Sleep, work, fires and change

The good news is that I have developed the ability to sleep in over here in Doha. The bad news is this requires me to sprint for the bus in the mornings. Sprinting even the short distance to the bus from my door step hurts in 38-40 degree heat. That'll teach me for using the snooze button!

I've been working back late over the last week (09:00-22:30). Voluntarily as there's really not much to do once you get home from work. Maybe go visiting but then most of the people I know are either still at work or live at other accommodation places. I also find that I'm much more productive at night just because it seems cooler and quieter all round. Weird since much of our work happens at night due to the heat so it really shouldn't be that much quieter but it feels like it is. I'll definitely be home at my finish time of 19:00 on Saturday though because I'll have someone to come home to! (Can't wait till you get here babe!)

Yesterday the Carrefour at Villagio (the one closest to my work) caught on fire. Apparently they haven't had a good run since they opened. They had a bomb scare last week and this week well... there was a smokey haze in the sky all night. Not sure how much of it was affected by the fire but we're fairly sure we're going to need to find a different supermarket (say the one just across the road which is so-so for range) for awhile.

I got my first candy-instead-of-coins change the other day when I was at Landmark.


Well, I was amused.

Discovery Day

It's 22:58 in Doha, 05:58 in Melbourne and in either location I'd usually be tucked into bed with my eyes closed in some semblance of sleep. Not so tonight! I just got home from work about fifteen minutes ago and it would seem that 10 minutes (and two rounds of Mum's sock) of knitting just doesn't quite cut it as a wind down from a busy day at work.

I'm currently 58 rounds into the 198 round sock and there still another one to go! I'm really amazed that it's taken me this long. I used to knit a sock per night. Admittedly I've been "distracted" by a job that I love that's taken me to the desert but still!

I'd actually like to thank anyone who's left a message/commented on my blog. All comments are greatly appreciated and make me smile. So thank you.

Today I've learnt many things. Workwise I've ingrained the safe work method statements of forklifts (both smooth and rough terrain), scissor lifts (both electric and diesel) and diesel knuckle booms. I've also discovered that I can't spell when I'm tired (I kept spelling diesel "diesal") and I can't type either (I kept typing "exhause" instead of "exhaust"). That's all work related though.

On a non-work related learning curve I discovered the difference between temperature and apparent temperature (which is I think what the weather man should probably give us if he doesn't already). Temperature is well the temperature of air (from what I understand and recall). Apparent temperature is the air temperature combined with the effect that the humidity (among other things) has on our experience. So while it may be 37 degrees celcius in Doha, with a humidity of 57% that makes us experience an apparent temperature of something between 50-57 degrees celcius or something to that effect. The charts for Doha differ to the ones for Melbourne but it's all making sense now. I was really confused as to how 37 degrees here seemed so much hotter than 37 degrees in Melbourne. That's the humidity for you! Very interesting read though. Bureau of Meterology website is pretty cool. Discovered it while working at M2006 as we used to watch the weather charts to make sure we knew if any storms or strong winds were headed our way. I still like watching them if I have nothing better to do. Ah yes, a world of weather geekiness!

So the apparent temperature got up to 56 degrees celcius today. While the air temperature was at 37 degrees. I think I'm going to comment purely on the apparent temperature from now on as it gives a more accurate picture of the weather here. For example, the five day forecast for the temperature is 37 degrees celcius every day. The apparent temperature fluctuates from 48-54 degrees celcius for the same forecast. Never though I'd say this but I'm looking forward to the 48 degree day!

I chatted to Dad online tonight which was great. Being the point of contact in the office can get a bit quiet sometimes and I don't really see my housemates because I've been staying back at work to try and get some of my paperwork done. My brain works better at night in most countries and Qatar is no exception. The cooler conditions at night help too. I am however grateful that I have housemates and would happily share them with Naomi if I could because they're pretty awesome housemates!

06:15 Melbourne time and I probably should get to bed (23:15 Doha time). I'll inevitably wake up at 05:20 like I do most mornings as the sun rises at around 05:12 in Doha. When I say rise it shoots up in the sky and is almost at the peak of its arc by 08:45 when I usually arrive in the office. It does stay there for quite awhile only setting at around 18:00. As quickly as it rises it drops out of sight. Quite literally in a matter of minutes. You have to be fast with your camera if you want to catch it. It's a gorgeous giant red sunset too most days.

It really has been a day of discoveries, small but it all adds up right? Okay it probably has to do with my vocabulary dying down in order to allow me to stay up longer.

