Monkeys, a recurring theme.

Yes, Monkeys have cropped up once or twice before in my other blogs. They do seem to be a recurring theme, or perhaps a mild obsession. I noted the monkey, or in fact ape link today as I went to the cinema to see the new Planet of Apes movie. The last time I did this I was in Abuja and I remember how that cinema experience was a bit weird for me as I had totally expected to walk back outside into the UK. The cinema experience itself was completely like home but everything else was still obviously feeling very alien to me at that point!

Today's adventure to see the new Planet of the Apes movie just left me feeling frustrated. This is the busiest a cinema has been since I have been here as it is the Eid holiday right now. I have to say I'm not really sure why most of the Qatari's who paid for the ticket bothered as they spent of the duration of the film walking in and out of the cinema to do god knows what. It was constant. They were also talking throughout to each other and phones were going off constantly also. It was a bizarre experience really, why bother to pay to watch a film if you aren't even going to watch it?! People also joined the film to 'meet' friends in the cinema over half way through. So very strange.

The Eid holiday I mentioned above is in celebration of the end of Ramadan. This is my second proper experience of Ramadan, obviously I haven't taken part but this time in Doha it has had more of an impact on my daily life. During the week at work I haven't been able to eat or drink for example, this is true of all public places during Ramadan. Also in my workplace as just about all of my staff are Muslim I have been careful to avoid eating and drinking in front of them. The opening hours for the malls and other places changed too. Obviously all eateries have been closed during the day and only open in the evening after sunset and malls have been closed during the afternoons. Now that the Eid is being celebrated it's back to normal working hours and back to a morning coffee again.

It also means the roads are a little bit safer again, imagine everyone driving 'hangry' all the time, or as the sun sets there is a mad rush to get the evening prayers and then Iftar meals to break the fast. The roads are bad enough here as it is, no extra incentive to drive like you think you're in F1 is needed.

So back to normal, whatever normal is in Doha...

00Gin

I have just got back from an awesome week being immersed in all things Lush in Poole which I will definitely blog about but first I felt I had to share my experience of the QDC, or Qatar Distribution Company. It really was the most intense alcohol purchase of my entire life.

You may remember me mentioning that I needed to get a license to buy alcohol here. Well I got my license this week, I feel just like James Bond only with a more useful level of clearance. This was surprisingly one of the simplest things I have managed to acquire here, I needed a letter from my employer stating I was allowed a license and of course I needed my Qatar ID but once I had those things it was a matter of minutes to get the license itself. Buying the alcohol however was another matter...

Below are a couple of photos I took during the 'shop' at QDC on Wednesday night.

 

 



The first photo is us in the queue to get into the shop. I should point out that the queue behind us went all through the car park and out onto the road. I wanted to take a photo of that but the security guard was looking at me with a Give me a reason to throw you out and I will way, so after one sneaky photo I wasn't risking losing my chance at gin!

Anyway, we patiently queued up moving our booze trolley along and eventually got to the entrance, only I was allowed into the shop as my housemate doesn't have license so very quickly a to grab list and some cash was exchanged. I then entered the shop which can only be described as Christmas Eve/The Next Sale on Crack. It was absolutely bonkers!

The trolleys were end to end, worse than the traffic in Doha and with even less rules of the road, my poor ankles! Thankfully I befriended a nice American couple near the spirits section who had sensibly come in with only a basket and they handed me everything I needed as I was literally being swept along by the trolleys. My housemate wanted beer which was in the middle in a bizarre one way section, my god if I went in I was never coming out. Thankfully I spotted the case she wanted on the edge of the section and decided to do a drive by whipping case off on the way past, then came the wines again mostly just grabbing ones I could reach and finally the pork shop. Now this was off to the side in its own little section. Did I really want bacon that badly?!

My options were try to manoeuvre the trolley out of the stream of traffic - never going to happen or risk abandoning the trolley and grab that precious bacon. Would the booze still be there when I got back? That was the risk. People were crazy in here. You can do this Kash, you can do this, elbows out and go! Amazingly I succeeded and the trolley was pretty much where I left it as the queue had gone nowhere (see the second photo above).

