Sunday, April 10, 2011

Week of Spring Break

I know you are all wondering why does Spring Break over here matter to me.  I have no kids in school here.  Well there are a couple of my friends that do have kids still in High school.  Both of their kids went on a school trip to Macedonia.  Wow, to be an expat kid over here would have been great.  Anyhow back to Spring Break in Doha.  All of us that were not leaving for a Spring Break destination decided we would have a "staycation" here in Doha.  Everyday we had a plan.  It started last Sunday and went through Thursday.  We started out the week on Sunday and went to the Souq and shopped around for fabric, then went to the tailor we all use, Al Hitmi to pick up some pants that one of the girls had made, they were perfect on her.  We ate lunch at Soy in the Souq and it was yummy.  After we finished lunch I had a hair appointment to get my color done.  As you remember from my last blog I wasn't sure if I was going back for that.  I don't remember if I told you that the hair dresser showed up at church on Friday the day after she tried to poof out my hair for my Birthday. It was her first time there and she stood up and introduced herself.   I was in shock!  But I did go up to her and welcome her.  By the way my hair color turned out great she matched it perfect.  Yay!  Anyway back to our staycation.

 Monday we went to the Ritz.  One of our friends is a member of the club at the Ritz so she got us in for free.  We laid out by the pool and ate lunch by the pool.  It was so much fun even though it was a little dusty.  We had our own little pool area by ourselves.

Tuesday we went to the Intercontinental Hotel and laid at their beach it was still dusty outside but the weather was kinda cool and breezy.  We ate lunch there and had alot of laughs.

Wednesday we went to The Pearl. Our friend Dede lives at the Pearl and so we all brought different salads to share and then we walked and shopped along the Pearl mile and ended at the Chocolate Bar and had some yummy desserts and coffee.

Thursday we met at the gold Souq and shopped around for jewelry and some friends bought some and some had some made.  We then went to eat sushi and it was very good.  Are ya'll getting tired of all this eating!! I know I am.  That evening was the grand opening of the most incredible restaurant at the Pearl.  Jerry and Dede got us all invited. It is called Megu and it is a Japanese sushi bar.  It didn't start until 9 p.m. and they put on a show outside the restaurant that was so outrageous with drums and a flute and a few shouts here and there.  When the ceremony finished they allowed us to go upstairs to the actual restaurant.  There were buffet tables setup everywhere and waiters with trays coming up to you all the time.  We ate so much and everything tasted  delicious.  There were no tables set up for sitting at so everyone just walked around eating and drinking.  We had sushi of all kinds, oysters, tempura (shrimp, asparagus, other veggies), kobe beef, shrimp and scallops, you name it they had it!  In the middle of the room was a big circle table filled with the most incredible desserts.  During the middle of the evening they had some "ninja acrobats" perform.  It was a great way to end our week of our staycation.  Thank you Dede and Jerry Jackson.  Wow I was tired from our adventure everyday.  On Friday we had church and the rest of the weekend we were very lazy.

Alan did get his Qatari drivers license.  This was a big deal because it is not easy to do.  At least for most Americans.  Some how Alan got the Qatari Sponsor to get his for him and he didn't have to take a driving test or even go to the traffic department.  He just brought it to him.  Crazy we can't believe it.  Cross your fingers and hope it happens for me.  I do start the Residents Permit process this Thursday.  So everyone pray for me as it does involve a needle!! Yikes!  I will phsyc  myself out. Really I will be glad to get that all over with.

We think we have bought a car.  I say this because we don't actually have it in our possession.  We have not exchanged money.  Alan talked to him yesterday and he said he had been out of  the country and would go get papers today to change it over to us.  So we will hopefully know something soon but he has not called us and now it is 9:15 Sunday evening.

Alan leaves for a business trip this week.  I will be in a foreign country all by myself.  I will try and stay busy during the day so the night won't seem so long.  I won't lie I am a little nervous but I know I will be fine.  It's not that I feel unsafe.  Actually I am more relaxed to stay alone here than in Houston.  He has several trips planned in April and May.  I will go with him in May.

I am picking out paint for our Villa.  Alan and I found the paint store on Friday so at 4pm I went back and it was open and got some paint chips.  I have talked to a guy from my compound that will do the painting.  So hopefully I will start the painting project this week sometime.

This catches everyone up to where I am now.  Hopefully the next time I talk to you I will have my Residents Permit and my license.