I started a new Bible study at the church we attend, on the Book of Ruth. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and told each other where we were from and why we were in Doha . It was really neat becauseI was sitting with women from South Africa, one from Singapore and one from Quebec. The one from Quebec has just started learning English. I see some similarities of my life here in Doha with the life of Ruth. Ruth is went to a foreign land where she is the outsider. She immediately jumped in with both feet forward made the new place her home and was not afraid because she had to survive. Anyway, I know you all know the story, but I am loving the in depth study we are having into the life of Ruth and how her life can help me adjust her in Doha. I am still going to the Nehemiah study on Tuesdays as well and it is very enjoyable as well. I am meeting so many great friends through these bible studies that I am in. I just know that I am making friends for life.
Well there are several Doha moments I need to share with ya'll. Like for instance I have an iPhone 3G and I finally found a place to get it unlocked so that I could use the sim card I have over here in my iPhone and get rid of the old fashioned touch screen phone we purchased with the "allowance" that Alan's company gave us. It was quite an ordeal as is every seemingly simple thing here. I took it in last week and kept going in to see if he had it unlocked and he didn't. He kept telling me that he would call me, but of course he never did. I finally got it back to realize that the Qtel (the Qatar cell phone company) plan I have doesn't fully operate with the iPhone. I can call and text but that's it, no data plan availability! I have to admit I have learned a lot of patience. I know I will figure it out but it will take time or "INSHALLAH" like they say over here all the time. It means God willing. In other words it's just a way to put you off. I know some of you have watched the show "Outsourced" and if you have not you need to, it could be the funniest show on TV now, maybe even funnier than Modern Family. If you have seen it then you know about the Indian head bobble. Well that head bobble has taken on a whole new meaning for me as it happens to me all the time. Especially with my maid when I ask her a question and she does the bobble and I want to say is that a yes or no? The funny thing is you will never ever know.
I had a birthday and it was a big one. My husband and friends over here have made it really special for me. My friends took me to the Ritz Carlton for Tea, this is now one of my favorite activities, we had a blast. Then I was taken the next day by some friends to lunch at the W hotel and had a great time. Last night when Alan got home we went out with another couple to a Lebanese restaurant, Layali. It was so yummy. This is a place we will redo over and over, especially now that we know what all comes out for free. This time we had no idea and we ordered way too much food but it was so incredible we just could not stop eating! Now that is definitely another story we will have to share in another blog, way too much eating is going on over here!
I have been trying to find a place to get my hair done. The first place I went to was at the W hotel where we lived the first 2 weeks here. The guy that cut my hair took scissors that thin your hair out and layer it all over. This is not good, not a real hair cut. So now I have to wait for it to grow back out for a very long time. But now my gray is coming through, yes I know y'all are all shocked that I have gray, but don't tell anyone this is not my natural hair color! Anyway I called a couple of different salons that my different friends have told me to call. I got an appointment to one of the salons for next Wednesday. Well that was before the first annual Doha Dolls Spring Break Agenda was set and keeping that appointment was going to cut into my play time with my friends. I haven't canceled that one yet, but I went ahead and called another place yesterday and they made an appointment for me for Sunday. While I was at lunch with my friends yesterday the place called and they had a cancelation for 4pm yesterday. I was very excited because I was going to get it colored before Alan I went out that evening even though it meant I could not go to the Emir's Cup and Sword festival Arabian Horse races with Alan, he went by himself and that is a another story for later too.
So I go into this salon and fill out paper work with all my info on it. The lady calls me back and says "so we are going to cut and blow dry your hair today right" and I said no I just want highlights and lowlights and cover the gray roots. Well she panics and says she doesn't have time for that and that was not what was scheduled but she looks at my paper and sees that it is my birthday and asks if she can wash and blow dry my hair for my special evening out. So I agreed and then Oh My! She starts by telling me how damaged my hair is from the water here and that my hair cut I had last time was terrible and not to cut my hair for another six weeks, blah blah blah. Then she begins to blow dry my hair and again Oh My!!!! She makes it really pouffy with curls. This is sooooo not me. She teased it and sprayed it and kept teasing it and spraying it more and more so much so I wanted to laugh. She kept saying over and over "it's not fixed so don't panic". Well when she finished she asked "so what do you think". I wanted to scream and run away. I looked in the mirror and thought are you kidding me? Am I on candid camera? Is this April Fools day? Really! Who is playing a joke on me. So she says tell me the truth. So I told her, well this is way to pouffy for me, I am not that kind of girl. I know I am from Texas but that left Texas in the 80's. I start trying to smash it down with my hands and it just will not smash. So I politely tell her thank you and she said "it's free because it is your birthday". I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I get to my car and try to comb it down and it's still not moving there is soooo much hair spray on it. I try and call Alan and my phone says I need to load more minutes on it. Theres another story. Anyway I have to run over to the mall and pay for more minutes with my big hair!!! I have sunglasses on and put them on top of my head and they get lost in the big hair. I was just praying I didn't run into anybody that I know. At any rate I still have my color appointment with her on Sunday! Do I trust her? Please tell me when you respond. I feel like I have to go back to her since she was trying to be so nice and I cannot waste part of the Doha Dolls SB. So do I go and just don't let her cut and then know when she blow dries it that I have to go straight home and re-do it? Seems like a waste of time. There is no telling what I will look like when I come back to Texas. I will have to go in hiding for several weeks to undo all the bad. Of course this is why all of my new friends over here keep telling me that you start drinking over here just to get over the things that you used to take for granted that they "almost" get right here in Qatar. Remember Qatar's nick name is "The Land of Almost", they almost get everything right!
