Forts. Forts everywhere. Some from the 16th century
Friday, February 02, 2007
I forgot Oman
Oman was Fall Break. It is a nice country and if I was recommending an Arabic country to visit, this would probably be the one. It has more history than Qatar, not as developed as Dubai, and more non-Muslim friendly than Kuwait. We did make a mistake in trying to stay in Muscat, the capital, and make day trips. Way too much driving. We should have stayed in a couple of different cities or parts of the country and seen each area. Oh well live and learn.
Christmas and return
We completed the first semester on the 2006-2007 school year on Dec 1st. Doha was hosting the Asian Games, the 2nd largest sporting event behind the Olympics, and most schools, etc finished the semester to allow for less traffic, etc before the 13,500 athletics and officials hit Doha. We left town on Dec 3rd to spend 5 weeks in the states, mainly playing with our grand daughter. It was great and she made it even harder to leave Tennessee, but ah we must.
Doha averages 5 days of rain a year, as luck or something would have it, during the 15 days of the Games they had 10 days of rain. It is still raining, so to speak, we had a big rain today, so strange weather seems to be happening everywhere. It was too bad about the rain for the opening ceremony on Dec 1st, but having watched the openings of other sporting events, I will say that Doha was one of the best I have seen. Watching the construction of roads, venues, etc for the last 18 months, I had questions if they could pull this off. This is not the world's largest country and at this time not one of the most advanced, but they made it happen with very few problems. They will be advanced before the next 5 years, money does buy technology and starting from scratch in 1995 means that they don't have to replace a lot of things because they didn't have them to start with.
The weather besides the rain has been cool for Doha, they have had night at 48/49 deg and highs of 60. Everybody bundles up like we would in TN if it was 25 deg. They are breaking out the coats, earmuffs, etc. while we think this is great weather. All the flowers are in bloom, rain has been great but we think these are spring days. The Qatari people have been so cold, they have sold out of heaters at all the stores, not a heater to be had in Doha during Dec and most of Jan. We have one we bought last year and have only used twice in two winters.
We were going to loan it to a friend that had a cold apartment while we were in the US but our key ended up in AduDubi with a friend that had stayed here while we were gone and walked off with it. Somedays stuff happens and people are cold.
Doha averages 5 days of rain a year, as luck or something would have it, during the 15 days of the Games they had 10 days of rain. It is still raining, so to speak, we had a big rain today, so strange weather seems to be happening everywhere. It was too bad about the rain for the opening ceremony on Dec 1st, but having watched the openings of other sporting events, I will say that Doha was one of the best I have seen. Watching the construction of roads, venues, etc for the last 18 months, I had questions if they could pull this off. This is not the world's largest country and at this time not one of the most advanced, but they made it happen with very few problems. They will be advanced before the next 5 years, money does buy technology and starting from scratch in 1995 means that they don't have to replace a lot of things because they didn't have them to start with.
The weather besides the rain has been cool for Doha, they have had night at 48/49 deg and highs of 60. Everybody bundles up like we would in TN if it was 25 deg. They are breaking out the coats, earmuffs, etc. while we think this is great weather. All the flowers are in bloom, rain has been great but we think these are spring days. The Qatari people have been so cold, they have sold out of heaters at all the stores, not a heater to be had in Doha during Dec and most of Jan. We have one we bought last year and have only used twice in two winters.
We were going to loan it to a friend that had a cold apartment while we were in the US but our key ended up in AduDubi with a friend that had stayed here while we were gone and walked off with it. Somedays stuff happens and people are cold.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Just so you know
We are completing our MidTerm week and getting ready for the Fall break. Looks like we are going to visit Oman as everyone says it is a great experience. Will let you know.
The social activities continue, last night was an Irish party, tonight is a Korean dinner and next weekend we will celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving. It is a good thing that I can nap during the day, I can't run like I used to.
Tomorrow, we hope to pickup a used TV from some expats leaving the country, it will be like home, a TV in most every room, at least the Den, Living room and Bedroom. Can't play golf this Sunday because they are using the Golf Club to kickoff the Asian Games Torch run. That is the problem with only one golf course in the whole country, when it is tied up, no-where else to play. Being one of the few really "green" places, they have a lot of public events there for the background.
