It's kind of weird to have a warm weather Christmas. I can remember growing up as a child living in New Orleans. One just never knew whether it would be warm or cold. It's kind of like that here. Except here we expect it to be nice weather with very occasional rain. Between Christmas and New Years it was very nice. I think we had some rain one night. The day and night time temps have been low 70s/mid 60s. Pretty nice weather for winter.
Craig finally arrived after spending almost two days in Amsterdam. The surprisingly early snow storm in Europe definitely caught everyone by surprise. There were flight cancellations in German and both airports in London were closed for a short time. Craig's flight going from Amsterdam to Frankfurt was canceled because of weather conditions. They put him on a flight going through London. He doesn't wear a watch anymore because he relies on his mobile phone for time. His mobile phone would not work while in Europe because he did not have it unlocked before he left the US. Therefore, he asked someone what time it was. Unfortunately, it was a British person and their watch was one hour off. Therefore, Craig thought he had plenty of time to get to the gate. When he arrived at the gate 15 minutes before flight time, they had already started to off load his luggage. He went back to the check in counter to get on a different flight. They put him on a flight through London that would still let him get to his connecting flight on time. He gets to his gate at Heathrow 30 minutes before flight time and they tell him that he is not signed in for the flight. He shows them is boarding pass, but they tell him that they will put him on standby. Finally, they let him on the flight. All of this left me with a couple of sleepless nights, trying to get him on the right track. The first night in Amsterdam, he went and spent the night at a friends house. It was very snowy there also, so getting around on public transport was a chore. Everything worked out in the end.
We had a nice week showing Craig around Doha. To his surprise, he discovered Doha has a lot more to see than he first thought. He had a relaxing week enjoying some mom & dad time and getting over 9 hours of jet lag. Craig had not been up that early in the morning since he did this last year in Holland. He managed to be over jet lag before returning to Holland on Dec. 30th. He wanted to have New Year's eve and some additional days to spend some time catching up with his friends.
Jim and I had a nice quiet New Year's eve. The compound had a party in the clubhouse, but we were very tired. We sat outside for a while enjoying the Blue Moon and turned in early.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Airshow on National Day.
It's a plane that flew in the airshow for National Day. I got to watch them practice 4 days in a row before Qatar National Day. They are very noisy when they fly directly over you.
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Friday, December 18, 2009
Various photos
Aspire Tower (my favorite landmark)
Light Show at National Day
Qatari Flag
Stage at National Day
Light Show at National Day
Qatari Flag
Stage at National Day
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18 December 2009 Qatar 131st National Day
Today is Qatar's version of our Independence Day. I think that it is kind of funny that it is raining today. I guess it is Allah's (Arab god) will, like everything else in this Country. I have some photos of the parade and will post them after I post this update.
In the last week, I finally accomplished buying my Hummer Truck. I am now Queen of the road! The first day when I was out driving there were several Arabs that looked at me driving and continued to stare. LOL! There was another Arab that stared at me and even made eye contact with me through his review mirror. It was if he was thinking "What is the world coming to?" "A woman driving a Hummer Truck?" He probably had to go the mosque a few extra times that day. On my first day of having my truck, I went out to the Industrial Area of Doha on a hunt to find tiles for my upcoming mosaic projects. My first dumpster dive! I found a couple of tile places and took all the broken tiles they had, as they were free. The manager told me to give him a call next time and he will have them ready for me to pick up. Some of the tiles are so thick I don't think that I can cut them without different equipment, which I may have to check in to. The interesting thing about that part of Doha is that it is the desert and looks like a desert. The temperature was even higher. The area where we live and most of the city has many green spaces and the flowers (this time of year) are beautiful. However, Industrial City (area of Doha) has no green at all. My truck was very dirty by the time I got back home.
My new cleaning couple worked out very well last weekend. They spent 3 hours here and the house was very clean, ironing done and Jim's car was washed. They come again tomorrow. Less ironing this week, but they have Jim's car to wash. Jim washed the very dirty Hummer yesterday, while I was away having a manicure and pedicure. That was nice of him!
