First Week(ish) in Doha

Ladies and gentlemen, I've officially survived my first ten days in Doha, which means transitioning into a new job, a new social life, and recovering from jet lag (yuck!). I am really excited about this blog post because there is so much I want to share, so forgive me if I am scatterbrained or if there is no general flow to this post. Just try to enjoy!  
I want to begin this post my noting that anything I write in this post about Qatari culture or life is purely from my observation and what I have been told by others since my arrival. Please do not take everything I say as fact, but rather my general interpretation of the environment in which I am living and working. With that being said... let's get started! 

Qatar Through My Eyes... so far...
Everyone here is so nice... everyone. People greet you and ask you how you are doing and are being sincere about it- they really want to know how you are doing. Relationship building is incredible important over here!
There seems to be three different social classes in Qatar: the Qatari nationals, expats, and laborers. These three categories seem to be pretty rigid the class differences seem pretty noticeable.  Since Qatar is such a rich nation, due to the fact that oil and natural gas deposits are all over the country, the government of Qatar gives the people money- quite different than what we're used to in the states, right?! And I don't just mean a little bit of money, a lot of money.  I am sure the Qatari women also have incredibly nice jewelry and clothing, but I haven't had the opportunity to really see it because they wear abayas in public. All I know is that I see a lot of 4-inch heels peeking out from under robes. (I do want to note that I was told that the Qatari people wear the abayas and thobes because they want to appear as equal and not standing out for their material possessions. So I'm not trying to say that Qatari people are materialistic, just that they have the ability to buy high quality things.)
The Qatari population is really a small percentage of the people that live in Qatar, about 25%, which means there are a lot of expats and laborers. Expats not just from America, but from countries all over the world. They really do have a large international presence in Qatar. A lot of expats are in the country to help build up the infrastructure and the country aims to eventually "Qatarize" the positions, meaning that eventually Qatari people will take over the expat jobs. This is not really a surprise though because the overall point of bringing expats into the country is to build up infrastructure and industry, therefore building up the country to a point where the Qatari people can support the infrastructure and run their country without such a large expat population. 


In the first 10 days I have:

• Experienced my first sand storm- it was a doozy!
• Started working on my internship in the Housing and Residence Life office.  So far I have nailed down the schedule for the training I will be facilitating for the Orientation Peer Advisors. Their training begins on August 12th and New Student Orientation begins on August 22nd. 
• I've gotten my medical screening done- got an X-ray and my blood drawn. It was so much different than any kind of medical procedure I've had in the US, I literally felt like we were being herded like cattle. During the medical screening, however, I met a girl that is in Qatar as a nanny for a family that teaches at TAMU-Qatar. She is from Texas... and from Magnolia, Texas none-the-less, which is about 15 minutes from The Woodlands. We exchanged information and I think we're going to grab dinner sometime this weekend. I may have recruited her to go on a weekend trip to Dubai/Abu Dhabi with me. Procedures here aren't all that great. I still have to get my fingerprinting done later next week before I get my passport returned to me. It's not a fun feeling walking around without a passport. I'm anxious to get it back.
• I've register with the US embassy and notified them of my travel plans. More just because of the ongoings with Iran and knowing that it would give my parents some peace of mind.
• I've spelled my name for one of my coworkers (who happened to be British). I don't know if I've ever had to spell "Jen Smith" for anyone before, I got a good laugh out of it.  Consequently, the same coworker also wished me a happy independence day on the 4th of July- also got a chuckle out of that. 
• Practiced some Arabic words. I can never remember them for long however. The language is just so different from English and I'm so awful learning foreign languages on top of that.
• Ventured out on my own to Souq Waqif. Took a taxi cab over there, which wasn't too expensive. About $10 for a 15 minute taxi ride. At the souq I walked around for about two hours and took lots of photos, looked through the shops and met some interesting people. In one of the jewelry shops I had an interesting interaction with the owner. When I walked in he offered me a cold bottle of water and some tea. It would have been rude to turn him down, so I said okay. He left me in his shop alone for about five minutes while he went to get it and told me "the shop is yours." He came back with cold water and piping hot tea. The tea was so hot that I literally couldn't even pick up the little glass that he gave it to me in for like five minutes. He offered me a place to sit in his air-conditioned shop and stepped outside for a cigarette break. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to drink this scalding tea, but I also didn't want to seem rude, so while he was outside I poured the tea into my old water bottle and stored it in my purse. When he came back inside he was pleased that I enjoyed the tea (because my glass was empty!). He told me that he wanted to give me a gift... and I'm thinking... uh... okay...? And he pulls down a fresh water pearl necklace and puts it on me. It's absolutely gorgeous. I ask him how much it is, thinking that I'll just tell him I don't have that much and politely decline. But when I take out my wallet, he says "No, I give you gift. Pretty necklace for a pretty girl." So basically I leave the shop with a necklace and two pairs of earrings and all my money still in my wallet. An odd interaction, but he was really nice and talked to me about the US and why all the girls in America are named Jennifer and Stephanie. Needless to say if I need to buy any jewelry before I leave I will be returning to his shop so I can try and repay his generosity. 
• I made dinner for my coworkers at one of their apartments. I made Mexican food for them since it's my favorite and because I know I won't be able to get any kind of good Mexican food over here. It's sketchy enough trying to get Mexican food north of the Red River, much less in the Middle East. I've decided not to put myself through the disappointment of getting sketchy Mexican food here. 