Throughout this whole experience I basically was either shouting out spirits to other handily situated shoppers, laughing hysterically or just keeping my cool. Other people were doing much the same, or getting their rage on, I'm sure they'd have been honking their horns if the trolleys had had them installed. I have never experienced anything quite like it in my life.

Now I should point out a couple of things. The QDC is not normally this insane, Ramadan is just about to start which means the shop will be shut for a month and this is the only place in Qatar you can purchase alcohol to consume at home. Also during Ramadan you can only consume alcohol at home as all of the hotel bars are not are not allowed to sell it. This begins to explain the level of crazy. I think every expat in Qatar was at QDC at the same time and I imagine the first few days of reopening will be just as bonkers!

Quest Complete!

This week has been a bit exciting here in Doha. Well for me anyway. After a delay with the processing of my Residency Permit because my degree hadn't been stamped by some official person here in Doha I finally got my ID! Hooray!

Actually the visit to get my degree stamped was quite entertaining. Like most things here. I had to go really early because apparently there would be a BIG queue. When I arrived at the (very hidden) Ministry for Stamping Things building I asked the security guard about the length of the queue. The security guard I hasten to add had just removed my fork from my bag after scanning it as obviously it was a potential weapon - echoes of Abuja Airport anyone? I did explain it was for my lunch and he kindly told me I could have it back when I left. So no not like Abuja Airport then. Anyway when I asked about the queue, he laughed and told me I was the only one here. Indeed I was and no number was needed. I was in and out in a jiffy.

So after my degree had been stamped, which could have been done approximately two days after I arrived here the ID quickly followed. Once I had my ID I was able to apply for Qatari Driver's License. Because I'm from the UK this is a nice easy process of just filling out some forms. Some poor buggers have to go through 'Driving School' HA! If you saw the driving here you'd have to assume the driving school is ran by Leslie Neilsen. I did however have to get a large number of trees felled in the process in order to submit all of the necessary paperwork. Then once the papers were done the lovely Eiman who is the Lush shop Manager drove me to the giant Traffic Department Building near the Mall. Where once again I had to take a number and wait to hand everything in.

On the website it clearly tells you that you have to get your eyes tested as part of this process and that you can do this there at the Traffic Department. However this is a lie. You can only do this at a qualified opticians. So back to the Mall we go. Eyes checked, yes I can see. That is pretty much the extent of the test. Another stamp (yes!) and back we go. Another number (yes!) and my papers are handed in, again. Then lo and behold my new Qatari Driver's License is printed in front of me. The website lied, again, it said you had to go back to collect it, who cares I have my license! I was one step closer to freedom and my own car, yay!

Then this morning I was being picked up in the 'bus' one last time as I was off to get my new car. Like a kid at Christmas I couldn't wait! Of course this is Doha where nothing goes quite to plan and so after some waiting whilst they got the car washed and ready and I signed some stuff it was time to get into my car and drive away. I'm busy putting my things inside, they start to take the plastic of the seats when the salesman yells STOP! This isn't your car! WHAT?!!!!!!! They've just prepared and washed the wrong Qashqai. Really?! I was going to drive off in someone else's car? BRILLIANT!

After some standing around in the 40 degree heat, my actual car was found and hastily washed down. Are you sure this is mine? Yes. OK. This time it's a go. I get in and I actually want to squeal, I have never had a proper brand new car in my life before so this is VERY exciting, it has that NEW smell. It's very shiny, and it's a QASHqai for KASH. It's meant to be. Only I can't squeal because there's three men stood watching me. Go away I'm thinking whilst holding my squeal inside. They don't. They just stand there watching me. I smile at them, they smile back. OK so I'm going to actually have to drive away. Off I go, well just far enough out of sight to stop, pull over and squeal!

