Is it Sunday or Friday?

Today is Friday but I want to say Sunday because we went to church.  So I keep saying to everyone my days are all off.  Our work week is from Sunday to Thursday.  Anyway I think I keep repeating myself on this subject in my past blogs. 

So at any rate we went to church this morning and this is our 2^nd week in a row.  It is very moving for me when I go.  We meet in a house/villa and there are 3 services.  The singing is with a band and for all my C of  C you know this is different.  We know most all the songs.  Worshiping here has taken on a new meaning for me in my Christian life. 

What I mean is that we are in the Middle East the center of the Islamic world, in Qatar a very traditional Islamic state.  So when you come to worship it doesn’t matter what kind of church you are from just that you know you all believe in the Same God and that Jesus Christ was his son and he sent his son to die for our sins so that we can have eternal life with him in Heaven. 

All the Preachers/ Pastors teach from the scriptures and we have had awesome sermons.  When you’re in the Middle East and majority of the people are Muslim, this all takes on a whole new level of meaning in your walk with the Lord.  I have been moved to tears the last two weeks and you can ask Alan, I don’t cry very easily at all!  I don’t feel unsafe when I worship but we do have police outside making sure that we are safe.

We have met some amazing people and I am sure they will become very dear friends.  We can see Gods plan for us here every day.  I am not trying to be preachy I just wish my family and friends could experience this with us. 

We bought a scale the other night and got home unwrapped it set it down and I stepped on it to find out it is in kg.  Well that was good for me because it registered way under 100 so I was happy at first until I got an app to convert kgs into lbs.  We thought for sure there would be a switch to change it so it would read out in lbs.  But no there is no such switch.  Everything is kg, km, 24hr clock, liters anyway you get the jest nothing we have been brought up with is the same here.  So we will learn!

We met some new friends (Dee Dee and Jerry) the other night to eat at the Pearl, which is a new development on the water across from where we stayed in the hotel for 2 weeks.  The Husband, Jerry is in charge of the development of the Pearl which we found out is currently the largest real estate development going on in the world.  It was a Mexican food restaurant and the food was really good and then the Chef, really charming people and both fairly new to Doha.  A man that Jerry knew came and asked him when we finished eating if we would like to have a boat ride around the bay.  So of course we said yes! It was so much fun and very beautiful looking at the city from that perspective.

When we were leaving to go home and we got in the Elevator an Arab man asked Alan and I where we were from. We told him Texas and he replied the USA?  We said yes, and asked where he was from and he said Qatar.  He introduced himself and said he was visiting his family at the Pearl for the weekend.  He asked Alan who he worked for and when we asked him where he worked he said he worked at the Royal palace.  Wow!  We did not ask what job he did but who knows maybe he is one of the Ministers? 

Tonight we will be going to a Texas A&M Boot Scoot.  Everyone says it’s the funnest night of the year in Doha.  This is a night where all the Texans here in Doha (and there are a bunch) get out their boots and bling and have a great time.  Alan can’t believe we are going to an Aggie party but we are in the desert and when you are in the desert you do all kinds of things that you wouldn’t normally do back home.  So he says he is wearing BURNT ORANGE.  Anyhow if you are an American in the Middle East you just like being together with other Americans.  So I will blog about the party in a few days.

We met a Doctor at church today and ate out with them at Chili’s (free tea refills remember).  He works at Cornell Medical School.  He said we could call him anytime for medical questions which made us feel really good to know an actual American Dr. and will make our parents more comfortable.  I will close for today.  I am sorry it is so long today.

Living in the Desert!

I haven't typed on my blog in a while.  I have been busy meeting lots of new friends. Still trying to get my place set up and make it feel warm and as much like home as I can.  My boys will be coming March 12th,  I am really looking forward to that happening.  I am having cable installed tomorrow morning at 10 a.m..  We will see what that means when it comes to t.v..  Maybe at least I can have some noise.  It is very quiet around with no music or t.v..  We brought Alan's clock radio that has an Ipod dock so I was so excited to listen to my Ipod and I plugged it in and it popped and smoked instantly.  Very frustrating.

