And it begins

Welcome to Destination Doha. I am K, married to A. Our kids P (4.5) and M (3) keep us super busy, and we love it. I am home with P and M and currently home school (preschool) them. A works as the math curriculum coordinator for our local school district (of 32,000 students). We have been blessed with his job as it allows me to stay home with P and M. My degree in teaching high school will wait…

At this point, you may be thinking; Ok.. what’s with the title of this blog? I’m getting to that.

A and I met while teaching at an American academy in North Africa (he grew up in TX and I was raised in MI). I was there for five years, and A joined our staff my 4th year. We meshed easily and our friendship was so cool. We were able to lead the ex-pat youth group together, enjoyed basketball coaching (he actually coached, I was more of the encourager for the girls’ team), built relationships with our high schoolers, and loved the many adventures of living in a culture that was very different from our own. We loved it so much in fact that when we left (as a couple) we already couldn’t wait for another overseas adventure.

That was (gulp) 6.5 years ago… In that time, I survived almost dying (malaria and mono don’t mix), we got married, lived in three states (including three cross-country moves), had two children, A’s had 7 jobs and gained a master’s degree, gained two sister-in-laws, five nephews, and a niece (and there are two more on the way). It has been packed full of adventures.

And then that familiar itch began anew… Time to travel, time to fly, time to get our kids’ passports (and some stamps), and get out of the States again. Don’t misunderstand, we don’t hate America, quite the opposite. We appreciate the USA, we value our upbringings, and our time here. We just aren’t built to live here. It’s almost impossible to explain to anyone who doesn’t share that feeling. I try, I get excited in my explaining.. and then.. blank stare and polite nod.

So, my amazing (and slightly OCD) husband began the search. He create some AMAZING spreadsheets of everything you could think of. Going overseas with kids requires much more thought and consideration than when we both went (as singles) the first time. I was hired and left within about 5 weeks! Our first choices were Doha, Qatar and Dubai, UAE. A found a recruiting fair for international schools to be held in Iowa at the very end of January. While he is a qualified administrator, he longs to be back in the classroom. His resume and cover letter went out mid December and by the end of January we had two offers. One from a school in Hong Kong and one from a school in Doha, Qatar.

Destination Doha…