I walked this evening to get a few items from the grocery store across from where I live. As I did I heard the call come out for the evening prayer. The "call" for evening prayer comes in Muslim countries at various times of the day to remind those of the Muslim faith to take time out to pray. As I was walking I could hear simultaneous echoes of a voice with much expression coming over a loud speaker system from various locations from where I was walking. I occasionally hear it early in the morning around 5am and in the evening as well. It is something that I have been intrigued by and even found some comfort in. Maybe because it's something beyond hearing automobiles driving by or maybe I am moved by the fact that it's something people are drawn to. And also likely because it's something all together different from what I have experienced previously.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Week 2 in Doha
Week 2 in Doha:
My 2nd Week in Doha was up and down. It started off o.k. but I faced dealing with and learning about some cultural differences and struggled mostly with some technical things that really had nothing to do with people but the organizational structure within which I work. By Monday or Tuesday I was missing a few folks close to me and really wanting to let off some steam preferably via a beer and was craving Guinness, Pale Ale's or whatever and instead settled for a Caramel Hot Chocolate. I was consoled in part by a co-worker who has been in Doha for about 4 months or so who explained some of the difficulties and asked if at times did I feel great and then if the world was caving in, and he exactly described how I was feeling! We shared our experiences coincidentally in a Starbucks in one of the downtown malls where I really felt like I was in some large city in the U.S. so sort of strange. To top it off clouds and rain abounded which is not my favorite, I am definitely a sun lover.
After that my week got better and had dinner at a colleague's house along with his family where he and his wife have triplets age 2 1/2. They enjoyed entertaining me for the evening and were hilarious to watch! I also was fully fed and had a glass or two of wine which is just what I needed!
Thursday at work was quite busy but I finally felt like I was making some connections with some of the operational folks I will be dealing with and made some progress. I had a busy day, but felt good about it. The end of the day concluded with a Quiz Night coordinated by a faculty group on campus. Whereas most of us think of a quiz night at a bar with beer and peanuts this took place in a ballroom, with full skirting and tablecloths, along with a full catered meal and the display actually probably looked better than the food tasted (although it was good). The questions were pretty academic but our team enjoyed themselves. (Also the sun reappeared!).
This morning I went with my supervisor, his wife and met a co-worker for breakfast at a place called Rick's, which is essentially an American diner place. Lots of Americans go and it's usually quite busy. The nice thing is lots of folks see each other with good conversation to be had. My supervisor goes almost every weekend and I expect I will make it a regular place to visit as well. Also they DO serve bacon and sausage (although it's not pork). So at least you are getting a hint of it.
I also got my residency permit Thursday so I will be able to travel to some places when I am ready and then can also process some other things as needed too! Otherwise despite some understandable difficulties, I feel pretty good.
My 2nd Week in Doha was up and down. It started off o.k. but I faced dealing with and learning about some cultural differences and struggled mostly with some technical things that really had nothing to do with people but the organizational structure within which I work. By Monday or Tuesday I was missing a few folks close to me and really wanting to let off some steam preferably via a beer and was craving Guinness, Pale Ale's or whatever and instead settled for a Caramel Hot Chocolate. I was consoled in part by a co-worker who has been in Doha for about 4 months or so who explained some of the difficulties and asked if at times did I feel great and then if the world was caving in, and he exactly described how I was feeling! We shared our experiences coincidentally in a Starbucks in one of the downtown malls where I really felt like I was in some large city in the U.S. so sort of strange. To top it off clouds and rain abounded which is not my favorite, I am definitely a sun lover.
After that my week got better and had dinner at a colleague's house along with his family where he and his wife have triplets age 2 1/2. They enjoyed entertaining me for the evening and were hilarious to watch! I also was fully fed and had a glass or two of wine which is just what I needed!
Thursday at work was quite busy but I finally felt like I was making some connections with some of the operational folks I will be dealing with and made some progress. I had a busy day, but felt good about it. The end of the day concluded with a Quiz Night coordinated by a faculty group on campus. Whereas most of us think of a quiz night at a bar with beer and peanuts this took place in a ballroom, with full skirting and tablecloths, along with a full catered meal and the display actually probably looked better than the food tasted (although it was good). The questions were pretty academic but our team enjoyed themselves. (Also the sun reappeared!).
This morning I went with my supervisor, his wife and met a co-worker for breakfast at a place called Rick's, which is essentially an American diner place. Lots of Americans go and it's usually quite busy. The nice thing is lots of folks see each other with good conversation to be had. My supervisor goes almost every weekend and I expect I will make it a regular place to visit as well. Also they DO serve bacon and sausage (although it's not pork). So at least you are getting a hint of it.
I also got my residency permit Thursday so I will be able to travel to some places when I am ready and then can also process some other things as needed too! Otherwise despite some understandable difficulties, I feel pretty good.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
My first week in Doha, Qatar
My first week:
So I have been in Doha, Qatar now for one week and really it has gone by very quickly. I have met an interesting mix of Americans, Brits and then Qatari residents along with a few others along the way. I have not had the opportunity to become bored at all as there has been some dinner or social related thing almost every evening I have been here. My Qatar Foundation colleagues have been great about offering lunch or dinner opportunities. I have met some individuals too who are outside of my work area. Living within the Education City Housing Complex feels very comfortable and have already received many notices of things happening. My actual living accommodations are nice and it’s such a change of pace to not have to worry about being responsible for certain things for my home (although in the back of my mind my house in Kansas is still on my mind).
This first week there have been some HR paperwork related things along with things I needed to take care of related to getting my residency permit. It’s slightly cumbersome and confusing, but have gotten through most of it and accomplished a lot on Wednesday. The only somewhat strange thing that I had to do was to have a few medical tests done which everyone is required to do. There were many individuals who were being shuffled through the process and it was almost “cattle” like in a way. Everyone had to take a number and then it wasn’t really quite clear where you needed to go. There were about ten women though who were affiliated with the Education City Campus so we all sort of hung together through the process. I bonded with some of the other professional women during this testing and in fact met one woman from London and another from Greece who I exchanged phone numbers with. I also met a guy from Egypt on the bus ride over via the guy I started off my first day with in my meeting with HR who is from San Diego.
The only downfall of the week has been a cold that I have not yet been able to shake which I acquired just before I left from Michigan. So last night, I actually elected to remain in my apartment even though there was a chili cook-off going on (which was a difficult choice as I love chili). I watched a movie, ate some soup and slept!
I really feel pretty comfortable here all in all. In fact one morning I looked out my kitchen window and felt happy and content with the view from which I was looking.
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