Now what was that I said about bedtime?

No cows, no feeding them at dawn

Landmark Shopping Mall was today's excursion. I arrived at the early hour of 14:00 having "slept" in until 11:00. Anyone who's known me for a while will tell you that I love my sleep. However it seems in Doha that I can't really sleep in.

Anyhow, Landmark well deserves its reputation for having good shopping. The Mega Mart supermarket brought back memories of home as I browsed the food items there as there were quite a few imported goods that I recognised. They also have much better looking meat and dairy than Carrefour. The downside is that it's a bit of a hike relative to Carrefour.

I did come home with a small digital bedside clock so that I can tell the time without squinting at my watch while half asleep. Other exciting purchases include a pair of jeans. The ones that I'd bought for the trip over are ultra skinny and a little too painted-on-denim for my taste. I'm donating it to the charity bin at work. A couple of cotton shirts as they were AU$20 and even the 15%nylon/spandex/anything acrylic really makes a difference if you're out and about.

One of my more exciting purchases is a book with Arabic sayings, their literal translations and English equivalents, hence the title of this blog. For those of you playing at home it's their equivalent of every cloud has a silver lining. The book is called Unload Your Own Donkey. I'll leave you to work out what that one means.

I must admit I'm amazed at the winter wear that's coming out now (especially given they're still in Summer over here). There are fully lined 100% pure wool coats, some even lined with polar fleece. Puffy down-filled jackets and warm woolen jumpers/cardigans/vests are lining the shops. Anyone who's into fashion would be loving the cost of clothes from designer stores MNG, Miss Sixty Six etc which are retailing at about a third of the price of items in Australia. The aforementioned wool coats are retailing at approx AU$110-130. I'm definitely shopping at Landmark before we head to the UK or France at the end of the year!

The Lonely Plant's Guide to the Arabian Penninsula suggest purchases local goods to support their economy and I'm all for that. For example I bought local fruit juice (ultra sweet but with a dash of water perfect), bread (again with the sweetness). While following this purchasing theory I have however ended up with Magic Tissues which are, I believe, the love-child of lavender scented tissues and kitchen towelling. Scandalous I know. Good for all purpose cleaning but a little harsh on the nose.

I've also learnt that, as I mentioned earlier, even the smallest hint of non-natural fibers seems to make a difference. Not just in the heat but the natural fibres actually protect you better from the sun. I base this on general reading as well as getting mild sunburn through my white shirt the other day. I've since taken to wearing a light sunscreen all over even when I'm fully covered. By light sunscreen I mean SPF 4. Who'da thunk it but they sell that over here for people who are acclimatised to extended periods in the sun. I was just so used to buying sunscreen in Australia where it's SPF 15 as a minimum that I didn't read the bottle properly. Happily we have excellent sunscreen at work.

The weather today hasn't been too bad really. I mean it's still hot but it's bearable as long as you're not exerting yourself too much. I'm gradually trying to spend more time outside and with less airconditioning so that it's less of a shock everytime I leave the house.

As they say, if your head is made of wax, do not walk in the sun. (Oh come on that's an easy one!)

Sunny Doha

Today in Doha we are expecting a sunny day with a forecast maximum for Doha is 48° C. The current temperature is 47° C with a wind chill factor of 37° C. Looking at the five day forecast we are expecting fine weather until Sunday when we may experience some light cloud with the temperature between 38-39° C with lows of 32° C.

It's my day off and I'm well and truly staying inside until 13:30 when the shops open. Then I'm going to get some more fruit and then hide before the masses of people arrive after their Friday prayers at around 16:00.

As you can imagine fruit doesn't last long here (even if it's a vegetable). I feel like I'm at the shops far too often but then again there's not much to do when you come home from work and with shops open till late... There's so much food to try!

There are some crazy people swimming in the pool in the sun. I heard that they had to get the pool people to turn off the pool heating...

Well, I'm off to finish off my washing. Doing laundry here is pretty good. It's guaranteed to be dried in a few hours. It is weird though setting the wash cycle to cool water and having your washing come out warm!

Yours with a ibuprofen free headache (I miss my ibuprofen on days like these),
Sarah

Bags... bags... and more bags!

It seems that when I'm not at work or at the Villa I seem to be at Carrefour. This may change when I make an excursion to Landmark (another shopping place) some time in the next week but who knows!

