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Upon the urging of many others, including my husband, I am finally able to put up some more pictures this week. We've had a lot happening recently, so here is a short run-down and the first of several links that you'll get to see.

To Begin the Beguine, Chris traveled to Yemen during the last weekend in January. Because different parts of the country are restricted (due to obvious reasons), he mostly visited the Sana'a area, which is the capital.

The Saturday that he was gone in Yemen, I went to my first camel race here in Kuwait. A bunch of girls that I work with went out with a group of people from the AWARE Center (Advocates for Western Arab Relations), to enjoy the desert sights and take in a dinner and diwaniya at a local "farm." Your idea and their idea of farms are probably a little different...Here are some pictures

Chris was back for a few days after his short jaunt to Yemen, but then left again with our friend, Kyle, to see the sights of Greece. They spent most of their time around Athens and on the island of Santorini, and it just so happened that the Greek public sector went on one of its predictable 24-hour strikes while they were there. What is it with places he travels to?

In the mean time, I started a new semester with 33 new students. Currently, I'm teaching three English blocks (hooray!- all one subject), one of which is Advanced English for 11th graders. If any of you real English teachers out there have any hints or fun activities to pass along, please do so.

Our niece, Rebekah, was born on February 12th- just short of Chris' 27th birthday, which was February 14th, and two of my friends' birthdays on February 16th. My cousin, Tiffany, also had a baby on the 16th, increasing the number of celebrations held each February. I guess it's a good month!

Finally, because we hadn't seen much of each other in the previous 2 1/2 weeks, Chris and I both took personal days from school on Thursday and headed to Doha, Qatar for a 3-day weekend. Doha is the capital of this small country located an hour's flight from Kuwait, just north of the UAE. We spent much of our time milling around without much purpose but to spend time together and take in a few sights. Fortunate enough to be there during a festival weekend, we were able to take in a concert, some street performers, and some amazing food in addition to the regular Old Souk (market). It was so relaxing!