Doha Diaries

Let me tell you about my first day at work...or, as I like to call it, the day I was kidnapped by the President of the college. I told you it was an epic story. And you're in for more thrills and chills as I tell you about the rest of my week at work. The trip to the police station for finger-printing and retinal scanning. And the trip to the clinic for blood testing, and yet a different clinic for blood typing (I could have told them--O positive). And the trip to yet a different clinic for my chest x-ray, and don't forget the part about having my blouse accidentally stolen by an otherwise lovely and innocent woman from Tunisia. (This blog is timely, as Glenn will be going through all of this medical process this coming week. Hope he can hang on to his clothing!) But hold on. Let me first tell you about how Dr. Ken made me late for my very first meeting at the college. Here we go. I was told to report to Building 3 on Sunday, April 1 (hey, maybe that had something to...

I first heard this expression at work (College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, for those of you not paying attention), where there are...wait for it...okay, I think maybe I already told you, 2 Tim Horton’s outlets. And there are Tim Horton’s outlets all over Doha, in fact. Who knew? I guess there are lots of Canadians in Doha; however, I have seen people of all kinds lined up to pick up their double doubles and their Timbits and their muffins and their paninis. Yes, the food at Timmie’s here in Doha is virtually identical to the offerings back home, with one exception: there is no pork on those breakfast sandwiches, just beef and chicken. During my first week at work, I stopped off at Timmie’s on my way back from HR (I’ll tell you about the HR orientation and the trips to the clinic and the police later) to buy myself a latte and some timbits for the folks back in the office. I arrived just in time for a team meeting and proudly presented my offering...only to be met by groans and, “...

I guess it’s about time that I started my blog! We’ve been two weeks in Doha and are almost settled in. If it’s possible here, I’ll upload a video tour of our home, and I’ve included a couple of photos of Glenn and me by the pool at our compound below (sorry, I don’t know how to make things pretty yet!) Hello to all our Canadian friends and family who are toughing it out in one of the worst springs in recent memory. We feel your pain, and we’re grateful to be out of the snow and the cold. It’s been warm here, but not overly so. Today is perhaps the warmest so far, at about 36 degrees mid-day (and yes, for those of you in Canada, that’s 36 above). Our home in Al Jazeera Compound 1 is fully air-conditioned, so we’re hanging out indoors today until it’s time to take a cab to a location called The Pearl . We plan to take a walk in an area called The Medina, which is supposed to be modelled on a Mediterranean village (having recently been to the south of Spain, we shall see!). The Pe...