Getting Fit & Getting a Tan

Well last night we took the plunge and paid an extremely large amount of money to join a local club - The Dana Club (click the link to check it out)

But first we had to have our application accepted - you can't just join because you want to they must accept you into the club. So now we have no excuse to get fit. Yes we do have a gym in our building but it really is not a safe place to go alone - it is on the same floor where all the men go to pray and they seem to hang out there, and they have women only hours so we can't go together.

The club has two gyms and one of them is always mixed, and we can have  personal training programs made up for us. So spending this money is huge motivation to go. There is also two swimming pools one indoor and one outdoor - so guess where we will be this weekend!!!

Sharq Village & Spa Doha

Today for something to do we decided (well I decided) that we would go and check out the 'Sharq Village & Spa" - as all the pictures I had seen were amazing.

This is the street frontage

One of the two swimming pools we came across

The hotel rooms around the pool

Walking down towards the hotels private beach - there were some pretty sizeable boats in the marina

Beachside loungers

One of the many luxury cars parked outside - a beautiful stretch rolls royce!!! This photo does not do it justice.

A flower arrangement inside the hotel - all the hotels have these amazing floral centrepieces. There was also a water fountain filled with red and white rose petals.

It was the most beautiful place and you could have  been almost  anywhere in the world - looks like pure luxury - that is until a Qatar Airways Jumbo Jet flew over - you could almost reach out and touch it. Unfortunately this place has been built right over the road from the end of the runway - not very good planning, and here most planes depart at night time.

There was an article in the local paper reviewing one of the suites in the hotel - it is supposed to be the most luxurious suite in the world - royal villa.

Its Like Processing Cattle!!

Translated this means - I went for my medical today. Yes for some strange backward reason they do the medical once you get here be it some months later. So you have given up your job, home, car and life to come here - and if you fail its see you later quick get out before you pass on your terrible diseases that you western people have that nobody here has!!!!

They test you for HIV, HEP and TB.

I was lucky enough to have a lovely driver from BMW drive me today to get this horrible thing over with his name is Benny... the nicest man, he opened the car door everywhere we went, I felt bad as I could of done this myself but he insisted.  I had been told that I would be there for at least 3hrs if not longer - so I had the latest gossip mag with me...HELLO!!!!

Well there were literally hundreds of people there waiting to have medicals done. Mens section and womens section of course.  The place was full of young asian girls obviously being bought here to be maids ... pick the odd one out.....ME (blond & old)!!!  Despite the masses it was quite well organised by a couple of very stern looking/speaking women.

First I was asked if I was married or single - not quite sure what difference this makes.  When was my LMP (period) not quite sure why they wanted to know this either. Maybe they were worried I may be pregnant - at my age I don't think so lady!!!

I then sat with the masses to wait to pay my money and have my photo taken which I did not know they were taking - I happened to look down and here she was putting the camera down - so on the screen there is a very unattractive picture of me looking up to the heavens.

Then it was time to literally be stabbed to have my blood drawn, no such thing as a nice tourniquet but a brutal piece of latex wrenched around your arm and then bang I was stabbed for my blood....ouch!!! 

Next it was everybody's turn to be xrayed  (line up like cattle).  I had been advised to wear a white tshirt so then I would not have to wear one of the used gowns. You walk into the xray room and there is trolleys of used gowns that you put on - thankfully I just had to take off the bra...and yes in front of everyone else...no privacy (but no men) then you just wait until its your turn to be xrayed but this is while everyone else is having theirs' done in the same room.  So everyone is exposed to radiation while waiting, just what the Dr ordered!!! You get shoved up against the xray board and as I had my hair down she grabbed this hair clip that was hanging on a piece of string from the ceiling and yanked my hair up in this clip. So now that I had been exposed to multiple doses of radiation it was time to leave for the next stage. But first the bra had to go back on .... in front of everyone again.  They are not big on privacy here.

And again for some strange backward reason you have to go to yet another facility to have your blood taken yet again for blood grouping.  So we pull up to this very very very dirty dirty  dodgy looking medical centre - god I really hope that I don't get sick here. (at least if I know what is wrong with me I can just go to the pharmacy and get whatever I need off the shelf without needing a prescription) This stage only involved a finger prick to get my blood group so no big deal.

