You may or may not know that I have recently come back from 10 days in Turkey and Dubai. I have been working on writing about the trip but it’s taking a lot longer than anticipated. Therefore here is a bit of blog worthy stuff to keep you going……..


You know you have lived in the Gulf too long when:

- You need a sweater when it's 27oC
- Your idea of housework is leaving a list for the houseboy
- You send friends a map instead of your address - love google earth!!
- You believe that speed limits are only advisory - 170km, not that fast right???
- Your definition of a nanosecond is the time interval between the time the light turns green and the time that the guy behind you begins to blow his horn
- You're not surprised when you see a goat in a pick up truck - and we are not in New Zealand
- You can't buy anything without asking for a discount
- You expect all stores to stay open till midnight
- You make left turns from the far right lane
- You understand why huge 4x4s must slow down to a snail's pace whilst crossing a speed bump yet hurtle through a wadi (pool of water) at 100kph
- You think it perfectly normal to have a picnic in the middle of a roundabout at 11pm and it’s the perfect place for drop off, pick up and catching a cab!
- You know exactly how much alcohol allowance you have left for the month
- You don’t say Saturday instead of Friday or Monday instead of Sunday anymore
- You accept that there is no point in asking why you are not allowed to do something
- You expect queues to be 1 person deep and 40 people wide
- You realize that the black and white stripes in the road are not a zebra crossing, just bait to get tourists into the firing line
- You know what night is ladies night at every bar in town
- Seeing guys welcome each other with a kiss no longer disgusts you
- You carry 12 passport size photos around with you just in case
- You can tell the time by listening to the local mosque
- You think its a good night if there are fewer than 10 men for every woman in a bar
- Phrases like 'potato peeler', 'dish washer', and 'fly swatter' are no longer household items but job titles
- You start to say "Insha'allah" when you actually mean "No f**king chance!"
- You overtake a police car at 130km/hr
- A problem with your car AC is more serious to you than a problem with the brakes
- You smoke a shisha in public without expecting to be arrested
- You think only men should hold hands in public
- You expect to go to jail when a local hits the back of your car at a stop sign

SIGNS........

At the airport in Turkey. Guess you have to wear a top hat to cross the road there!!

Stop in Turkish! Love it

Drive slow and reach Safe!!

Ha the licence saga!

What an experience it is living here. They certainly do things a little differently and if they don’t want to rush it’s, inshallah, which means “in gods will” in Arabic, or “when I can be bothered” in English! Heehee. It’s a great word and always said with many laughs in reference to just about anything in Doha.

I put in my forms to get my Qatar licence about 3 weeks ago. I had to give them a copy of the front of my passport, the page with the Qatari immigration stamp, my Qatar resident permit, my Australian licence, and about 10 photos as usual. Don’t know why but they always ask for more than the usual requirement of pictures and forms when ever anything official is concerned. It just seems to be the Doha way. Bec and I had been waiting for the promised but never to be delivered email invitation to attend the regular Monday licence trip, and, after 4 weeks decided to go and find out what the hold up was. Merely the fact the there was no filing system in existence and the new forms handed in were being added to the top of the pile! After sorting through a couple of hundred other applications she found ours and put it at the top. “Come Monday at 8am.” Ok…… that’s how it works…..

So on Monday we waited in the hall at work after having collected our forms and were then shuttled off to the Qatar license department. We were asked to hand our forms in when we got there and they were in turn handed over to the rather unofficial looking staff before being told to go up stairs. We found with some delay and little direction the “eye test” office and went inside. Not far behind us was some guy with all our application forms. They were given back to us and then to the lady running the show who started looking through them. It was discovered that 3 of the forms didn’t have stamps, Bec’s being one of them and they were handed back to the parties concerned. “Go way” she said and flicked her had at Bec, “you have no stamp.” After trying to get some direction out of her with little response Bec and the other non stamp people were told by another “staff member” that they needed to go back downstairs.
When they returned the lady decided that she didn’t want them to go for their license that day and also took a couple more papers off the pile, mine included, and told us to come tomorrow. It was on! Two of the people who had come with us spent the next hour fighting with her about not being able to get their license. Meanwhile people are getting their eyes tested and it only took about 1 minute for each one. The time they wasted arguing they could have tested half the country.
No one was paying any attention to what was happening so I just took my paper off her desk and handed it to the eye testing guy on the table opposite. He coyly took my form and proceeded with the eye test which consisted of me reading a total of 2 lines of text, one with each eye. Stamped my paper and told me to go downstairs. Bec did the same and he did the test for her as well with even less numbers!

