I can't tell you how many times I've heard expats in Doha say that life here would be unbearable without the Doha Rugby Football Centre (aka DRFC, we call it a "centre" because we're not allowed to call it a club). I'm not sure if I would say it would be unbearable but it would certainly be different... and not for the better. I think I've actually only ever posted about the rugby club once in the last 3 years which is by no means a representation of a) the amount of time I spend there on a weekly basis or b) the significance it has in my life here in Doha. This last fall/spring rugby season takes the cake in terms of the number of trips I would make per week to the club - Monday and Wednesday was women's rugby training, Tuesday was Gaelic Football training, and Saturday was the weekly Touch Rugby social league. Add on top of that an average of one night out a week and sometimes an extra trip on a Friday or Saturday for a bbq and lounging by the pool and that's the vast majority of the mileage I've put on my car since I moved from my old compound (Samriya, which shared a wall with the club) to my new-ish one, Education City Community Housing (a 12-20 minute drive depending on traffic and which way you were going).
Other than cycling, the rugby club was my only form of organized sport in Doha. Anybody who's known me for any amount of time knows that I simply cannot survive without some sort of organized sports team or endeavor. In fact, I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't belong to some sports team or club. I've been swimming and playing soccer since I was 3/4 and I've been playing organized sports ever since. Sports teams have always been my means by which to make friends and my closest ones are almost always those with whom I've played sports. But that's not the point. The rugby club is much more than an organized sports team for me. It's my lifeline to the world outside of Qatar Foundation. I realized early on that in order to survive, I needed to socialize with people other than my coworkers all the time. Don't get me wrong - I love my coworkers. But I just can't be around them all the time. The vast majority of the women I play rugby with are primary and secondary school teachers and I can count on two hands the number of people associated with Qatar Foundation who belong to the club out of nearly 1000 members. The fact that when I go to training or go out for a drink at the club and can be assured that I won't get into a conversation about work is more than refreshing. It's restorative. It's vital to my mental and emotional well-being. I love my work and I love talking about my work, but I'm convinced that talking about things other than work with people other than those with which I work (and have very different experiences in life, particularly in Doha) is absolutely essential to having a realistic picture of how the world works. It's so easy to get caught in the higher education bubble, especially as a student affairs professional, and it happens just as easily (if not more!) here in Doha as it does in the US. The vast majority of expats in Doha experience the country and its people (citizens and non) in a VERY different way than we do from QF, especially the branch campuses. A lot of people at the branches like to complain about how hard it is to do their job. They have nothing on what some of the teachers in this country have to deal with. As if my own mother weren't living proof of it, I'm convinced to this day that the occupation which demands the most patience of any job on the planet is being a primary & secondary school teachers. And because I interact with them on a regular basis, I feel like my perspective on education in this country is entirely different than it would have been had I not.
But my teammates and friends have taught me a lot more than just about working in Doha. I have teammates who are fresh out of college. I have teammates who are in their late 20's and early 30's and still love being single, independant, socially and physically active women. I have teammates in their 30's (and one who recently turned 40) who have husbands and kids and are able to balance a job, a family, and still be active and pursue the kinds of things they have always pursued that keep them happy and healthy (like being on a sports team, something I've always dreaded would be impossible after a certain age... secretly hoping I never reached it). One of my greatest fears in life is that I would be forced to give up my active lifestyle at some point because I would succumb to the pressures of being an "adult" (which I still don't believe I am fully, by the way) and have to deal with all the aspects of life that come with that. If there's any encouragement that these things are possible, it comes from my teammates. They've taught me how to laugh, how to take myself a little less seriously, how to love, how to put others first (rugby in general is the only sport I've ever played that forces you to learn this... if you don't, you get really, seriously injured), how to encourage and support, how to "come as you are," how to love others who come as they are, and what it means to sacrifice by giving me a reason to do just that.
Really, DRFC is like no other sports group I've ever been a part of. There's a richness of life and a strength of relationships that's absolutely unmatched in anything I've ever experienced before, which is saying a lot coming from someone who's played every organized sport on the planet. Because of that, it's hard for me to imagine anything in New York or in the distant future that could possibly compare to what I've received from being a part of this club.
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