Originally we were disappointed to not live in ECCH, the housing close to the school with many other employees of the company. But we need not have worried. We were moved into a brand new complex. There are 55 units, all of them villas, and very nice. The house features 5 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, plus a bonus second living room upstairs. All of the appliances are stainless and we have a patio and even a little grass! Stone floors and 10 foot ceilings make for a really great space. There is an air conditioner in every room. We do not pay for water, gas electric, internet or cable, so monthly expenditures are pretty low. We do, however, try to help the environment by being very conscious of outing the lights and A/C whenever possible.
Our complex features a small playground that isn’t much but something for the kids to go on. All the families here are members of the company we work for so although they aren’t all at our school or have kids at our school, there is a nice mix of people. There is a clubhouse in the center featuring 2 pools, a game room with foosball and billiards, and a weight room. The first few weeks they did not chill the pool. It was quite a shock to jump in and feel like you were under water in a hot tub! Fortunately, the pool is now nice and chilly. When the sun goes down and you jump into a chilled pool, the wind and air make you feel cold – cold when it is 90 degrees out. Weird. Being in the water is the easiest way to hang out outside during the early part of year. We live next to another family from our school and 3 doors from the director. Our drive to work is 10-20 minutes, depending on traffic.
The Heat: Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is, “how is the heat?” Answer: it is hot. Some days bloody hot. The first few days were a shocker but slowly we started to acclimate. The body adjusts and although one cannot say it is cool by any stretch of the imagination, you do stop sweating and getting dizzy just by walking outside after a week or so. It is really the humidity that is the problem. When it is 107F degrees, it feels like 110 when the humidity is low – we have seen 21%. But on the day when it is 103F and the humidity is 71%, run and hide. It feels like 125, and your sunglasses fog over the second you step outside, you drip with sweat from just standing there, and you actually feel chilly inside because you go from 125 and soaking wet to about 61 F inside and freezing. However, the humidity fades and the temps drop after October, and we are promised 5 months of amazing weather. That is when most people venture outside for all of the amazing activities and athletics available.
Driving: Roundabouts are the Middle East’s way of telling you life is short. These are psychotic in every sense of the word. People darting in and out, shifting lanes, exiting from three lanes over in a bolt – it is scary. Apparently, if you are Qatari you own a Land Cruiser, and you have the right away all of the time. It can be quite intimidating seeing a SUV come flying up behind you at 100 miles per hour and flash its lights as it sits about 6 inches off your bumper. Your best advice is to move over and let him pass. In many parts of the world this elicit violent gestures and road rage aggression, but here, you just let them pass. You never know if they are connected and can make your life difficult. We were convinced to buy a bigger car than necessary for safety and intimidation (think posting up in the lane of a basketball court – do you want Shaq or Mugsy Boggs?). Often someone will pass you on the left and come right over to the right, with you slamming on the brakes in order to let them over or they would clip you. Defensive driving is a must here. Let the fact that Premium gasoline costs about $0.85 a gallon and Super (even better than 95 octane Premium) $1.00 a gallon give you some satisfaction.
The Qatari people (and others who dress like them, such as Saudis) stand out because there are so many expatriates here. The national population is about 2 million, but only 300,000 of these are Qatari. The other 1.7 million are foreigners, and of those, 1 million of them laborers. So with such a mix of faces here, you often forget you are in the Middle East as it looks like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, or just about anywhere else. We have yet to capture the essence of what Qataris are like because every person that takes your order at a restaurant, pumps your gas, or works in retail is from elsewhere. Even the abundance of Mosques (they say there is one in Doha every 400 meters) doesn’t draw much attention. The evening call to prayer rings out in beautiful tones over the hum of the air conditioner units and that is one indicator we are in a different place.
Shopping: Shopping is easy here, for the most part. You can get everything here, and I mean everything, that you want. Sometimes you will have to pay for it and no one carries all that you need, but trust me, it is out there. The most popular venues are the malls. There is one about every 3K apart, and each is overflowing with stores, play areas, and entertainment from roller coasters and ice rinks to movie theaters and high end shopping boutiques. Each has its own theme and movie theater showing the latest movies from the US. It has tons of stores, including just about anything you could ever want from the US or Europe. It is all there. Every mall also has its own kid’s area theme park with slides, roller coasters, games, etc. There is no lack of entertainment for the little ones. The mall by us has an ice rink and I play hockey with a bunch of Canadians twice a week. Any food you could want is there as well ranging from fast food (every major brand) to chains (Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, etc.) to high end steakhouses. One even has gondola rides where you can boat the length of the mall in water as if you were in Venice. Every mall has enormous grocery stores that carry a lot but are busy and difficult to get in and out of. We have started identifying local places closer to home to avoid the malls. Most stuff is comparable to shopping in a mid to large US city or in Europe. Lots of stuff is very reasonably priced, especially if you buy brands that are local or off-brand. Typically, prices are average compared to the international realm. We have been quite pleased with the price of meats, cereal, milk, canned goods, and dry goods. Fruit and vegetables are the exception. Nearly everything is imported and prices can range from reasonable ($0.80 for a kilogram of carrots from China) to extravagant ($10 for a head of lettuce from Spain). It pays to shop around and buy from places like Jordan, India, and Indonesia as opposed to Europe.
