My impressions or opinion of Qatar have not changed much since my first impressions blog post. Previously, I had discussed the friendly nature of the people in Qatar, their importance placed on religious factors, and the futuristic feeling that emits from the roads and buildings. Over the past two weeks, my group and I have explored nearly all the malls, popular tourist spots, museums, and other important historic landmarks around Doha. As I got to meet more local Qataris and explored other regions of this beautiful nation, my first impressions of Qatar were only re-established and made clearer. The clean roads and sophisticated architecture of the buildings truly make me feel as if I have traveled 10 years into the future. Additionally, the respect and kindness I am always treated with by the people around Doha is truly mesmerizing and makes me feel a lot closer to home. Whether it be security guards, storeowners, or even the tour guides who taught us about the historical traditions and culture of Qatar, everyone always had a positive attitude in their day-to-day lives and always provided help when needed.
Over the course of my study-abroad trip in Qatar, I was lucky enough to create a lot of memories and experience new activities with my group, so selecting just 5 to talk about is a rather difficult task. First and foremost, the best day of my entire trip had to be the day my group and I spent in the desert. From camel-riding and driving through the monstrous sand dunes of Doha?s deserts to playing volleyball on the beach and sitting for hours around the campfire during the cold nights with my fellow peers, I crossed off a lot of first-time adventures from my bucket list. Not only did I enjoy every single activity I participated in over the course of our day at the desert, but I also got the opportunity to truly bond with my group members and build strong connections with the aggies who had come on this study-abroad trip with me. Overall, it was a very rewarding experience and I cannot be more thankful to the TAMUQ staff that helped organize this trip.
Secondly, another activity I must put on my list of top 5 has to be the night we spent in the boat in the middle of the Gulf ocean waters. Despite this being near the end of our trip, this was a memorable night for my entire group as we got to dive off the second decks of our boat straight into the salty ocean water. The music and dancing that followed our ocean dives were yet another fantastic experience for everyone, and I wished the night had just never ended. I got the opportunity to reflect on everything my group and I had done over our trip and thanked our trip coordinator, Stephanie Martinez, for all the work she had put in for us.
Moving on, one of the sites that have to make my top 5 list is the trip to the mosque. I had a lot of misconceived assumptions about Islam and the cultural background of the religion. However, the day my group and I spent talking to the priests at the mosque and getting to witness their prayers in person really helped me understand the deeper meanings behind Islam. This was truly necessary for me, as it gave me the chance to see the world from another point of view.
Another deep-rooted memory I will take back to the United States with me is the local ?Food & Drink Restaurant? that our group went to eat at 3 times. It was a restaurant my fellow peer and I had found one day when we were especially hungry, as nothing else was open. After eating there for the first time, we came back and told the rest of our group about how good was the food and service. We collectively began going to eat at this place. Despite the fact that most of the servers could not understand English, I utilized my Hindi skills to order food and converse with the waiters. The emotional attachment we all had made with this small, local restaurant was incredible to experience and will be something I will never forget.
Finally, the last activity that has to make my list of top 5 experiences in Qatar has to be the trip we made to Souq Waqif with the local TAMUQ students. One day on campus my friends and I got to meet some engineering students that had returned from winter break campus and quickly became friends with them. We planned a night to shop at the Souq and get dinner with them, and just the ability to interact with some local students and get to hear their experiences was a very rewarding experience. I got their Instagrams and made sure to tell them to reach out to me whenever they plan a trip to visit the United States, so now I have friends in multiple Texas A&M campuses.
All in all, this study abroad trip was a very valuable experience for me as I got to grow and improve my own personality, develop meaningful connections with my fellow peers, and taught me how to think on my feet and deal with any kind of situation. Not only can I say that I have become much more independent in my daily lifestyle, but also that I got the chance to meet different types of people and grow my extroverted side. Interacting with people has become a lot easier after all the conversations with strangers I have had in Doha. This is a very important quality and will help me make impactful business decisions in my future career. I am very thankful to the CIBS program for giving me the chance to come on this study-abroad experience, and will restlessly wait for my next opportunity.
