Six Months On....Where's it Gone!?

Hi all!

Yes I know it has been a long time, I won't lie I have been putting this off due to the amount I have to write about! But I have listened to your calls for another so here it is! Funny how my life seams like a reality TV show these days! So without further adue...The last 5 month of my life!

January 2013

So I suppose January is the place to begin! Christmas was over, and people started to return from the Christmas holidays. This was one of the hardest months I think I have ever had to do! Already down since the Xmas celebrations and on the back of my mind the thought that my birthday is coming and again I am to be pretty much all alone out here!

But as the month progressed the work piled on, I started to become more accustomed to the ways of an engineer and before I knew it BOOM.....It was my Birthday!
Friday the 30th.....Edward Maya DJing at Crystal....and WHAT A NIGHT!!!

I felt like a fresher again....although well haha first errrmm cultural difference.....turns out being drunk and  drawing a penis on a dusty car isn't as funny out here.....police.....warning.....lesson learnt! But hey we all gotta test the boundaries a little and I am NEVER doing it again!!!!

But what can I say as far as birthdays go it was damm good although probably the most expensive night EVER...I woke up the equivalent of 300 quid down and very very ill!!!!!

The following day I was going to my first every Brunch! This was very exciting and only QR300 ($60) by Dollar I mean UK Pound...I have no pound sign on my arabic keyboard so you will just have to deal with it!

Now for those of you who don't know brunch let me educate you....four or five hours usually around 11 - 4 ALL YOU CAN EAT and ALL YOU CAN DRINK!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!! Well at least it should have been, given my condition this is not what I needed in the hungover mess I was!

The smell of alcohol was to hard to bear..and i was sick...alot...bad times; better yet the first brunch with all the other grads from work.....great impression or what ehh! Haha that said, the guys were great and even arranged a little birthday cake surprise! Really really nice and thoughtful...Thanks Guys loved it! The only downside to this was that I was so ill and embarrassed that i couldn't eat it for fear of vomiting again all I could do was smile sheepishly in the corner before running off to the loo again! again lesson number 2.... NOT a fresher anymore!

February

Now february for me was the best month I have had here in the middle east....for one reason.....the beautiful Kirsty Hill was coming to town! (No I apologise the following few paragraphs are gonna be soppy so you don't like skip em lol)! Friday the 8th of Feburary she was arriving into sunny Doha..so there I was at the airport at 20:00 waiting for her to arrive as per her schedule......21:00........22:00..........23:00...Landed........00:00.......01:00.....00:45 she was here!!!!! Now I can't even begin to describe the excitement that rushed through me that moment she walked out of the airport doors! I was happy, tearful, ecstatic, grumpy, tired but she was here with me at long last!!!!

Now what I didn't expect was that as a birthday present she bought me over the second favorite thing in my life...my Guitar! Thanks baby, LEGEND!

So there we were back at mine chilling, then in Doha touring the sites just enjoying the mild winter weather (Something I never thought I would say!) and in the souk...who appeared!? Only mother Gill Billy....Kirsty's Mum and oh look her father too! Sneakily they had paid a visit to Doha to surprise us and well they achieved it! So lunch at Souk Waqif and what a fantastic day!

Later that night we returned to experience the Souk Spring Festival! Now this was amazing!!!! There were giant slinky people performing, people being shot from cannons, outdoor wind tunnel skydiving and get this...they built a dolphin arena to have a dolphin show....now that is how to put on a show! Best night in Qatar EVER!

I had never seen a giant dancing slinky before but hey one to tick off the list!

The following day we went to get a dhow ride and so went to the Dhow harbour...and for the first time ever no one wanted to take us out! But that said eventually we found a crew who would...well said they would..but this is Doha so nothing really works out as it should! So there they were Captain Mohammed and the Motley crew, piled us onto a boat...(not a dhow) and shipped us off to the island in the middle of the corniche....lots of sand...oh and this great sign:

No Mr Turtle you must leave!!! 

But nothing else, so although we had a great view of West Bay we left slightly disappointed we couldn't go on a Dhow...and that my friends is when thing completely changed! Whats this speed boat coming towards us....oh its only Captain Mohammed in his F1 power boat! Haha and then he says jump in we go for a ride! AMAZING!!!! That thing had power and wow now we were talking.....as we were gliding across the waves at what felt like a million miles an hour I couldn't believe what had just happened! Next thing we know, hes letting us drive! So Kirsty jumped on and proceeded to drive us home..ONLY IN QATAR but wow incredible!!!!!

