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
    

Day of Arrival

Hey All,

Just a forenote:  During my time out here in Doha, I thought it would be a nice idea to document my day by day experiences in a diary blog. This way, those I hold dear to me can follow my journey from back home and well it allows me to get my thoughts out! This is something I never thought i'd ever be doing but the is also the start of something very exciting for me of which I am sure will be an experience to remember if nothing else! So without further a dew let us begin!!!

Day 0: Arrival in Doha
-----------------------

So today at 17:05 local time I arrived into the New Doha International Airport arrival hall to start my new life as a civil engineer and first thoughts....wow it hot! Wearing full chinos,a t-shirt,a jumper and an extra thick long coat, I wasn't best dressed to handle the 25°C climate! None the less passing though the custom checks smoothly it wasn't long before I received my first taste of Arab hospitality. 

With the arrival of my luggage on the carousel, an airport attendant saw the heavy sticker and insisted on carrying it for me! He asked for nothing in return and wouldn't accept a tip; he just told me he was happy to help! Better yet on arrival the the Merweb transfer window, again the operator behind showed me to the car carrying this time all of my luggage. I mean i'm only economy class guys no need for this kind of treatment! 

Even my driver was very polite and helpful and even took the time to show me a few local landmarks and attempt to explain national day on the 18th to me! His English wasn't great my Arabic is non existent so there was A LOT of comical non understood agreement between us, however it was very welcoming none the less. 

From what I got of the National Day Celebrations, it was the date when the modern day state of Qatar was founded.....may need to check this one out! Apparently there are lots of celebrations and firework displays happening along the cornice "sea front" so will have to head down there and get some good photos! 

Arriving at the Merweb hotel in the Al Sadd region was equally as welcoming.....yes I still have not carried a single on of my bags! I didn't take long to settle in when it was time for dinner! This in itself made me laugh that the company had booked me in and had only provided breakfast.....yeah moved to Qatar for you guys, dinner after a 7 hour plane journey wouldn't have gone a miss, I even had to sign a declaration declaring that I would eat only the breakfast on company expense!!! This said  65QR or around £13 got me a mammoth and very tasty three course buffet meal that hit the spot nicely!

Overall pretty good arrival in Doha, I must say although this has left me with the decision about what to do tomorrow......I think a December sunbathe by the pool is on the cards, sorry guys...enjoy the err ice and rain and all that! 

Goodbye, 

Sean