Then it's my first encounter with Doha traffic and driving. Cripes. I managed it however and made it to work just fine. Only one minor mishap when I missed a turn due to being majorly cut up but that led to me finding another easier route so all good for the first adventure of Kash and The Qash Machine. Now I just need to get my final license and Doha life will be complete!  As my lovely mate Madeleine pointed out, I can almost smell the Juniper...

 

The Qash Machine

Brunch Adventures

OK so my brunch adventure was over a week ago, I have been a bit tardy since then and not suffering from a MEGA hangover. Thankfully. I actually escaped a hangover which was a small miracle considering the lack of drinking since I have been here. I think owing to the fact we drank ALL day it started just as I was getting into bed and I slept through what would no doubt have been the mother of all Hangovers.

Back to brunch. It was a very fancy affair at the Ritz Carlton. It involved a crazy amount of different foods to choose from, I swear I have never seen anything quite like it and sparkling wine, on tap. Marvellous. I went with a lovely colleague from work and she taught me like a pro how to pace my food intake and how to get the food to wine ratio just right.

Although at the end everything was fuzzy and I ended up with the biggest cheese platter (but where are the GRAPES?!?!) and then we went dessert bonkers. The desserts are like artworks, little mini paintings, and you can't work out what they are but they are very pretty. They were arranged in a variety of hanging displays, glass stacks, bookcases, and sideboards. I was too distracted to take a photo but there's a blurry one somewhere of our selection which I will try and upload. Our selection by the way was vast. We pretty much got one of everything, the bubbles in the wine fuelling our grabby hands. Well we had to try a bit of each just to see. Lets say that blue meringue tastes of blue and not a lot else.

We finished a few hours later with more bubbles and a few buckets of coffee before moving on to somewhere for the sundowner (or something). It seemed very glamorous until a plane took off overhead, not great being right near the airport. After that we headed off to another fancy hotel for some Reggae on the beach. I was very happy until a lack of RP threatened to ruin the night. I didn't have my passport either - at the office whilst they process my RP. No copy of passport with me. Bugger.

We sit sad faced for a bit pondering what to do, hoping the nice bouncers will take pity and let us in anyway, the bubbles bubbling in my head telling me there is a solution. Ah ha! I have a download of my passport on my phone, will they accept that? Yes for some bizarre reason they will and we're in, or on the beach as the case may be. A bit more booze later and we're dancing on the sand with some lovely young boys on a student exchange from Blighty. Such fun! Then a Nigerian approached us, I knew he Nigerian the minute he asked if he could 'snap' us. For some reason we changed our names and I was Mary. He told me I was the Mother of God. Well I have been known to have magical powers from time to time. Mary dances well he says. (Mary is off her face). We decided it was home time. A wise choice. Can he meet us here next week? Of course we tell him, be waiting with 5 bottles of sparkling wine, each. I hope he didn't turn up, poor love.

So that was 'Brunch'. It was VERY much fun. I hope do 'Brunch' many times whilst in Doha, it is the done thing apparently.

Birthday in Doha

Still waiting for my RP and so the wait for everything else continues. Bah! This is a shame because my new car is ready for me but I can't get it yet as I can't get my Qatari Driving License until of course you guessed it, I get my RP. Ah well not much longer of being driven everywhere, hopefully.

In other news it was my birthday this week. For those of you that know me well you will also know I have never worked on my birthday, ever. I always take the day off to do nice birthday things or for the last couple of years have proper birthday adventures. Thank you Gili Islands and Hamner Springs.

So this year I was a bit horrified that I had to actually go to work. I jokingly told my team that it's OK I would shut the shop and we would have a party. They haven't quite grasped my humour yet so for a short while they thought I was serious. I think they were very disappointed when they realised we wouldn't actually having a dance party whilst customers banged on the shutters.

We did have a fun day though, they surprised me a with a fancy cake and we had some now obligatory jelly throwing in the store. Just to clarify for the non Lushies, this is the shower jellies that LUSH sell not actual eating jelly. When the shop is quiet we do various things to draw attention and foot traffic inside and this is one thing that the team really love, although I may now be regretting introducing the concept of jelly throwing to Doha. This has led to cross mall throws to other shops, security staff either joining in or telling us to 'keep it inside', jelly to the face and jelly everywhere really. It has been very successful though, the team love it and it really raises the energy when it's quiet plus they engage with passing customers getting them to join and then come inside the shop and wash their hands. Once inside we can show them all of the other lovely things!