Thankfully and it may well have been done in record time in under 1.5hrs - it was finished. Now next step is the fingerprinting - yes I have to be fingerprinted!!!! Not sure when this will be.  Then I will be issued with at last my Residents Permit ... al hamdu lillah!!!!

My New Job

For those of you who have been receiving my emails you will know about my job.  If not here is a little info.

As of August 17th, 2008 I was employed as a full time 'Health Science Technology'  teacher at Debakey High School For Health Professions - Qatar (click link to read about the school)

In a nutshell I will be teaching medical terminology and talking about possible careers that they may choose, and the basics of nursing practice - BP's, temps, bedmaking etc.... 

The students will eventually go to the local hospitals for pracs and overseeing them will be part of my job also.

We had our first staff meeting today and we are a real multicultural team. Two of us are from Brisbane - Aspley & Petrie can you believe that!!!!   By the sounds of things all of us are extremely lucky to be chosen to work at this school, it sure sounds like there are exciting times ahead.  This school was chosen from many around the world to be replicated here in Doha - the other is in Texas.

No photos at this stage as the building is not completed yet.  So I sit here and wait (and on full pay) for the building to be completed before September 1st 'Inshallah'.

I'll keep you posted.

Thai Massage/Food

Believe it or not but this is where you can buy some fantastic Thai Food - and get a massage if you wish!!!!

It is a hidden gem - we would never have thought that they serve food in here.

Word of mouth is a great thing in Doha.

Nick standing at the entrance - this was taken at about 9.30pm and it was so hot and humid as you can see by the photo.

Inside the gates - way too hot to sit outside.

A not so glam pic of me!!!  And yes I am in Qatar baring my shoulders!!!

I have ventured out a few times with the shoulders on show. You do get a few funny looks - but it is so damm hot you just have to once in a while - its called being  a little daring and just going for it!!

Ramadan Tents

This is not a very good photo - but I will take more.

These are the tents that they are putting up all over town for Ramadan - this is where they host Iftar.

This area here is a large piece of vacant land and they started erecting the  tents (marquees) two months ago.  They have curtains and carpet inside them and fancy upholstered chairs - they all look quite posh. By the looks of things there will be many of them by the time Ramadan starts.  They are all lit up at night.

I will endeavor to take some more pics when Ramadan is here - as we plan on attending Iftar.

Matt/Kirsty maybe there is a market here for your marquees during Ramadan!!!

The Labourers of Qatar

Due to all the construction that is going on in Doha there is a large population of labourers here.  They are from countries such as Pakistan, Phillipines and India. They are housed in labour camps which from what I have heard are not very nice.  12-14 in a room of mixed religions, so rather than live in these camps they build accommodation near where they are working.  

This building here is a new 'development' it has only 'gone up' in the last week or so. It is on a construction site - the big containers (with the wood on top) is where they store their water.

They have no showers or toilets.

I was unfortunate enough one day to be looking out the window one day and one of the men was doing his 'business' in a bucket!!

This is another example of where labourers are making their homes. There are about five of them that live in this one.  All their water containers are to the left.

There was an article in the local paper about the poor living conditions of these men - alot of them just choose to live outside rather than in the labour camps, all they have is a mattress to sleep on and thats it - no shelter at all!!

Home Delivery

This is how they deliver your take-outs.

They deliver almost everything: McDonalds, Pizza Hutt, KFC.  If it came to you in a car it would be cold by the time it arrived - due to the traffic here. So here you have it a little hot box on the back of a motorbike!!

Ramadan Is On The Horizon

Well Ramadan is on the horizon - it is due to start on September 1st. The date can change depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Ramadan is the name of the 9th month in the islamic lunar calendar - it is during this time that all muslims fast for the entire month. They concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives - this includes work and school.

They are not allowed to eat or drink during the daylight hours - sex and smoking are also forbidden during fasting. At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called 'iftar'. In the evening after iftar it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends.  The fast then resumes at sunrise.

