Living With The Giga Rich: A Qatar Memoir

By Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington

LIVING WITH THE GIGA RICH: A QATAR MEMOIR by Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington puts a positive spin on living in the Arab World, as she chronicles her twelve years teaching art to university freshmen in Qatar. 

A twenty-first century storyteller, Ferguson-Huntington weaves a wild, entertaining, and illuminating yarn from her daily life among Middle Eastern royals, where the author came to love the young people who are demonized by Western media. Says Ferguson-Huntington: "My students taught me more than I taught them. It was a totally undreamed-of and transformative experience."

With stories ranging from creating an art car, to dressing up like rabbits, to Arab road rage and ferocious flowers, LIVING WITH THE GIGA RICH reads like a cross between The King and I and Eat Pray Love. It will make you laugh and cry, and see the Middle East with fresh eyes.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington
• Release date: Jun 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201643058

Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington

Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington is a multi-faceted, multi-media artist living in Taos, New Mexico. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master of Arts in Digital Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She first came to Taos on a Wurlitzer Grant. In 2000, she was hired to teach art and design at Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar. She worked for twelve years in Doha and traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, notably trade routes along the Silk Road. In 2012 Kathleenreturned to New Mexico and started a memoir called Living With the Giga Rich: A Qatar Memoir about her time in the Middle East and her experiences teaching; how she empowered her students –often wealthy Arabian royals –by inspiringthem to see, and think, in unaccustomed ways. She felt that thinking creatively was arguably the most important skill to acquire and the hardest to impart. Herself an accomplished multi-media artist, a vast array of her powerfully original work has been included in many exhibitions nationally and internationally including the Whitney Biennial of Contemporary American Art. She hasreceived grants and awards from Ford Motor Company and HSBC Bank International. She has been an artist in residency at The Harwood Foundation of the University of New Mexico, Sanskriti Foundation, Delhi, India, Bait Al Baranda Museum, Muscat, Oman, and Tyrone Guthrie Centre in the Republic of Ireland. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Arizona Republic, Art in America, New Art Examiner, and Art News to name some. Website: kathleenfergusonhuntington.com Instagram: kathleen.ferguson.huntington TicTok: @rancho_rockhenge

Book preview

Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington

With

Dee Axelrod

Copyright November 1, 2019

Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington/Dee Axelrod

Cover Design: Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington / Paul Gutches

Photo of: Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington in costume for a video about the richest woman in the world Miss Nora.

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other without written permission from the publisher.

Ferguson-Huntington, Kathleen 1945-

Axelrod, Dee 1950-

Forward

In one of those rare geographic interchanges where Middle Eastern and Western cultures cross-fertilize, a visiting American teacher is in a prime position to contemplate a variety of conflicting values from a third perspective, one that rises above the demographics to find common ground—what it means to be human. Kathleen Ferguson-Huntington is a keen observer who also happens to be a talented and mature female sculptor, bound and determined to make refreshing limeade out of the bitter limes of divorce and penury.

At the age of fifty, Kathleen boards a plane and flies alone to Doha, Qatar in the Middle East to teach art and cultural history to mixed classes of the giga rich whose lives normally revolve around shopping. Living with the Giga Rich is a vivid and astonishing true story of this American artist’s twelve-year sojourn in a foreign country, rich in humorous vignettes and fantastic descriptions of dramatic costumes, food and décor, of elaborate celebrations through which she twirls with aplomb. Through imaginative assignments like transforming an ordinary vehicle into The Art Car and also by her own modest example, she challenges her students to stand up for themselves and dream big. The results are surprising.

She is in Doha on 9/11 when the Twin Towers come down and Shock and Awe spread a shadow of hate across Iraq. As a former New York artist, Kathleen grieves for the towers themselves, these beautiful icons she contemplated by day and on moonlit nights from the window of her loft in Manhattan.

Whether she is arguing with taxi drivers, helping plumbers, protesting the painting of hallways because it produces toxic fumes, or lending a sympathetic ear to a friend or student, Kathleen is inimitably herself, a strong, independent woman who is loved by her students and respected by the royals and giga rich alike.

