It's good to be a local

Beach at Al Khor

Park on the Beach at Al Khor

Museum at Al Khor (in the old police station)

Traditional fishing boat and fort tower at Al Khor

Greenest part of the the public gardens--THE PARKING LOT!

Camels on the side of the road.

The most exciting news for this week is that we rented a car! I don't know why we didn't do it sooner, except that we keep getting told that we will get our work cars "soon." It is so nice to have some freedom and not have to worry about accommodating everyone else's schedule. We celebrated by driving to Al Khor, an old fishing town north of Doha. We visited the beach, a small museum and the public park. We also saw a guy feeding his camels on the side of the highway. (Talk about a double take.) I am pretty sure we were the only westerners in the whole city. It was nice to do some touring outside the touristy area. I also got my haircut at a local shop. It was really nice to have it done finally and I like the cut.

On the drive to Al Khor, we made a list of the top 10 things we like about Doha and the top 10 things we don't:

10 THINGS WE LIKE: (in no particularly order)
1. You can withdraw money from any ATM (any Bank) with no fees or penalties. No more searching for your bank's ATMs. It is really convenient.
2. Traffic laws are mere suggestions. Traffic laws, roads, lanes, stop signs, speed limits, etc are really more just suggestions for good driving. Everyone tends to do what I call "Creative Driving." Forget driving straight down the road! The possibilities are endless. You won't even be pulled over for speeding. If you are caught speeding (by radar), they just mail the ticket to you. You can pay them online or at the airport (or else you can't leave the country.)
3. Everyone is really friendly. Especially in our area (where I think we are a bit of a novelty), everyone goes out of their way to help you and say hello. Even if they don't speak English very well, they will always do what they can.
4. I am considered beautiful here. I have had several people (women mostly) stop me on the street and tell me how beautiful I am. It is a nice ego boost. I really think it is because I have such fair skin. Instead of self-tanning cream, the stores carry cream to make your skin whiter. In the U.S. I am pastey--In Qatar I am pretty. I love this country.
5. Hummus. Just about everywhere you eat serves hummus with Arabic (pita) bread. Yum. Jon would never eat it when I bought it at home, but he loves it here.
6. Cheap Taxis. The taxi drivers are friendly (usually) and cheap. For more details, see past post.
7. No snow. This one is for Jon, NOT me. He has liked that it is so warm. Only problem is that it keeps getting hotter!
8. Souqs. Souqs are what the local markets are called. They have a lot of character and you can get some good deals. All the shops here are gathered together into categories. All the car shops together, book stores together, jewelry together, fish markets together, etc. If you want something, you just go to that area and pick from a number of stores. Bartering is expected.
9. Cute Coke Cans and KinderSuprise. This is a dumb one, but we love it. You can buy regular sized pop cans, but they also have smaller ones that are half the size. For people like me who can't handle a lot at once, they are great. I also love the KinderSuprise eggs. I first discovered these when I was living in Austria. They are chocolate eggs with little plastic eggs inside that hold toys. I love them because the toys come in parts and you have to put them together. Sure they are a choking hazard, but they are great fun.
10. It is a small city/country. No matter how lost you get, you can't ever get that lost. Everything is relatively close. You can get anywhere (in the city) you want in less than 45 minutes. A nice change from trying to get from one end of Sacramento to the other.

10 THINGS WE DON'T LIKE (in no particular order)
1. No plugs in the Bathrooms. There are NO electrical outlets in ANY bathrooms. Very annoying for trying to get ready in the morning. There are also no light switches in the bathroom. I can't tell you how many times I have been in a hurry and ended up there in the dark!
2. Never-ending construction. I have complained about this enough already. It is everywhere.
3. Shoddy plumbing. Ditto to the above.
4. Being stared at. Although there are some benefits to "standing out", I am very self-conscious about being stared at. Apparently no one was ever taught as a child not to stare.
5. TV and Cable. We don't watch much TV here, but we miss variety when we do. I don't want to hear anyone in the US complain about "50-100 channels and nothing to watch!" We get 3 English channels. As much as we love Dr. Phil and Oprah (sense subtle sarcasm), it gets a little old after a while.
6. No mountains or grass. I have started being able to find directions without mountains for reference, but I miss the green. There are some nicely planted areas, but I miss wildlife. Also, there is very little grass here. I try to take a picture anytime I see it.
7. Most parents don't make their kids sit in car seats. It drives me crazy to be driving down the street and see so many kids bouncing around in the back of cars. I can't believe that they don't take child safety in cars more seriously. We like the "creative driving" here, but it does cause a lot of accidents.
8. "In Shallah" This is a very nice phrase that means God Willing. It is nice in theory, but we always seem to hear it in relation to broken promises. I would vent more about this, but it just comes out blasphemous.
9. Trying to call any business on the phone. Part of it may be the language barrier, part of it is cultural norms, but very few people will do business with you over the phone. There is no such thing as calling a store to see if something is in stock or to ask a question. You could try, but inevitably, they will ask you to just come in.
10. Speed beeps. While no one really pays attention to the speed limit, your car does. If you go above 120 KM per hour (the highest speed limit), your car will beep at you. It is a warning sound like when you haven't buckled your seat belt or when you leave the door open. Can you guess who is annoyed by this most? Jon or me?

That's all for now. Crazy weekend. Early Bedtime.