Our Firsts

We have had many firsts here and I figured I could share some of the highlights. The first time we went to a movie theater with assigned seats, the first time we have had to had someone else buy us booze (since I was underage anyway) :), the first cereal we have ever had that is (and I quote) “ludicrously delicious”, the first toilet with two flush buttons and the first time I have ever felt that being outside for more than a few minutes at a time was a privilege.

We saw “The Bourne Ultimatum” last night with some branch campus and QF folks. Apparently the best system for their theaters is to assign seats, so when you purchase your tickets, you actually have to pick out your seats like you would at a Broadway show, otherwise, apparently people don’t play very nice. The other thing that was just amazing was how many children were at this movie. They will censor breasts and even kissing in Qatar, but apparently murder for hire and severe beatings are family affairs. There were children in the 3-8 year old range at this movie. Not that they were watching it – but since they are Qatari (and you just never know whose cousin is whom) until another Qatari man asked the usher to tell them to be quiet we suffered through their occasional shrieking and their cell phone songs.

I know we have mentioned it, but we are living in a Muslim country. J Now, you can get alcohol at certain bars in hotels, but most restaurants do not serve alcohol. In order to buy alcohol for personal use, you must have a liquor license and there is only one liquor store in Doha. After a particularly challenging week of work, Qatari Kevin took us to the liquor store. There are no signs, just lots of white people (and a large number of Indian people) driving to this place out in the middle of nowhere (relatively speaking). We can’t get our liquor license until we have our Resident Permit (RP), but since Kevin has one, he said I could play his wife and they would allow us in without having to see mine. You know, because I’m just a chick. Curt had to wait in the car, but this place was CRAZY. Not only did I feel like everyone could tell I didn’t have a license, but I was in shock at how much people were buying. You are allowed to buy a certain percentage of your paycheck each month. Kevin was allowed close to 3000QR (about $800 USD) and I saw that MANY people were making sure to get their money’s worth. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people buying 5 bottles of vodka, rum, 6-8 cases of beer and 20 or 30 bottles of wine – all for one person/family. There are also signs “warning” people about Ramadan. You are not allowed to buy or consume alcohol anywhere publicly for the month of Ramadan, so their signs are letting you know you are allowed up to 3 months worth of your allowance in August, September and October since you can’t buy it from mid-September to mid-October because of the religious observance. The signs were also warning for you to plan ahead – apparently the lines can be over an hour long in the 10 days before Ramadan.

Curt and I finally had time to leisurely shop for groceries. We took time to go on every aisle in this particular store so that we could begin to get familiar with it. It seems that things like whole wheat bread or pasta and cereals for people older than age 12 haven’t quite made it to this part of the world. Curt was looking for a cereal that wouldn’t send us into diabetic shock when he came upon a Kellogg cereal that said it was “ludicrously delicious”. I love how translations don’t always quite make their mark.

I was at an ex-pat party the other night while Curt was sick (he told me to go!) and some of the women were talking about the different flushers on our toilets. Apparently the reason there are two is for the different things one might need to flush. The big button is for “big things” and the small button is for “small things”. Amazingly it’s a water conservation function which is rather surprising in this country. I have never seen a place where so many people sit in their cars (or just leave them running when they go into a store) while they wait for someone. And of course they have to have the AC on otherwise you would pass out from the heat!

Speaking of the heat, Lindsay – a coworker and I, were invited to swim in the pool of a branch campus guy named Dave. Now, our places are nice, but Dave lives in the residences of the Four Seasons Doha. His views are amazing – over water and the boat of the Emir along with a wonderful pool. Lindsay and I were both commenting how it was really difficult for us to be inside so much, but we also couldn’t be out in the heat for more than a few minutes at a time. There is just nothing enjoyable about it during the day. Dave graciously invited us to his pool and we went over late afternoon. It was amazing! The pool water was easily in the 90 degree range, but with the ocean breeze and the fact that we were outside and in the water it felt wonderful!

Work has been going pretty well – it’s definitely the busy time right now for Residence Life. Our RA training has been really great – our students are so interesting and worldy while at the same time seeming to be young for their ages. I’m trying to get into the habit of calling them boys and girls rather than men and women so as not to offend anyone. If you refer to a girl as a woman before she is married you are making an inference about her sex life which is “haram” (very bad). One of the boys (who actually holds an American passport) is from Pakistan and he made us all a traditional Pakistani dinner the other night. Everyone had so much fun (it was nearly melt your face off spicy, but it was sooo good!) that two Afghani boys on staff offered to make traditional Afghani food the next night. So we strapped on the feedbags again the next day – and again it was delicious (but not spicy, just flavorful). Another thing I have noticed is that in Arab culture it is not OK to put your back to anyone. If, in our training, the seating is set up so that a student’s back is to another’s they will try to move their chair or they will go out of their way to apologize to whomever their back is facing. Every time.

That’s about all for now – we are beginning to truly feel settled, even as we are still bowled over by how similar and different things can be at once.