“Abdulla, you’re going to America”

Abdulla and others learning about the effects of the oil spill

In the class I stared at the board, my eyes glazed over, my face blank, I wished this day would be over and things were about to get worse.

Suddenly, a teacher appeared in front of me and announced that the principal wanted to see me. The first that came to mind was: “BUSTED!”

As I walked slumped over, to the principal’s office thinking my life is over, I entered the room and there sat the head honcho twirling is mustache, giving me these weird looks and then he said it: “Abdulla, you’re going to America.”

I was speechless, I walked out of that room and felt the rush, ecstatically, I roared “You’re all invited to TGI Fridays, I’m going to America! Mohmoud’s paying the bill!”

I landed in America, my feet touching it’s marble, pleased and smiling and was greeted by Maggie and friends who welcomed us to the US….

“I realized how big the universe is and how small our minds are”

Mahmoud with Shira and Abdulla

When I first knew that students from America were coming to Qatar, I thought that they will come and leave in no time, and we will forget them like nothing happened, but fortunately I was wrong. The 7 days they spent in Qatar were like 7 weeks! They were really attached to me and I was really attached to them. We became really close to each other and that changed the way I think. Now I’m more social than ever and get to know people really fast. I know that Americans are more than what we see in Hollywood or in Media. I realized how big the universe is and how small our minds are, and no matter what, people always should respect each other and that’s what I saw in the BAA and DC students and chaperons— how they respected us and respected our religion, like when the American female students wore more conservative dresses than they usually wear in the US to make us more comfortable. I also learned that it doesn’t matter what my religion is when it comes to friendship, you become a friend with someone because you love him, not because of his religion or where he lives.