Yesterday I finally went to Al Shaqab where I met Samat, the vice principal. Her name means "forgiveness", which I may need a lot of. (Gary's students told us that all Arab children are given names with meaning. The parents name the baby according to a characteristic that they see or one day hope to see in the child.) I observed a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade class. The teachers were teaching English through reading, math, or science. It was very interesting. Later I was invited to join a professional development workshop about the new Qatar professional standards for teaching. I thought this would be very useful info. Unfortunately, the workshop was conducted in Arabic. Fortunately the power point and my handout were in English. Also some of the teachers at my table took pity on me and gave me the high points in English, even though they had no idea why I was there. I wondered the same thing. This is definitely a learn by doing experience. I guess I will figure it out "enshallah". This is a very useful saying that means God willing. You hear it sprinkled throughout any conversation with an Arab person whether they are speaking Arabic or English.
I mentioned before that there is construction everywhere. Everything appears new. Fortunately most of the houses, apartments, and villas are designed with a Middle-Eastern architecture. There are mosques with minarets on just about every corner. Some are huge beautiful complexes. Some are small plain buildings with the Islamic crescent on top so you know what it is. We hear the call to prayer broadcast throughout the city five times a day from speakers atop the minarets. The first call is usually between 4:00 and 5:00a.m. and the last is usually between 7:00 and 9:00.p.m. The times are different each day and I hear that they are posted in the newspapers daily. Gary asked his students to let him know what time prayer was so he could plan breaks around it. The ladies said they could pray when class was finished. I guess they are not strict about time as long as they pray five times a day. Before prayer time every Muslim is required to do a ritual cleansing so it is usually easy to find a restroom wherever you go.