Still, shopping is still an endless source of amusment and amazement alike. Today we were getting some supplies for the office (we've just moved to the stadium - how cool!) and when we were at the check out the guy who packs the bag paid more attention to staring at Lisa and I than he did packing. As a result we ended up with a bag for almost every individual item despite us saying "no really you can put the cheese in with the other food!" Funny. I can count ten bags next to me and another two that under the table... I've been told if you really want to confuse them to take your bags back and recycle them. I miss green bags!

A new discovery at Carrefour today was uber-cheap triplus pens by Staedler (sp?) any way they cost the same here in riyals (23) as they do in dollars except that 23 riyals is about $7! Orders anyone? I certainly plan to ship some back home before I go!

Postage seems to be pretty cheap here. AU$1 to post a letter home. It's pretty good consider the lack of postal system here. I'm going to look into FedEx etc rates so I can send some of the cool cheap stuff home. Don't worry Dad I promise not to fill your house with too many random purchases!

Nothing else to report really. It's hot! Yet people still seem to go running - albeit late at night - bearing in mind it's still at least 35 degrees even with the sun down and almost 60% humidity. I think their nuts. We'll see if tomorrow is pool day for me...

Carrefour - City Centre

Wow. I though the shopping centre that's being constructed near the new Carrefour where we went on Saturday night was big. Tonight I got Mr G (one of the drivers who knows where our villas, office and major shopping centres are) to take me grocery shopping after my rather shoddy attempt on Saturday. City Centre's Carrefour was probably the same size if not marginally smaller but this time I had to navigate a live shopping centre (the other one is still under construction like most of Doha).

The drive there was like most of the drives I've been on here. In essence half build roads with no road rules and "assertive" drivers. I've decided to hold on to my drivers license unless they desperately need me to drive somewhere and even then I'll be strongly considering my options. As I may have mentioned earlier Doha feels like someone started a game of Sim City and currently the whole city is under construction.

I was in for my DAE induction (which has half the length of the M2006 one and to be honest more useful) and they mentioned several reasons that traffic is a bit chaotic. Firstly Doha is growing really rapidly. Doha also lacks a public transport system. Everyone seems to get around by ute. In fact the only buses I've seen are the work ones that shuttle us about and some run down American tv show school buses that ferry the labourers to their various work camps around the city. Walking is completely out of the question unless it's a very short distance and at night because (that's right) it's hot. So with the city rapidly growing and no transport there are more and more cars on the roads.

Did I mention the roads are still under construction? One day you can be travelling down the road and the next day it could be closed off. This is another reason I don't particularly want to drive. I've also noticed that if you miss your exit you're likely to have to drive a fair way in the wrong direction before cutting across several lanes of traffic while beeping your car horn in order to turn back in the correct direction.

Roundabouts deserve the half page paragraph in the guide to Doha that I read. The number of lanes changes at random as do the drivers trying to exit. Imagine the Wheel of Death (in Melbourne) as the standard round about. All in all it still doesn't feel quite as crazy as Malaysia but it's not far behind!

Anyhow I digress. My grocery shopping was far more successful this time. Armed with a list I managed to get everything on it (except for the mince because they ran out). I also managed to find a few gems like Mi Goreng (complete with Arabic labels) and Fox Glacier mints. A few pain au chocolate and a couple of kids picture books in French (because they were cheap and one of them's about penguins). Don't worry Mum & Dad, I did buy some healthy food too like fruits and bread etc. A possible point of interest, durians cost about AU$7 each. They still smell bad.

Well I think I've posted plenty for today. Time for bed.

Google in Qatar

Google

It can be very hard to look up things over here as the Google site always reverts back to the Qatari site... Reminds me I need to learn some Arabic!

Pre-work Post

I'm soooo happy that I've worked out the Internet at home! Well, okay I've half worked it out.. for some reason I can't send group emails and the only person I've successfully emailed is Dad so far. Not that I'm complaining but I'd like to let everyone know what my mailing address is and I just can't send the stupid email. Anyhow, that's a problem for tonight.

Right now it's 07:49 and I'm eating my breakfast while typing this. Anyone who's lived with me would be shocked and horrified that I'm up early in the morning and eating breakfast. It's amazing what a couple of days in the desert can do!

Being here has also highlighted the glories of natural fibre clothing. I can't stress enough how good it is in this kind of climate.

Current Temperature: 34 degrees celcius
Humidity: 75%

Note: the five day forecast is for 32 degrees celcius each day. I think it's lying! Interestingly 34 degrees isn't too bad here... as long as you don't have to stay out.

Okay. Going to work now.