Her informed adventures into self-realization and empowerment in a foreign country make for an entertaining and powerful read. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

With loving and support,

Phaedra Greenwood

Author of: Beside The Rio Hondo, North with the Spring and Those Were The Days Life and Love in 1970’s New Mexico

Acknowledgments

Pre-Qatar, enormous thanks to my dear friend Tom DeSmidt, former Associate Dean at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for suggesting that I apply to teach at Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar for the year 2000. For Dean Paul Petrie, who interviewed me for a position in the Foundations Department.

Seikha Moza Al Nasser, and the creation of the Qatar Foundation, has an educational vision in Qatar. Her effort was to bring to locals an experience of a wider world vision. I wouldn’t have had a story to tell without her support for Education City campus, and our university.

In Qatar, early in my writing process, people encouraged me, read the work and/or edited it:

The late Paul Petrie, Robin Featherston, Mary McLaughlin, Precious Lovell, Muqeem Khan, Minakshi Malla, Della Reams, Tammy Moe, Jean Hodges, Treena Crochet, Ruth Beals, Dwight Rose, Li Hon, Victoria Berge, Robert Baxter, Claudia and Peter Rush, Sandra Wilkinson, Dr. Saif Ali Al Hajri, a role model for tireless work, kindness, generosity and care for the environment, which is to this day truly extraordinary.

People who read the early Sand Bar Newsletters, the precursor to this memoir, commented, edited and supported what I was writing: William, Paul and Catherine Wurtz, Bette McAvoy,  Tom and Carla De Smidt, Jena Pincott, Laurie Nobles Munn, Paula Verona, Gretchen Ewert, Wendy Jackman, Peter Frank, Stuart Ferguson, Anna Lisa Marshall, Heidi Jack, Annette Ebert, Kathleen Fluhart, Maureen McCabe, Jeffrey Anderson, Janis Williams, Jerry Neuner, Janet Pierce, Dr. Rebecca Martin, Joann and Tom Sticker, Sandra Lerner.

People in Taos, New Mexico, in Phaedra Greenwood's writing group read the work. Phaedra was our fearless group leader and my mentor. The group members who critiqued the work: Jan Smith, Scott Acher Jones, Abbie Conant, Brinn Colenda, Karen Thibodeau, Louise Deretchin, David Perez and Steven Burgson. For me this meant a full-scale rewrite of my whole book, because their feedback was powerful and insightful. Thanks to Carol Terry who edited the final draft.

As the years wore on I was ready to quit a number of times. Wouldn't you after twenty years? Then an angel appeared in the form of Dee Axelrod, a friend of fifty years. Without her this book would still be languishing in my desk drawer. I didn’t write any more. Dee interviewed me for more details and fleshed it out from there.

Dedicated To Three Icons

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser is one of my world-class idols. She seems to be doing everything all at once–from improving public transportation for foreign workers, establishing the region's first battered women" s shelter to reforming the higher education system, building non-Muslim public places of worship, sponsoring public debates, and serving as a UNESCO special envoy. Focused, energetic and hardworking, she is also the glamorous mother of seven adult children. Without her and the Qatar Foundation, I would not have been in Qatar for the series of grand adventures detailed in this book.

Dr. Saif Al-Hajari is Qatar’s first ecologist, who created an NGO, Friends Of The Environment, in 1992.This organization brings public awareness to many environmental issues. He is a man who lives his Muslim beliefs to the fullest, with a winning smile and an open heart. May he live a long and productive life.

Prof. Paul Petrie (1944-2020) was a true gentleman of impeccable character and manners. In his role as the first Dean of Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, he was considerate to his faculty and students. The school’s interiors were designed by him, to meet the high standards of a contemporary design school. It was a comfortable and splendid environment in which to work. Over twenty years, he was my dear friend. I miss his sound advice and level-headed loving approach to life.

Preface

My memoir is based on the Sandbar Newsletters which were diary notes and short snipers.  These acted as a skeletal structure of my time in Qatar from 2000 to 2012. The word sandbar

refers to the fact that Qatar is a peninsula extending into the Persian Gulf.

