It's arrived!

Well, my shipping has finally arrived. And this is what it looked like:
Customs had opened EVERYTHING. The clearance agents (I have not got the energy to describe my relationship with them and their endless faffing that left everything sitting in the docks for weeks) were left to stuff it willy-nilly back into knifed and torn boxes which were delivered to me gently spewing their contents. I can only imagine the mess that the poor guys (it's their boss I have issues with, not the drivers and dogsbodies) had to contend with. It must have been one almighty heap that meant that things didn't even go back into their original box. Still, nothing appears to be missing, and I've only found one thing damaged - Muda's painting gouged, it seems, by the knife that slashed the package open.
Hugged the big brass gecko from 6H, so pleased I was to find it safe and sound. Wore my EcoTraining wooly hat in the same spirit.

Journey to the end of Qatar

Went for a day of exploration with the guy I met in the Irish Bar. We drove to the northern tip of the country at Al Ruwais, which boasts nothing but a fishing dock and a customs post, then left the road and followed the East coast as closely as possible heading South.


I loved the bleak barren landscape of flat rocky desert. The sea gleamed turquoise in the sun beyond the abandoned villages we came across here and there. We drove up onto what is probably Qatar's highest point - at least 10m above sea level - and looked down into clear water, seaweed and plastic bags.

We met camels sauntering across the desert, swam again at sandy beaches, lazed in the sun and generally had a great day out. In the evening, dinner in Doha's old souk. It felt so good to be outside, seeing something beyond Doha, being back in the real world.

Doha in pictures

All taken in West Bay, commercial centre and breeding ground of skyscrapers.

Driving and other adventures

Ok, so it took nearly two weeks, but I finally spotted some camels on the way to work. That is, on my way to work - I don't know where they were going.

We've been in to 'work' for two weeks now. Most of the first week was spent on personal admin like residents' permits, bank accounts, driving licenses etc. All of these seem to require sheaves of paperwork, tangles of red tape and curious configurations of hoops to be jumped through. And just when you think you've made it, they invent a new hoop.

We have also visited various building sites. Great to be in a health and safety free country where it's ok to wander through half-built schools. The main school is going to be pretty impressive.... one day. The new nursery is looking good and nearly ready - it will be used for primary school for now. The bachelor housing is grotty little shoeboxes, the married accommodation is beyond palatial. The head is negotiating on our behalf for better deal, or so we hope. Luckily the powers that be don't think the eight single female teachers should be living in the bachelor zone with five thousand men, so they are listening. Of course our single men would have to get the same deal, which the powers may not understand. Whatever happens, one cert is that it will happen pretty slowly, so I may as well get settled in my flat. Have recounted the furniture, to discover that the living room alone has a total of seven tables, eleven chairs and two sofas (which still stink).

Driving has been another adventure - on the right, in an automatic. Have hired a little 4x4 which I love driving. The traffic is pretty sane compared to KL, but it is faster and more aggressive or less forgiving, or both. Went out early on Friday morning to make most of ghost-town time to learn way around and get to grips with car. Saw remains of a pretty nasty accident, including enormous pool of blood and a body being wrapped in a white sheet. Find driving better than being a passenger on the whole, and some taxis definitely provide a white-knuckle experience. While I'm always up for perilous sports I don't intend find myself on a roadside in a white sheet, even it is much nicer than a bodybag.

The preferred driving position is approximately quarter of an inch behind the car in front. Flashing (though often unseen as headlights parked under your back bumper) and hooting is used to indicate that the car behind you would like you to pull in, preferably underneath the truck you are currently overtaking. Lanes on roundabouts are meaningless and there is possibly a law stating that you must use all three. Shooting a red light carries a fine of about a thousand pounds so emergency stops are common as soon as the green starts to flash. Consequently, rear-ending is also common. I have come to prefer red lights to green as at least you know where you are with them.

Today we began the secret education of the staff children. Secret because the other parents are somewhat impatient to get their kids in and fed up with lack of start date. I've volunteered for swimming and PE, so today went will nine kids and the two PE teachers to the pool at the golf club. I was even lucky enough to get to go in the water, where I tried to teach a sinking four year old to swim. He was considerably shorter than the shallow end was deep, but he was pretty game. Things took a turn for the worse when he announced he needed the toilet - I held his hand to help negotiate some scattered power tools, broken concrete and slippery bits on the way to the changing room only to discover that I was expected to sort out paper and chat to him while he slowly disappeared bottom-first down the loo, explaining as he went that he was doing a poo. And he needed his minimal bits disentangling from the lace of his trunks which got in a tangle as he tried to tug them up. This is why I don't teach reception.

The beach club has been a great getaway, despite its titchy beach and view of the docks. The sea was tropically warm this weekend, rather than turkish-bath hot, making it much more pleasant. They also do great food at heavily subsidized prices, though not during fasting hours. I was there on Thursday afternoon with one of my neighbours and since there was no-one obviously about we were very daring and lurked behind a hedge to glug back water and cokes. Was a bit concerned that the circling helicopter was the Ramadan police, but have received no deportation notice yet.

Doha under construction

Doha is a city under construction. For every completed building there seem to be two more on the way. Cranes top more skyscrapers than roofs. Even in the heart of the city's West Bay there are huge empty plots, or massive foundation excavations. Heavy machinery thumps as holes are bored, dust billows.

There are not enough hot words to describe the heat. Even at midnight, stepping outdoors and standing still, sweat springs from every pore and runs in rivulets down your body. Daytime temperatures in the shade hit the high thirties; in the sun mid-forties are the norm. The humidity is stifling. I suppose I expected desert climate - hot dry days, coolish nights, but no. And it shouldn't have been surprising really, as we are surrounded by water. Aircon is a must, although of course it is too fierce (and noisy).

At the beach club I can sit and melt quietly in the shade before jumping into the bathwater-hot sea. The view of the docks from the minimal beach is a little uninspiring, but it's still a godsend to have this little bit of outdoors in a city built for indoor life. When I bemoan lack of balcony, garden or outdoor pool people keep telling me it's too hot, but I don't get it - it's only too hot for a couple of months. If we worked on this basis no one in Europe would have a garden as it's too cold.

Above: The beach club