Saturday, February 25, 2017

Post #8 - Gabriela's Post


I don't know how to start this without crying. The thought of leaving Qatar makes me extremely  upset. Not only did I gain weight, I gained a new family. I will never be able to forget the memories I have made here. That's what my family and I have been doing all day. We've reminded ourselves of how we felt the first night. We talked about me coming back. They have taken me in with open arms. While we reminisce on the past, we created new memories too. My family and I went to Nando's restaurant because they know I've never been.
I will definitely miss waking up to see the Qatar view.

This view gets more and more beautiful everyday. And when I woke up on day 10, I stared  at it for a very long time. This view calmed me down, got me energized, and reminded me how lucky I am to be on a CGS study tour.

I will miss the view, and my friends and all the places we visited. I will miss my host family the most though. I will miss playing with my younger host sister and making stories with her silly bands.  I will miss talking to my oldest host sister about her experiences in uni and with music. I will miss talking to Viven (the host sister that is my age) about everything. We may look nothing alike. We may have different lives, but not do we have so much in common. I'll miss our lame jokes that only we laugh at. I will miss  my host parents telling me I haven't eaten enough even after I ate 3 shawarma.  

The life in Qatar is amazing. There is nothing like it. It is fancy, and a whole new world for me, but the people are even better. The diversity that is in Qatar is amazing. My host family, who are half-German, half-Lebanese showed me many new worlds. I was learning about Qatari, German and Lebanese culture.

The only thing I would change on this trip is that I would make it longer. Honestly, if it were up to me I would never leave. I am in awe of the amount of knowledge I have received and honored of the unique experience CGS/MIS has given us.

 
These 10 days have been very eventful. I went bowling for the first time, had Indian food for the first time, bargained with a shop owner  (and won!) for the first time, got to see how Arabic looked on signs, and learned about new opportunities there are to study abroad. Thank you to all who have made this possible for my classmates and I. We can not thank you enough.

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