Next week will be fun on our Doha Dolls Spring Break with a great group of girls who are like me and not going somewhere else for Spring Break so we have a plan to make our own Spring Break fun. Everyday we have something different planned, just like a vacation. But it's a staycation. It will be fun. But it involves a bathing suit!! Yikes!! Oh who cares!! Anyway I will write in a couple of weeks and tell you all about it.
Well there are several Doha moments I need to share with ya'll. Like for instance I have an iPhone 3G and I finally found a place to get it unlocked so that I could use the sim card I have over here in my iPhone and get rid of the old fashioned touch screen phone we purchased with the "allowance" that Alan's company gave us. It was quite an ordeal as is every seemingly simple thing here. I took it in last week and kept going in to see if he had it unlocked and he didn't. He kept telling me that he would call me, but of course he never did. I finally got it back to realize that the Qtel (the Qatar cell phone company) plan I have doesn't fully operate with the iPhone. I can call and text but that's it, no data plan availability! I have to admit I have learned a lot of patience. I know I will figure it out but it will take time or "INSHALLAH" like they say over here all the time. It means God willing. In other words it's just a way to put you off. I know some of you have watched the show "Outsourced" and if you have not you need to, it could be the funniest show on TV now, maybe even funnier than Modern Family. If you have seen it then you know about the Indian head bobble. Well that head bobble has taken on a whole new meaning for me as it happens to me all the time. Especially with my maid when I ask her a question and she does the bobble and I want to say is that a yes or no? The funny thing is you will never ever know.
I had a birthday and it was a big one. My husband and friends over here have made it really special for me. My friends took me to the Ritz Carlton for Tea, this is now one of my favorite activities, we had a blast. Then I was taken the next day by some friends to lunch at the W hotel and had a great time. Last night when Alan got home we went out with another couple to a Lebanese restaurant, Layali. It was so yummy. This is a place we will redo over and over, especially now that we know what all comes out for free. This time we had no idea and we ordered way too much food but it was so incredible we just could not stop eating! Now that is definitely another story we will have to share in another blog, way too much eating is going on over here!
I have been trying to find a place to get my hair done. The first place I went to was at the W hotel where we lived the first 2 weeks here. The guy that cut my hair took scissors that thin your hair out and layer it all over. This is not good, not a real hair cut. So now I have to wait for it to grow back out for a very long time. But now my gray is coming through, yes I know y'all are all shocked that I have gray, but don't tell anyone this is not my natural hair color! Anyway I called a couple of different salons that my different friends have told me to call. I got an appointment to one of the salons for next Wednesday. Well that was before the first annual Doha Dolls Spring Break Agenda was set and keeping that appointment was going to cut into my play time with my friends. I haven't canceled that one yet, but I went ahead and called another place yesterday and they made an appointment for me for Sunday. While I was at lunch with my friends yesterday the place called and they had a cancelation for 4pm yesterday. I was very excited because I was going to get it colored before Alan I went out that evening even though it meant I could not go to the Emir's Cup and Sword festival Arabian Horse races with Alan, he went by himself and that is a another story for later too.
So I go into this salon and fill out paper work with all my info on it. The lady calls me back and says "so we are going to cut and blow dry your hair today right" and I said no I just want highlights and lowlights and cover the gray roots. Well she panics and says she doesn't have time for that and that was not what was scheduled but she looks at my paper and sees that it is my birthday and asks if she can wash and blow dry my hair for my special evening out. So I agreed and then Oh My! She starts by telling me how damaged my hair is from the water here and that my hair cut I had last time was terrible and not to cut my hair for another six weeks, blah blah blah. Then she begins to blow dry my hair and again Oh My!!!! She makes it really pouffy with curls. This is sooooo not me. She teased it and sprayed it and kept teasing it and spraying it more and more so much so I wanted to laugh. She kept saying over and over "it's not fixed so don't panic". Well when she finished she asked "so what do you think". I wanted to scream and run away. I looked in the mirror and thought are you kidding me? Am I on candid camera? Is this April Fools day? Really! Who is playing a joke on me. So she says tell me the truth. So I told her, well this is way to pouffy for me, I am not that kind of girl. I know I am from Texas but that left Texas in the 80's. I start trying to smash it down with my hands and it just will not smash. So I politely tell her thank you and she said "it's free because it is your birthday". I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I get to my car and try to comb it down and it's still not moving there is soooo much hair spray on it. I try and call Alan and my phone says I need to load more minutes on it. Theres another story. Anyway I have to run over to the mall and pay for more minutes with my big hair!!! I have sunglasses on and put them on top of my head and they get lost in the big hair. I was just praying I didn't run into anybody that I know. At any rate I still have my color appointment with her on Sunday! Do I trust her? Please tell me when you respond. I feel like I have to go back to her since she was trying to be so nice and I cannot waste part of the Doha Dolls SB. So do I go and just don't let her cut and then know when she blow dries it that I have to go straight home and re-do it? Seems like a waste of time. There is no telling what I will look like when I come back to Texas. I will have to go in hiding for several weeks to undo all the bad. Of course this is why all of my new friends over here keep telling me that you start drinking over here just to get over the things that you used to take for granted that they "almost" get right here in Qatar. Remember Qatar's nick name is "The Land of Almost", they almost get everything right!
Next week will be fun on our Doha Dolls Spring Break with a great group of girls who are like me and not going somewhere else for Spring Break so we have a plan to make our own Spring Break fun. Everyday we have something different planned, just like a vacation. But it's a staycation. It will be fun. But it involves a bathing suit!! Yikes!! Oh who cares!! Anyway I will write in a couple of weeks and tell you all about it.
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