I am American and I want a Driver's License

As most of you have correctly surmised, I really like the country of Qatar.  It is a wonderful standard of living and I have met some amazing people - both Qatari and Expats.  But.......every so often you are reminded that behind the beautiful buildings and the amazing progress, is a country that has some skeletons in their infrastructure.  Case in point......the process of getting a driver's license.

If I was from almost any other country in the world and had a nonexpired license, I would simply submit paperwork and a free Qatar license would show up.  However, if you are a new driver or evidently an American, you have to go through the painful process of going to this ramshackle disgusting building no less than 3 times.  Luckily 7 of my coworkers experienced this with me.
The rumor is that since the United States requires the Qatari people take a driving test to get a license in the U.S., they reciprocate the law and make us do it here. The difference is that I have seen how they drive and I demand that we make them take a driving test when coming to the United States!

 

First visit:  Eye Test. We were told it was 30QR ($8) but suddenly when we arrived the price was 50QR ($14) - CASH ONLY.  They tested our eyes in order to see if our sight was good enough to drive.  Good idea, but can someone tell me why they test our eyes one at a time?  How many of us drive with one eye closed?  Is this in case I suddenly decide to wear an eye patch?  Luckily I passed.

Ok back to my job.

 

Day 2: Up at 5, out the door by 6 to get the Traffic Department to take my written test.  Wait around for awhile and then get called into a room.  Sat down in a chair and had to tell the tester what 4 different signs meant.  Yes, just 4 signs.  That was the entire test!   Great use of my time!  Ok back to my job.

 

Day 3:  Up at 4am, out the door by 5am.  If you are a women, they only give the driving test on Thursday at 530am.  Or let me clarify that.  They demand that you arrive at 530am so you can submit your now pile of paperwork (haven't they heard of computers!) and pay 180QR ($50) - CASH ONLY.  The purpose of arriving so early is so you can sit for no less than 3 hours in their disgustingly dirty chairs and pray you do not have to visit the bathroom. 

 

 

(If I look happy, it is only because I brought Pepperidge Farm cookies to eat as my breakfast)  So happy my friends were with me!

 

After about 3 hours, they load groups of 20-25 women onto buses.  The bus leaves the parking area with a car up ahead.  Every so often the car and bus pull over and the "student" driver changes with someone in the bus. 

 Finally, it was my turn.  The instructor (a women) said exactly 4 words to me: roundabout, straight, left and park.  She was truly warm and fuzzy! (I think she really enjoys her job!) I drove no more than 500 feet.

After the fun bus ride, we returned to the disgusting chairs to wait and wait and wait..... Finally a pile of papers show up (again please someone introduce them to computers!)  The man at the desk starts calling names.  Individually, you have to go to the front of the room with about 200 women watching you.  The man at the desk then says either:

COME AGAIN! That means you failed and another man makes you leave out the door immediately. So Respectful!

Or PUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER HERE! Evidently that is their disrespectful way of saying "Congratulations on passing.  Please put your phone number here and we would be glad to print your official license"  He was also speaking mostly Arabic which I have to tell you I have made no progress on learning. (Luckily one of my coworkers with me spoke Arabic and she was able to translate for me.)

 

Unfortunately out of the 8 Americans that I was with, 2 women did not pass. Yes, that is not a typo.  Both of them have driven for more than 30 years in the United States but they do not drive well enough for Qatar??? Really? If you need a refresher on the driving skills required in Qatar, I recommend my previous blog on the subject.  I believe one of them Yielded during her driving test and we all know there is no Yielding in Qatar!

 

I however did pass.  I was instructed to a window where I was told to pay 250QR ($69) - DEBIT CARD ONLY! (Now I think I am on Candid Camera).

 

I was so proud to be done with the process! Again, I think I heard "We are the Champions" by Queen in my head.

 

My pride was only broken when I looked on the back and saw the the man who did my final paperwork, marked me as Handicapped!

 

Oh well........I think I will get an eye patch!

 

 

 

 



Flutag Comes to Doha

Flutag came to Qatar for the first time! Thank you Red Bull!

 

For those of you that do not know what this is, let me fill you in on this fun event.  It is basically a flying competition of home made, human powdered flying objects that adults launch off of a 30 ft. pier into a body of water.  So it is adults building large toys that they hope will fly.  Points are given to the competitors based on originality, design, flight length (which I have to tell you is very little) and the entertainment factor of the flight crew themselves who have to give a preflight skit.

 



This is happens in about 35 cities all over the world but this is the first time in Doha, Qatar.  Lucky for the people of Doha it was the usual perfectly sunny day and the usual Fall temp of 90 degress.

 

The designs were by engineers, pilots, friends and even a group of moms.  Some had sponsors such as VCU in Qatar and many were financed by the individuals themselves.





 

The only problem with this competition is something called Gravity. The phenomenon seemed to occur surprisingly quickly on each of the flying objects.  Most of them went off the pier and downward with no apparent forward movement.  Hilarious!