Speaking of costs, while we are free from utilities at the house, we absorb others. For example, the nanny/housekeeper here costs about 3x as much as in South Africa. Our family does not need a full time person but without securing one, we cannot be sure that someone could be here for when the kids come home. Another cost is the driver. The school does not bus its children to or from school so we must hire a driver to take them home long before we get out of work. These costs are fairly significant.
Doha Qatar is a very interesting place. It is perhaps the richest country in the world as it sits on the 3rd largest natural gas field. It is a tiny place, as the country itself is only 100 miles long and most people live in Doha. Doha has some amazing buildings. The Qatari people have no problem showing off their money as buildings are both creative and massive. Nice cars rule the road. There are less than 300,000 Qatari people and the rest of the country is made up of 1.8 million expats, with about half of that as laborers. Everything is being built at once, with the city expanding and preparations to make it an amazing place for 2022 FIFA World Cup.
There is much to do here. People take advantage of the desert with dune bashing (being driven in a Land Cruiser at top speed up and down sand dunes), desert camping, walking/running down the dunes, camel riding, etc. There are many beaches. The golf course is amazing and hosts world class tournaments so if you can’t afford to play, you can watch the pros. There are many parks as well but these are visited much more often from November to April due to the heat. There are all sorts of clubs to join. I will mention the many within the clubhouse and rec center, but there is also ice hockey, rugby, running, triathlon, cycling, scuba diving, sailing, wind surfing, kite boarding, etc. You name it, someone is doing it.
Being a member of QF, every employee also has access to the major benefits of the organization. This means that you can go to the ECCH Clubhouse anytime. It is a place with a spa, workout facility, pool, and restaurant (highly subsidized so you can eat much cheaper here than other places). There is a playground, squash courts, tennis courts, and many classes like aerobics and circuit training. They play kids movies on the big screen 3 times a week. All free. Otherwise, you can go to the Recreation Centre. It has a giant, Olympic-sized pool and smaller training pools for the kids. It has a workout room, gym, courts, etc. Lots of classes here too ranging from free to a small fee per term. Kids play in a supervised play area while you work out. There is also a bank, post office, cell phone place, and travel agent to get done lots of stuff while on campus. Right across the street is another rec center where you can take classes or swim or workout. While some people pay $30-99 a month for gym memberships, it is all free here, whether you have one in your complex or use the QF ones.
It is a very family friendly place. There are always these events going on, most of them free, with bouncy castles, face painting, etc. for kids. There are opportunities for 6 movies a week (depending on the location) where your kids can watch a free kid’s movie in a theater, sometimes with juice and popcorn. Parks, pools, beaches. Camel and horse riding. There is an amazing outdoor waterpark. Disney on Ice was just here. There is lots of support for kids in QF and in Doha in general.
Alcohol Alcohol can be purchased legally by expats in one store. It takes a letter from your work to allow this. Wine and liquor are about the same or slightly more than most other places, but beer is much more. It is one of those things that you just accept about living here. If you want it, you pay a bit more for it and you make your choice. Most people drink less here than other places in the world because of the expense. It helps the belt stay thin and wallet stay thick but it is good to have now and then if you want it. Bacon can also be purchased here. Otherwise, the major hotels have restaurants with bars (Belgian Bar, Irish Pub, etc.) but the cost is insane. Most just have it at home.
The other option is to partake in a brunch. On Fridays (day off) people go to the big hotels and eat a brunch. It is all day, all you can eat, 5 star food. Very delicious, and for the price, all you can drink. It is an amazing way to get fat and live large, if just for a few hours.
Religion It is a fairly conservative state as Muslim goes. Expat women do NOT have to cover up at all, they can drive, and they can be in public without a male escort. However, it is considered courteous for them to not wear shorts and to cover their shoulders, which isn’t typically a problem since it is so cold inside there aren’t complaints. Men mostly wear pants and can pull off shorts in public if they are long. There is call to prayer 5 times a day like every Muslim country, but here it doesn’t seem to slow things down. With the exception of Fridays, it is business as usual and most things are open daily and late. There are churches in specific areas that are allowed to operate, but otherwise religion (other than Islam) are not openly discussed.
Money The Qatari Riyal is pegged to the US dollar at 3.65 so your salary never changes or devalues. You are paid in local currency so must people wire money periodically to their US accounts. Credit cards are widely accepted here and ATMs have a $15,000 daily limit. Good thing there isn’t a casino around ;)
Vacations are nice. We take a week in October, February, and April. We get 17 days at Christmas. There are a couple of days off during the year for national events, plus some PD days. School starts around September 7th and ends about June 21. Travel within the Gulf region seems somewhat expensive (with the exception of Dubai) while trips to Europe don’t seem all that bad comparatively.