My little kitty that showed up a couple of weeks ago, we finally decided to name him Jack. He is still very afraid of men. He only wants my attention. If Jim is anywhere around he runs and hides. That's probably because the men around the compound chase him away. Jack's war wounds are getting better and his hair is growing back. Most of the time I still can not get him to play because he is afraid of any sudden movements. Although today I spread peatmoss in the backyard and Jack thought this was his play area and litter box. There was a wind kite in my tree with four long strands of outside fabric and beads attached to it and Jack decided that he wanted to play with this thing. I moved it closer to the ground, so that he could reach it. He climbed into the tree and got it unhooked from the hook holding it up in the tree. I put it back on the hook and he kept playing with it and was trying to get it unhooked again, but no luck. He finally jumped out of the tree and played with it from the ground. It was good to witness him playing. Of course, there were no men around. Actually it was only me, so he was comfortable with that.
Craig is finished his classes for this semester. He will come to Doha for a week long visit this Sunday, and then he will go to Holland to celebrate New Year's with his friends. He will return to San Antonio January 6th. We look forward to showing him around Doha and taking him to Duhkan (The field where Jim goes to about once a week.) We are also going to take him to the souks.
Merry Christmas!
In the last week, I finally accomplished buying my Hummer Truck. I am now Queen of the road! The first day when I was out driving there were several Arabs that looked at me driving and continued to stare. LOL! There was another Arab that stared at me and even made eye contact with me through his review mirror. It was if he was thinking "What is the world coming to?" "A woman driving a Hummer Truck?" He probably had to go the mosque a few extra times that day. On my first day of having my truck, I went out to the Industrial Area of Doha on a hunt to find tiles for my upcoming mosaic projects. My first dumpster dive! I found a couple of tile places and took all the broken tiles they had, as they were free. The manager told me to give him a call next time and he will have them ready for me to pick up. Some of the tiles are so thick I don't think that I can cut them without different equipment, which I may have to check in to. The interesting thing about that part of Doha is that it is the desert and looks like a desert. The temperature was even higher. The area where we live and most of the city has many green spaces and the flowers (this time of year) are beautiful. However, Industrial City (area of Doha) has no green at all. My truck was very dirty by the time I got back home.
My new cleaning couple worked out very well last weekend. They spent 3 hours here and the house was very clean, ironing done and Jim's car was washed. They come again tomorrow. Less ironing this week, but they have Jim's car to wash. Jim washed the very dirty Hummer yesterday, while I was away having a manicure and pedicure. That was nice of him!
My little kitty that showed up a couple of weeks ago, we finally decided to name him Jack. He is still very afraid of men. He only wants my attention. If Jim is anywhere around he runs and hides. That's probably because the men around the compound chase him away. Jack's war wounds are getting better and his hair is growing back. Most of the time I still can not get him to play because he is afraid of any sudden movements. Although today I spread peatmoss in the backyard and Jack thought this was his play area and litter box. There was a wind kite in my tree with four long strands of outside fabric and beads attached to it and Jack decided that he wanted to play with this thing. I moved it closer to the ground, so that he could reach it. He climbed into the tree and got it unhooked from the hook holding it up in the tree. I put it back on the hook and he kept playing with it and was trying to get it unhooked again, but no luck. He finally jumped out of the tree and played with it from the ground. It was good to witness him playing. Of course, there were no men around. Actually it was only me, so he was comfortable with that.
Craig is finished his classes for this semester. He will come to Doha for a week long visit this Sunday, and then he will go to Holland to celebrate New Year's with his friends. He will return to San Antonio January 6th. We look forward to showing him around Doha and taking him to Duhkan (The field where Jim goes to about once a week.) We are also going to take him to the souks.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The Wet weather
The wet weather has appeared! We even had thunderstorms yesterday. It rained the entire day. That does not happen very often in this part of the world. I was told that it will rain for a few days (which it has) and then it will be nice weather and the rains will come again for a few days, maybe even a week!
Driving in wet weather here is very interesting. The sand just turns to mud. They like to go around traffic on the side of the road, which is limestone and mud (when wet). However, they probably have a person at home just to clean their cars.
Here is a photo of one of the streets.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
We had a nice tour around the city by a woman that is hired by Shell. It was nice to learn where all the souks, medical clinic, etc. are located. She also took us out to the Pearl. It's very pretty on the Pearl, which is on the coast. There are a lot of upscale restaurants in that part of Doha.
We looked at another car for me, but we are still looking. We are getting closer to making a decision.
I now have a cleaning couple that came and were finished in 3 hours! They cleaned the house, car and did some ironing. They will come every Saturday, until someone leaves and I will get a day during the work week.
We looked at another car for me, but we are still looking. We are getting closer to making a decision.