We went downstairs to pay and complete the application and within 2 minutes had our license. Not sure if I’m actually ever going to drive on these crazy roads! The guys who were arguing ended up going to see the head honcho director who signed their forms without even doing an eye test?????





















Ummmmmmmm Doha Asian Gamas?????? Thought it was Games??????

Sometimes it’s a little unnerving as its all in Arabic and you cant read anything that it says.

كوشلا - My name in Arabic, i can read that much.....





Check out these traffic regulations

STOP THE PRESS

As per your request and HR approval for DAGOC permanent accommodation , we are pleased to inform you that effective Tomorrow 08/08/06 you are requested to approach Administration department DAGOC HQ I , first floor , Mr. Al Tamimi ( Head of Admin) & Ms. Maria (Accommodation Coordinator) in order to receive the Keys for your allocated Flat.

Moreover, you are all requested to check out from your temporary accommodation by this weekend.

Thank you for your patient and enjoy the weekend at your new Flat.

Regards,

Administration Manager
Extn.
Fax No.


Oh my god!! only taken two months. we were ment to be in the guest house for 2 weeks. This is the first thing i have heard from anyone about where we are living. No longer a mystery.... well i'll believe it when i see it! Hope this one doesnt fall down......... YAY

Our well crafted entry into The One guest book after a fabulous brunch last Saturday. Ellen, Bec and I have a brunch tradition on Saturday mornings. If we cannot make it out of the house for some reason (not alcohol related at all!) then we make the favorite, rice and omelet with chilly sauce…….Best thing for a hangover…. I mean for a day of vigorous activities. You may not understand this if you have not seen the add, but jut roll with me here! :)

Bec and I were asked to do a shopping centre advertisement!!

This is how we often look after a trip to Landmark. That shopping centre has our two favorite stores, The One, full of the best home stuff you have ever seen….. and the best restaurant to match, brunch girls!! Also has the best clothes shop Massimo Dutti which just rocks!! Watch out credit card!

OK well time for me to update life in the dust bowl!! Fish bowl more like it. That’s what they call it here as it’s like a life encompassed in glass, where everyone is doing the same thing, knows everything you do and you can’t go anywhere without running into people from work. Hell even when you leave the country there are 10 other people doing the same thing, going to the same place on the same plane. It’s interesting though, lots of very blog worthy stories to tell!!

As there is nothing much to do in this tiny little country most afternoons are filled with some kind of social activity. Here is my usual week,

Sunday - the start of the working week on the bus at 7am to DAGOC HQ1. Catch a connecting bus or car to DAGOC HQ6 which is the Athletes village where I’m now working. We could arrive anywhere between 7:30am and 8:30am which is a pain in the bum sometimes especially as its 50 degrees outside!! That is how my normal morning is. Sometimes my lovely neighbour Alberto will take Bec and I to and from the village which makes the day a lot easier to bear. He’s Italian and thanks to his driving we are able to navigate the crazy Qatari roads with much simplicity!! When making the mistake of driving passed your exit, simply reverse up the other side of it!!

All days at work are pretty much the same and each day I find myself looking forward to whatever activities I have planned for after work!

Sunday
- Football

Monday
- Golf driving range and free wine for ladies
- Trivia night

Tuesday
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Touch rugby

Wednesday
- Caporwera (don’t know how to spell it, the Brazilian martial art/ dance thing) heaps of fun!!
- Gym

Thursday
- Beach volleyball
- Party night as this is like ‘Friday night’

Friday
- Recovery and often to a pool somewhere or some other Doha excursion
- Dinner and more dinks sometimes
- Shopping
- Volleyball

Saturday
- Dinner
- Shopping
- Gym
- Hanging out

Well that’s about it, most days are pretty full. I have been here for 2 months now and I have not been home after work before 8/9pm once on a week day, its great as makes the time here go a lot faster. Does seem like a strange way to live, I look forward to the next social activity to get me closer to the end??

There’s a gym on the roof of our guest house which is great. The equipment is a little dodgy but does the job and nothing like an hour in front of MTV while you’re working out!