The following few days were relatively quiet until Valentines Day....in Dubai! For me this is the most incredible, romantic day I have ever experienced! Now Dubai what a city....you got the cash you can do anything you desire. The classic example for us, the ferry decided that the sea was "too choppy" to go out and show us the sites....the solution...only a private charter! So off we went hired a boat and got a tour..and yeah the ferry was right..the waves....WOW! I think i would have been drier jumping in the sea!

And to top it all off as we were leaving Dubai Marina, the capitan very kindly decided to blast out soppy love music for the entire marina to hear....so yup we there we were awkwardly smiling at people staring at our romantic moment....Yalla driver.....YALLA!

But the charter itself was pretty good...but I urge everybody to bear the following in mind if you end up going....now the palm....fantastic....from the SKY!!!! Now we got all excited about seeing it then realised we were just staring at a breakwater the entire way around! Of course we would I have no idea what I was expecting...perhaps the Palm to just flip 90 degrees for me? Haha fail!!!

That said the boat ride was easily the best way to view the Marina, the Burj de Arab and have great fun at the same time!

After the excitement of that day, I treated Kirsty to dinner at Souk Madinat near the creek! Now this place if you get the chance to go is beautiful! Due to a delay on our table we went for a wander and wow was it a good job we did. We found this cute little amphitheater type place overlooking a lake with the most beautiful view of the Burj de Arab.

So we grabbed a bean bag, ordered a bottle of wine, shisha. The lit up palm trees, reflection of the Burj de Arab and moonlight in the lake, soft arabic music playing in the background....to say the moment couldn't have been any more perfect would be the God's honest truth. The love was in the air that night and will be a valentines I will not ever forget....nor beat! Should have gone in softer, i have no chance this year haha!    

The next day we paid a visit to the Burj Khalifa (Hyder Project) and went for a visit....now nobody gave us the warning that you needed to book 24 hours in advance to go up so sadly we didn't...sad times! However engineering geek coming out here...I have had beers with and worked with John Mills....the engineering LEGEND that is responsible for it....so meh!

Anyway so off we went outside for a ghanda then again Boom!!! Loud music came on and water sprouted about 30ft into the air...and so began the Dubai fountain show! now I had never heard of this but OH MY DAYS...unbelieveable......you must you tube it. Dancing fountains and well I cant describe how brilliant it is! But me being me massive faux Par.....I stood there in the baking hot sun, recording it on my phone for the full 6 - 10 mins however long. Guess what...it was only after it had finished that i realised i may of accidentally forgot to hit the record button..FAIL!  

But that was the end of Dubai and believe me when I say nothing is harder, than watching yuour loved one get on a plane to go home....I pretty much cried myself to sleep that night but what a fantastic month!

March & April

Ha basically as follows:

05:45 - Wake Up
07:00 Start Work
17:00 Finish Work
18:00 Home / Insanity Workout
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Skype Home
22:00 Bed

Repeat.....

Now that was my life for the months of March and April.....not much fun there rite!

Oh except the visit to the Inland see....hummer....sand dunes.....terrifying! but breathtaking views! Ha and even managed to get the Hummer stuck...no joke digging a hummer out of a sand dune with a small spade in 30 degree heat is not easy task! But a lesson learnt...deflate your tyres for off roading on sand!!!

May

The month of May was my first trip back home since I started work here in Qatar! 6 months on and I returned to the beautifully cold but picturesque UK!

Nw simple thing flying home....well not for me....1 hour delays leaving Doha, 6 hour wait in Dubai but then I got on the plane and when I awoke, there I was..Gatwick airport! I was home.

Haha well believe me you don't realise you much you acclimatise to a warm climate of Doha until you return to the UK...When i left it was 35 degrees when I got to the UK it was 6 degrees! I almost passed out! I couldn't catch my breath....three layers on still shivering.....the UK is bloody COLD! But its hokme and I loved it!

Now coming through the airport security was fun...thanks ti the little devil that is Jack! I have an e-chip passport and jack decided to have a chew on that lovely e-chip passport! So im standing at the e-gate people staring at me like i'm a terrorist because i'm waving my passport about like a lunatic trying to get the gate to open! So off i went to security to get manually signed through...we scans it and says your chips not opening! So nervous about security..what do I say..."It's not fake"! (palmplant to face)....turns out that was not what you say to airport security about your passport.