I now have a cleaning couple that came and were finished in 3 hours! They cleaned the house, car and did some ironing. They will come every Saturday, until someone leaves and I will get a day during the work week.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday, 11 December 2009, First day of the weekend
Today was woke up to it raining outside! First time in probably 9 months. It actually rained off and on all day. I'm sure my new plants are enjoying it. It's not a good day to go out in the car. The road get very dangerous when it rains because with all the dust all the time, they are pretty muddy. We had lots to do around home, so we stayed put for today.
I finally unpacked my last two boxes and even put the stuff away.
There is a young cat that showed up on my patio a couple of days ago. He had been in a cat fight or a dog and cat fight and is missing a lot of fur on one side of his body. He is definitely domesticated, as I was sitting outside on the patio yesterday and he climbed into my lap! I started feeding him because he seemed very hungry. I will continue to feed him and then I will be able to trap him and bring him to a vet and see if he has a RFID tag. I think that he was dumped in the area and was looking for a new home. There are other cats in the compound, so he probably knew that this was a friendly place. He likes to sit on the water tanks behind our house. It's dry, but very dusty. I put a soft blanket in a box turned sideways and protected it from the rain that may happen again tonight and tomorrow. He crawled in his new bed and has been snoozing this afternoon. I put his food in the box, so that he can protect it.
Tomorrow will be a busy day.
Last weekend... Believe it or not!
Jim enjoying Krispy Kreme Donuts! You can purchase them in Doha, Qatar, but NOT in Houston, Texas, USA.
The dining room and kitchen (before painting)
Here is a photo of the Dining room and kitchen before the walls were painted. We call it the "hospital look".
The Camel Track
And now, for something completely different. Jim and I went a bit too far out Duhkan Road and found the camel race track. They were out running the camels. The following are photos from my phone, so the quality will not be as good.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Eid is over/Back to Work
It was nice having Jim home for a whole week. The time went by very quickly. Almost all the boxes were unpacked. It was pretty quiet around the compound, as most people were away on vacation.
I have not been very good at daily updates, but I will try to get better at that. There are so many funny things that happen here daily. I will try harder to put them on the blog.
Yesterday Jim was told to leave the building at work. Qatar Petroleum (QP) declared the building to be unsafe because about a week ago the ceiling fell through in one office. It's about time that they figured out that the building was unsafe. It takes a whole week to do that! They told all the employees that they were not to enter the building on Sunday until they were cleared to enter. We shall see how long this weekend may last.
I'm going to post some photos, and then I will write about today.
Happy Weekend!
I have not been very good at daily updates, but I will try to get better at that. There are so many funny things that happen here daily. I will try harder to put them on the blog.
Yesterday Jim was told to leave the building at work. Qatar Petroleum (QP) declared the building to be unsafe because about a week ago the ceiling fell through in one office. It's about time that they figured out that the building was unsafe. It takes a whole week to do that! They told all the employees that they were not to enter the building on Sunday until they were cleared to enter. We shall see how long this weekend may last.
I'm going to post some photos, and then I will write about today.
Happy Weekend!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thanksgiving Photo
Shannon, the host, talking on her mobile and has her camera in the other hand ready to take a photo of the 3 week old baby that had just arrived with her parents.
Thanksgiving
I did not actually post anything about our Thanksgiving dinner, which was on Friday instead of Thursday. There were about 50 people that gathered for the big feast. The host fried 8 whole turkeys and at least another 8 turkey breasts. We met a bunch of our neighbors, which all remember my name and I don't have a clue what their names are. There were some people that work for Exxon/Mobile, Shell and Qatar Petroleum.
There is a group of bench sitters that sit on a bench across from the clubhouse in their PJs in the morning waiting for the bus to pick up the children. I'm not sure what time this occurs. In the afternoon when the children return home from school around 1:30 PM, the bench sitters are there again to watch the children play. They have a name for themselves in the afternoon, but I'm not sure what it is. I will go and join them every now and then, so that I can learn their names and get to know them.
A lot of people in the compound have praised my garden. It is coming along nicely. I'm not done yet. I think that it has encouraged others to make their yards look nicer.
There is a group of bench sitters that sit on a bench across from the clubhouse in their PJs in the morning waiting for the bus to pick up the children. I'm not sure what time this occurs. In the afternoon when the children return home from school around 1:30 PM, the bench sitters are there again to watch the children play. They have a name for themselves in the afternoon, but I'm not sure what it is. I will go and join them every now and then, so that I can learn their names and get to know them.
A lot of people in the compound have praised my garden. It is coming along nicely. I'm not done yet. I think that it has encouraged others to make their yards look nicer.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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