Qatar Study Tour Day 6

December 7th, 2019

The First Day of School 

The day after we arrived in Qatar was quite a busy one. As we all woke up in our host’s houses for the first time, we began getting ready for school. Our classes  varied depending on our host’s schedules, but the day was filled with new classes and people for all of us. Despite the first day jitters, I think I speak for us all when I say that the environment at the Middle East International School is incredibly inviting, filled with students eager to greet and help us out. We’ve gotten to know our host’s even better, as we were able to shadow them during the school day. We experienced who they hang out with, the classroom dynamics, their teachers, and made new friends. Overall, the school day couldn’t have gone better.
My host and I on the first day of school 

After school, we all did different things. Maia, Parisa, and I went (with our hosts) to Fiona’s host’s house to swim in her pool. After a while of swimming, Fiona’s host was kind enough to order us pizza. Next, most of us met up at the Villagio Mall, which is modeled to look like Venice, Italy. When entering the mall, you get an extensive view of a cloudy sky painted on the ceiling, as well as stores that look like the buildings in Venice. The funny thing is, our hosts explained that Villagio isn’t even the most impressive mall, and that they prefer it the least out of the other ones in Doha. My friends and I could only imagine what the other malls would be like if this one was the most beautiful mall we’d ever seen, not to mention bigger than any of the malls in Connecticut. 

Some people at the mall went ice skating with their hosts, while others walked around admiring it’s beauty and window shopping. Qatar has almost all of the same stores I usually shop at back in Connecticut, so that was nice. When everyone was finished ice skating, most of us got Mcdonald’s, then we decided to go bowling. Not everyone went bowling because some of their parents wanted them home, but those who did go had a great time. We were bowling for about an hour and a half, then we went home. To say I was exhausted is a huge understatement. My host family did a great job of making sure that I was as comfortable as possible, so falling asleep wasn’t an issue.  After my first full day in Qatar and at school, I couldn’t wait for the rest of the week.
A picture my friend took of Vallagio 

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