Back to birthday fun now, I had a nice dinner at an Italian with my housemates the night before, finished with proper gelato yum! I skyped with my family in multiple calls and today I'm off to experience a Doha tradition of Friday Brunch. Remembering Friday is the first day of the weekend here and technically this is a dry country, brunch is a big deal. All the western expats seem to go for 'brunch' which is in fact an afternoon session of all you can eat food at whichever hotel you happen to choose with 'house drinks' included. I'll report back on this later. Or possibly not later depending on many 'house drinks' I have consumed. Happy Birthday Kasia!

The Residency Quest: Parts 1 - 3,678

So I have been a bit quiet of late on the old blog, sorry about that Mum and anyone else that's reading. The reason was the lack of any real Wi-Fi connection at the Hotel I was staying at. I did try a few times to update the blog and came very close at one point to lobbing my laptop out of the window. Only the window didn't open, which didn't help the situation. Anyway, Wi-Fi woes be over! And why are they over? Well I have moved into my shiny new home at long last. I will write more about that in another post, it is very shiny. Today's ramble is dedicated to the process of gaining my RP or Residency Permit. Fun times.

The RP is apparently the key to life here in Doha. You can't get anything without one like a booze permit for example. It's been at least 30 days since I purchased alcohol. This is a concern. Not 30 days since I drank it of course, I have my ways. But still, I can't actually buy my own booze yet, or drive, or get a current account, or sign any kind of contract for anything. So you can see getting your RP is quite important for getting yourself set up when you arrive.

The RP process actually started back when I was in good old sunny Nelson. I had to dig out copies of various documents and send those off and then I had to get my lovely Mum on the case with getting my Degree signed by countless people in the UK like the Foreign Office. This apparently was all so I could have the title 'Manageress' on my RP which was very important, to my new employers at least.

Then on arrival in Doha came the photographs. Pretty easy, 12 passport photos needed on blue background. No handy passport photo booths here so have to go to photographer and sit in dodgy backroom studio. All very strange.

Blood typing came next. I was told it would take 5 minutes at the clinic next door to the mall where the Lush shop is. I scoffed. Surely you mean I make an appointment, I turn up, I wait for my appointment, I wait a bit more, I wait REALLY patiently and then go in at least 30 minutes late for said appointment, I probably faint (it's me after all), I then get told results will be back in a week. Nope, it literally takes 5 minutes. I go in pay at the front desk, nice lady takes me round to the blood typing area, another nice lady pricks my finger, runs the blood through some magical box thingy tells me to wait two minutes, she calls me back and hands me paper with my blood type on it and I leave. Now that's efficient, or witchcraft one of the two.

OK, so after this came the least fun part of the process which involved the public chest x-ray and blood test. I got taken by a driver to a building on the outskirts of the city where by I had to go into the 'ladies' entrance and was given a number, much like at the cheese counter in the supermarket. Although it turned out the number was pretty much pointless. I sat for ages whilst nothing happened and more and more 'ladies' arrived. Finally numbers were randomly called, not in chronological order of course. You handed in your paperwork and were stamped. After that we were vaguely directed to the blood testing area where what I assume were Vampires took our blood because before you knew it was over, blood taken another stamp acquired and you had been moved along as if nothing had happened.

Then came the aforementioned public chest x-ray. Crazy x-ray lady barked at everyone to either get into a gown in a changing room or just take off their bra depending on how loose their tops were and then we lined up and were marched into an x-ray room. No-one really seemed to know what was going on, frankly it was a bit alarming. We were then told to stand behind a line in a line, no-one moved so she shouted at us to do it again and being British and quite good at forming a queue I thought I'd start us off. I'm glad I did I got to go first and get it all over with. I once again handed over my paperwork, got my x-ray and my final stamp, quest complete! Or so I thought....

