STILL HERE..

Ok..ok… I know, I know…why have a blog if I am not going to blog!? So here I am blogging away…today February 4th marked my 4th full week at the office and technically my 4th week here in Doha, Qatar. Only 48 more to go! It feels like a long way off… people say there will be ups and downs..and several stages of ex-pat exile ..I have met people ( American ex-pats) that have been here 9 years!..I don’t see how they do it. I for one am desperately missing the fresh air in San Francisco! and yes the morning fog that we all complain about.

Today the air quality here was very poor (it would be a triple Spare the Air Day in the Bay Area), but not as bad as it can get..there was a lot of wind the last couple of days and you would think it would clear the particulates out of the air, but no, its stirs up the tiny, tiny sand dust and whirls them into the air..it looked very post- apocolyptic … ugh! I recently read “The Road” by Cormic McCarthy..(now a movie) the entire world is covered in ash..everything grey and dry..despair in the air! It was like that only a light sandy color..From a health standpoint its pretty serious too. My coworker who has lived here a good long time says its going to get orse.. it made me really sad to look towards the sky; I could'nt see it. (insert sad face here)

OK, so maybe I am in the down part of the first curve..that and the fact that I caught some sort of Arabian flu..(I use the adjective “Arabian”; makes everything more exotic/ mysterious..like the Arabian flies here, and the Arabian cat I saw.) is making me pretty darn homesick. I was down for the count for 2 days and am now minus 2 days of PTO, thank you very much! Back to work still feeling seasick and eating practically nil…but today I felt better and now pay very close attention to what I eat, where I eat, wash my hands constantly and the CLOROX wipes are always close by.

Here is a shot taken from my apartment towards the bay and the Al Corniche – which is a grand promenade that hugs the curve of the bay–the water is surprisingly clear (why, surprisingly I can’t say) and the color known as sea foam green. I can see the bay and a tiny island through the tangle of high rises in various stages of construction, to the other side where the impressive I.M Pei Museum of Islamic art sits smartly casting shadows on the boats nearby.

Lets talk about money..:-) yes? OK the currency here is the Qatar Riyal..$1=3.65QR..I walk around with 100 bills in my wallet feeling like I have so much money when in actuality I need to think of them as 30 bills..and its always gone so quickly!

To the left is a detail of the 100Riyal bill. PRETTY!

Here are several bills, starting with the 100Riyal in the upper left, then moving clockwise, the 10, both sides, the 5, the 1 on the bottom left, showing both sides.Clearly the Arabic side is more interesting, ornate and colorful..the "English side is plain in comparison.

Typically this is a coinless economy..the grocery bill is automatically rounded down (never up) to the nearest .25 but most places just drop it..example..my grocery bill was 155.35, rounded down to 155.25..I gave 155..done..easy…no pesky coins. It varies though, the convenience store here at The Ezdan Suites..marks everything so your bill is mysteriously always XX.50 – seriously – always! The first time they gave me a little packet as change..I thought it was .50 in coins.. maybe 5 “dimes”..no it was chewing gum!!..4 little pieces neatly wrapped..The next time I went in, the total was XX.50 and I got nothing back. No gum, no coin..hmm..Now I am getting the hang of it..don’t give 1 Riyal to make up the .50.. sometimes they won’t mention it. Last night they didn’t give me the .50 change,,so I asked, and received 2 “dimes”..LOL WHATever! Yes we are talking pennies…roughly 14 cents, but hey. Its getting to be a challenge–winning or losing is not important..its how you play the game right?

Ok, until next time…338 Arabian Nights remain..

ma’al salam,

anne