Blog posts about my experiences at Qatar Academy, before, during, and after my twelve-day incarceration in a Doha jail in May 2013 for allegedly insulting Islam.
In Feb. 2013, I turned down a, international teaching job offer to follow through with my plans to return to Nepal for good, after more than two decades abroad. I had many reasons for doing so. One was to see if Nepal was still my home, and, if not, if I could make it my home.
Music stirs you, in ways and for reasons one might not even understand. It had been stirring me since my traumatic, despair-filled days in Doha jail, except I didn't know why. Thanks to a welcome address given by a musician, describing how and why music does stirs you deeply, I do now.
Following a traffic accident, when the other party, unable to get their way, though they were at fault, lodged a "case" against me with the police. When I was told that, I was scared. I didn't know that the trauma of incarceration in Qatar had also engendered another feeling: fear of police cases and the the police.
A few heart-warming messages from Qatar Academy and a very surprising communication from the student whose father got me fired from my job and incarcerated.
Another way the universe appeared to have conspired to send me home was the racism it sent my way! ;) I experienced a lot of harassment and abuse from locals in Baku as well as in Doha. I was also profiled by establishments in both the cities angering me greatly and compounding my depression, as well as adding to my weariness with moving and traveling. Nepal's attractiveness had been increasing steadily.
Was the universe putting obstacles in my way to direct me homewards? While I enjoyed both teaching and traveling, issues at work and outside -- especially ones based on my nationality and/or skin color -- were making it harder and harder for me to continue to do so. With time, I also discovered my options for places I could seek work decreasing. I even lost a job!