On Monday of this week the Qatari women's association invited the American women's association to a Qatari mock wedding.  This is only women and no men are aloud.  They celebrate independently apart from each other.  This is when they are unveiled and just wear their traditional clothing.   We were not allowed to bring in cell phones or camera's because they can't have pictures made of them unveiled.  There was a Qatari woman that told us  about their traditions of a  Muslim women.  She went through what happens from when they are  very young girls until they are married. 

They served us all different kinds of food and tea and camels milk while the mock wedding was taking place.  I think she said they have a two day celebration and after the wedding the bride and groom don't see each other for another week .  They have the celebration at the grooms parents house.   Before getting married the bride has her own money. The groom has to pay her family a dowry, and he has to be able to support her.  Very much the same in the U. S. what's mine is mine and what's his is mine!! Ha! Ha!  After the celebration they had a huge buffet of food that we got to try.  Very interesting and different.

The Qatari women danced on stage and asked the American women and International women to join them.  I did not do this, but had fun watching.  They were also having Henna  applied on anyone that wanted it, so I did that on my arm.   There is picture of that on Facebook.  They also let you have a picture made in one of their long dresses on the stage.  I did do this but am not sure when or if I will get the photo because you have to go to the U.S. embassy to get the photo.  The women I was setting with said it is a huge pain to go to the U.S. embassy, lots of security.  So who knows if I will see this photo.

I have been to two bible studies this week.  They were both very good and I will continue to go to them not only for the great study of the word but the great fellowship.  Yesterday we had lunch at Johnny Rockets afterwards and today we had breakfast before and lunch afterwards at Bennigans.  That is where I got my Iced Tea and free refills with nachos. Yay!!  I met some women that play golf and they invited me next Wednesday to play 9 holes after ladies class.  I am doing my best to get plugged in and keep busy while I am here.  That is what you have to do to survive living in the desert.  This is all for today as I experience new things I will let you know.

Remember I am not a writer and so just read this and enjoy and don't critique it to much.

moved into the Villa!

We finally moved out of the hotel and into the Villa that we will live in for the next several years.  However long that is!  We will miss the Hotel food which was amazing and all the employees that wait on you hand and foot and are at your every beck and call.  We have a Mitsubishi Lancer rental car and it is very small. We were able to get four large suit cases and two small suitcases and two backpacks and one other small case in that car.  It was like a puzzle putting it in.

We slept in our bed for the first time last night and we were sad because we left the beds at the W of which we tried to buy but it was going to take to long to get it.  Our bed is beautiful and the base and mattress came with it. By the way we had a Tempurpedic mattress at home that we had to leave behind.   Ok the mattress feels like I am sleeping on the floor, Alan loves it and I hate it.  We will give it a little time and then I will press for a new mattress.  In the mean time we will try and buy a memory foam pad for the bed. I found memory foam pad today and I have to order them!! So sad!

About a week ago I was at our villa cleaning and a friend and I decide to throw away the drip pans for the electric stoves burners. The maintenance man said he will be bringing me new ones and I see him everyday and he just keeps saying the same thing that he will bring me some...  Well in the mean time we have been searching for them ourselves and can't find them anywhere.   I have bought some foil pans and might have to make our on make shift ones!!!

This morning I went to take a shower in our bathroom and could not get the water hot.  We tried everything.  Alan tried other rooms and they all had hot water.  Nassar the  maintenance guy came by and said we have to have a switch on to get hot water and that one had been turned off.  It looks like a light switch on the wall outside the bathroom, Crazy!!!

We went to church for the first time Friday.  Ok I know that sounds weird but Friday is the Holy Day over here.  We went to Grace Fellowship.  I loved it and it made me feel like normal, well almost.  When they started singing songs I knew.  I got all emotional.  For those that know me I never cry, it takes a lot to make me cry... Anyway I Cried. We met a lot of great people and went with several to Chili’s afterwards to have lunch.  It was fun.

On Sunday we will meet with a small group f Church of Christ people (mostly from Texas) and have a bible study and take communion.  I will go to a Ladies bible study during the week.

