Vacation, Settling in And Back to Work

The Annual vacation starting a few days before April, was just a hectic time of preparation and making sure that schedules and lists were made in advance for - sightseeing in Doha,  spending quality time with my brother and family,  especially my cute nephew, visiting old friends and landmarks and also shopping !

    

Back in Doha, the place of my oldest memories, before coming to India for schooling,  where we spent all vacations,  started my first job,  and worked for a few years -even after marriage.  This was the longest I had not been to Doha - nearly a decade!!

It was astonishing to see the progress,  the huge number of sky scrapers dotting the horizon,  the Corniche-changed,  yet the same,  the old Sheraton made diminutive by it's towering neighbours and every single road,  and by lane,  just filled with vehicles.

It was great to see the Heritage village and the work that is going into preserving and documenting the bygone era.  On the other hand, the huge advancement in infrastructure and rapid changes on  the landscape including demolition of old institutions like the Popeye restaurant,  the Amani shop, Sana,  the New World Center,  just made us feel like we were visiting a new place,  and not one we had built memories over three decades!

A few pics from our sightseeing.  

Revisiting the sights,  sounds and amazing eateries.  

It was a good thing we did not have a place to stock the lanternS,  decorative plates,  boxes,  ornate lamps and such,  or I might have been tempted to buy a few!  The artistry is amazing.  

There was the unavoidable trips to quite a few malls,  and I succumbed to the wealth of irresistible handbags and purses. 

The biggest spending was on art supplies as I had planned in advance.  It was quite tempting to grab everything I saw,  but managed to ensure that I bought things on my list,by and large,  and so I rewarded myself for good behaviour! - By buying a few things that were not on my list. Hahaa!!!

Taking leave after a blissful month was tough.  Our childhood was full of such scenes,  flying away from half the family with regularity.  AS grown ups, I had thought that saying good bye to my brother would not be as tough,  but somehow the pain was still the same,  made worse by the heart-wrenching sobs of my nephew and sadness of my daughter. 

By now,  we are resigned to the fact that this is going to be an inevitable part of our lives since we plan to meet whenever we can do so. It is the depth of love and caring, that makes saying goodbyes so tough,  and thus not to be taken for granted.  

Back to normal, has been tricky, a whole month just getting back into routine, putting the house to rights,  preparing for the next academic year. 

The one thing that I had been keeping up with, has been the 2018 earrings challenge on instagram.  It is up-to week 24 and I have managed to keep up,  albeit not with the creations that I had planned to make.  

This week's earrings are made of cold porcelain and are handpainted,  with Warli designs.  I will update the earrings of weeks 16 to 23 soon.  

AND yesterday,  was our 17th wedding anniversary.  It was a double celebration with family.  With my sister and brother in law with us,  it was extra special.  Hoping for  few more decades with my best friend and partner.