Doha (day ten)

I know, I know, I have been slacking on keeping the blog updated. I apologize for that, but here I am, sitting down to write again. The last few days have had some small adventures in them. One day Dad and I drove out of town to check out what was supposed to be the ruins of an old fort. Turns out we either found a different one, or the ruins had been reconstructed. It was still neat to walk around all the different rooms and look out of the gun ports, but I think that climbing around on the run down walls would have been a bit more exciting. Here is one thing that differs from the states; at this for there was not one sign describing what it would have been used for or when. Not even a little sign telling the name and approximate dates of the fort. It was kind of disappointing, it would have been great to learn a little history about it.
Another day we went down to Wakra beach late in the afternoon and a friend of Dad's from work gave me some kite boarding lessons. If you've never heard of it kite boarding is where you have a board similar to a wake board on your feet and use a large kite to propel you though the water. My first day I just stood on the beach and tried to get the hang of the kite before I got on the board. Which was a great idea. Even the small 'trainer kite' I was using was very hard to control and I ended up crashing in the sand multiple times! By the end of the day though I got to the point where I could control the kite enough to stand on my heels and have it drag me through the sand down the shore for twenty or thirty feet. It was great fun. The kite I was using was only about two square meters and was pulling me all over. The kite Jon was using was over twelve!! I would be a little intimidated by that large of one.
Yet another day Mom and I went to check out the Villiagio shopping center. It is just a large, and very nice, mall. It is themed to look like Venice and much like the Venician in Vegas, has blue sky's painted on the ceilings and a canal running though the center. The best part of the whole mall though was a little Kiosk with about thirty different kinds of loose leaf tea. We had a great time there and got all sorts to try!
Life is good here. Very sunny and warm. So when there is a lull in our activities you can find me reading my book on the beach, taking in the sun. I hope that the days are treating you all good as well. School starts up again soon. Sure is going to be hard to go back the the snow and cold..