Attempts at a Revival: Canada to Qatar to Canada

I haven't blogged in a long time...The story of my life, I know. I really do want to get back into the habit, but while I was living in Shanghai, I knew I couldn't speak openly and honestly about my experiences there without possibly getting into trouble. I still prefer to hold back for although I've left, there are many people whom I still cherish working and/or living there.

So once again, let's sidestep China and do a 6-month catch-up!

As was the case for most people, Covid-19 changed our plans. I returned home to Canada last year in August in preparation for a contract in Qatar and the Irish chef relocated to Limerick for a new job as an Instructional Designer. I was very excited about the work opportunity in Doha as I was going to be able to use my experiences in China in a real-life school there. Also, Qatar was the first country in the gulf that I wanted to move to. It was my goal to get there. Unfortunately, I left for Qatar in September and almost immediately found out that there would be problems with my work visa. I was very lucky when I moved to Kuwait and Oman. When I got those jobs, recruiters weren't yet a part of the job process, so it's no surprise that I wasn't prepared for how badly the school and recruiter communicated to me about what documents I needed to provide in order to get my work visa. It was so bad that I did a runner. Yes, did it. I'd had enough of being given the runaround from the recruiter and the school being annoyed at me and requesting that I fork out thousands of dollars to go back to Canada, get originals or duplicates of a ridiculous number of documents that I would need to pay to have attested/notarized and then translated. P.S. in Kuwait, my companies reimbursed me for all of these fees. In Oman, they accepted ALL of the documents that I'd used in Kuwait because they both belong to the GCC (as is Qatar). After two months, I decided that I would lose money by doing what I should have been directed to do before I left Canada. May I please say though that while I was Doha, it was heavenly in a way that it never was in Shanghai. Beautifully sung prayer calls. The dry, hot heat. Dates. Mint lemonade. The hospitality and kindness of locals. Even if it was just for a hot minute, I enjoyed being in Doha.

In November, back to cold Canada I went—just in time for Christmas! I decided to stay in Canada until my sister's wedding in May, so I continued doing freelance work and taking courses (I'm studying eLearning Development through Seneca College in Toronto), writing reviews and cooking cleaner. I also went back to walking. I did A LOT of walking. I needed to walk to balance all of the things that were happening to the people around me: friend's families contracting Covid, job loss, deaths (unrelated to Covid), and other health problems, like depression, anxiety, cancer and infertility. I realized I'm at an age where my friends are getting sick. I'm also at an age when fertility is a big issue. If there's anything I can say as someone who was sick for years on end, I can say this: it is worse watching your friends and family go through trauma. It's heartbreaking, makes you feel useless, and does something to you psychologically that I rarely hear people talk about. So walks were essential for me. Sometimes friends joined me (AMAZING times!) and sometimes I walked dogs (animal therapy must be a thing) and sometimes I walked solo. I think walking saved me from losing it. Walking in the snow was great, but I admit that walking in the sunny, unseasonably hot spring was amazing!

Spring arrived and with it came my sister's wedding. On a hot and humid day at the end of May, my sister got married! It was (obviously) a very small affair. In spite of several hiccups (the caterer cancelled about a month before the wedding, the venue made my sister further cut her guest list, etc...), it was very nice. That being said, I wouldn't ever recommend Elsie Perrin Williams Estate as a venue. They were extremely rude and terrible to work with. I don't think I would have been so frustrated if they hadn't charged my sister and brother-in-law $2000CAD for two hours of using the venue if they hadn't been so awful. I'll never support this greedy, money-hungry business. They ruined my sister's day and made her life a nightmare for months. I loathe weddings specifically because of those kinds of interactions. Weddings are a waste of money. My sister and her husband did a lot by themselves, so that they could invest their money where they wanted to: the guests :)

The wedding party (left to right: my sister's best friend from elementary school, college friend, groom, my sister, moi)

Me and my little sister

Although we were missing some very important guests—my mother who has passed away; my father whom, although fully vaccinated, was not allowed to attend (don't even get me started); the Irish chef; and my parents' families and friends—we had a very relaxed out day. The photographer told us that it was the most chilled out wedding he'd ever photographed, lol!

Fast-forward to July and the Irish chef and I had to postpone plans due to Covid. At the time, he couldn't leave Ireland without being fined (all non-essential travel was prohibited). So we just delayed our plans until August...When we would meet again back in Greece. This time, we met up in the airport at Heathrow and boarded the same flight for Crete. I'm going to dedicate a separate post to Greece. Until then, here's a teaser:

Elounda, Crete, Greece