The social activities continue, last night was an Irish party, tonight is a Korean dinner and next weekend we will celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving. It is a good thing that I can nap during the day, I can't run like I used to.
Tomorrow, we hope to pickup a used TV from some expats leaving the country, it will be like home, a TV in most every room, at least the Den, Living room and Bedroom. Can't play golf this Sunday because they are using the Golf Club to kickoff the Asian Games Torch run. That is the problem with only one golf course in the whole country, when it is tied up, no-where else to play. Being one of the few really "green" places, they have a lot of public events there for the background.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
G&T Rock
Just so you know , we don't work all the time. We are going to G&T Rock on Sat afternoon, since the Brits are putting this together, you can guess what the G&T stands for.
Weather is better, Golf on Friday, etc.
Weather is better, Golf on Friday, etc.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
We are back
OK for the few lost souls who have asked for an update.
I know how bad I am at keeping this going, but some days it seems everything is the same, all over again, or what ever Yogi said.
We got back to Qatar in July because I had to come back early for my new job, I have left the classroom and become an administrator. The new job comes with some better housing and a little more money, and a lot more headaches. The new housing is a step up from our previous villa, nicer compound, better rec facilities, newer and larger, etc. What it really means is we have now moved at the start of every semester. My dear wife is a saint because she ends up with most of the moving and packing, but this time we are happier. Every move has been a real step up.
The new villa is PINK, you know, Barbie, Pepto, little girl pink. Does have white trim, more trees, a better back yard but it is a gated community with 100 pink villa and houses. It is hot and we are missing the green, green hills of home. This is a tough time in the desert, it is hot, almost too hot to play golf, we have to go at night but it is still hot and it gets humid. They have most of the roads torn up still but have reopened what is called C-ring which solves some of the problem of getting from one side of town to the other. It had been closed since before we arrived a year ago. Traffic and drivers are not getting any better but we are adjusting. Looks like we are getting another used car, 95 Ford Explorer, 4X4, it is old and cheap but it will do for a second car and allow us to go some places the Chrysler can’t go. It has been owned by two people, the US Embassy and a Canadian so it has not been too abused.
Our school has started and things are going fairly well, our fall break is the last of October, during Eid. We are trying to find a cheap place to visit (maybe Oman) for a 3 or 4 night deal. This is the time to see the world so we are trying to get as many places as we can.
Google Earth has new pictures of Doha so you can now see our villa from space, problem is they don’t have street addresses in Doha so you have to know what ypou are looking for to find it.
I know how bad I am at keeping this going, but some days it seems everything is the same, all over again, or what ever Yogi said.
We got back to Qatar in July because I had to come back early for my new job, I have left the classroom and become an administrator. The new job comes with some better housing and a little more money, and a lot more headaches. The new housing is a step up from our previous villa, nicer compound, better rec facilities, newer and larger, etc. What it really means is we have now moved at the start of every semester. My dear wife is a saint because she ends up with most of the moving and packing, but this time we are happier. Every move has been a real step up.
The new villa is PINK, you know, Barbie, Pepto, little girl pink. Does have white trim, more trees, a better back yard but it is a gated community with 100 pink villa and houses. It is hot and we are missing the green, green hills of home. This is a tough time in the desert, it is hot, almost too hot to play golf, we have to go at night but it is still hot and it gets humid. They have most of the roads torn up still but have reopened what is called C-ring which solves some of the problem of getting from one side of town to the other. It had been closed since before we arrived a year ago. Traffic and drivers are not getting any better but we are adjusting. Looks like we are getting another used car, 95 Ford Explorer, 4X4, it is old and cheap but it will do for a second car and allow us to go some places the Chrysler can’t go. It has been owned by two people, the US Embassy and a Canadian so it has not been too abused.
Our school has started and things are going fairly well, our fall break is the last of October, during Eid. We are trying to find a cheap place to visit (maybe Oman) for a 3 or 4 night deal. This is the time to see the world so we are trying to get as many places as we can.
Google Earth has new pictures of Doha so you can now see our villa from space, problem is they don’t have street addresses in Doha so you have to know what ypou are looking for to find it.
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