Priceless

I just had to share a story and some pictures from my friend Lucy!

Lucy wrote:

Check out our little Catholic-turned-Muslim son! These pictures were taken just yesterday afternoon outside our villa. The workers had come to check on one of our appliances when they were interrupted by "prayer time," so Nick (age 3) just joined in!!

BTW-This was not staged, which is why the picture quality is not great. Lucy was just happy to get any pictures of it! Also, out of respect for the men, she did ask before taking the picture, though I bet they had no idea they would be posted on a blog! ;-)

Welcome to Doha-Accidents & Round-a-bouts

I must sound like a broken record when I say that the driving here is horrible! Qatar is trying, they have started enforcing traffic laws, they are redesigning roads and they are either eliminating round-a-bouts or adding traffic signals to them. By adding traffic signals to a round-a-bout the path of traffic becomes a little more organized. But, accidents still happen!

On my way home this evening, one more round-a-bout to go and I got stopped at the traffic light. Remember, this is still a round-a-bout, not a true intersection. I hear honking and look to my left and there in the middle of the round-a-bout is an accident! Since you can't move the car, you have to sit and wait for the police to arrive, if they can due to the traffic! Coincidentally, I had my camera handy. So posted today is how you drive through a round-a-bout, when there is an accident blocking the lanes!

This video is about 2 minutes long, watch closely at around 1 minute, you will see another near miss of an accident!

My New Feral Friends!

I said I wouldn't and I am! One of the downsides to being in Doha is seeing deserted animals all over the place. Specifically, there are a large number of feral cats. So the story goes...cats were brought to Qatar to control a rat problem many years ago. Of course, the cats started multiplying and have just taken over. There are many stray cats in our compound. They actually each govern a block. It is quite funny really. There are one or two who seem to have the run of the place, but for the most part, they stay in their territory!

So one day I found my soon to be adopted cat on my car. As I got closer to her, I realized that she only has one eye. UGH! What was I to do. I had some extra food from Macey's welcome-to-Doha pack and decided to put a little out for my one-eyed friend. So of course, for the next week, every night, she would show up at my door for her ration of food. Michael and I named her Bandit.

After about a week, I noticed that not only was she coming to me for meals, she was also finding refuge in my Jeep! I thought it was so cute until she started scratching up the interior. So on the top went. (She is still mad at me for this!)

After about another week, I went out to feed her and when I called "Bandit" there were suddenly two cats in front of me. When you get a good look at them together, they are clearly related, as their tails and eyes are the same. So I figured that Bandit's new friend was her sister, who I named Sissy. I have since figured out that Sissy is really Bandit's brother...oh well!

Yesterday, Sissy was taking a snooze on the porch and a friend came by with her dog and Sissy got chased up a palm tree! I was a bit worried about her getting down. She made it about a quarter of the way down and then just dropped the rest of the way. And yes, she landed on her feet!

I do get worried about Bandit's missing eye. The eye just stays open. You can imagine that with all of the dust here it is often infected. So far they will only let me pet them while they are eating. Maybe one day Bandit will let me pick her up to bring her to the vet. Maybe one day, Michael will let me take her to the vet to get her eye fixed! ;-)

BTW-Macey isn't too happy about all this, but understands that it is just not fair for these two cats to have to eat out of a garbage can! (I have taught her well!)

Weather Update

Finally, today we can see the sun! It is still cold! I know some of you think I am a baby, but our villas don't have heat. Our villa has been around 60 degrees! YIKES!

How pathetic is this...look at Macey trying to keep warm! Poor baby!

Is It Snow? Is It Sand? NOPE, IT IS RAIN!

This morning, as I was slowly waking up, I thought to myself, what in the world is that noise. I told myself that it could not possibly be that such a sound would be rain in the desert. I haven't seen rain since I was last in Orland Park! lol So I sprang from my bed and would you believe that it was in fact RAIN! I yelled out "it is raining!" With the last word still hanging on my tongue, Michael jumped out of bed as well (of course, he took one look and back into bed he went)! In all actuality it has not rained here since maybe last March! It is truly a rough life, day after day, sunshine and blue skies!

Is It Snow? Is It Rain? It's Sand!

Seriously, it is colder in Doha at 7 am than it is in Orland Park at 11 pm! There is something definitely wrong with this picture! FYI-WE DON'T HAVE HEATERS IN OUR VILLAS! Right now people are running to the local hypermarket (similar to Walmart) looking for a space heater!

One Year...Two Words...WE SURVIVED

As of today, we have officially been in Doha, Qatar for one year! We are still living and breathing!

I can remember walking off the plane and going through customs thinking what have we done, Macey meowing the same question! We had wonderful friends, who at the time we did not know would become our guiding light, pick us up at the airport. I can remember sending Traci a picture of us so that she would recognize us, since we had only talked over email. Little did I know that we would be such an obvious pair, wide eyed and scared to death!

With each day, life in Doha has gotten easier. The first 2 months were quite rough. It seemed like we were waiting for everything, residence permits, cars, Internet, Internet, Internet! Michael and I have been laughing, remembering how we used to hang out of our balcony stealing one bar of wireless signal. We were so excited to get even just one bar. Of course last year at this time is was freezing and raining, this winter has been wonderfully mild!

Of course it does take some time to get used to hearing the Call to Pray and seeing a sea of thobes and abayas (Muslim dress). Not to mention the new driving etiquette or lack there of that we have acquired. When it comes to driving it is truly the survival of the fittest!

But all in all, life is quite the same. Michael goes to work, Macey and I sleep in...well okay we don't sleep in every day! I do keep quite busy substituting and don't forget cleaning. I have not broken down and hired someone to clean as you know how much I truly enjoy cleaning. Michael informed me last night that I mop the floor more times in one week than he has ever done in his whole life. I am still trying figure out where the problem in that statement lies!
We know that there are many of you following our blog considering a move to the Middle East. Please feel free to email us with any of your questions, don't be shy. This is truly a decision that should be thoroughly researched.

For the rest of you, thank you such much for showing interest in our adventures! I have actually put a sitemeter on the blog and it has been amazing to watch all of the hits that we get from all over the world! Please accept my apology now for the lack of pictures being posted my camera literally bit the dust on our last dune trip. It was very windy and did not like being pelted with sand. So more pictures to come again soon!

We are looking forward to another year filled with more adventures and travels.

Happy New Year!

First of all I would like to thank those of you who sent Christmas cards our way. It was such a treat to see some beautiful pictures and read some hysterical family updates. Please note that I had every intention of sending out Christmas cards, though many of you would not have received them until some time in January! Regardless our online order was rejected in Houston for some reason and so the cards never got mailed.

Posted today, as I wish you all health and happiness in 2008, are the two Thailand pictures that I had saved to share with you through our Christmas cards. Of course included is a holiday picture of Macey!

Looking forward to sharing many more adventures with you!