The Latest

I had a meeting with a parent and principal a week or two back and he told me that "This isn't like Brooklyn or something. I've been to America, I lived there for 9 years. Things are different here. The children are spoiled. We call
Them sweetheart and give them anything they want." He felt I was being too strict with his child. I felt like his child was playing with the wrong teacher. I gave him a few minutes in the morning, unofficial, informal meeting time. I told his pop that I'm not there to be his child's friend. Pop didn't like that. He also apparently didn't like y body language. So the boss got involved. We hashed things out. His son is still acting up on certain days. And he's definitely NOT having fun on those days.

Something I don't like about teaching in a private school: when teachers are absent, the present teachers cover that teacher's class during their preps. For once, I'd like to be in a school that utilises subs. I am not a fan of subbing OR having extra kids in my class.

Fingerprinting went SO much better than the medical. We took a long bus ride into another town, where we sat in the most pleasant chairs to get fingerprinted quickly and orderly.

Something I like about teaching in a private school: Afterwards, we stopped for coffee and pastries on the way back. Took most of the day. No one complained.
I haven't been fingerprinted in years; did you know that ink isn't used anymore? Yeah man, they used a screen of some sort that captured all of the detail of the fingerprint. It was really cool-looking.

I really do have to watch my body language though. Apparently I frequently use a gesture that can be interpreted as "goat" in some form or another. And like I said, the parent took my body language during our conversation to mean disrespect. I felt him sizing me up but didn't know why until we met with the principal. She asked me to placate him within reason before we got in the meeting. I killed him with kindness then kindly told him that the way I run my class is the way ill continue to run it. And...things of that nature.

One of my students does not speak good English and once every two weeks he walks calmly to my desk and just stares for creepily 3 seconds until I say "What's wrong _____?" Then he says very solemnly "I will vomit." I frantically tell him to get the heck outta the room. I just know one day he's gonna vomit on me. I've accepted this, I'm at peace with it.

I know 4 Arabic words/phrases - shame, I swear, soon and hurry. So I can say "It's a shame how soon I hurry to swear" in Arabic.

I still have to stop myself from saying "God bless you." I've noticed that that's not a thing. Or is it?

The 'r' rolls harder in Arabic than it does even in Spanish. I love it.

I heard the prayer call on the radio (as opposed to right outside of my window at 90 decibels every 70 minutes when I get home from work) for the first time. It sounded DOOOPE. No I will not make the sacrilegious joke you have come to expect from me. Not while I'm in their country haha!

I had 11, 14, 14, 17 students (out of 26) each day this week. Sickness. Hope I don't get it. Hope they continue to have it. Kidding, somewhat!

I'm starting to really like Doha. Very urban but they need a public transportation system and better pedestrian walkways. I stepped out around 5:30pm, right after it got dark and the temperature went down, and the streets were buzzing and I almost felt like I was back in NY on an early fall day. Made me miss the energy I'd feel from the city moving back and forth between working out and cooling down. I wonder if I'll ever be a part of that again.

StarPower Horse

I ventured out on a Friday evening (which is like a Saturday back home) to get a haircut. My barber offered me (and I accepted) one of these "Power Horses." It's an energy drink. With all these dudes posted in front of the barbershops and chilling on the sidewalks talking, I get the feeling that this is sort of like a beer would be back home (which I've gotten offers many times). It IS a stimulant. I guess it would be sort of like a grown up drink. I gladly accepted the show of hospitality after another barber tried to cut his throat and sit me in his chair. My barber is really cool, an Indian Muslim named something like "Safardeen." We talked a bit about NY and India and then we discovered we're both huge wrestling fans (wrestling is wildly popular here and you can find it on TV every single minute)! He likes all of the good guys and dislikes the bad guys, and I think he was disappointed to know that certain guys (such as John Morrison) wouldn't be coming to these parts during the world tour. I was surprised to realize that he didn't know those guys (like Batista) weren't wrestling for WWE anymore. But then again, most fans aren't marks like I am. Wrestling is considered more of a sport, it even comes with the cable sports package and they have shows that we dont have. He is, of course, a Great Khali fan. It was cool to be in a familiar atmosphere. It was the pg version of home - 2 guys having a drink, talking about sports during a haircut. I told him I'd be back in 1 or 2 weeks. I like the atmosphere, it's in my old neighbourhood, which is kinda cool, and I like his vibe.

My Racist Medical Exam

Yo, b.
Came up in this hospital (finally getting my medical, which gets me closer to receiving my residency papers and making me legal here for a longer period of time) to see a hundred men in a room and a Qatari security barking at me "What do want?!"
Yo. Took a lot not to tell him, "My man, don't play wit' me, I'll slap u out here." He saw where I was coming from and I got sent to a different line. Good. Hoping it stays cool.

