oriented (orientated?). Met a bunch of very nice people - all eleven of us TAs had hung out the night before, but I met pretty much everybody else that I will be working with over the course of the day. Except, of course, the students, who will be arriving this weekend and starting class next week. The school is pretty large and quite new and I am excited to begin work. I am sure I will be even more excited after adjusting to the time zone.

Things I miss from home already: recycling, public transportation, you!