Memo From Doha - Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buy - NYTimes.com

Interesting article on local vs expats in Doha. A bit over the top in my short experience, but worth the read nevertheless.

Memo From Doha - Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buy - NYTimes.com

Week 3 of solid food

And loving every bite already. A chip off of both old blocks!



sent from the desert

Two months

Hip hip hurray, survived 2 months in the desert!

Souk Waquif

A cool 40 degrees Celcius and rising



sent from the desert

Qatar buys Harrods

Le Figaro - Flash Actu : Al-Fayed annonce avoir vendu Harrods

Factoids of the day

- The sun rises at 4.35 a.m. The early bird gets the worm.

- Starbucks serves identical skinny, no foam lattes like anywhere else in the world

- Remember Cinema Paradisio? Doha offers the modern version, but with popcorn

- A kilo of cucumbers cost $ 0.20, a head of lettuce however costs $12.

- Jiff peanut butter comes in smooth, crunchy, extra crunchy and low fat

- We have two water tanks, one in front of the house, the other on top of the house - due to the heat, the water never gets cold.

- A Big Mac menu costs $5.

- Only luxury hotels are authorized to serve alcohol.

- 162 new compounds are due to open in Doha in the next 6 to 8 months.

- Qatar imports 97% of its fresh produce. What is the 3%?

- All Western magazines are censured.

Soon-to-be-Qatari

Good news. After hours of paperwork (thank you, FS), a medical exam, two blood tests, an x-ray and extensive fingerprinting, it appears that I will obtain my Qatari ID some time next week. This piece of plastic will enable me to:

- apply for a driver's license and therefore drive (= goodbye local taxis, good riddiance!); Louise will be in a car-seat. Amen.

- job hunt

- exist?

Dave, as my official sponsor, will be held responsible for my actions and conduct. Not that I plan to dance around one of the thousand round-abouts in my birthday suit, but still, an interesting concept. As my spouse, he also gets to sign my cell phone contract, the rental agreement of our home, our electricity and water subscription, our phone and internet line agreement. He will - at some point in time - need to write me a letter, authorizing me to seek employment (can't wait to pen that one). He will need to officially grant me the right to leave the country. Cherry on the cake, if he so wishes, he can set up a "spending alarm" at the bank, where he receives a text message on his cell phone each time I spend over a certain amount of money.

Dave will not be subscribing to this service.