There is a mosque right out side our Villa’s compound, really two are very close but one is right here!  The call to prayer happens 5 times a day starting at something like 4:30 a.m. it's crazy.  I love to pray but this is very annoying.  I have face timed Andrew my son and he has heard how loud it is.

We have no storage so we have been on the search for any kind of shelving we can find.  We have brought several from the states and bought several more here. This one shelving unit we bought here right off the floor because they didn't have anymore in a box.  They took it apart and set it at the front counter for us to buy when we finished.  We bought it and discovered several days later that they guys that loaded our car didn't put 3 of the shelves in.  Four days later we were able to go back and to our surprise they had them there waiting on us.  We were so happy.  It's the small things these days that just makes us smile.

I keep telling Alan I feel like we are camping and you know everything tastes so good when you are camping and every task is fun.  Sandwiches for three meals in a row since we couldn’t use the stovetop, but they sure tasted good!

We have four bedrooms in this Villa and they have four closets but when I say closets they are about 40in wide and not very deep. I am guessing.  They really are just built in wardrobe cabinets, not a closet by US standards.  Alan took the one in the office and half of one and I took the double one in our room and one guest room and half of the other in the other guest room.  The clothes are crammed in there like sardines. We will look at buying another closet in the future.

There is a problem with money right now.  We can't get a bank account here so we are living on cash.  Alan has chosen to be paid in dollars for now and it is wired and goes to our bank in the U.S.  We can't get a bank account until we get our Residents Permit, I will call it an RP from now on.  This is a very important thing and we are really missing it now.  Alan has to get his before I can get mine.  I will have been here two months before I get mine.  So I will have to leave the country and get my passport stamped and then come back.  We also can't buy a car, so that is why we have a rental car and why we will be getting a second rental car soon.  I have a busy week ahead and have some more things being delivered to the house.  I will sign off for now and add more in the next couple of days.

Camels!!!!

I went to my first American Women's Association meeting.  There must of about 200 women there. They had a speaker that is an author.  Her name is Lisa McCubbin and I think she is living over her because her husband works for Exxon Mobile.  She wrote the book The Kennedy Detail. It's the first book about JFK's Secret Service Agents breaking their silence.  I bought it and it sounds so interesting.

I got my Hair cut and colored by a Lebanese man yesterday.  I was a little worried especially when I saw his teeth!!!  They looked rotted!! Anyway he told me he has worked all over the world.  He said he taught at a Tony and Guy schools in London..  Who knows he could of just been saying that.  Anyway he did get rid of my gray and that's most important.  The cut is not bad, he did thin it out to much for me but it's ok..

A friend and I were going to a new City Center yesterday because it just opened.  On our way we saw about 12  men riding camels two by two.  We came upon it so fast neither one of us could get a picture. Don't worry I will get some picture of camels around here soon..

The villa is coming along fine.  We are still in the hotel but have been getting it furnished since last weekend. We think we will move in Friday afternoon after church.  It always throws us off that church is on Friday.  We are going to go to Grace Fellowship Church.  Dede Jackson and her husband Jerry are going to come by here to let us follow them.  That way will know how to get there,  She said a bunch of them go and eat afterwards.  We are excited to get to know new people.

Our air shipment should be here.   It has to go through customs and that can take a few days.  Hopefully Alan will hear something more today about it.  I am trying to  get a few more things for our place today at a store called Lulu's.

I am finding out I'm allergic to dust and dirt. I have been stopped up for days and red itchy  and swollen eyes. This is not good when I'm living in the Desert. I have claritin!!

I almost forgot to mention the most important thing.  I will be going to a Qatarie wedding on Monday.  We were told to dress conservatively and you can't bring phones or cameras in.  I am still unclear if its a real wedding or moc one.  I am excited to go to this..  I will let you know. 

Well I will go and see what today brings.  God Bless, Teresa

Busy weekend!!

First of all I want to appologize for bad spelling and grammar.  When I start typing I don't like going back and checking everything.