So he calls the officer and another guy over and begins 20 questions..and acquisitions that a 1 in my passport doesn't look right! Now the funny part.....I showed them my bank card to prove i was English and the passport was genuine and No not accepted...I showed them my driving licence and again not accepted so I show them my sodding Qatar Residents Card and because it says i'm UK national that was ok!!!! Madness!!!!

But eventually I was through and on the train to Plymouth! Now I think i got a mild case of whiplash coming back on that train...I had a massive gin on my face and got very excited about seeing colour! Here in Qatar there is yellow, grey, blue...more yellow and that is what you get used to seeing....so you can imagine my excitement when I saw a cow...then a pink pig, green grass, a daisy! I was loving life much to the amusement some of the other brits of whom must of thought i was a proper freak smiling at the cows.....!?

Now I was back in Plymouth a day early to surprise everybody back home....my master plan was gonna blow kirsty away! So I quickly made my way into Blacks to say hi to the old work crew and drop off my suitcase, I then went and bought a massive bouquet of flowers and got a taxi to Just 4 Nails or whatever on Union Street...where I knew Kirsty Had a nail appointment at 2. So in I went, gave the flowers to the guy working there and told him my ingenious plan of coming back early to surprise her and he was going to let me stay in the back and walk out with the flowers to catch her off guard....the girls there loved i, was kinda seen as a Disney prince to the people in there after! But 2 comes no Kirsty or Jodi....the guy tells me they delayed an hour...shot what do I do!? So I waited....3 came..no show....now I was stuffed, I couldn't call because it would ruin the surprise...she thinks im in Dubai! So i run around like a nutter to try and find a wifi signal to ask how the appointment went...only to find they cancelled!

Haha so I grabbed the flowers and legged it to her house in the hope she was home...door knocks....housemate answers,...very surprised but keeps his voice down!Even Saoirse the loudest mouth in Plymouth kept quiet, so I snuck into her room and what did I find....a drunken hungover, but very shocked and excited mess of a girlfriend....about as far away from a princess you could imagine!!! Haha but the excitement that followed was amazing, the followed went down a charm because i'm such a gentleman and well..good times followed :-D

So first thing on the Agenda....Barbican, Cream Tea and Chips...Oh I love being British!!!!

Next up it was mothers turn....in I snuck and knocked her off her feet with surprise.....even jack was VERY excited to see me!! And began the best british holiday one could ask for. Camping in St Ives, Summer ball, Dartmoor, Family, Lots of Castles, Stately homes....PORK! Just being british and loving life back in the UK.

St Ives was a romantic but very cold getaway, and my baby had an interview for a Job in Dubai....so yeah was a nice and nervous break!

Dartmoor for me is a jewel in the crown of the southwest! Off we went for Kirstys first ever letterboxing adventure...her words "Best game of hide and seek EVER"! No kidding I actually lost her for over an hour, cause she vanished off looking under rocks and collecting stamps haha what a wally!

But no it was fantastic to back! I loved the beer, pork and more importantly seeing my friends and family again! I miss you all alot out here and I cant wait to see you all in September again!

So anyway I have kept the best for last....my final surprise for kirsty was in the form of a white gold, pearl and diamond ring....! No not quite an engagement, but a pre-engagement..a promise to her that i am committed and will always be by her side and to one day make her my wife...just well needed to secure fathers permission and 3 months salary first haha!

So I took her out to dinner at Royal William Yard and well...nervous and sweating popped out the ring and explained...she loved it...and now calls herself my preance! Although I have to admit, that was terrifying how the hell I am going to actually pop the question is beyond me!!

Oh and on a side note, the taxi driver who picked us up...only my best friend in Doha's DAD!!!! What a small world!

Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the read and there really is too much to fit all in one blog...but i will try to keep this up inshallah!

Anyway thats 6 months in the middle east gone...Oh and She Got the Job!!! So I will now be living in Dubai and working in Doha!!!! Loving the Middle East!

Oh and a word to the recently stepped down Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, you have been an inspiration to many and may Qatar continue to prosper from your superb example of leadership and vision!

Respect to you sir!  

Anyway goodbye for now,

Sean!