 

 

After the nanosecond flight a boat picked up the passengers and a crane removed the debris from the water.  Quickly it was time for another ill fated flight.  Clearly none of these people work for the aviation industry.....actually I am just assuming that based on the total lack of uplift noted.

 

 

I ask you, what is not fun about watching adults launch really big models into water? If you ever see it advertised, I will expect you to attend. 

 

Thanks to Red Bull, tens of thousands of people in Doha had an entertaining day and according to my observations, many of them are nursing sunburns tonight. (You should see my scalp!)

 



 

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani Museum

Sheikh Faisal is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Qatar. He has been a leader in strengthening the Qatar economy.  He is related to the ruling family (Al-Thani) but I could not figure out exactly what relation he is to the present Sheikh.
For the people of Qatar, the benefit of this success is his love of collecting.  He buys because he can and lucky for us he has put his collection in a lovely castle like building way out in the desert.

If you buy a boat, then you just build lake for it! 

Or you build your museum big enough to place them inside.  This museum just keeps going and going!

 

Now maybe boats aren't how you like to travel, well there is a collection of trucks, cars, carriages, etc.  

 

                                         There are so many vehicles that soon there

                                         is going to be a special section just for vehicles.

 A 1925 ambulance.


Look! a 82nd Airborne US Army jeep!

He also assembled an amazing collection of weapons - guns, knives, daggers, etc.  Many as old as the 17th century.
There were walls of just rifles.

 

                                                                                 

There was glassware, pottery, art, clothes, jewelry, housewares and absolutely beautiful carved wooden doors and amazing decorated metal objects.  Too much for one blog....will complete another blog on the other sections! An amazing museum.  I enjoyed it and look forward to visiting again. 

 

But for now I must say goodbye from Doha!

Souq Waqif

One of the top tourist destinations in Doha is the Souk Waqif which means "the standing market".  This historic market sells traditional clothing, housewares, souvenirs, material for clothing, handicrafts, spices and so many other things.  This market is quite old but a few years back after a devastating fire, it was renovated using the traditional building techniques. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon or evening is to walk and get lost amongst the narrow alleys.  Since I have no sense of direction, I would still be wondering if not for the help of my companions and a map.

I do not usually visit anywhere if food as not a part of the journey, so of course there are many ethnic restaurants lining the main walkway through the Souk.  Below is a wonderful Egyptian restaurant where I enjoyed a wonderful lamb stew.  Actually we were not sure if it was Egyptian but we were starving, they had food and even better they had air conditioning.  The temperature during our first visit was about 110.
The ceiling in this restaurant was beautiful.

 

 

 

The Souk is separated into different areas:
The Gold souk is somewhere I would like like to visit again soon - preferably after a payday. Store after store of beautiful gold craftsmanship.

 

There are many stores with material for dress making.  There are tailors right there to make anything you need.

Or you can buy traditional clothing already made.

 

 

 

Even children's clothing....

 

 

 

I especially love the Turkish pottery.  The colors are vibrant and the design of the decorations are unique.  I am definitely going to ship some of this back to the US.

You have to be careful in the Souk because the "made in China" products are also abundant.  But if you look you can find some beautiful items.  I made one major purchase so far.  I bought myself a wool, hand embroidered wrap.  This was made in Kashmir.  The owner of the store is from Kashmir and he spent time showing us how to tell if it is hand made vs. machine embroidered and how to tell a quality piece from a cheap piece.  We really appreciated his time and I will be visiting his store again.  (I will not be able to find his store but my friends with the compasses in their heads will be able to find his alley) He said that many people use these wraps as a table runner and it would make a beautiful table.

 

There are ship builders that make miniature models of the historic Dhow boats.  There seems to be disagreement where the design of the traditional sailing boat came from but you can still take a cruise on the Arabian Gulf in boats that have been preserved for tourists.

 



 

 

There is another section of the Souk that is for pets and Falcon.  This is a whole future Blog by itself.  Stay tuned.....

 





If you plan to visit this market - and I would strongly encourage it - just remember to go when it is below 100 degrees, if not the alleys look like this:

 

This past time when we visited the evening was cool and we sat out at a cafe for a long time just taking it all in. The people watching is amazing but you need to go when the people are willing to come out of the air conditioning of their homes!

 



Staring Contest

I have previously written about the staring by the Muslim men in Qatar.  It is something that I hardly notice anymore because you realize that it is a cultural habit and not in any way done to offend.

But that does not mean I cannot have a little fun with it.

Last week, I was walking in the mall when I decided to sit and have some lemonade.  Just about the same time as I sat down, a gentleman in traditional dress sat down at the table across from me.  I am assuming he was Qatari but there are so many people here in traditional dress that are from other Muslim countries, it is hard to tell.

As I starting drinking, I felt him start to stare.  I made the sudden decision to just stare back.  I needed to see what would happen.

He stared.  I stared.  He stared.  I stared.  All the training at the lunch table in Elementary School was coming in handy.  We were allowing blinking but no glancing away.

It seemed like this was going on for a long time.  We even drank while staring - he was having tea and I was enjoying my lemonade.   I literally had nothing to do for hours and although I have never been a terribly competitive person, I was willing to put a lot of time and effort into this childish staring contest.

