and so it goes

The stark white speckled floors and bland grey walls of the Doha International Airport are my last sight of the Middle East. It is 11:17pm here in Qatar and I don’t want to leave. I don’t particularly like Doha and all its strangeness, but it is the last city that I will have stood in ridiculous heat, emptied sand out of my shoes, heard the call to prayer, and tried to translate a foreign currency into American dollars for my own peace of mind.

I have bettered myself as a journalist in a million ways. I have interveiwed people who barely speak English. I have gone to report in areas where women aren’t well received. I have seen perspectives that I would have never found in the West. I have engaged in startling and interesting dialogues and made contacts that will aid me in the future.

As a person I have made life long friends. I have learned more from Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese, and Armenians in five weeks than I have in four years of an undergraduate degree. I ate food that normally I would scream over. I have gotten lost in various cities and towns and come out with the most wonderful stories. I swam in the Persian Gulf. I sailed on the Nile. I traveled deep into the earth in the Valley of the Kings. I have grown more gutsy in the kinds of questions that I ask, the length to which I am willing to express my opinion, and in the sorts of topics I am willing to discuss with a complete stranger.

Now, for some confirmation: camels are the sweetest animals. The pyramids are as grandiose as they appear on TV. Olive and pistachio trees to make up most of Syria’s vegetation. There are snow on top of the Lebanese mountains. Middle Eastern hospitality is baffling and wondrous. Middle Eastern men are gorgeous. One chicken shwarma is enough, and two is just excessive. Middle Eastern dairy products are unpasteurized rendering me as free of my lactose intolerance! Qatar is practically the hottest place with whipping winds. The Persian Gulf rests always around a 75 degree temperature.

Three countries have changed my life. Three countries have pushed me as a person, challenged me as a journalist and hopefully have molded my future career. Three counties have set a tinge in my heart and are beckoning me back.

Thank you for following my blog. I hope you have gotten a glimpse into my life and how it has been remarkably changed. Unfortunately, this journey ends here. However, you can follow my “back to normal life” on my personal blog, Un Bel Oiseau, on blogspot. Thanks again and I hope to see you around.

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