Qatar, Qatar, Qatar!!

Sunday came along very quickly and before I knew it, I was in the car heading for the airport.  Not Heathrow, but Gatwick to collect my parents and sister from their holiday in Greece.  I hadn't seen them for 2 weeks but the time from dropping them off to collecting them had flown by and now it was my time to leave.  They came off the plane all tanned and smiling but there was no time to hang about as I had my own plane to catch - in Heathrow, which could take anywhere between 30 mins upwards to get to depending on how kind the M25 was feeling at the time!  Luckily, it must have known that it was an important day and I didn't have to crawl along the road to the airport, which is one of the busiest stretches of motorway normally.

I had already checked in online the day before, booked my seat and sussed out where I needed to go in the airport.  I couldn't believe how quick it was to check in - there were loads of people waiting to do it at the desk but I went to a dedicated queue and was straight through - yippee!!  I met Gina standing next to me at check in.  She had some interesting news for me - the school had not sorted out our visas.  In my blasé way I didn't feel too worried about this at all and the check in lady said I could buy one at the airport in Doha.  Ok, not ideal but a solution at least.  There were now only 3 hours to my flight left and so my family and I headed to the airport restaurant to grab a bite (and for me a couple of beers!!) before I had to leave.  My Mum, I knew was going to be a bit teary, but I was surprised about how calm I felt - and have felt since I got the job; normally I am much more in tune with my emotions and wear them on my sleeve for the world to see.

Time passed quickly and before long I was on the plane, sat next to Gina, hand luggage stowed in the overhead lockers, belt on and taxiing towards to runway.  Full throttle and the plane was hurtling down the runway and we were climbing.  I wish that I had kept my camera out of my bag because the view of London spread out below me in the darkness with all of the lights twinkling below me was a beautiful sight and took my mind off the fact that we were flying.  Before I knew it, we were crossing the English Channel and were over Europe, the time to destination counting down on the screen in front of me.  We were flying towards the sun, quite literally and as we started flying over the Persian Golf, the sun was creeping over the horizon and I was congratulating myself on choosing a window seat on the left hand side of the plane as the view was spectacular.  My camera was out of my bag now and although I have tried to capture how magical this sight was, I haven't managed it.

By the time that we landed in Doha, the sun was fully up and we could see the desert.  It was not what I expected.  It was beige, Not golden yellow as I had pictured it in my mind.  I started thinking, 'What on earth have I done?!' and judging by the look on Gina's face she was thinking the same thing.  It was already roasting outside, even though it was only 6am, my hand luggage weighed a complete ton and as we were one of the last off the plane.  It was very lucky that one of the other teachers was on the plane and had been living in Qatar for the last 8 years because the bus had taken us to the transfer lounge and not arrivals as we were expecting.  Once we were delivered to the correct terminal, the queue for passport control was pretty long and for some reason not moving.  I have since realised this is the Qatari way.  It was taking them ages to do anything by the looks of it but as I was still following this other teacher around and she had kids with her, they brought us straight to the front of the queue thankfully.  And once we were through, the bags were off the plane and on the carousel quickly and customs paid us no mind at all.  And there was Lyal, the headteacher, standing with a sign to gather all us newbies together.  A bus trip with a sight seeing commentary later and we were in Al Khor, dropping people off in their compounds.  I felt really lucky that I was in an apartment on the actual Al Khor Community because I am within walking distance of the school and clubs on the compound.

My apartment has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a laundry room, kitchen, lounge and balcony.  All of the floors are tiled and there is air conditioning in all of the rooms thankfully as it is really warm outside at the moment.  We were left alone to unpack for the rest of the day. Not my idea of fun but luckily some of the other teachers who are buddied up to us newbies came to check on me and offered me a trip shopping - Yes Please!!  I needed cleaning stuff as the floor was dusty and I had already spotted a dead cockroach (and I wanted to be prepared in case any others turned up)!!  The next few days were spend shopping in Doha, with buses laid on by the school and lifts being offered (and gratefully received) by teachers who had already returned from their summer breaks.  I discovered that the shopping malls here are just like the ones at home, with many of the same shops (but higher prices) and being Eid, it was very quiet. I could have been anywhere in the world in that shopping centre, save the Qatari's walking around in their dish-dashes.

The apartments that we are in have some furniture in, but we know that this furniture will be removed soon.  We are being given a shopping allowance to buy new furniture with (mine is the equivalent of £2700) and I am not actually sure how far it will stretch.  I need everything from pots and pans, plates, cups, etc to beds and sofas.  I have seen stuff that I would like and now I am just waiting for the goodly allowance to be given to me.  I was worried that I would not be able to get a bank account on my tourist visa but I think this is being overlooked by the bank as they know that we are sponsored by Ras Gas and have a permanent position at the school.  My biggest annoyance at the moment is waiting for a temporary drivers licence.  I am allowed to drive in Qatar (according the the British FCO website) for 14 days on my UK licence and after that I need to have applied for a temporary licence while I wait for my residence permit (RP), wherein I will need to apply for a full Qatari licence.  I also cannot purchase a car in my name until I have my RP and I have no idea how long that will take while I am on a tourist visa.

But, with all this in mind, I have been having an AWESOME time since I got here!  I have met some really great people, who were new to Qatar once themselves and are totally understanding of what it is like for us not having cars.  The lifts have been frequent and offered all of the time which has been a god send.  I have even had a go at driving in the desert for a bit and that was so much fun - I want a 4x4 badly now!!  I have been to a beach BBQ on Fuwairit Beach and had a swim in the sea that was the temperature of a nice warm bath and watched the sun go down.  Life at the moment could not get much better!!  I have spent my first few days at school too, which is good but frustrating too as I feel lost with the job and everything is still being finished with regards to the curriculum and timetabling and we only have 2 days before the kids come in - I feel out of my depth big style!!  But, I am sure that it will all come together eventually......

....and how many people can say that they have finished work at 1:30pm and are sat by the pool in glorious hot sunshine having lunch and it will be like this EVERYDAY of the year?  I am loving it!!