This morning came the final (I really bloody hope) part of the RP quest. I was supposed to be picked up to go for my fingerprinting at 8am by one of the drivers. A lovely driver did come but part way into the journey when we started picking up some other lovelies also on their way to Landmark Mall I twigged that all was not quite right. Turns out the message got lost, or my driver did.

Anyway, on arrival at the mall and now late for my appointment I get into my second minivan of the day and head off. I end up god knows where, miles out of the city but the building does say fingerprinting, plus some other stuff. The man from the office with my paperwork for more stamp collecting is calling frantically to ask where I am, 'I'm here!' I reply. He can't see me anywhere and he's right outside. 'I'm the only lady, I'm quite obvious' I tell him, everyone is of course staring at me. I am indeed the only lady to be seen. At that point a small but nagging alarm bell begins in my head. Yes why are you the only lady Kasia? Hmmm? Check with the driver. He asks someone. We are at the wrong place, we are the fingerprinting place for men. Ladies go somewhere completely different.

Back in the van now an hour late for my appointment. We drive to another building quite far away and on arrival the man from the office points out all of the obvious things. 'You are late. You went to the wrong place. This is the place for the ladies. You need a black pen.' Wait, what? Why? Are they going to draw my fingerprints? I have only blue pens!!! Argh! Will this quest never be over?!

Yes, yes it will, a black pen is found, turns out it's for my signature which we could have done many times at the office. Brilliant. Then I go in for fingerprinting, with the ladies, I'm given another cheese counter number and I want to weep. We know what this means. Only this time I'm ushered straight in, there's no one there, I'm in and out in five minutes, quest complete! After that we went on some other mission to god knows where with a mysterious bit of paper, I think I have literally seen ALL of Doha today. Maybe that is also part of the RP process, a secret final test of sorts but damn it I didn't get my stamp!

Happy Birthday Liz

Yesterday was a very British day in Doha. Well as British as you can get in the desert anyway. Our company had been invited to participate in a British high street event at a party for Queen Liz at the British Embassy.  This is the second time I've arrived somewhere new to live and ended up at an Embassy event within a few days of landing. I'm a bit narked I didn't get an invite in New Zealand now!

Anyway back to Doha. The party was fab, everyone was loving Lush (of course) we had amazing goody bags, lovely pampering treatments and we made the awesome Space Girl bath ballistic.  Lush aside it was really great to see some other awesome British brands there on the night. I went home beaming, what a start to my role here so many people exposed to the wonders of Lush yay!

I do have to mention my faux pas of the night, come on you've all been waiting for the first one. So they had a brass band playing at the start of the night to welcome the guests and let's just say they weren't your traditional British brass band. They played a couple of tunes, threw in some bagpipes and then they played the Great Escape music. You know England football fans,  that tune they play in the crowd at matches and for some reason I found this just hysterical. Obviously no one else did. Of course this just made me laugh more, people around me not overly impressed. Cue more laughing. I did manage to recover eventually but had the tune in my head aaaaaallll night long.

Right now I'm battling with wifi in the hotel so I might just post this and quit rambling for now. I'm planning on a bit of exploring tomorrow it should be quiet in the morning so I can get about a bit easier. I will take some photos too :)

Cheers drive

My first couple of days have passed in a bit of a jet lagged haze here in ever so sunny Doha. Note to self, no need to look outside to check the weather as it's always going to be clear skies and sunny. Apparently rain is a major event here, like everyone stop what you're doing and go outside it's raining type thing.  I look forward to that.

The first two days at work have been great, although on day one I did slip into standby mode a couple of times. It was pretty hard fighting my brain telling me it was clearly bed time when in fact it was only lunchtime. I just sniffed the soap to bring me round. I should point out that I was at the lovely Lush shop, not just randomly pulling chunks of soap out of my bag to sniff.

