Memorial Day - I will remember the Picture Hanging Man

Today the maintenance guy came to hang our pictures on the walls.  We cannot hang them ourselves because the walls are concrete and we don't have the powerful drill needed to penetrate the wall.  The guy gets here at 8am, walks in with his tools and unpacks them.  The end of his drill does not have a plug on it, just two separate wires.  He tries explaining to me in broken English that he had to take the plug off because of the different types of plugs in Doha.  I'm thinking, "Okay, no big deal."  Homey goes to the wall with his two wires, sticks a screwdriver in the top hole, and proceeds to stick each wire into the remaining holes.  With my jaw on the floor, I watch in terror waiting for this man to electrocute himself, die and promptly get deported back to the US.  But no, apparently he's a pro, as he looks up from the wall with a shit-eating grin on his face of wall socket mastery.  He changes walls about four times, each time sticking the screw driver in the wall, followed by the two wires.  He...is...awesome/crazy/stupid.  I'll let you decide.  Meanwhile, the concrete-hole-drilling is making a complete frickin' mess of my house.  I kid you not, there was a layer of concrete dust on EVERYTHING in this house.  Everything, people.  So, the lesson here is - it is safe to stick a screw driver in a wall socket and do not build a house of cement because it's messy.  The end.

On another note, there was a huge fire at the Vellagio Mall here, which is the fanciest mall in Doha.  There were 19 people killed and many more injured.  Brian was at work and I was at home watching the crazy man with the screwdriver, so we are safe in case you were wondering.

I hope you all had a fun Memorial Day!  I celebrated by making Chicken Pad Thai, which was awesome, and cleaning concrete dust.

Until next time...

Gas is HOW MUCH?!

Today, Brian and I went shopping.  We needed some things for the house like a shower liner, felt for the chairs (they are loud as heck on the marble floor), bath mats, etc.  So, we leave the house and Brian realizes he needs to fill up the car.  We go to the Embassy-allowed gas station and pull in.  First of all, the gas price here is 1 riyal per liter which is equal to about $1 USD per gallon.  WHAT?!  Yes.  Then, once we pull in, it is full service.  We don't get out.  The dude pumps our gas, Brian gives him a voucher from the Embassy and we're done.  It....was....awesome.  That is all I have to say about that, but wanted to share.

Other than the fabulous gassy experience, we've just been cleaning up the house since all of our furniture was delivered.  Minus a few scratches on some of the furniture, everything made it ok...except I can't find the bottom to the blender.  It's the only thing we're missing.

Last night we went to the Embassy for trivia night.  Our team, The Red Hot Trivia Peppers, came in second place.  It was a good time and I got to meet a lot of the Embassy people.  I've been applying for jobs here.  There are a few hotels that are hiring Marketing Managers, so I'm hoping they will throw me a bone.  A few of my friends have said that it is difficult to get a job in town if you are here on Diplomatic status, so I'm not sure what my chances are at this point.  I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.  If not, I'll have to hold out until something at the Embassy opens.

Joon is doing well-ish.  I think the sand in the air is getting to her.  She will walk around hacking out of nowhere, but she's eating a drinking normally, so she feels fine.  The sand here is a pain and is everywhere.  The dust storms don't start until winter, so I'll let you all know how that fares as well.

We are good on our end and staying busy.  I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day!  Our phone is working now, so give us a call.  It's local for everyone in the States.  512-773-2337   We are 8 hours ahead of CST, so keep that in mind.  :)

Until next time, party people!  Take care!

We're Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!!!

The subject line is due to one of the channels here playing only scary American movies.  I have seen Poltergeist three times since our arrival.

After our 14.5 hour flight from Houston, we landed in Doha.  They don't have jetways here, so once we landed, we were loaded onto buses that took us to the airport from the runway.  It was HOT.  At 8:45pm, I would guess it was around 95 degrees.  I was surprised to see women in flip-flops, shorts and tank tops.  Of course, they weren't locals, but still.  I was told toes and ankles were the TnA of the Middle East and they were both frowned upon.  We were greeted by a driver from the Embassy who helped us with our luggage and  getting Joon from the airline.  She handled the trip just fine - no accidents in her kennel!  Outside of the airport, the driver went to get the car and our "sponsor" Jennifer waited with us.  She and I had emailed a few times and it was such a relief to know someone here.  We drove around Doha on our way home and the architecture, just at night, was unbelievable.  There is no skyline in the US that can compare.  Not so much the number of buildings, but the shapes and lighting.  It's amazing.  We finally made it to our compound where Jen showed us the pool, gym and restaurant.  We live next door to a princess who has a Bengal that "gets out occasionally."  Looks like I'll be needing to keep an eye on Joon when I take her outside.