Souq Waqif

• Got to tour the new residence halls that are under construction on campus. Eventually there are going to be ~1200 new accommodations for students. The buildings are going to be absolutely gorgeous and state of the art. Walking through them made me want to apply for some kind of grad program over here to get to enjoy them. How extravagant you might ask? Instead of a paper sign/plaque outside each room saying who's inside, there's an interactive computer screen that the student can also use to submit maintenance requests and things of the sort... one outside of EVERY ROOM! The buildings are gorgeous and they have designed the spaces very purposefully for the future residents. Definitely envious! 

In the new res hall.

Things I've noticed:

• There are people constantly cleaning everything. They have people sweeping sidewalks in the middle of sand storms! It's a little funny. 
• Things are very safe here, no need to worry about pick-pockets like in Europe. There is a security guard that sits at the front desk in my res hall 24 hours/day. Not because it is not safe, but to give peace of mind to the families of the female students living inside. No men are allowed in the hall unless they are maintenance workers, and they are always accompanied by a female desk clerk. 
• Driving is terrifying. There appears to be only roundabouts and not many actual intersections. I am glad that I'm not allowed to drive here, because I'd probably cause a huge wreck. 
• They're not big on coin money here, just lots of paper money. I've got a ton of 1QR bills in my wallet, which are about $.30 in US currency. 
• The place is lacking public transport. The only way to get around are personal vehicles and taxis. They're going to need to remedy that big time before the 2022 World Cup!
• There are a lot of westernized things here and lots of American restaurants. Besides the usual McDonalds (what country doesn't have a McDonalds these days?), they also have Applebee's and Chilis and restaurants of the sort. You will all be happy to know though that I am avoiding these options and really trying to stick to the local food. In stores they have a lot of American products, or things that I couldn't find when I was in Europe: peanut butter, tortillas, doritos, etc. There really isn't anything that I think I couldn't get over here... at least not that I've discovered yet. When I went to the Land Mark mall (the only big mall currently open in the country) it literally looked like the inside of an American mall, same stores and items- just lots of Arabic writing. 


• Campus is absolutely gorgeous!

Overall, things have been amazing so far.  I haven't had an experience that I haven't liked. My coworkers are great and so are the Qatari people. I am having a wonderful time and I am looking forward to more great experiences this weekend (which has just started!). 

Until next time...