Walking across the central courtyard of the College to meetings. The birds are always chirping madly in the palm trees above and students and faculty are sitting around the reflecting pools. There’s always a slight breeze blowing which makes it increasingly more pleasant as the daytime temperatures continue their slow movement downward into the high twenties. Most days, I revel in these walks and still can’t quite believe I am here.
The way the security guards in my building are always smiling and singing and saying hello and goodbye whenever they see you.
How unfailingly polite and nice Qataris are. They always hold the door for you when you are entering or leaving a building behind them and never once has anyone failed to say thank you when I have held the door for them. We have wonderful conversations with Qataris who serve us at the QTel store or colleagues at work. I am learning a lot about their culture and how they live and it’s so interesting.
How I can attend lunch time yoga and zumba and other exercises classes free and they’re just across one of the many beautiful courtyards on campus.
That we get daily garbage collection in the compound.
Ditto for our water cooler bottles.
The wonderful perfumes that male and female Qataris wear.
That it only costs $10 to fill up our car when it is on empty – and every gas station is full service. I can’t even remember the last time someone filled up my gas tank in Canada.
That there are so many different cultures living here that a trip to the supermarket means you hear at least five languages as you buy your groceries.
That John can get all of his shirts and suits laundered and pressed and/or dry cleaned for such a pittance that it’s really not worth my while spending any time on such things. Next expense: Once a week cleaner and then I truly will be a lady of leisure when I return from work.
That we get home from work at 3:30 every day and seem to be able to accomplish a lot, including dinner, all before 6 p.m. Of course we’re at work by 7 every day but this suits the morning person I am.
How friendly and helpful everyone is. Everyone has been through the expat move and transition so they have many suggestions, ideas, and pieces of advice.
That you have to check any shopping bags with a security person when you enter a store. I like not having to lug around my packages. Of course, this makes you realize why shopping is the official sport of Qatar – malls are always busy. You forgot how many bags you have until you have to claim them again!
How happy Kate is here. Can’t even begin to list all the things she loves about being in Doha. Latest hobby: Learning sign language from a new friend.
Wandering around the souq areas rather than the malls. Haven’t done enough of this yet but we’re starting to get a sense of where everything is and a colleague took me to some neat little places last night that I will enjoy poking around in when I have more time.
That you can get your car washed while you shop in the mall. Just park your car in any stall and tell the attendant you want your car washed. While you shop, someone will do it for you (by hand) and its costs around $5 (including a good tip).
The incredible mix of food and the mix of ancient and modern all around us.
That we are part of building a country that has ambitious plans and the money and will to make it happen – it has transformed itself in a very short amount of time.
That education is the cornerstone of just about everything Qatar does – I’m soooo happy to be back working with people who value education. Didn’t realize quite how wearing it was to feel like I constantly had to convince some of my clients that learning was a good investment.
That I can drive out into the desert to buy tropical plants for my house at a huge green house operation where it feels like you are walking through a rain forest.
That I drive down the highway and see camels grazing at the side of the road and not cattle! Or course it’s all beige and I miss the green but seeing the camels gives you a jolt and reminds you that you are halfway around the world.
Hearing all of my colleagues’ stories of countries they have visited and adventures they have had.
Being so close to so many countries and planning our November Eid trip to Oman and Christmas in Italy. The more I hear, the more it hits me that Canada is just in the middle of nowhere! It takes so long (and so much money) for us to get anywhere from Canada. Here, I can be sipping tea in Mumbai in three hours or buying a carpet in Istanbul six hours after leaving Doha. So many countries, so little time…
Editing the College Social Committee newsletter (yes, I volunteered!). I get to find out cool stuff that’s going on at the College and in Doha before everyone else!
I think the list is long enough for now. Hope everyone is doing well wherever you may be. This weekend we plan on taking lots of photos so my next blog will be fewer words, more visuals.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Doha Dozen
Stories abound of people arriving in Doha and being so overwhelmed with the newness of everything that it's hard to stick to your healthy eating habits. Hence the pervasive story of 'the Doha dozen' - a dozen pounds that you will gain in your first few months. I am determined not to be a victim of the Doha dozen. While I can say I am doing well so far, it's also true that I'm not making any progress the other way either!
We had what I'm calling our medical adventure last Thursday. This consisted of blood tests (one vial of blood as in your annual physical), a chest x-ray, and another pink prick blood sample from which they do blood typing. This all sounds quite reasonable, right? And in Canada all of this would take about half an hour. Here it took 8 hours which mainly consisted of Kate and I being shunted around from waiting room to waiting room (sometimes returning to the same waiting room several times) before finally having the blood work and x ray 6 hours later. Meanwhile John, who was with the men, got done about 3 hours before us and had to wait in a bus until we were done. And then we had to take the bus to another clinic to have our blood typing done. I have no idea why they couldn't do it all in the same place, especially given the sign in one room of the first medical centre that said 'Blood Typing'. Needless to say the group of women we were with began to get punchy into our fifth hour, at which point we were wondering if pap smears in the cafeteria would be next! We did have a lot of laughs as you simply can't rush anything over here. Kate was completely perplexed when we ended up in the same waiting room for the third time (they had lost our pictures - don't ask) and I found myself shrugging at her questions, saying only in s'hallah (pardon the spelling). When in Doha...
