Welcome to Qatar!

Welcome to Qatar!  Today was my day to visit the State of Qatar, Supreme Council of Health Medical Commission Department.  I am not sure what the process is to live and work in the United States as a foreigner, but here is a little example of how the process works in Qatar.  In order to live in Qatar, you must have a "Residency Permit" also known as a "RP".   As the employee, Roger has the primary RP and ours are issued under his as a "Joining Family".  Before you can get a Qatari drivers license or really anything, you must get your RP.   It is important to note that if you wish to bring any live-in domestic help into the country, you must follow the same process and have her added under your RP as well, like a member of your family.  Kind of.   The State of Qatar wants to make sure that no one enters the country with an infectious disease, so adults must submit blood work and have a Chest X-ray taken at the Health Department as part of the RP process.  The building has 2 very distinct entrances, one for Men and another one for Ladies.  When Roger was escorted through this magical building, he had a guide helping him, handling all of the paperwork for him.  My experience was just a bit different.  First, the place was mobbed with people.  Someone mentioned the Health Department would be closed for the next 10 days to observe the end of Ramadan and the Eid celebration taking place September 10 - 14.  So, apparently it was busier than usual.  Roger, Mark, Chauncey, and I arrive at the building and Roger leads the way inside to our first stop.  He is not entirely sure where he is going, but fortunately someone points him in the right direction and we find ourselves sitting in front of a woman in full Muslim dress (burqa).  She is sitting at an old, small desk with 2 really old Brother typewriters.  She takes our passports and Visa paperwork and adds 2 new forms that are written entirely in Arabic.  One is for Mark and the other is for Chauncey.  I only know this because she used both typewriters to complete the forms, one typewriter for Arabic, and the other for English to add their name onto each form.  She then told Roger to give his Debit card to me and for us to go outside to the Ladies Entrance.  The line to enter the Ladies Entrance was wrapped around the outside of the building, so we joined the line and preceeded to wait.  Not sure if the kids would need to have similar medical tests, or if I was the only one to endure the process.  Soon after joining the line, a man shouted to Roger that he was not allowed to wait in line with me, Ladies only!  All husbands are to wait over on the side of the building.  So Roger reluctantly moved away.  A short while later, the same man looked over at me and the kids and told me to send the kids over to their father because it was too crowded inside for the kids.  After a few more minutes, it was my turn to enter the building.  A security guard at the door was giving each woman a number.  Mine was 6225. 