 

Day 23: Happy Holidays Qatar 2012

Hi All, 

Well my first Christmas and New Year is over and thank god for that! Now you wanna find out how strong you are as a person, I'd highly recommend moving country and leaving everyone behind...right before Christmas! This last couple of weeks has truly been one of the hardest times of my life so far. But anyhow let me tell you little bit about it. 

Christmas Eve I was invited over to a new friend from works to have a few beers and spend Christmas with them! And Ill say it now THANK YOU! If not for her I would have been lost out here and this would have been twice as difficult! Going over for a few beers, I met a number of new people and had a good laugh and many a cup of festive cheer :-) and better yet I was introduced to the Christmas Chicken. Now this is no ordinary chicken, its like a dog toy, but a single squeeze and it starts screaming like its got a elephant crawling up its arse! Its such a cringing noise, one that you would never hope to hear again...until Christmas morning as its cries sang through the house to wake us all up! 

So hung over, confused and petrified that someone was being murdered next door I dragged my arse out of bed and down for Christmas. And this was a lovely morning, with the girls swapping presents, Ice Age Christmas special on, Fairytale of New York playing in the background...It was to some degree a normal Christmas day :-) 

So after a few hours people started to arrive and then came the Christmas dinner! Now I'm sorry to the parents but this was easily the best Christmas dinner I think I have EVER eaten. There was pork, turkey, pigs in blankets, sprouts, just everything that makes  a perfect Christmas dinner! Hats off to the Chef, they done exceptionally well! 

Secret Santa came after dinner and I got a toy helicopter! This provided great fun after crashing it into the wall, nearly taking off the guests heads, almost taking it for a swim.....Yeah Good times!

After dinner the skype home done me in. Seeing my friends, family and my gorgeous girl back home, made me realise just how much I was actually missing. For me this bought my mood down so far to the point   that all I could think about was being home back in UK, back to the life I had left behind. Sadly for me this made Christmas end early!

On the plus side, I did make some new friends and found a place to live! if your curious google Beverly Hills 1, Al Rayyan and you can see the compound. It look beautiful and I am so excited about moving out in a few weeks time!

New year this year as well was pretty dull but well nice too in some ways. Thanks to skype I was able to have somewhat of a normal new year with the folks back home! Better yet thanks to a workmate i was able to get my hands on a crate of beer! whoop it may have been £35 but it made my year...!

Oh random fact, It is now a legal requirement that every time a Qatar Flag is being raised or lower, whoever you are, you must stand still and show respect for it....if you don't, its a heavy fine an possibly a prison sentence....(OiQ) Only in Qatar! 

So yeah its been tough for me over here, but what have I learnt about this whole experience so far? 

- Well i'm strong enough to survive so far, something I was very dubious about! 

- You don't realise how much friends and family mean to you until they are gone....bridging the gaps of geography is going to be so important to ensure you never forget! (New Years Resolution No. 1).

- And i am rapidly learning that most of a persons happiness comes from the little things in life, walks in the park, coffee with friends, and just knowing that you have someone there who would drop everything at a moments notice for you. 

I am finding it tough out here, much harder than I ever anticipated but the people I have met so far have been  so amazing and have made this just that little bit easier for me. 

Happy New Year Everybody, 

Bring on the Adventures of 2013! 

Sean 

    

Day 15: Another Weekend Come and Gone

Hi Guys,

So I have had a charming weekend this weekend! Been to a party, volunteering, found a normal supermarket with all my needs.....yeah it's been pretty shweeeet!

So Thursday..wow the longest day in work to date! Got my first sit down to have a talk about how rubbish a report I wrote was......! Now I wouldn't have minded if it was for how poorly written the report was, But I got a bollocking because the template was crap, the ideas and solutions were crap....I mean I so played the "I'm a graduate...I know NOTHING card!! Did it help tho.....of course it didn't! It made no difference that I only wrote the damn thing, it was all me! But on the plus side, I learnt quite a bit about pumps.....whoop!

So yeah after that, Shona's Christmas party couldn't have been more needed...and what a night! There was Christmas music, dancing, a Christmas tree and more importantly BEER!!!!! Was great to meet some new people and be able to have a cheeky pint! Well a few cheeky pints, Friday was a complete write off for me...So hungover!!!! But yeah turns out that in the small pockets of the desert...they still have this thing called Christmas. You can only whisper it and I'm sure it would vanish, but its still here and its AMAZING!!