I did try to post a blog earlier this week consisting mainly of pictures but then a notice in Arabic appeared across my screen and I wondered it I wasn't allowed to send them. However I asked one of my new Qatari colleagues about it today and she assured me it was just because it made my blog too big! See below our trip to Souq Waqif for Kate's birthday and I will post more next time of our house, compound, etc.
Kate's first day of school was yesterday and she met kids from many countries and had a great time. After today at school she told me she wants to stay here forever! Given teenage girls' tendency to exaggerate, I will take it with a grain of salt for now but we are really happy that Kate is happy. She is also building herself a nice little babysitting business here on the compound, earning 200 riyals last Thursday night (about $50) with calls coming in fast and furious for this weekend already. Everyone with young children try to firm up babysitters among the teenagers as quickly as possible, and people at the College I don't even know come up to me saying, Don't you have a 12 year old daughter? Does she babysit? Can I have her number? All this while they look furtively around ensuring no one else will scoop her up.
Last Thursday night we were invited to our first TAIT party (Thank Allah It's Thursday - the weekend is Friday and Saturday here).We had a great time - every one is very friendly and helpful as they have all been through this. On Friday we went rug shopping as I am beginning to decorate our villa to make it more homey and we found a nice Persian rug in cream and maroon. On Saturday we took Spoily Dog to Al Wakra Beach, a popular place for dog lovers here. It will be a great place to take her for long runs with the ball once the temperature cools to the mid-twenties between mid-October and April.
I am signing up for softball next week (mixed league with mainly Americans and Canadians) and Kate will either sign up for that too (kids league) or baseball, all run through the American School of Doha. Also doing Zoomba and Aquasize at the College (all free to employees). We have a week off in November for Eid Al Adha so we are going to a resort in Muscat, Oman for snorkeling, etc. For Christmas we are meeting my parents, John's parents, and Ryan in Rome with side trips to Florence and Pompeii. Can't wait to take advantage of how central we are to everything here!
Well this is getting long so I will sign off with a reminder that to post comments you need to register ( see bottom of page). You can also sign up for email alerts (right on page) so you know when I've posted.
Hope everyone is enjoying anticipating the snow (evil, I know, but I couldn't resist!).
We had what I'm calling our medical adventure last Thursday. This consisted of blood tests (one vial of blood as in your annual physical), a chest x-ray, and another pink prick blood sample from which they do blood typing. This all sounds quite reasonable, right? And in Canada all of this would take about half an hour. Here it took 8 hours which mainly consisted of Kate and I being shunted around from waiting room to waiting room (sometimes returning to the same waiting room several times) before finally having the blood work and x ray 6 hours later. Meanwhile John, who was with the men, got done about 3 hours before us and had to wait in a bus until we were done. And then we had to take the bus to another clinic to have our blood typing done. I have no idea why they couldn't do it all in the same place, especially given the sign in one room of the first medical centre that said 'Blood Typing'. Needless to say the group of women we were with began to get punchy into our fifth hour, at which point we were wondering if pap smears in the cafeteria would be next! We did have a lot of laughs as you simply can't rush anything over here. Kate was completely perplexed when we ended up in the same waiting room for the third time (they had lost our pictures - don't ask) and I found myself shrugging at her questions, saying only in s'hallah (pardon the spelling). When in Doha...
I did try to post a blog earlier this week consisting mainly of pictures but then a notice in Arabic appeared across my screen and I wondered it I wasn't allowed to send them. However I asked one of my new Qatari colleagues about it today and she assured me it was just because it made my blog too big! See below our trip to Souq Waqif for Kate's birthday and I will post more next time of our house, compound, etc.
Kate's first day of school was yesterday and she met kids from many countries and had a great time. After today at school she told me she wants to stay here forever! Given teenage girls' tendency to exaggerate, I will take it with a grain of salt for now but we are really happy that Kate is happy. She is also building herself a nice little babysitting business here on the compound, earning 200 riyals last Thursday night (about $50) with calls coming in fast and furious for this weekend already. Everyone with young children try to firm up babysitters among the teenagers as quickly as possible, and people at the College I don't even know come up to me saying, Don't you have a 12 year old daughter? Does she babysit? Can I have her number? All this while they look furtively around ensuring no one else will scoop her up.
Last Thursday night we were invited to our first TAIT party (Thank Allah It's Thursday - the weekend is Friday and Saturday here).We had a great time - every one is very friendly and helpful as they have all been through this. On Friday we went rug shopping as I am beginning to decorate our villa to make it more homey and we found a nice Persian rug in cream and maroon. On Saturday we took Spoily Dog to Al Wakra Beach, a popular place for dog lovers here. It will be a great place to take her for long runs with the ball once the temperature cools to the mid-twenties between mid-October and April.
I am signing up for softball next week (mixed league with mainly Americans and Canadians) and Kate will either sign up for that too (kids league) or baseball, all run through the American School of Doha. Also doing Zoomba and Aquasize at the College (all free to employees). We have a week off in November for Eid Al Adha so we are going to a resort in Muscat, Oman for snorkeling, etc. For Christmas we are meeting my parents, John's parents, and Ryan in Rome with side trips to Florence and Pompeii. Can't wait to take advantage of how central we are to everything here!
Well this is getting long so I will sign off with a reminder that to post comments you need to register ( see bottom of page). You can also sign up for email alerts (right on page) so you know when I've posted.
Hope everyone is enjoying anticipating the snow (evil, I know, but I couldn't resist!).
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