Tuesday, April 8 - Isabell writes:

After enduring a ridiculously long flight and almost 25 hours of transit, our arrival to Qatar was met with the smiling faces of our hosts in Qatar.  They greeted us with kisses on each cheek, exclaiming how excited they were to finally get to meet us. Apparently, we’ve been the talk of the high school for the past few weeks, and it absolutely showed by the number of messages my host sister received asking whether or not I had arrived. Walking into the home I was amazed by the interesting decorations:  the walls were painted bright colors and the furniture was adorned with beautifully patterned drapes and majestic looking pillows. We were treated to a light dinner of makeshift pizza sliders and spicy sauce topped bread. Ustez says it’s called Maraquish, but I’m not actually sure. After chatting for while, I was showed to my room, then went to bed with high expectations for the next day.