 Today however was a completely different kind of nice, I actually did some voluntary work down the local animal rescue center....I know, when did I start caring for charity....meh better late than never! Now anyway there is a great little charity out here called Qaws which looks after all animals that have been abandoned out here! So today I came down with Racha from work and we spent the afternoon walking the dogs, playing with the cats and I even picked up a t-shirt for a donation of QR 25 (£5). Turns out quite a few people show up and there is a little agriculture plot of land where you can take them out. I have to say tho, I felt sooo bad having to put him back in the cage and leave him there after.....think I may have considered crying if I wasn't such a LAD! but anyhow....I had such an amazing timeand so here are some of the cute little fellas for you too see too :-)

Having to be torn away, I then made my way to Villagio shopping mall and HELL YEAH I WAS HOME!!!! This shopping mall is all styled like your walking through the streets of Venice and even has a gondala ride through the centre! There was an Imax cinema, Virgin Megastores, Next, H&M, Starbucks, Wallis, and all the high street brands I know from home! Even got my eyes set on a new guitar from Virgin...only QR 3500 (£700)!!!

Best yet I turn the corner...and what do I see....Carrefour!!! A genuine proper hypermarket!!!! So hi light of the week: Buying Minced beef, Tuna, and chicken for under £20!!! RESULT

Anyway, keeping this one short and sweet,

Goodbye,

Sean

Day 12: Qatar National Day

Hi All,

Well what a week! This has been one of the most horrific to one of the most enjoyable times of my life to date! Yeah only would the two occur in the same week over here...but that's just Qatar!

Well I think I will begin with the bad and get it over with up front....the bad being the medical! Now I'm sure you were probably thinking, like I was, that the medical would be in a hospital with a professional doctor in a one on one friendly environment...? Well WRONG!!!!! In fact that description could not be further away from the truth if it tried! In fact if you imagine a WWII German concentration camp, you probably have a closer description!

 So just to clarify, to live over here you need a residence permit....an ID card; its used for everything and is basically a Big Brother style system. However to obtain this permit, you need to prove you don't have TB or HIV, hence the medical!

So you get invited to this medical...not in medical city...not in a hospital but at the government ministry of health, which is basically a sterile building in the middle of nowhere. Upon arrival there are armed guards who point you into a room where you register. Now this was where it began! Chris Evans....no not the radio 2 DJ....and myself walked to the guard at the door for our visa and passport check who then pointed to a window at the front of a room with people sat down, naturally we walked to the window. This is where we were then given some very annoyed evils by the people sat down and another guard shouting us to sit down at the back....even tho the initial guard said come here...OK OK so to the back we went and took a seat.

Now the system here was the most far fetched system I have seen in any medical facility! Basically the front row queues for the window, then as the next group of front rowers get up to go to the window, everybody else gets up and moves a row forward and so on and so on. Now any other city in the world would have some sort of ticket system or one on one PA but no, mass production was the goal here,,,at a very slow rate. After 30mins of seat shuffling we finally made it to the window just to receive a signed in stamp the be told to move on.

Now what? Looking at our sheet we could see the next stamp required was the blood test, so I guess we follow the arrows on the floor for 1....nope the order you required is 3, 1 , 2, exit......obviously! To make matters worse here is a plan of the Ministry of Health:

Having finally arrived at the blood test queue, this was like a blood giving production line. You queued outside, got called, got stabbed, and the next person was called as the needle was still sticking out of your arm.....no good day how are you, just in stab out! I had one thought on my mind after that....Evil Blood Stealing BITCH!!!! But meh, that was ok in comparison to the X-Ray!

Now this was the most degrading experience I have ever had. After a quick 10 minute tour of the facility looking for the X-Ray, upon arrival I was directed to a changing room where I had to remove my top. Quite literally as soon as that shirt was off I was then in a room, with about 30 half naked men, and just made to stand and wait. This room was about 4m x 4m with two doors in it, as you got near the front, a door would open, let one person in, take the next in lines paperwork then quite literally be slammed in your face! So here I was topless, in a crowed room, with two doors of no return, armed guards keeping everything in check.....yeah like I said, I felt like I was in a prison!

Eventually after 15mins in this hell I made it to the door, and after all that shit outside, the guy said "NAME", so I replied Good Afternoon, just hoping for a pleasant responce. Oh no again he repeated "NAME", and no sooner had I gave it I was physically forced against a big machine and the x-ray was done and another few seconds later I was thrown out the room! Now again I have never felt so much hatred for someone after so little time!