The next day, Brian went to work.  Yes, after a long flight, jet-lag and still living out of a suitcase, he was called into work.  I stayed home and tried to organize, but since everything in the house is being moved into storage to make room for our household goods, there really wasn't much to do....so I read.  We've been here a week and I've read almost 8 books.  Now that we have the interwebs, I'm sure that will be changing a bit.

The work week here is Sunday through Thursday.  Brian's first day of work was on a Thursday, so we had the weekend to explore and catch up on our sleep.  We slept so much.  I've never experienced jet-lag, but it kicked our hineys.  I've never slept so much in my life, minus the teenage years when I could sleep until 4pm.  :)  That weekend, we woke up at 5am, when the sun is fully risen, and took off exploring the city.  We drove through The Pearl, downtown and out by the Embassy.  We found a grocery store near the house.  Let me preface this next part with my dress:  T-shirt (shoulders and neck covered), linen pants and close-toed shoes.  We walk into the store and I swear you could have heard a record scratch.  Gawking is an understatement.  I was waiting for the men to start smelling me or touching my hair.  I suppose you get used to it, but it was my first experience and I was very uncomfortable.  I wouldn't let Brian leave me to go look at sodas.  HA.  That was day #3 that we were here - I'm much better now.  I even wore a bikini to the pool.  :)

Speaking of the pool....it is one block from our front door.  There are tents set up for shade and the restaurant offers chair-side service.  I told Brian I felt like I was on vacation.  The pool reminds me of Schlitterbahn.  It's huge, there are three parts, with a slide for the kids, a little bridge that goes over it and one part is only a few feet deep for hanging out.  I had on 50 spf and still got a tan under the tent.  Seriously, the sun here is brutal.  You can bring alcohol to the pool if you pour it in a cup.  It isn't sold at the restaurant.  We got ours at the Embassy.  A case of Corona, a case of Sam Adams and 2 bottles of wine cost us $135 (american).  To be honest, though, it is too hot to drink here.  I'm serious.  My pee hasn't been clear or near clear in a week.  I can drink two gallons of water and still be dehydrated.

There are a lot of differences that I've noticed right away:  All roads are roundabouts.  Quesadillas are held together with a tomato/enchilada sauce instead of cheese.  People are AFRAID of dogs.  One worker ran out of our house because of Joon.  Beef here smells bad.  It looks like I'll be a chicken only girl from now on.  There is no central AC - we have units in every room, two in the living room.  You can smoke EVERYWHERE...the mall, restaurants, etc.  The grocery store, restaurant and KFC....they all deliver to your door.  I think it's mostly because of the summer weather when people don't leave their house ever.  The plugs...I thought an adapter would work on my hairdryer and nearly started a fire.  Brian laughed his ass off and then informed me I needed a "converter" and not an adapter.  There is a haze here that looks like smog, but it's dust/sand.  I had a sinus attack the first few days and my friend, Jen, called it the "Doha Funk."  Apparently sinus problems here aren't from oak or cedar, but from dirt in the air.  When it rains, it's mud-rain...dirt falling from the sky.  Diet Coke is called "Coke Light."  I think that is all for now.  I'm sure more will come and I'll relay in the next blog.

Until then, we are settling in just fine and our household goods will be delivered in two days.  I can't wait to have my stuff to make this place feel more like home.  I also can't wait to get a job.  Sitting at home all day and reading is not for me.  I don't ever want to stay at home again unless I have kids to keep me busy.  Joon is not the best conversationalist.  ;)

I hope you all are doing well.  Our Vonage account is set up and running, so give us a call - it's local for you and us.  512-773-2337 is the number, but remember we are 8-9 hours ahead of you, so no calling at 4am!  :)