Doha Donuts (Or the foodie blog)



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, “no more Tim Horton’s please.” Seems Tim’s supplies most of the food and snacks for meetings in the office and everyone was pretty sick of it. So I don’t do that any more. (Watch for an upcoming blog re my first day of work. Folks, it’s epic.)

But Doha Donuts has nothing to do with Tim Horton’s! The expression refers to the idea that most people who come to work in Doha put on weight (well, maybe it does have something to do with Timmie’s after all). Not sure why this should be (the weight gain), except perhaps that it is difficult to get exercise outdoors when it’s so hot outside, which is about half the year. Glenn and I are finding that we’re eating healthier than we were when we were in Canada. We find the meat a bit expensive (especially beef—lamb is quite a bit cheaper, and I will work on Glenn to get him to love the stuff like I do) and the vegetables and fruit so tasty and fresh. So we have stir fry quite a bit and eat lots of salad and fruit (oranges and mangoes are particularly good). And I’ve been managing to get to the gym regularly. But it’s early days, so who knows? When it gets up to 50 degrees (yes, plus 50, not minus 50), perhaps we’ll become rather sedentary. However, I just have to tell you this late breaking news: Glenn and I are going to try out dragon boating on Wednesday! Will let you know how that goes.

I’m posting food pictures here, because that’s today’s topic. But I’ll add a picture that’s tangentially related: a view from the amazing Turkish restaurant that we ate at when we went to the Pearl last Friday night.

That’s it for now. Stay warm: we miss you all and hope that spring comes soon.







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