Thursday we had a company party with Alans work.  There were two american couples, thats Alan and I and his boss. Two French and One Blegium and then Several from India and Sir lanka.  Very interesting.  The People from Indian and Sir Lanka are the happiest and friendliest people.  They are so polite and make their children be polite.  The Indian woman migrated together and set and talked and ate and the men set together.  They didn't start off like that but by the time we ate they were all together.  Two of the Men never sat and they ate with their hands.  It was a very nice and intesting evening..

Friday is the Holy Day.  We had ask some people how do you get to Grace Fellowship church,  but they couldn't tell us.  They go their but it is very hard to give directions here.  It's  makes it difficult to get around here.  We will hopfully find it next week.  So we got up Friday and did some sight seeing along the bay.  We drove  alot just to learn where things were.  I drove Alan navigatied with the map. We would try and locate things we wanted to go to when it opened in the afternoon.  When we were driving we came upon a bunch of Muslim men praying in the  round about.  They just left there cars and got out and started praying.  We kept going around the round about so Alan could take a picture.  We were close to being out of gas and pulled into a station and couldn't get gas until the prayer time was over.  So we sat there for about 10 min.

We started shopping at 4:30pm when things opened.  When we were at the Villagio mall I had to go to the bathroom.  I went into the ladies room and it was all muslim women.  Right when I walked in, to the right was where the women go and pray  they all had their shoes off.

.  Straight ahead was the restroom.  In the stalles was just a hole in the ground in was like a toilet but flat to the ground.  You just stand over it and go!!!  I took one look at that and turned around and left..  I went to Alan and told him and he said I went into the wrong one .  That was for muslim women only!! HA Ha!  IT was wierd..

We got a bedroom suit from an American store that sold Ashley furniture.  We also bought a desk.  We have several things that are being delivered to the villa today.  They start at 11A.M. so as soon as they call I will be leaving.

New home New Day and New furniture!!

Yesterday I went and got a manicure in the hotel that is currently our residence for two weeks.  The girl that did my nails was from the Philippines and her name was Maryann.  She left her two young children in her country to come and work over here.  Her husband died in his 20's and she had to support her children.  Anyway she was really neat to talk to.  She told me she was a Christian. She also said she did not like Muslim men..  She did not know how long she will be here.  Her children are staying with her sister.

The people around the hotel are starting to remember me, for instance when I went to breakfast she knew my room # by heart today and she took me to my usual spot to set.  The breakfast is my favorite thing all day, the fruit is soooo good and there are all kinds that we don't eat in the U.S.  I drink Carrot juice everyday, it is so yummy!

Last night we got to go to the villa we will be living in. It has 3br 1maids quarter and 4 1/2 bathrooms.  We will use the maid’s quarters for an office.  The outside of the villa is not my favorite it is all white and pretty ugly.  It looks like the ghetto!!!  But the inside is nice.  It's all tile and it has a wrought iron staircase going upstairs kind of in the middle of the house.  The kitchen is small; we will eat in the dining room which is in the same room with the den.  The A/C is strange. They are these wall units (not window units), they are up high, and each room has its own.  Every bathroom has a bidet, who knows if anyone will use them. We do have a small patio with a tree.  Trees are unusual,  WE ARE IN THE DESERT!!!  So this is very special...

We bought a few items to go in our house, Dinning table with six chairs, a small buffet, two mattress and headboards and a couch.  I like the couch it is a sectional and it's very comfy more like US furniture. The dinning table is nice because it is round and glass not square like every table here.  The furniture is not the same quality as what I am use to.  I will buy a bedroom suit that I like from Bombay tomorrow if its still there.  I have to keep telling myself that when I go back to the US I probably won't take most of this stuff with me.  I do have the name of a guy that can make really nice furniture out of solid wood for a good deal so I will be contacting him to do a desk and maybe some other pieces as I decide.

When Alan was driving us to the furniture store he took a wrong turn and went to an area that looked like a prison with armed guards.  Yikes we got out of there fast...