The book is organized by subject matter although some chapters have a bit of a timeline. I see the whole as three concentric circles:

1. My new life in Qatar and the recall of many of my teaching experiences as a founding faculty member in a new design school, and Qatar social and historic events not directly related to teaching such as weddings and romances and the war in Iraq.

2. Neighboring Gulf: What happened in Bahrain, UAE and Oman.

3. Other chapters detail events taking place in France and Ireland. I could have included many more countries, but set a limit. I have another book waiting in the wings that include more travel experiences, such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, Japan, China, Nepal, Cambodia, Singapore, Portugal and Belgium.

I thank the heavens for Dee Axelrod, a friend of fifty years, who helped at a time when I was about to give up. This was invaluable. I could not have written another word after twenty years of working on it.

We decided to use an interview technique to flesh out more details of my experiences. She asked me tons of questions and I held forth verbally, relieved not to be writing more. Being an avid dyslexic, this process of writing has been painful. My preference is to be in my art studio creating drawings, paintings, sculptures and costumes.

Prologue: Ketchup

It was an argument on a familiar theme. We had just sat down to dinner when my husband's cell phone rang. He lay down his fork and had a five-minute conversation with a client. I just sat there, hands in my lap, staring at him until he hung up.

Why do we have to have every dinner at home alone constantly interrupted with calls? I asked.

These are business calls, he said avoiding my eyes, digging into the fries.

I clenched my teeth a bit Most people have business hours for business matters. I'd like to have a quiet meal with you. What I get is a cast of phone-call characters competing for your attention at mealtime.

He looked up at the ceiling and clenched his fists.These are important clients.

You couldn’t call them back after dinner?

No.

Sparks started to come out of my ears.The phone matters more to you than I do. You use the speakerphone in your office and I have to listen to the conversations twenty-four seven. You are never present with me. My voice rose, We have more meaningful conversation when you are away and we talk on the phone. I nailed him with a killer look. Maybe we should go ahead and have phone sex as well."

I rose to clear the table. Supper had been hamburger and fries. I grabbed a large plastic bottle of ketchup by the neck. We had reached the boiling point. I tapped the bottle lightly on the table.

Ted got red in the face and announced, I am terminating this conversation!

I raised the bottle over my head and slammed it on the table with great force. Red goop flew into the air and landed on the table, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the lighting fixtures, the kitchen cabinets, the stove, the dog and down the hall clear to the living room. And on him, all over him. The full glory of a tomato sauce blood bath.

We both cleaned up the mess without another word. The five-year marriage was at an end. At the beginning I had hoped we would be married until the end of our days. At forty-eight, after decades of the single life, I longed for deep companionship. Silly me.

My mother was crushed. My dad, who could see the light side of everything, sent me a gift—my wedding picture, the half with my husband in it ripped out and my dog pasted in. Handwritten at the bottom was, Trade in one old dog for a much better one. I worried about Dad who was now eighty-three, thin, frail and barely able to walk. This gift proved that at least his caustic wit was still in tact.

The divorce was very painful. Ted left the house before the divorce even happened. He went to live at one of his other three homes on the East Coast. When the final parting came, I was given a small settlement which would last about two years. I could be an artist in Taos and later, when the money ran out, a bag lady. I applied for 125 college-level teaching jobs in sculpture departments and freshman art foundation departments throughout the country. Although I had taught at numerous art colleges and universities, I had been working alone in my studio, remote from academia, for too many years. Not a single job offer came.

It was time to retool and move on, but I needed a plan.  One afternoon I received a brochure from Maryland Institute College of Art, a place I had sent a job application to. They were starting a new program in digital arts. That could be just what I needed to get up to speed. I laid the brochure down and brightened up. Yes, what I need was a digital arts degree for the 21st century to add to my BFA and MFA degrees.

To apply to the program I would need a digital portfolio. I had just learned how to type using a PC, so I took a digital art class in Adobe Photoshop and bought a Mac. In 1998, I felt like a dinosaur using computer. New Age magic. The process was both exhilarating and frustrating. I only had two months to create my portfolio, so the little dinosaur sat at the computer from morning until night every day until the digital works based on Persian miniatures were completed. With fingers crossed, I sent the portfolio to Baltimore. Within a month I had been accepted into the Digital Arts Program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.  I would learn how to create videos and