In very small print at the bottom of the computerized slip it read: "There are 202 person waiting".  Not a good sign.  When I entered the building I saw a fairly large room with about 8 rows of 20 chairs divided by an aisle all facing 9 small cashier windows with an electronic board stating which number was being served at which window.  Think DMV at the busiest time, EVER.  Every seat was filled and all available empty space in the room was also filled, so the line snaked down a long hallway where it seemed to lose some of its orderly nature.  Off of the long hallway were waiting areas marked with signage for Blood-draw preparation and another for the X-Ray area.  Some women were sitting in chairs along the hallway, others waiting patiently in the pseudo line with small children, still others (mostly women trying to get their domestic help through the process) were pushing and forcing their way up towards what seemed like the front, into this small hallway where 3 burqa clad women sat at a long table.  Everyone seemed to be anxious to get to one of these women so I slowly inched my way up towards the little hallway.  The closer to the hallway I got, the more women seemed to push and shove. When it was my chance to show my paperwork to one of the women, all she did was copy Roger's cell phone number on a little slip of paper, hand it to me with my papers and direct me by pointing to the larger room where I had been waiting.  It took another 5 minutes to get through the doorway from the hall to the larger room because of the women pushing to get past in both directions.  Just past the doorway stood 2 western looking ladies and a little girl so I made my way over to them and commented on the crowd.  We compared numbers, realized we were within 30 numbers of each other and began speculating on what would happen next.  We would continue to speculate for the next 3 hours as we waited to see our numbers appear on the magic board.  Once my number appeared, it was then my turn to pay the 100 riyal fee for myself, Mark, and Chauncey.  So, I hand the woman behind the little window my paperwork and our Debit card to charge the 300 riyal total (approximately $87.00USD).  The woman runs the card and the transaction "fails", she tries again, "fails", she looks at me and I assure her that we have money, please try another time.  The third time results in a  "declined"  transaction and she begins to motion for me to leave.  I offer to pay cash and she points to a sign that explains she can only accept a cash card and directs me to the door where I entered 3 hours prior.  I quickly call Roger on his cell phone and he tells me that he received text messages from the bank that two of the transactions went through and were debited from our account and tells me there must be a mistake.  So now I am looking for some sort of manager.  I explain the situation to someone and they direct me into the Men's only section to see a manager down the hall.  After explaining to him, I am told that we will have to take it up with our bank and he directs me to the first building, where we started our journey, to a little bank window that for 20 riyals ($5.50USD) will take my 300 riyals and give me a "cash" card.  My new Cash Card in hand, I go back to the Ladies building and ask the security guard if I need a new number or just how do I now pay my fees when my number is no longer "up".  He waves me away and tells me to see a manager, that a new number is not necessary.  After searching for a manager for about 10 minutes, I find a burqa clad woman who speaks English and she tells me to get a new number, I let her know the security guard would not give me a new number so she mutters something in Arabic, then tells me to follow her.  She then processes my paperwork and fees then tells me to wait in the next area for my blood work and chest X-ray. The rest of the process takes another hour to complete and leaves me with a headache; feeling frustrated, tired, but thankful to have that part finished.  The whole process takes approximately 4 1/2 hours.  I really wish I had eaten more than a handful of granola before leaving the house in the morning.  But no water or food for me (it's Ramadan!), Roger picks me up in the parking lot and we drive to the grocery store to stock up before he leaves on a 3 day trip to New York.  Mark begins to whine as we walk across the parking lot into the store.  I turn to him and remind him that while he was either sitting in the air conditioned car playing his nintendo dsi or sitting at home eating lunch (I called Roger about an hour into the process to tell him to take the kids home), I had been standing in a very crowded room for over 4 hours, had a vial of blood drawn from my arm with a needle and had a chest x-ray, all with no food, water, or caffeine for the day.  OK, I may have growled.  Either way, he and Chauncey were very well behaved in the store and really for the rest of the day. 

Ramadan

Chauncey with her summer reading books

Mark with his summer reading books

Arriving in Doha during Ramadan can be a challenge for many reasons, so I thought it would interesting to make some quick observations about Ramadan and how it affects us.  First we should probably start with a very basic explanation of Ramadan ( I am going to rely on Wikipedia to assist with this....)
Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان‎ Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑdˤɑːn]) (also Ramadhan, Ramadaan , Ramazan ) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn until sunset.^[1] Fasting is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. It is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of God (Arabic: الله‎, trans: Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. As compared to the solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards about eleven days each year depending on the moon. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.  At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar. The meal starts with the ritual eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad was believed to have done. Then it's time for a prayer to thank Allah followed by the meal.

Now, for how this affects us.....first, everyone is expected to refrain from drinking and eating in public during daylight hours (roughly 5:00 am - 6:00pm), so the restaurants and cafes are all closed during the day.  Really, most everything is closed during the day except grocery stores.  Government agencies and most offices are open from roughly 8:00am - 1:00pm.  Non-Muslims are allowed to eat & drink inside their homes during the day or at one of the resorts/hotels (although even the hotels have limited restaurants open during the day).  Interesting fact - small children, pregnant or menstruating women are exempt from the fast.   Not quite sure I want to prove that I am menstruating just to drink some water in public.........

Gym at the compound - notice the missing water bottle from the cooler

View from my workout area

The wonderful cafe in our compound -- closed for the entire month of Ramadan!!

