Sand Storms or Doha Dust

If you follow our emails or facebook you will have heard mention of sand/dust storms from time to time. They have been quite bad this year and we have an amazing one at the moment with no wind. It is unusual to get them at this time of the year but experts are saying it is because of the lack of rain in Iran and Iraq and then winds are blowing sand - dust from the dry riverbed areas round the Gulf. A strong dust storm hit Qatar yesterday along with temperatures of about 48 degrees. With virtually no wind this means the sand storm has settled and will take up to three days to go. The sky has a strange yellow glow through the haze. The sand - dust storm drastically reduces visibility especially when driving.

The storm hit the city early in the morning and settled. The means you really have to stay indoors as strong winds whipped up dust and sand, creating a dust haze in the city for long hours. No good going to the Dip Club, you would need dusting after being by the pool! I have managed a quick run into a couple of malls though.

The thick dust haze brought work at many construction sites to a standstill for a few hours in the morning. Workers at project sites in the West Bay area were seen running for cover from the dust-laden winds. These photos were taken in the middle of the day.

Today, the htird day. is slightly clearer but still unpleasant and you can feel yourself developing a "dust cough". My friend Dhabia and I joke about DDD - Doha dust disease which is fast being a reality

The Dip Club

One of the things that we really enjoy here is the "Dip Club" about half our consultants are members and it is the one place where we can easily realx outdoors. It was a palace but is now a club not just for Diplomats or expats. some local Qatari are members too. There is a gym, swimming pool, beach, restaurants, spa, salons etc.

It is the closest place that you can go and relax or sit in the pool and cool down. without having to drive a long way out to a beach. The pool is heated in the winter and cooled in the summer!

This year Monica and Haven joined our MSC team and they are sailors so the hobbie cat thingy and little yacht thingies got good use. You can see I am a sailor eh! I was very brave and went out on the bigger cataraman once with Haven. He was in the Americas cup teams so I was very safe. Steve went several times and in fact that is about the only time you got him to the club.

So enjoy the photos there are a few more on facebook too

Daily Doha

It’s past time for an update from the land of sand. Well I have been working and even with most people away it has been a busy July. However I have managed to do a few interesting things other than eat out which is of course one of my most favourite things!

My friend Dhabia and I decided we should have a massage so off we went to a Thai ladies only massage parlor. Well I had never had a Thai massage before. They give you what looks like a pair of loose pajamas and you put them on and then lie on a big mattress on the floor. They massage over these clothes and I was given a full body massage starting at my feet! I was pummeled to within an inch of my life but very expertly. When she got to the sore part of my back,we had to come to an agreement about what would happen there, and how hard it would be. This might sound an easy discussion but this was a no English or Arabic speaking person! Anyhow it was all good and they have done such a good job that I have been back each week this month.

On Wednesday last week Dhabia and I went together to organize her resignation from the Ministry of Education as she going to change her job. This process has taken a while and this was the second time she had visited. The first time we had to take a piece of paper from one office to another about 4 meters apart and then come back again after two days! I can’t imagine why they couldn’t have done that themselves!

Well the MOE building is twenty floors and we started on floor three. There are ladies lifts in these buildings which we were using. It became very funny as we kept having men get out of them as we got in. We spend nearly three hours going backwards and forwards between floors to get the resignation file signed. It went something like – 3rd floor, 1st floor, 4th floor, back to 1st floor, back to 3rd floor, etc, etc and we ended up on the twentieth floor. I was a bit worried by then that we had missed most of floors 10 to 20 and they might make us visit those too. We got lots of looks as I don’t think they could understand what this kiwi and Qatari were doing there together. We had to make it a laugh otherwise we would have both been boiling with frustration. So we enjoyed each other’s company as we did repeat tours of the building! And decided that governemetn departmetns are the same all around the world. After another day of Dhabia going to some other government departments it is all done and she is free to take up her new position – in sha allah.

Earlier in the day Dhabia had helped get my first bank account in Qatar. I now have an account at QNB (Qatar National Bank) at the Ladies branch. I am easy to spot as I am the only one not wearing an abeya. The staff are very helpful to their kiwi customer who looks fairly confused at times.