Tonight the Company my husband is working for has a dinner party we will be going too.  I heard that most people are from India and Sir Lanka  and they will be wearing there native dress.  So If I can take pictures of them I will and I can post them..  This will be interesting..  Of course I will just wear black pants and a nice top. Will let you know tomorrow how it was!!

From Texas To Qatar

In October of 2010 my husband, Alan, sent me a text and asked me what I thought about moving to Qatar.  I sent a text back and told him it sounded great and very interesting.  When he told his work we definitely wanted to look at the job the ball started rolling.  Right after Thanksgiving his company made arrangement for us to visit.  It was a whirlwind trip of 4 days. It's a 16hr flight so basically you have two days to see everything you need to see.  My brain was in overload and hurt because of all the information that was thrown at us.  We did like it better than we even thought we would.
 

We didn't actually get a real move date till two weeks before we were suppose to be there.  We decided to get a house sitter until I come back in the summer.  The housing market is very slow in Houston and we were going to lose too much money on the sale of the house.  The house sitters are my really good friend from works in-laws.  We are so grateful for them.

Goodbyes were really tough; we have two sons in college in Abilene
I just moved to Qatar and I keep thinking of all the things that I have experienced just in the few days I have been here.  We arrived here Feb. 4th 2011.  We left Houston Feb. 1st, but it wasn’t easy because bad weather was coming and our flight to NY got cancelled.  We were routing through NY because Alan needed to go to
Geneva to sign his.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 12:00 p.m.  Alan worked all morning with people in Qatar to find another way out of U.S. because things were about to get really bad with ice and snow all over the U.S.  He found us a flight to Geneva going through Frankfurt Germany.  We flew first class to Frankfurt then had to change planes, go through customs etc in order to travel to Geneva and that was only a 45 minute flight and no customs, another story for another time. We arrived around 2p.m. I think.

Geneva was beautiful.  The hotel was a boutique style hotel and when we got there with our 5 large suitcases and 2 small suitcases and 2 backpacks, the people behind the desk were looking at us really funny but offered no help.  I went in to ask if there was a luggage cart and they gave me a dolly!!  Alan and I laughed and our taxi driver had to help bring the luggage in and we ended up storing them in a closet in the reception area.  We decided the next day that we would have to get 2 of our large suitcases and bring them up.   We had no room in our room for the small ones much less them and the 2 large ones.

We went walking around and found a place to have fondue. They served it with bread and small finger potatoes it was soooo yummy! In the Hotel they had a little restaurant and it had the best breakfast ever.  All different kinds of fresh fruits, pastries, an egg cooker, cheeses, deli meats and great cappuccinos.

We arrived in Doha and it has been really busy with Alan starting a new job and trying to get our residents cards and license to drive.  None of which has happened yet.  We don't even have cell phones which makes you feel naked!!!  I am lost without a cell phone but who could I call in this country anyway?  I have one friend that she is new to the country too.  Her name is Lori and she has been here a month and she at least has a car and can get us around really well.

We had to go to American hospital yesterday and have our blood type done, I am A +, you got that right!!  Alan was B+, so that means I am better than him. HA!  There was nothing American about that hospital.  They spoke English but you could barely understand them.  We were unclear what they were going to do to us and they didn't explain anything to us. The good thing is that it didn't take long.

I found out yesterday that we had a dinner to go to Thursday night and I was worried that I didn't have anything to wear to it because all my dressy clothes were in our shipment. I found out that it is really "business casual" so I will be fine.

Alan drove for the first time night before last and He did really good we went to Villagio mall and tried to get his phone fixed.  He had put the SIM card in wrong and could not get it out. The driving is pretty crazy there are these roundabouts that are 4 lanes and cars going all directions.  You have to watch all sides.

I got to practice my driving last night and I did pretty good only was honked at once.  We could not find anything we wanted to go to though. So I just drove around a lot!!!

From Texas to Qatar

We will be buying some furniture to go in our new place today.  Most furniture is not like the furniture in the U.S., you really have to shop a lot to find stuff.  It all looks the same, very boring or over the top gaudy.  Just checked and I guess this isn't a word, but it is to me, so you can understand what the furniture looks like. I will tell you this evening if we actually got anything.