Can you point to Qatar on a world map? If you answered no, don’t feel embarrassed because that was my response about four months ago. However, when I received an email saying I had been selected as one of five students from Medill to visit our second campus in Qatar my immediate thought was to accept the opportunity. Now, I can honestly say that this decision was one of the best I have made so far in my life.
Qatar is an Arab country located in the Middle East. The World Cup will be held there in 2022. The Northwestern University building in Qatar is located with other American Universities in a city literally called Education City. These were the three facts I knew about Qatar as I boarded the plane ready for a fourteen-hour flight and my first experience abroad.
Day 1, Sunday March 22:
After landing during the evening on Saturday, Sunday was our first day full of activities. We went on a tour of Education City led by two Northwestern University Qatar students. We visited the Northwestern, Georgetown and Virginia Commonwealth buildings, each devoted to a particular major. The architecture of all the buildings in Education City is spectacular and indescribable. Next, we traveled to Doha to visit some of the tourist sites. One of the highlights of the day was taking pictures at the National Mosque, which is the largest Mosque in Qatar and has the perfect backdrop of downtown Doha. We then ended our tour of Doha with a trip to the Museum of Islamic Art. It was my favorite museum that we visited in Qatar because of its unique structure (the building’s architecture depicts the face of a woman wearing a burka) and the diversity of its art. The pieces included ancient jewels and an entire separate wing for folklores. We finally returned to Education City, and the entire day concluded with a game of dodgeball in the student center. Spoiler alert: I was out fast and dodge balls seriously bruise your arms.
Day 2, Monday March 23:
Each of the Evanston students was paired with a NU-Q student who served as a shadow buddy. My shadow buddy was a freshman named Aisha who was originally from California. Aisha was extremely welcoming and kind throughout my entire stay in Qatar. Our main activity for this day was to spend the day with our shadow buddies and go to their classes with them. I was surprised to see how similar the class structure and teaching methods were to the classes in Evanston. All of the professors were excited to have us introduce ourselves to the NU-Q students, and they were eager to ask us about our lives in Evanston. After an academic filled morning and afternoon, it was time for some fun! NU-Q held its annual dare night. We were divided into teams of five and handed a list of 20 embarrassing dares that each group had to complete as fast as they could before the two-hour time limit. We looked completely ridiculous as we ran and drove around Education City, but we were filled with uncontrollable laughter the entire time. The night concluded with a trip to a tourist site, a market called Souq Waqif. We ate Moroccan food on a rooftop overlooking the entire market with the city surrounding us.
Day 3, Tuesday March 24:
Tuesday was a relaxed day compared to the others. We again attended different NU-Q classes with or without our shadow buddies and had a Gahwa Chat Lunch which consisted of dressing up in cultural attire while asking and answering questions about life at NU-Q and on the Evanston campus. The night was filled with unbelievable luxury. All the Evanston students and their shadow buddies were invited to the residence of the Dean of NU-Q. His residence is located in arguably the most lavish place in Qatar known as the Pearl. The Pearl is a separate strip of land that houses expensive homes and stores. It sparkled as if every building was made of jewels. We were served some of the best food I have ever tasted in the Dean’s gorgeous home and then we walked around the Pearl. We took pictures of expensive boats and cars and even saw one man get out of his Aston Martin in the middle of the street so he could look at a Ferrari. Only in Qatar.
Day 4, Wednesday March 25:
Wednesday was hands down the most adventurous and exciting day of our trip. Our day began with driving in four by fours to a location in the middle of the desert to ride a camel. Yes the day began with a camel ride. The thing I was looking forward to the most throughout the trip was riding a camel. Although he didn’t seem too excited (the camel groaned at me and refused to let me get off after the ride was over), it was an incredible experience. I thought that ride was a little bumpy, so I was not expecting what came next. Since, of course, there is no road in the middle of the desert, each car had to drive on top of the sand dunes. It was an exhilarating experience that felt like a roller coaster in a car. As we clung to each other’s arms and stared out to endless piles of sand, I never felt more afraid and excited in my life. But the day still wasn’t over. Our last daring activity of the day was a dhow boat cruise in the Persian Gulf. We all jumped from the boat’s edge and splashed into the sea. We effortlessly floated over the cool blue waters as the sun set.
Day 5, Thursday March 26:
Our last full day in Qatar was an emotional and glamorous day. In a lecture room, NU-Q students who would be graduating in May stood at a podium and shared their memories over the last four years at NU-Q. With each speaker, the people in the room sobbed and chuckled, imagining the experiences as they were told from each student’s perspective. The seniors ended their speeches by passing on words of wisdom that they wished they knew as incoming students. After the sentimental event, we dried our tears because that night was NU-Q’s Media Awards: NU-Q’s version of the Oscars. We all dressed up in our most dazzling outfits to take pictures and find out who would walk away with the shimmering glass awards. Once all the awards were handed out, it was time to dance. The NU-Q students showed us some cultural dances, and the Evanston students attempted to teach them how to do the wobble. (I didn’t know how to do the wobble and I still don’t so hopefully a video of this does not exist.) We knew this was our last night and we didn’t want it to end, so we decided to go to the NU-Q studio and have a late night jam session. We sang “Blank Space” and “Mr. Brightside” loudly, off pitch and happily into the early hours of the morning.
It feels like my trip to Qatar was an unbelievable dream from a distant past. It was an absurd reality that I will never forget along with the people I met in that beautiful country.
Photos by Ariana Brockington