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Published: July 18th 2014
Shannon, me and Sam
on our managers' bonding eveningIt has been a while since I've written anything, but such is the life here. All work and no play (I won't finish that sentence because I'm actually watching a creepy show by myself in the dark...). Anyway. Just a quick breakdown of what has been happening.
Work Life Upon returning from our great trip to Oman, I returned straight to work. It has become very busy for us here, even with the summer working hours. During Summertime in the Middle East, and Qatar in particular, you cannot work outside during the hot part of the day: 11:30am to 3:00pm. In addition, Ramadan began at the end of June. You do not know exactly what days Ramadan, or any Islamic holiday, will fall on until the sighting of the moon. In Qatar this typically means that you don't know until the day before, but you get the general idea. For the month of Ramadan, hours are even further limited to six hours, which applies to office hours as well. This has disrupted some of our working hours, but you can also get creative. For instance, for one of our metro projects, we've been able to institute night hours -
Tina's last night
We will miss you Tina!!! working 1am to 11am instead. During Ramadan, most sites are working from 4am to 11am.
So, it's actually been quite nice at work. The majority of the staff leave right at 2pm, which gives me a couple of hours of peace to really get some work done. So, even though I stay later than everyone else, I'm still home much earlier than usual. The first afternoon, I got home around 4:30pm, sat down and said to myself, "What do I do now?". Well, every night, i've been doing. Cleaning, relaxing, cooking, working, watching tv, and just enjoying a normal homelife for once. It has been amazing.
We also have three brand new project managers. One is from Cameroon but has been working in the Middle East for about seven years. Another is a young guy from South Africa, who I don't know much about as he just started last week. The other is an American guy who has worked all over the world, but is from friggin Ventura!!! He and I worked on the same huge project and know many of the same people, including his old boss who was my site manager. Plus, he worked at Patagonia,
Shannon at the Souk
Trying a mint cooler, a typical Arabic drink - lemonade and mint where a few of my friends did so he knows them as well. It is so crazy what a small world this is!
The Souk My friend, Sam, is based in Dubai, but she is the project manager of a major project here: Al Sharq Bay Crossing. This is a highly anticipated project that involves bridges and tunnels across the Doha Bay from three main points. The majority is nearshore work, which is run from our Dubai office, but there is some land work at the three points that will be run from us. So, there have been various people involved, including a young American woman, who is a geophysicist working in England. So, Shannon, Sam and I had a good time for a few weeks. I didn't realize Sam had never been to the souk, so I took them one night. They loved it! It really is a nice place. I took Shannon and one of my new coworkers as well.
The main draw is the many different restaurants there. They have many international cuisines represented; while Middle Eastern/Arabic food is based on the same items, they each have their own unique style. I took them
to the Syrian Restaurant, Damascus, because I believe they have the best food. I have always loved this place, but the service leaves to be desired and I've seen a steady slump. The last straw was taking Shannon and Flanery, when I asked for the bill three times and after waiting almost half an hour, we just took a menu, calculated the total and left the money. No tip. I hate never leaving a tip, but seriously if they don't come check on you, if you make a request multiple times that are ignored, and if I have to make up my own bill? No tip!!! So, while the food here is good, most of the other restaurants along the main strip in the souk have very friendly staff and good food as well. I personally life the Iraqi restaurant and the Moroccan place.
Just like me, they fell in love with the lamps. I had bought some of these hand made lamps prior to taking a trip to the US, one each for my parents and sisters. I also want one for myself. I was disappointed when I took them to an art store I liked because they
Swimming in Dubai
Love the apartment Jamie has picked out did not have the paintings that I fell in love with. I knew I should have bought them when I saw them. However, when I went back with Shannon, they had more in stock and I snatched one up! I love the depictions of middle eastern life in mostly black and white on canvas with a splash of color. Finally, I have a piece of art work for my bare bedroom. Now I want another...
