Enjoying the flight
As soon as we arrived, we went to our new home. We are living in Education City Community Housing Compound Number 1. Which was built after Education City Community Housing Compound Number 2. This is just one of many things that makes no sense to me whatsoever in Doha. We will go over more of those later!
We showered and went to the Ritz Carlton, which was having a big Ramadan Suhour. This is a large, opulent tent set up with large buffets, beautiful flowers and decorations and entertainment. It was beautiful. Exactly what you picture when you think of Arabia.
We only made it a couple of hours at the party before we had to go home and go to sleep!
Luckily Keith had the next two days off to help Max and I acclimate to the new atmosphere. On our first day, we went shopping at Carrefore.....a large "everything" market kind of like a Super Target. Almost everything is closed due to Ramadan but these food shops are open. Finding things were quite a challenge--cereal in aisle 1 and then some more cereal in aisle 10. We couldn't fine Max's favorite--Cherrios. So we settled on "Honey Roundies". Which have been rejected by Max. So we are now trying out some cornflakes as a favorite snack!
It's been a whirlwind with some days being great and others being not so great. The great thing is, there are so many expats here that it's a cinch to meet people from all over the world. And Doha is fairly small (at least by Chicago standards) so I've already started running into people I know.
One our first weekend here, Keith had several days off for the Eid holiday so we spent some time at the beach--Sealine Beach Resort. It was very fun because there were so many families and things to look at.
Just your typical day at the beach!
The Persian Gulf pretty much looks like every other sea!
Max had a few issues with the Bouncy House
Keith has been working very hard trying to get a staff for his department and I've immersed myself in being a stay at home mom, which has been quite the shock to the system. There are so many families and children here that it's almost overwhelming how much there is to do. My schedule for the week?
Sunday (the work week is Sunday through Thursday here): Playgroup at Angela's House in the morning, home for lunch and then nap and playground in the afternoon
Monday: medical tests in the morning (to live in Qatar you have to test negative for HIV and TB), playground, lunch and then Music 4 Me Mom and Tots group in the afternoon.
Tuesday: Swimming lesson for Max in the morning, home for lunch, nap and playground with friends in the afternoon
Wednesday: Expat Women Coffee Group meeting in the morning, Circus land bouncy house and rides, home for lunch and nap and playground in the afternoon.
Thursday: Painting class with Elisa and her kids in the morning, playground in the afternoon
friday --the weekend begins!
Sound exhausting? It is. There are times I feel being an investment banker would be easier and certainly more relaxing.
Okay I promised some fun facts about Doha that are so different than our culture.
1) As mentioned, the work week is Sunday through Thursday. The holy day is friday and many things are closed. It is a good time to practice driving if you are new to the roads because they are empty for much of the morning.
2) Muslims pray 5 times per day. When it is prayer time, mosques typically broadcast prayer time via loudspeakers--called the call to prayer. Most of the time you don't notice, but every afternoon at sundown, max and I hear a nearby mosque's music and arabic singing. I've grown to like the sound. Similarly, if you are listening to the radio, the prayer time will be broadcast.
3) The radio stations come from Dubai so depending on the wind, sometimes the signal is quite strong, sometimes it is faint and staticy. The stations seem to change at the drop of a hat, as well. One minute you will be listening to Micheal Jackson's Thriller, the next minute it's Jessica Simpson singing "These boots are made for walkin'" or some other country western song and a minute later it is a French song. There is no sense to this.
4) I have yet to EVER call anywhere (i.e. a swimming pool or activity center or doctor) and had someone answer it the first 3 times I call. And there is no voicemail anywhere. Including my husband's office.
5) Every single local Qatari seems to have a Land Cruiser. Every time I drive, I have a large, white Land Cruiser behind me, flashing the brights and banging the horn, telling me to move over.
6) Going through a yellow light can result in a 2000 QR ticket (roughly $600).
5) No one knows street names or directions like we think of directions. It's all based on landmarks (which is pretty difficult considering everything is beige). A sampling of some directions that I got recently...."go straight and cross three speed bumps, take a left after the 3rd speed bump, pass through two roundabouts and make a left after passing the dumpster on the right". A literally every single road looks the same, beige. Some of the roads are dirt roads with no signs whatsoever!
6) Shops are grouped together based on what they sell or service the offer. There is a street not too far from us that has at least 30 car washes lined up in a row.
7) When you park at one of the many malls, you can pay a man to wash your car for you while you shop.
8) Traffic makes no sense. Sometimes it's bad at 8am, sometimes, noon, sometimes 3pm, sometimes at 6. No one ever knows when it will be bad, hence people are late all the time.
9) When you buy a car, there is no negotiating and no test driving. the price is the price.
10) The sun sets at 5:30 for most of the year. This was a bummer to find out, since I am used to Chicago summer setting of 9pm!
11) It gets so humid that water runs down your living room windows
12) There is a HUGE stray cat problem. In the past week, I have hit and killed two kittens. Well, to be fair, keith hit the first one.
13) They love children here. Max has been followed and touched by hundreds of people, all ready to pinch his cheeks!
More to come. I leave you with this. max in dad's office. Looks like he is upset that there is so much work to do!
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