After that I got changed and proceeded to medical consultation after another brief tour to be told i didn't need that stamp! So yeah enough was enough I hurried to the exit and will NOT be going back to that joke of a medical institute!

The next day, arm still sore from the physical trauma the previous day, I had my first site visit in work and WOW!!!! Words cannot begin to describe the volume of wealth I experienced on that trip. Now, there was a report of flooding to investigate...so we turn up and the first thing we see is a Bentley on the drive! As we look around there are classic cars, more Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis in fact our attention was drawn to one old car that there was only 15 ever made and the base value was £1,2m!!!!

They had number plates that were 3 digits to all of one digit! Sorry don't wanna list them in case there is objection!  It was unbelievable; furthermore, this complex had two incredible houses, swimming pool, two chill out out houses with rolex clocks, hand made tapestries....it was mind blowing!

After the investigation we were invited in for lunch and coffee....into the main family room. Just to clarify, over here that is something a privileged so few get, only important people and immediate family, not even the household staff are allowed in without consent! And the luxury of the place, chandeliers, grandfather clock, every piece of furniture hand crafted, even the cushions! It was a glimpse into a life I could only ever dream about and it was out of this world!!!!  

Following this the next day was Qatar National Day! Again this was awesome..the people really do love their ruler! This was a day of celebrations and joy! Now what I didn't anticipate was the crowds....thinking i'd just nip up to the cornice to see the celebrations resulted in me being caught in a sea of people unable to get back! I ended up getting so squashed I bailed and watched the parade on TV.... however the journey back was eventful as believe it or not the driving got worse!!!! No kidding, there was 4 cars side by side on a duel lane street with people dancing on the roof!!!! It took me 2 hours to get back from the Souq...Madness!!

After the battle in the day I did venture out to watch the firework display and WOW....AMAZING!!!! Without question these were the best fireworks I have ever seen in my life....clearly no expense spared. If you wanna see just go to you tube and type Qatar National Day Fireworks 2012!

Anyway gotta go, its pool time ;-)

Goodbye

Sean

P.S. Xmas Party Tomorrow!!!!!

Day 8: End of the Weekend!

Hi guys,

Now I know I said one a week, but having had such a great time out as a tourist today I thought I share some of the wonderful things that I saw.

The morning began with an amazing trip to the Souq Waqif, however getting there was a game of Russian roulette! I left the apartment ready for a 30min walk but instead found myself faced with with a single 4 lane interstate to walk up! No pavements, cars in every direction...including back....it was terrifying! Luckily I managed to flag down a Karwa Taxi but of course....being Qatar....he "forgot" to put the meter on! Sounds about right.....so we agreed a price of QR15 for the 20min journey and there I was at the Souq Waqif in all its glory.

Now the Souq's of Qatar are basically markets, with the Souq Waqif itself translating to the standing market. It was almost like being in a old desert city with high sandstone walls and very narrow passages! Imagine the market streets in Disneys Aladdin and you'll get the idea! But its what they sold here that made it so interesting! For one I found out where to buy a pet Falcon! And believe me there were 100's of birds....they seem to love them here! On top of that I could have bought a tortoise, turtle, cobra, massive lizard thing and the weirdest thing I have seen to date....multi-coloured birds! No kidding these cats had been died a verity of different colours; there was a blue, green and orange one, an all pink one it was so bizzare and although cruel to some degree I guess, funny in other aspects! This place just gets stranger by the day!

What was nice about the place, is that it was so relaxed, I was not being pressured to buy and could just enjoy seeing all the weird and wonderful things! There were shisha cafe's all over with many of the locals just chilling out having a coffee and smoke! There was even one guy sat with a massive sword and full set of metal armour he had just bought! There was incense in the air, chilled out arab music in the background...yeah its safe to say this was easily my favorite place so far!

After the Souq I decided to take a a trip to the Islamic Art Museum and a stroll along the cornice waterfront to West bay! I have to say, this part of the city is truly beautiful! The museum itself is an icon of Doha, and with free admissions I'd highly recommend a visit if your near! Better yet you the views you get of West Bay are outstanding!

