Hello family and friends!
It’s been seven months since my last entry. Hopefully I have enough fresh content to keep
my blog interesting. This entry won’t
have any particular theme, but will jump around to topics that I think are
interesting and I hope you will too.
I’ve also included some miscellaneous photos of Doha,
Dubai and Abu
Dhabi.
I’ve been here just over a year now, and Pleunette joined me
a couple of months ago. I do not miss the
single life!
What does one do in Qatar?
For a country of such a small population of 2 million, there
is a surprising number of world-class events, especially in the winter when the
weather is excellent. Examples include:
- Sarah Brightman and Tom Jones performed here last fall.
- A touring company of Cirque du Soleil performed for several weeks recently.
- The Tour of Qatar is a major international bicycle race.
- We recently attended a lecture by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, on the future of the Internet.
- There was recently a major exhibit by the famed British artist Damien Hirst (some of it was very interesting, and some of it was out-and-out weird).
- The first race on the international Moto GP motorcycle racing circuit is held here every year.
- In January there was an exhibition match between two very famous soccer teams, Real Madrid and Paris St. Germain.
- There are big annual men’s and women’s tennis tournaments that attract the world’s top players.
- We recently saw the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra perform in the gorgeous (and of course brand spanking new) Doha Opera House.
- There was a major international equestrian competition here last month.
- There is an excellent 18-hole course at the Doha Golf Club (not to mention a decent bar).
- The Red Bull Flugtag competition was held here last November (not familiar with it? Search “Flugtag” on YouTube – very entertaining!).
- The Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows jet aerobatic team performed over Doha Bay last fall.
- World-class speedboat competitions are held in the Bay every year.
- Water sports are very popular (although the water is just too warm in the summer to be refreshing).
- Like dune-bashing? There are heaps of dunes south of the city for 4-wheeling.
- Both horse and camel races are popular in the fall and winter. The camel jockeys are robots.
And eating is high on everyone’s list of favorite
activities. There are many excellent
restaurants of every imaginable cuisine.
I’ve heard it said by many people that it’s impossible to lose weight
here.
Expat(riate) life
One big attraction of living in the region is the expat
community. Since virtually everyone we
meet is from abroad, everyone is far from home, family and friends.
Since we’re all forced out of our comfort zones, it tends to
make everyone outgoing. And since
they’re here, they’re probably interested in foreign travel, so we’re
constantly exchanging stories of our last vacation trips and where we hope to
go next (see next). Americans are very
much a minority. Brits are the largest
contingent, and there are sizable groups of French, Australian, South African,
Canadian, Indian, non-Qatari Arab, etc., professionals and their families.
Travel opportunities
and plans
One of the major attractions of Qatar to us and most of our friends
is the plentiful travel opportunities.
We are situated at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa. Europe is 6-7 hours away, Bangkok
is 6 hours away, Istanbul
is 4 hours away. So far we’ve visited Thailand, Abu Dhabi
and Dubai, and plans for later this year include
Turkey and possibly Spain, plus a
trip home to the States. High on our
list while we are here are Jordan,
India, Oman, Tanzania,
Sri Lanka and Bali. I’m not
sure we’ll be here long enough to see them all, but it’s fun to dream. And all of our friends travel extensively, so
we’re often hearing about their experiences and updating our bucket list
accordingly. (To be honest, one of the
reasons expats like to leave here is the summers are so darned hot).
Driving so far
In my first year of living alone, my sole transportation
need was getting to and from work. I met
a taxi driver who’s reliable and safe, so he takes me to and from work every
day. Taxis in Doha are plentiful and inexpensive. I got my Qatar drivers license last summer,
expecting to buy or lease a car once Pleunette arrived, but I still haven’t got
a car. For the first time in 40 years I
haven’t owned a car, and to tell you the truth, the lack of stress is
refreshing. No driving in crazy traffic, no maintenance,
no repairs, no parking hassles, no car washes…I’m sure this won’t last.
More miscellaneous
observations
- I still haven’t seen a mosquito here.
- I still haven’t found Grape Nuts in the grocery stores.
- Chevrolets are more common here than in California (also Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Porsches…)
- Speaking of cars, I’ve never seen a hybrid. Of course, since gas is about $1/gallon, there isn’t a lot of thought given to conserving fuel.
- I think whoever owns the local Toyota dealership must be the wealthiest person in the country. It seems every Qatari family owns at least one white Toyota Land Cruiser.
- Lipton’s is the most popular tea in the region. Good old boring American Lipton’s. And they do love their tea out here.
- McDonald’s delivers.
- ATM’s are everywhere, and there’s never a service charge for withdrawing money.
- There is a very active Christian community here. There is a complex of 5 churches of various denominations somewhat hidden on the outskirts of the city. We were there during Easter services on Friday 4/19 (this being a Muslim country, Friday is like Sunday), and the churches were jammed.
Photos
Below are a few of the more interesting photos I've taken since my last
blog entry:
Qatar
An unusual foggy morning
The Tour of Qatar
A top powerboat racer
The tough commuting life
Evening prayer in Qatar's State Mosque
The Red Arrows over Doha
Shortly before the Qatar Open women's tennis final
A stadium under construction for the 2022 football World Cup
Christmas carols from the Filipino staff of an Italian restaurant
Dubai
The Burj Khalifa by day
And by night
Dancing fountains at the foot of the Burj Khalifa
Looking down from the Burj Khalifa
The center of the 1500-store Dubai Mall
A chrome-plated Rolls-Royce
A Dubai metro station
Abu Dhabi
Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the 3rd largest mosque in the world
The interior - absolutely stunning!
