Here and absolutely love love LOVIN it!!

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So I arrived well after 11 pm on Wednesday night here (7 hours behind the east coast). Didn't get to sleep til after 1 and then woke up around 5. We had to be ready to get picked up at 7:30 am where we had to go to medical checks to get our residence visas and identity cards!

So I met everyone around 7:30 - 8 Irish, 2 Scots, 3 South Africans, 2 Lebanese, 2 Australians, 1 Canadian and 1 American (yep, that'd be me!). I don't understand how I'm the only American though I don't really mind - I just don't always understand what the Scots are saying and once in a while have a problem with the Irish. Everyone is super nice. We spent the morning at the hospital - having blood drawn, blood pricks, and xrays so that we can get our residence visas. Then we went to the school (Amazing facility!) and met some of the staff and teachers and had a fabulous lunch - hummos, pita bread, grilled chicken kabobs, etc. Then we went to Landmark - a mall - to get our cell phones - my number is 011-974-605-3292. Then we went to the Vellagio - another mall that was designed as though we're in Italy - has Ralph Lauren, Prada, Versace, Zaras, etc. Then even have an ice skating rink and gondola rides inside! They also have Carrefour which is a big wal-mart like store where we all stocked up on foods and stuff for our apartment. Then we went home where I took an hour nap before getting ready for our first night out. We went to this Irish bar at the Sheraton - now the Sheraton at home isn't fancy or anything but out here, damn, we thought we had just entered the Ritz or something cause everything here is soo fancy! Taxis are called limos and they are all mercedes benz or bmws. Drinks were super expensive - a beer was equal to 10 US bucks which was the same cost for vodka tonics! But we had a great time dancing and drinking - tons of expats there - to the band and then dj. We didn't leave til close to 3 but just had a blast hanging out and getting to know each other better! I didn't get to bed til close to 4am and slept til about an hour ago! Yikes, its 4pm but I definitely needed that sleep - especially with the jet lag and time difference.

My roommate and I are just running a few errands before going home and getting ready for dinner. We get to get all dressed up, love it!, cause the school is taking us out to this fancy dinner to welcome us! My roommate is Maral, from Toronto Candada. Her mother is Armenian but was born in Lebanon and her dad is also Armenian but born in Iraq. She was actually born in Baghdad, Iraq but moved to Canada when she was younger. She is also a kindgergarten teacher. We have a huge apartment where we each have our own bedrooms and bathrooms. We don't have internet in the place yet but it is supposed to be set up before Ramadan begins but most likely it wont be until after, oh well!

Qatar is great so far though its soo hot (AC is everywhere though) and sooo much sand. I cant even explain to you how much sand there is. The cars are filthy and covered in it so they're washed every few days if not daily. The country is soo rich that it makes - this is what we were told- a billion a day. So the king takes half of it and gives the other half to the country. Each Qatari born in the country receives 3,000 dollars every month of his or her life! So these people have tons of money. Though the Qatari people only make up about 10% of the population and the other 90% is made up of foreigners living and working here - a lot of people from India.

Love to all,
D

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Comments

[Johannes John]

Impressed
Danilelle I am Impressed - first of all of your energy and I like your stile of writing. It is not dry nor heavy - it is very lively and loved it to read your Blogs - The first I read was of you in the Phillipines and I fellt your heart for the orphans and the woman and just the whole situation. You had the courage to let it come to your heart. I hope that you will write me back and maybe even that we will in the future some closer contact - as I Plan to travel around the World also, but for other reasons. If you want tknow why just look at my website: http://www.pagii.com/johannesjohn May God Bless you and keep you save! Johannes John

[paula larose]

glad to hear you made it there safely. What do you have to do to become a Quatari ? Just wondering. Sounds like another adventure awaits you with slightly better living conditions. Try to stay out of the jungle this time and away from bugs! Keep the logs coming. Stay safe Paula

[kumujen]

Hi! You don't know me, I teach 7th grade world geography in Wisconsin, but I came across you blog and really enjoyed reading it. I would love to teach abroad...hopefully my dream will come true someday! Good Luck on your adventure!