Luckily, he was a decently attractive older gentleman so this was not painful.

Suddenly the gentleman smiled, laughed and nodded his head as he looked away.
Humor works in any language.

The blond American won!

As I got up and walked away, I am pretty sure I heard "We Are the Champions" by Queen playing in my head.

I really need to get a hobby!

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak is a traditional Muslim greeting usually used during Festivals.  This can be translated to "Eid" - Feast and "Mubarak" - Blessed.

Qatar is currently enjoying the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice).  This holiday itself is 2 - 4 days long but the governments of countries with a significant Muslim population all decide independently how long workers will be off work.  This year, the Qatar government has given us the entire week off of work.  Thank you Qatar!

The holiday itself celebrates Abraham's willingness to put his first born son up for sacrifice.  Luckily God intervened and provided him a lamb to sacrifice instead.  Good decision for poor little Ismail!

The holidays celebrated by the Muslim faith follow the Muslim Lunar Calendar, even though business and daily living functions on the Georgian Solar Calendar.  The lunar calendar is 11 days shorter than the solar calendar, so Eid al-Adha moves earlier by approximately 11 days every year.  Therefore in 2014 Eid al-Adha will start on approximately October 4th.  And just to make things even more confusing, different countries celebrate on slightly different days because the sighting of the crescent moon varies.  The countries announce the exact days of the holiday and how many days most workers will be off work, approximately 2 weeks before the Holiday.

Tough to photograph a moon!

The Muslim community in Qatar is very family oriented so the activities scheduled for this holiday are all family oriented - plays, fireworks, food festivals, and family travel. 

The work week here is Sunday to Thursday and by 3pm last Thursday, my building was eerily empty because most of my fellow employees use this paid time off work to travel. I have friends visiting Lebanon, the Maldives, South Africa, Dubai, Australia, Germany, Italy and the United States.

 

So how am I spending my holiday?  I did not plan any travel due to a suggestion from my bank account and I could not leave without having my Resident Permit.  I was not sure when that would be complete so I could not make any plans. Fortunately my permit has been completed and now that I am an official Resident of Qatar, I am welcome to leave and return as often as I wish. 

No need to travel yet....(I do have future plans)....there are many ways to enjoy a holiday in Qatar.

 

Friday afternoon there was lunch outside along the beach at the Four Seasons. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night was Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Doha St. Regis Hotel.  New York is cycling Jazz ensembles to Doha every 2 weeks.  I had a wonderful time getting to know fellow Sidra employees, while enjoying the Etienne Charles Quintet. Also, I finally got a Cosmopolitan. Yum!

(Stay tuned for a future Blog on Alcohol Consumption in Qatar)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was an evening walk and dinner at the Pearl - the man made island here in Doha.  A great place to view large yachts and grab a bite to eat. My pay grade does not allow me to live here but visiting is free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today who knows?  No plans until later this week when my fellow NICU specialist Ellen and I become doggie nannies to a golden retriever and a rottweiler.  Both of their families are leaving the country and we are going to live in one of their houses while we entertain the dogs.  Since I miss my pets terribly, I am looking forward to this canine time.

What I should be doing with my time is looking for Double Stuff Oreos.  My supply has dried up.  This is a dark cloud over my Holiday.



A Day of Culture

Everyone may assume that I have been spending all of my time hunting for groceries but I wanted everyone to know that I have in fact made time to enjoy the Qatari culture.  The people here are very proud of their culture and spend a lot of money to preserve their traditions.  The Middle East gets only bad press (thank you CNN) but in fact here they are proud people just doing the same everyday activities that you do.......like drive the Maserati, watch the maids and cooks do all the work, shop for designer clothes, count money and watch the investments soar upwards.

 

 

I luckily am not busy doing the above activities so I have plenty of time to be a tour this beautiful country. 

 

First I would like to admit that I am  not a huge I.M. Pei fan. (After what he did to the Louvre!)   

Anyway that is for another blog. In 2008 the Islamic Museum of Art opened in Doha.  I.M. Pei did a fantastic job designing this building.  Absolutely perfect on the outside and the inside.  It is filled with items from mostly the 8th to the 15th century. It is laid out well without being the least bit overwhelming like so many museums can be. It is a place you want to go back and roam through over and over.  There is a park in this area as well, but we did not have time to enjoy it as we had to head back home to get ready for the opening night of the Doha Symphony!

 



 

After a quick change we were off to the Qatar Opera House located in the Katara Cultural Village. The Opera  House is just one of many buildings in this area which are located along a beach on the Arabian Gulf.  First we ate at a Lebanese Restaurant - very yummy - and then found our way back to the Opera House.  We had seats in the sold out crowd surrounded by about 90% expats. Not a popular activity for the Qatari people.

The concert was fantastic - a little Beethoven and a little Arabic music.  The musicians come from all over the world and their talent was impressive.  The next concert we have decided to attend is the Brass Fanfare in November.

 

A very busy culture filled day which left me no time to count my money. I will need to get a maid to do that.

After all, I am just trying to fit in!