The walk along the cornice was a long one, but very enjoyable. There was a car show going on, plenty of palm trees, the fresh sea breeze and of course the views of west bay! It was an escape from the chaos of the main city! I spent about 2 hours walking along the bay at a slow pace but it relaxed my mind and made me feel calm again!

Oh and yeah, there is a giant clam!!!!

The journey back was nothing exciting....just another crook cabbie trying to forget to turn on the meter. But I did manage to find something in a small shop that made me sooo excited!!! I found potatoes! So dinner tonight was beef sausage, veg and mash...a simple dish that I have been craving all week!!!! Anyway time to go again, have to be a responsible adult and work tomorrow..... sad face....but until next time

Goodbye,

Sean

Day 7: One week over!

Hi All,

Firstly apologies for the late blog.....so now its here you can stop harassing me for it :-) !! Its good to see people showing an interest tho so thank you, I wont disappoint! From now on I'm going to do a weekly + specials....I'll aim to do one every Thursday at the end of the week here so please.....be patient....they will come!

So anyway where to begin!? What a manic, interesting, depressing, confusing, chaotic, life juggling week I have had here! The work has been coming in faster than a fat man at a donut sale! Whatever happened to breaking the new kid in easy? I mean I expected to be making tea and coffee and reading old reports....not here tho! I have a lovely Indian gentleman named "Indian Man....yeah i have forgotten it..whoops" who makes me tea and coffee whilst I have actually got to do this thing called.....w.....wo.....wor...work(cah that was hard to get out),! I have never had such a long working week in all my life, I kinda wanna go back to Black's I mean sell some shoes, throw in a tent & clock off wow I can handle that!

Here I have been correcting the English of reports no problem, but on day two in the office...I was given the "challenge"  of writing a preliminary design report to be submitted to ASHGHAL the governing authority! So boss says: write these design reports of which I have no idea of the template, no idea of the content, no idea of the stakeholders, no idea of the working practices, no idea of anything at all....so what do I say.....challenge accepted! So yeah turns out that didn't go too well but meh it's a work in progress!

On top of that on Thursday (that's friday for you English folk) I get my responsibilities stepped up again! Now I am writing a tender for works on a new infrastructure project here in the center! I love it, I've been here 5 minutes and already given all this responsibility! With no safety net to fall back on, I'm rapidly learning not to balls up!

I keep being dragged into project meetings now too, my first meeting was a delight, to sum it up, things aren't going to plan so naturally there were fist fights, furniture flying through the air, windows broken.....or at least that what I wanted to believe was happening! Truth be told, I had no idea what was going on....so naturally I found myself losing interest after the first hour, but then I had a moment of discovery....a moment that will change my life forever! I discovered how to yawn....without moving your mouth or showing facial expression....I discovered how to yawn...wait for it...inside!!!!! A skill that is going to benefit me for years to come.

Further to this, they also gave me some light reading to do this weekend...yeah its only a 200 page design guide! Good job I've got no life out here at the moment isn't it.......HURUMPH!

There are some great people around the office tho, and I had the weirdest conversation with Helen the other day! Turns out that she was taught by one of my lectures going back 30 years ago! Good old Les Hamill, and better yet another one of my lectures did his first work placement under my boss too! What are the chances!   

Outside of work things are still as alien here as they were from day one, excluding the daily dance with death to cross the road, I keep noticing weird things that make me aware I am not home. I mean walking about today I actually saw a Qatari man walking his pet falcon...or least that is what I have been made aware it was!!! I mean walking a rabbit is one thing, but a falcon,..OK!

Being the holy day today as well, I swear there was a call to prayer every hour. It was inspiring to see so many people, in dress, constantly making their way to the mosques to sing and pray! It really gave me a sense of respect for the level of devotion they have for what they believe in....something missing in the UK these days!  

Sadly, I can still still not find a decent supermarket ANYWHERE! I tried Al Meera on Tuesday, a 45 minute walk from my apartment, where I managed to by a SIM card for my Galaxy S III that guess what....didn't fit! So another wasted trip! I tried Family Food Mart today which again, was about a 30 min walk away, and ended up paying £9 for 500g chicken breast! I'll cut my own breasts off a chicken for that...or maybe ill ask that Qatari if I can buy his falcon!  I mean £9 is mad, yet then again you pay £1 for 2.25L bottle of coke? I don't get the pricing here at all. its like they have just given a blind man riding a goat a price gun and said go nuts!

