Charles and Victoria Bleick relaxing at the Diplomatic Club in
Doha (left) and visiting Tehran, Iran (right).
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Making a Life in the Middle East
After a three-decade career, most people are thinking about retirement,
but Charles and Victoria (Alter) Bleick decided it was time for
a little adventure. They traded a familiar life in Richmond, Virginia,
for life in the desert in Doha, Qatar.
Charles (BA, Art, ’67; MA, Art, ’70) accepted a position
as the associate dean of academic affairs at Virginia Commonwealth
University School of the Arts in Qatar. Before leaving for the
Middle East in August 2004, he had spent nearly 29 years teaching
art education at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
When Charles was in graduate school at CSU, Chico, he served as
graduate assistant to the university president, Robert E. Hill.
He attributes his success in higher education to what he learned
about higher education administration during that time, saying, “I
often gauge my decisions on what Dr. Hill might have done in the
same situations.”
Victoria (BA, English, ’67) works as a library specialist
in visual resources in the VCU library in Qatar. She had spent
27 years in Virginia employed by the Southern Baptist Convention
Foreign Mission Board as manager for photo services.
Charles first visited VCU Qatar, which offers degree programs in
fashion, interior, and graphic design to female students, shortly
after Sept. 11, 2001. He was intrigued by the experiences of his
VCU colleagues in Doha. “Even with the unrest in this part
of the world at that time, all of the members of the faculty rejected
the opportunities to return home until everything settled down,” he
says.
Now he and Victoria are “active members of the diverse expatriate
community” in Doha, and they too choose to stay, even in
the face of escalating tensions in the Middle East. “We have
chosen to stay in Qatar because we have become part of an international
community that can make a difference to the young people in this
part of the world,” says Charles.
“Fortunately, the escalations of the conflicts in this part
of the world have not affected our lives in Qatar,” he adds. “Like
most of you in the states, we read about the conflict in the newspaper.
However, I know that the conflicts have affected the lives of some
of our faculty and students who are from the countries that have
been involved in the conflicts. When the subject of the war in
Iraq comes up, the nationals and expats alike express opposition
to the U.S. actions and attempts to impose U.S.-type democracy
on countries in this part of the world.”
The opposition to U.S. actions hasn’t affected the Bleicks’ reception
by the people in the Middle East. “As U.S. citizens traveling
in this region, Vicky and I have always been treated with respect,” says
Charles. They have met educators in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan,
Kuwait, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, and traveled
as tourists in Morocco and Iran.
It took a while for the Bleicks to adjust to life in Qatar—which
is much more fast-paced than life was in Richmond. The residents
of Qatar have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world,
and Doha is rapidly transforming from a small village into a modern
banking and business center. “Intense is the word I would
use to describe the day-to-day pace of life,” says Charles. “During
much of the year, the heat is oppressive, the local music on the
radio has an emphatic beat, the drivers cannot seem to get to where
they are going fast enough, and the bargaining is relentless.”
In spite of the rapid modernization of the country, tradition is
very important in Qatar. “They are proud to be Arabs and
show it in their traditional dress, respect for family, relationships
with outsiders, and reserved attitudes toward the West,” says
Charles. He and Victoria say they are always aware that they are
guests in Qatar and try to respect the people and culture.
“There are many surprises in living and working overseas,” adds
Victoria. “We have learned to be patient and flexible.”
Anna Harris, Public Affairs and Publications
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