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!!!