Some Fun While it has mostly been work, there have been good times too. Just basically life. I was able to go to Dubai for a visit and Jamie was gone to the US at the time, so I had the place to myself. I generally just relaxed, shopped, and slept. It was awesome.
One night, we had a managers' dinner where we went to a chinese restaurant and bonded over food and wine. We went afterwards to a club nearby and further bonded. I won't go into details, but it was a very, very, very fun evening! It was also the night before my birthday, so they bought me a cake. I'm not much on birthdays, particularly after my 30th -
I just feel old and "celebrating" is just a reminder. At least it was a fun night.
My co-worker has a brother who is a chef and recently he opened his own restaurant: Uncle Chbaro. It is generally Lebanese cuisine in a small venue. We were invited one night to celebrate the opening; there were about 15 of us who showed up and we all agreed on the good food. Yum! I hope they deliver to my place, but if not, it is a fairly accessible location.
Ramadan It is pretty amazing how different Ramadan is in Dubai and in Doha. I was in Dubai last weekend, and very little is different. The malls are open, the working hours are reduced but most people work almost usual times. The only difference is the food - you cannot eat in public, however, everything is open. You can easily order delivery or get take out. The bar in the airport was open and I got a beer and dinner waiting for my flight home.
In Doha, nothing, nothing! is open. It is really amazing. There is absolutely no alcohol served, so all bars are closed and the one
distribution center is closed; the weekend before, I have seen a picture of a huge line out the door of people waiting to stock up. Restaurants are not open during the day; there are a few select places that have delivery, but not many. Fortunately, the grocery stores are open, but the retail stores are not. I even took my american colleague, Matt, to the Museum of Islamic Art so he could pick up a gift. We were amazed to find the gates closed and the guard said it would not open until after Ramadan. The Museum is closed for a month!!! Plus, he has always wanted to go to this Turkish restaurant, Agora, at the Heritage Hotel. I called to check the (Ramadan) timings and the place is closed except on the weekend for the entire month of Ramadan!!! Shocking. I mean, I knew many of the closings ahead of time, but some things amaze me. Seriously, what do people do here? They must only sleep.
As I said, the retail stores are closed during the day, but are open at night - generally from 7:30pm to midnight or 1am. I tried to go one night at 11pm,
and it was insane so I ran away. I can't imagine keeping kids up until midnight, but that is the norm here. So, very little shopping for me until after Ramadan....
My New Home Last week, I went to Dubai to cancel my visa. Like an idiot, I had recently changed my purses and while I had carried around my old passport for the last year and a half for no apparent reason, I forgot to grab it when I returned. Stupid! So, leaving Dubai was a bit of a pain - no more e-gate. I had to go to immigration. Then to passport control. It took about an hour. Fortunately, coming into Doha was a snap.
The good news is, the Dubai office was able to cancel my visa in absentia (why they didn't do this the first time, I have no idea...). Also, I just got word today that my degree has finally, FINALLY, been attested. I tell you, getting my degree attested for Qatar was a nightmare and has been ongoing for about 9 months. First I sent them too much money, then I had to provide a letter stating my classes were not
taken online. My school sent a letter stating all my classes were taken on campus - not good enough! Ugh! So, my company hired a company that would do the leg work and this morning it has been accomplished! Yay! So, I should be able to get my Qatari residency in the next couple of weeks. Crazy.
So, I'm sure your question is: how much longer am I going to be here? I honestly don't know. My original contract was thru June, which has come and gone. And then I was thinking December. But now... I don't know. Life is improving here and I still love love love my job, plus all the traveling? I just don't know...
Upcoming trips For the Eid holiday, my friends and I are taking a short trip to the Maldives. Quite excited! We tried to go to Greece, but our friend is Filipina and has great difficulty getting a visa, so we are shooting to there for the second Eid in October. Then in September, I am meeting my family in Florida for a short trip. I can't wait!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Pool
Looks great.