We made it! We are here!

Thanks to everyone who prayed that we would make it to Doha safe and on time. The flight was long (almost 24 hours!), but every flight was basically on time and we were tired enough by the time we got on the plane that we were able to sleep.

Our take-off from Salt Lake City was beautiful. The Salt Lake may be smelly and murky, but it is really beautiful from the air. I have to admit we were a little nervous as we watched the Wasatch Mountains disappear, but we were also excited for our new adventure.

For the entire flight I had one song stuck in my head, “How Gentle God’s Commands.” The ironic thing is that it isn’t a hymn I have heard often, but for some reason the words just kept coming back to me. I think it was to give me peace about the trip and our decision to move to Doha. The words are:

How gentle God’s commands. How kind his precepts are.
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord, and trust his constant care.
Beneath his watchful eye, His Saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up, shall guard his children well.
Why should this anxious load, Press down your weary mind?
Haste to your Heavenly Father’s thrown and sweet refreshment find.
His goodness stands approved, unchanged from day to day.
I’ll drop my burden at his feet and bear a song away.

It was almost 8 PM Wednesday night when we arrived in Doha. The airport in Doha is small. All planes unload down stairs and then you take a bus to the terminal. (The airport is building a new terminal, but I do not know when it is supposed to be done.) We expected to be met at the airport by employees of Qatar Foundation, but by the time we went through passport control and got our bags we still hadn’t seen anyone. Luckily, as we walked through security, we were greeted by members from the LDS ward here. It was a relief to see their smiling faces. They had brought two cars and were able to load almost all of our things in one trip. Jon and I took a taxi with the rest of the bags to the hotel. (We found out later that there had been someone there to meet us, but we had missed each other since the airport was so crowded that night.)

We are staying for the first few days at the Sheraton Hotel. Our houses are not quite ready and we arrived right before the weekend. The picture at the top is of us on the balcony of our room. (You can see part of the Doha skyline in the back.) The one below is a view of the hotel from the gardens. It has been nice to be in a hotel for a few days to relax, adjust to the time zone and get some sleep. The hotel is very nice. We are feeling very pampered. Jon keeps telling me not to get use to it.

The hotel is very close to Doha’s biggest mall, The City Center. It is HUGE—much bigger than any mall we have in Utah. It has at least 5 levels and takes up several city blocks. It houses a large movie theater, a bowling alley, an ice-rink, a grocery store, a sports/gaming area and many many stores. I had forgotten how modern it is. I lied to everyone when I said that there was not a McDonalds here….there are several. In fact, the mall food court also has a Hardee’s, Appleby’s, KFC, Burger King, Duncan Donuts and TCBY.

The LDS church meets on Fridays here since that is the religious day for Muslims. Sunday – Thursday is a regular business week, Friday is the Sabbath, and Saturday is the day off. Yesterday we went to church at the ward here. I would estimate that there were 125-150 people at church. The ward is made up mostly of Americans and Philippinos. There are also some families from other places in South-east Asia and Europe. Jon was surprised by how many people were there. Everyone was very friendly and made us feel right at home. The ward meets in a private villa that is rented for the purpose of religious worship.

After church Jon and I decided to take a “little nap” and ended up sleeping the whole rest of the day and through the night. I blame it partly on jet lag and partly on exhaustion. Today (Saturday) we spent the day alone (no Marya, Richard, or Rex) and just relaxed. We took a nice walk down by the beach, had lunch by the pool, and saw a movie at the mall. We really can’t complain, but reality will hit soon enough. We are actually getting really anxious to get into our house. We are hoping for tomorrow, but realistically expecting Monday or Tuesday. Being on vacation is nice, but the adjustment will be easier once we get settled. So far the things that I think will be the biggest adjustments for Jon will be the driving (very few traffic lights here, but there are a million three-lane round-a-bouts and everyone drives very aggressively) and the food. Even though there are a lot of chain stores, we won’t be eating there much. Jon said at lunch today that he misses Palace Cafe (his favorite Provo place to eat.) He is struggling because when he ordered a Dr. Pepper they brought him salt and pepper and no one has managed to figure out what he means by “a side of Ranch.” We will have to go searching in the grocery store to see if either even exist here. I am enjoying the “down time” and ocean views too much to decide what my adjustments will be yet. I can’t sleep tonight, so I got up to write this and turned on the TV. Although Qatar only has one station produced here, they get a lot of satellite channels. On the American Highlights channel I have watched Gilmore Girls and Law and Order. They are really old ones, but I am happy and feeling right at home.

We are both doing really well. We take turns being really excited and really nervous. I told Jon today that I was sad that we hadn’t both been excited at the same time yet, but he reminded me that it was good that we both haven’t been nervous at the same time either. I guess it is good we have each other after all. ;) I am starting to get tired, but will write more soon. We love and miss you all.