Ok, so, my colleague is white and he was just switched out with a better number than mine, even though I was first. So I went back up to get a better number. His is still one ahead though.

So at this next line, check this out - they skipped him again, then lumped me with the non-whites. I banged on the window and they looked at me like I was crazy. They don't get that type of behavior here so they called in a translator. I said, "So these numbers (the number I still had in my hand) mean nothing?" He politely rambled something amounting to "No," and crumbled it after taking it like it was top secret. I thought it was a special ticket. Expecting this doesn't make it any less frustrating. So I raised more hell, to only slight avail. They hit me with the "no speaka English" then tried to take care of me. Thank u to the helpful dark man, btw. Maybe a black Qatari. He told me what the rest of the process would be. While standing in phlebotomy line, another white man was skipped thru. I was furious and grilled him for everyone. He looked as happy as he should look. Wasn't his fault though. And honestly, I feel bad for the little preferential treatment I got.

The doctors were cool to me. I'm on x-ray line now. I will say that the American passport at least changes how they talk to me (and if it didn't, I WOULD)....wowwww, my colleague just got skipped AGAIN. The BLACK security took VIPs (I knew those tickets meant something), didn't even look at me. Came back and put him in very FRONT of VIP line. I actually waited about 120 seconds (proud of myself). Then I went up to security and said, "I'm from the same school as him, do I get moved also, or do I stay on the other line..." And before I could finish my sentence with "...because I'm not white?" he looked at my passport and put me at front of VIP line. Although it represents a lot I'm conflicted about, I know my colleague did nothing and (maybe?) feels guilty. I feel guilty for skipping. I don't want the pressure of the feeling of being at the front, in front of all these dark labourers. So I told him to stay there. But I did stand behind him. We were not only skipped, but skipped to the front of VIP. VIP in a hospital. For being American, but really, for him, for being white, bc he didn't have to do anything be skipped.

When I get in front of medical staff, I literally have to find opportunities to speak so they know l'm American. I hope this is the last line. This is getting tiring....I hate that I now feel a way about holding the door open for my colleague while I'm here and letting him walk in front of me. I mean, I'm a nice person, I do those things. I hate that I'm thinking about how it looks. I hate that there are people who invalidate my feelings by saying "I should feel this/that way" or that it's a problem I create bc of perception. Racism sucks more than some will ever know. And no one knows how it feels for a black man. Y'all think its games. Yea I joke also, mostly to keep from spazzing. The knowledge of self I do have helps me a lot. But please don't tell me that I should just be secure or it's about my perception and stuff like that. My shoes would burn through the soles of your feet, so don't do that. It's just...you know, it sucks. It is what it is. It doesn't have to take on any life beyond that. Anyway, we're finished way quicker than we should be. Gonna catch a nap until the ladies are done.

P.S. They told us to wait for 5 minutes before going outside after the x-ray. Wtf? Scares the hell outta me.

I be getting randomly homesick. I was thinking about Juelz saying "'55th exit, damn already we home." That used to be a good ass feeling. 155th off Harlem River Dr., 158th off Henry Hudson (or is it 57th), 161 off Deegan, exit 5 Saw Mill, exit 11 Hutch, exit 13 Bronx River, exit 2 off 87, exit 4 cross county. Even when I finally hit Riverdale Ave. cuz I was driving up Broadway from 125th, 156th, all that, up to Yonkers on the suspended/restricted license late night haha, avoiding high way patrolling. I miss traffic finally breaking and me turning up "All Eyez On Me" or some Dugout shit. I miss knowing my night out was worth the wack time I'd have parking, maybe even having to park in the lot or get up early to avoid a ticket. I miss justifying going real fast late bc it felt good to be young, black, successful and feeling good about it. I miss knowing I made the right decision not to continue chasing the fun when I'd see my doorman, sit in front of my tv, and lay down in my clothes, content as can be. I miss stopping at McDonalds 3am, 4am, 5am cuz it was my only anti-hangover remedy. I miss those things. But it also reminds me of chances I was being really dumb in taking. I don't miss pigs creepin just cuz you're driving around late night; I used to keep my music low at certain times to stay alert for them cuz they will roll up on you quick in numbers. I don't miss walking to my car and keeping an eye on cats in random neighbourhoods. I don't miss having to decide if I can make it home on a few drops of gas, DEAD TIRED and it's mad cold out. I don't miss those things. But all in all, I lived a pretty cool life back home, great nights with good friends at special places. I'm creating new memories here. Sometimes I can already identify things I'm going to miss. And not miss.