Second, the call to prayer.  There is literally a mosque on every corner, almost.  And every mosque has a tower with loud speakers to project the call to prayer, which is basically a lay reader singing from the Qur'an to call everyone to come to the mosque to pray.  This happens 5 times per day during non-Ramadan months, and what seems like hourly during Ramadan.  If you look closely at the background to the first photo of  Mark & Chauncey on our street, you can see the mosque in our compound way in the back of the photo.  Chauncey thinks the singing is cool, and it is cool.  But it is also a constant reminder that we are not in the States any longer.  It is a strange feeling to be here.  I have talked with several other wives about it and the consensus seems to be that we feel suspended somehow.  Not at home, but at home somehow.  And it is hard to wrap your head around the fact that we are in the Middle East.....until the call to prayer begins.  So, to quickly recap.....Ramadan equals no restaurants, shops, play areas open during the day.  Also, no beer, wine, or liquor is served anywhere -- even hotels.  Those expats that have a liquor permit had to purchase their stash at the one place that sells alcohol prior to the beginning of Ramadan because the store is closed for the entire month (August 10 - September 11).  No worries....Roger stocked up on wine for me before I arrived, and cases of beer for him.  Most activity takes place between 8:00pm - 1:00am where all the locals are eating out, shopping, and a summer kids fair with rides, etc is even open at night.  Even in the compound where we feel most at home, they have removed the water cooler during the day from the gym/work-out area.  We go to the pool/cauldron around 5:00pm with water bottles stashed in the bottom of our pool bags waiting to hear the 6:00pm call to prayer, then we all bring out the water bottles, or head into the Costa coffee shop which just opened for the day for a quick snack or drink.  We have been told that arriving during Ramadan is extremely difficult.  All I can say is I am very thankful for Nintendo dsi, and for the small pack of  dvds, and books that I brought for the kids.  As a family, we are spending a lot of time together playing UNO and meeting other families at the pool.  Not a bad way to spend Ramadan.  We could all use some reflecting time to focus on what is truly important in our lives.

The Headley's arrive in Doha, Qatar

Mark & Chauncey on our new street near the "clubhouse"

Well.....we are finally here!!  The kids and I have joined Roger in Doha, Qatar for our new family adventure.  So far, everyone is enjoying being back together and exploring our new home.  One week into our new surroundings and we have met some wonderful new friends at the compound pool,

One of the pools here at our compound

 and today we even ventured out to spend the day at a local resort -- The Intercontinental Hotel in Doha.

The Intercontinental Hotel in Doha - Pool area

  It was a lovely day with 3 other families/couples.  We didn't venture into the lagoon/beach area due to a purple flag flying.....jellyfish warning!  Once Mark saw the warning signs there was no way he was getting into the water!  Can't blame him....the water temp for the inlet gulf area was around 100 degrees!

View of downtown Doha from the Beach at the Intercontinental Hotel

Roger & Chauncey at Lunch - Poolside

Fortunately the pool was beautiful and refreshingly cool, a nice change of pace from the "cauldron" that we call a pool here in the compound.  Even at 8:00pm the pool temp here can be around 95 degrees.   We have also managed to venture out to several of the grocery stores and malls.  We even managed to watch Roger play hockey one evening at the Villaggio Mall followed by dinner at the Pizza Express located near the rink.  Fun place....we ordered a "make your own pizza" from the kids menu, thinking they could pick their toppings, but soon they came over to get the kids and take them over to the kitchen area, giving them hair nets, disposable gloves, and aprons.  The kids were able to stretch their own pizza dough, add the toppings and watch their pizzas cook.  It was a lot of fun and gave them an activity to keep  busy while waiting for our dinner.  Roger has joined a local hockey league and is currently playing twice a week at the mall.  It is a fun outing and we always seem to need a stop at the local Carrefour (large grocery store plus anything else you may need from cell phones to linens, housewares, and appliances-- think Super Wal-Mart on steroids)  Well....that's the update for our first week.

I am still working to figure out how this whole blog thing works, so be patient with me as I adjust the settings and style and try to figure out how to move photos around.   Take Care!! We miss you all!!