Oh and FYI if your ever in the area McDonalds here is AMAZEBALLS! Never thought I'd say that but its half the price, twice the flavor and if you go large, you'll be content for a week! My heart nearly stopped when she pulled out the bucket of a cup and filled it with coke; she even used a shovel for the chips!

I am starting to miss some home comforts now , I mean tonight I had my first Skype dinner date! And it was amazing! But it isn't quite being there in person nor anywhere as rewarding after sunset..........bad times! I also find myself craving a good British pint of tribute and well Yorkshire puddings randomly, not gonna be a weekend without the weekend roast.  

Tomorrow is going to be my first tourist outing to the city, going to try the Souiq Waqif and cornice waterfront so hopefully that will give some stories to tell!

On Sunday, I have to have a medical test to prove I don't have TB or HIV or I get deported........! So if you see me soon, stay clear because I may be in a murderous mood!

All I know is that this has been a VERY long week and although I'm looking forward to next week, I dread to think how much more intense its going to be!

Anyway I need my daily cool of dip in the pool before bed so goodbye!


Sean

   

Day 3: The Beginning

Hello There!

So today was the day....my first day in the office as a civil engineer and what a day, I am genuinely exhausted! I mean what was I thinking 07:30 to 17:00 as a standard working day....think i'm a little to used to student working / sleeping hours for this! Probably why its now 23:30 and I am up doing this instead of getting the sleep I need to be up at 6:00 tomorrow! But what the hell wouldn't be work if it was easy right!?

Having made it to the office, I had to pass through usual company induction processes and got a shock when I met some people! Not what I had expected from the phone calls! However I received a very warm welcome around the office and met some very polite helpful people too! To say I was nervous however would be an understatement! The drive in felt like a lifetime had past and was easily the slowest journey of my life....and no not just because of being caught in traffic on the C Ring Road!

And yeah whilst on the topic of traffic....I AM NEVER DRIVING HERE!!! Well not for a good while any way! They are bloody nutters, you want a fun game of chicken, try crossing the C Ring Road, never been so terrified ..and I have been to Thailand!!! The green cross code means nothing here; crazy U-turn junctions, the mounting of pavements to get around a slower cars, and the orchestra of car horns is insane!

On the plus side, dare I say it...touch wood....my boss turns out to be a really lovely person. Couldn't have made me feel more welcome, even offering to grab a coffee and show me the local salad bar at lunch! Being English as well was a massive relief for me...let alone to find they were from my hometown of Plymouth! This just added to the warming of the office and enabled to quickly feel like a had a place here.

As for being broken in easily though I can see that is not the way! My first assignment was to read a report to get an idea of what standard is acceptable and what is expected! Ok I thought, 10 mins I thought........268 pages and about 2 hours later I had finally done it! To see the scale of what was being done by the office was simply mind blowing and to think that one day I will be able to turn around and say.."Yeah, I was part of that" will be incredible!

Tomorrow I believe I will be correcting the English of some reports, this will be be interesting. I mean how does the old saying go? "I am enginer, I am enjineer, I am enginner, I DO MATH!" lol. All the same I am eager to see what tomorrow brings!

After such a long day at the office I was taken to my company apartment....mine for the next month and it is AMAZING! Well its missing a few home comforts but hell there was a 52inch plasma TV, a gym and 2 swimming pools and best of all Guinness in the fridge! Perfect.

After a short while I decided that it was time to get something to eat! So off I went to quickly nip out and get a weeks worth of shopping! What a joke that was; one could call it a journey in its own right! After dancing with a few cars on the crossings, and trekking for 30mins to the lulu center by Hamad Medical City, in the 23°C heat, I was bitterly disappointed to find that I couldn't even pick up a loaf of bread there! So having backed up on my self I walked another 30 mins to find a small family food store where again the shear little choice of food was disgraceful. I couldn't even make a meal out of what you could buy...just bits of odds and sods, i.e. Tomato Ketchup and Bottled Water perhaps with a seasoning of tinned kidney beans...lovely!

So long story short my 2 hour outing successfully amounted to me returning with a bottle of shower gel, carton of UHT milk, cotton buds and batteries and chicken hotdogs.....delicious. Funny thing is after this ordeal turns out there are two big hypermarkets about 5 mins from the apartment in the opposite direction I walked! Morale of the story...use a freaking map!  

Anyway better hit the sack ready for another day,

Goodbye!

Sean