What does this mean for us???  We are not allowed to be seen in public eating or drinking or even chewing gum.  All the cafes and restaurants are all closed - unless they have a special license to stay open.  If they stay open they have to have all the windows covered up so you cannot be seen.  But I have been told that there will be no cafes open until sunset.

We have been told to stay off the roads until Iftar begins as the locals are in a hurry to get home for this meal.  The local hotels all have big marquees set up to host Iftar - so we are looking forward to experiencing this - the culture and arabic food.

No-one is allowed to work for more than 6 hrs a day - this is Qatari law.

We also have to dress a little more conservatively and probably no holding hands in public - mind you we are pretty good at not doing this now - the risk of someone in a position of authority being offended is too great.

So thats Ramadan in a nutshell.

Quirky Things About Doha

Coins: It is very rare to see coins here - since we have been here I have had maybe two in my possession.  They just don't do coins here.  If your bill comes to 200.50 QR (riyals) they will ask for 201.00 QR and for change they will give you a lolly or if they do happen to have a coin they will give you one - but very rare!!!

Navigating Around Town: There are not many street signs here in Doha so when you need to get somewhere you use landmarks - eg - at Decoration Roundabout (decoration store at the R/A) turn right, after five streets turn left its the building opposite the mall.  Its the only way to tell someone how to get from A to B.  Such landmarks are crazy signal (hate to think why its called this) TV roundabout (Aljezera TV is here).

Inshallah: this is the most frustrating thing for us westerners, it means 'god willing' everything is inshallah.  The girls in my english class for eg: when I say see you tomorrow they reply Inshallah - so it means I'm  probably not coming or I might turn up sometime during the lesson.  So one things for sure you can never rely on anything here.

Prayer: Five times a day the prayer call can be heard all over town - depending on where you are depends on how loud it is.  I usually don't hear it all.  (Listen here)  There are mosques everywhere. 

Fridays: This is the Holy day. The shops do not open until 1600 or some smaller shops don't open at all.  The larger supermarkets are open at 0800 and close for a couple of hours in the middle of the day for prayer time.  We tend to do our shopping on Friday as there is less people around and less traffic - instead of taking 20mins to get there it will take only 5mins. And starbucks is also open so that is a bonus. Friday is also a good day to go driving around town as  the locals do not surface until the  afternoon sometime. 

Kleenex: In most cars you will see a box of Kleenex on the dashboard, on tables in restaurants and in some toilets ....Yuk!!!  We have not gone down the tissues on the dashboard road and never will!!!!

Variety of Food: You can buy almost any variety of anything here for eg: Ketchup comes in garlic, chilli, sweet. Mayonnaise - garlic, chilli, tomato, herb.  Even toothpaste comes in flavours such as cola and vanilla!!!

Dress: As you all know the women wear the abaya and the men wear the white thobes.  Well picture this a woman driving a car with the full on outfit on abaya, burka and the black sunglasses - now that has to be a hazard when driving - don't you think!!!  It really is a sight. Here is a street sign that I came across.

Taxis: What a joke!!!  And they wonder why they did not get picked as a contender for the 2016 olympics.  You have to order a taxi at least 24hrs in advance - so there is no such thing as wanting to out out spur of the moment.  Then even when you have booked them they either come late (20mins late) or they go to the wrong place or they don't come at all, every few months they must have a new intake of drivers so they new ones have no idea where something is.   And they all drive like they are on the formula 1 track.   But I now have found a driver who is great and knows his way around -so that is a relief.

So there you have it just a few quirky things (annoying/frustrating) about Doha - well they probably apply to all of the gulf!!!

Khalifa Stadium Doha - Qatar

This is Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

It is a sports stadium - but not quite sure what goes on here or when anything happens in here.  It looks to be quite a large stadium.

It was used back in 2006 for the Asian games.

The socceroos game was not even held here - I think that it must have to be a large event for them to open it.  You never see it lit up or anything.  It is right next to the Villagio Shopping Complex - the one that I blogged when we first arrived.

It is quite an impressive looking building.  Would love to see what it looks like all lit up.

Kids English Class

These are the kids that I taught for 4 weeks over the summer break.

They all passed the exam  - marks ranged from 79% - 100%.

They were a really nice bunch of kids.