The shop is lovely they had a refit last year so it's all shiny and the team are all shiny too. I'm so very lucky, I just hope the soap sniffing on day one didn't disappoint them - I was much better today I managed full conversations and everything, jet lag be gone! I was also tremendously excited by the huge number of other British brands in the mall where the current shop is. I know that's probably a bit sad but Nelson wasn't exactly a shopping mecca.

I also managed to find myself somewhere to live today, score! I'm going to be sharing a nice villa (OK house) with a Canadian,  American and Croatian ooh get me. It's on a lovely compound with a pool and it's close to the one and only booze shop in Doha. Yay! I'll be in the hotel for a bit longer but that's all good, I need to get a bed sorted first!

OK time to sign off I'm running out of steam, jet lag not quite be gone. I will finish this post with a brief note about the driving here. It's best described as bonkers, in the most part due to the vast number of cars on the road. After the quiet roads of New Zealand it's a bit of a shock to the system. I feel like all the traffic I escaped in Blighty over the last 19 months has passed in front of my eyes in the last two days. Even my in built sat-nav skills are going to be tested here. Thank you to my lovely company for deciding it's best I don't start driving for the first few weeks.  I will be saying cheers drive for as long as possible me thinks.

Kasia is officially in Qatar

So I finally made it to Qatar, more specifically Doha.  I should warn you now not to have high hopes for this blog post as I am beyond delirious right now. I don't sleep well on planes and after two flights and losing about 10 hours along the way I'm a little confused about what day it is right now. My brain has definitely been telling me for the last few hours to sleep that's all I know.

After a bit drama at Auckland airport the rest of the journey was a breeze and thankfully there was a nice driver from the hotel which is my temporary residence to meet me at Doha airport. I got my fix of new arrival joy, you know where you stare gormlessly out the window of whatever mode of transport takes you to your accommodation when you arrive somewhere new. It's one of my favourite things about travelling, that moment where everything is new and exciting/weird. Things to note in Doha, many cranes because it's literally a city under construction, no one uses their inidicators, it's all yellow - cue Coldplay.

I went out for a little walk whilst I was still capable of making basic decisions like - turn left,  walk down there etc and discovered, well not a lot.  I'm not going to lie, it was hot,  the directions the nice man on reception gave me were a complete lie and I was getting sleepier by the step. See I told you not to hold out too much for this post. In more exciting news I have a remote in my room for the lights that changes the colour and speed and some other buttons I'm too scared to touch after the few minutes where I had them stuck on strobe which were not so much fun. Fingers crossed I can work out how to turn them off when it's sleep time or my first day at work tomorrow could be interesting...

One for the road

So I'm still in sunny Nelson, sans the sun today. I'm at the slightly tense packing stage that my Mum knows only too well. She might recall a slight melt down when I was packing for Nigeria, it's not quite as bad as that time. I'm very organised this time around but I am beginning to wonder how all of the stuff dotted around my room is going to fit into the one suitcase that isn't yet packed...There's no rule about how many clothes you can wear on the plane right?

I am really proud of my packing foo actually, I have come along way from the Kasia of 2011, there hasn't been a tantrum yet. The baggage handlers might have one when they try and lift my bags however. I have culled a fair few things along the way, I suspect the local op shops are totally loving me. As I had planned on applying for residency here in the New Year I had begun to accumulate 'general stuff' which now of course is not needed, or is not really transportable. For a hoarder like myself I'm sure you can imagine this has been a difficult few weeks. 

Last night I got the final details through for where I'll be staying when I first arrive in Doha. I'm in a hotel for the first two weeks whilst I try and find somewhere to live. It all of a sudden felt very real when I could see pictures of the place I'll be staying and had confirmed arrangements for a driver to pick me up and bring me to my new offices on Sunday. Friday and Saturday are the weekend days out in the Middle East so Sunday is the new Monday. Confusing for me as Sunday and Monday were my old days off. It's all getting very real now, cripes!

Right I'm going to stop packing avoiding, and get some more important jobs done, like work out how many layers I can feasibly wear and still sit down in. But first I think I might open a bottle of wine...