Fit Out

Kim and the girls arrived this morning. They came via Brisbane and Singapore while their bags were sent to Hong Kong. So out shopping for some clothes to tide them over. Thought we'd start with Abayas.

The Vehicle

As mentioned earlier we decided to get a 4wd for our weekend as were planning to do a bit of driving. The first night our little V6 was only firing on 5 cylinders so a call to the rental company saw a change of vehicle and an upgrade to the big land cruiser. It was huge and we can see why it was the vehicle of choice in Doha. To get up to the villages on the plateau you need to drive up a steep 34km road. At the bottom is a police checkpoint where they only allow 4wd to proceed. They also made us put the truck into 4wd. About 2000 metres up we could smell smoke and burning something. It turned out to be the power steering fluid was leaking as it appeared that one side of the vehicle was locked in 4wd and the other in 2. I bit of reversing and turning and a few other tricks by Damian saw us back on our adventures.

How many people can you fit in 2 vehicles

We were stuck up the mountain with vehicle problems so one of ladies in our team needed to go to the loo. There wasn;t one for miles so she snuck down the rocky outcrop out of site of the road. The lads were busy appearing to look like they knew waht was happening under the bonnet. We were parked in a layby. Down the hill comes two vehicles who stop in the layby. I can only decribe it as a "crowd" of bachelors (that's what they call the South East Asian ex pat workers here) piles put of the vehicles and start heading towards where one of our team will having a loo break. The other female member of our team, who was keeping lookout was able to stop the herd of men in their tracks and send them off in the other direction. Much to the relief of her colleague halfway down the hill.

The Hill

It is hard to capture the gradient of this 34 kms epic drive which was one of the highlights for me of our weekend. I'm pleased we spent a bit more and invested in the 4wd otherwise we wouldn't have had a chance to visit the villages on the plateau. Suffice to say it was incredibly steep.

Nizwa

Nizwa was a little bit of a let down for us. It was going to be our main destination to have a bit of a look around. They have a large restored 17th century castle in the middle of the town. Of course we were travelling on a Friday and everything is shut till later in the day, including the village souq where they trade in locally made cooper jewellery. So after having had a mountain adventure we were pretty tired. Result: a few pics, once around the block and lunch at Pizza Hut!

Sneaking a peek

As we drove through Sharaijah we went to look at their beautiful nmosque. Teh men were being called to prayer so we decided we would whip around the back to take our pictures. I caught this image of a couple of young girsl who were sneaking a peek over the back fence as the men entered the mosque. Not sure if they were looking for their fathers or brothers.

Sayq

Sayq was this beautiful village high up on the plateau. Actually it was the end of the road really. If you check the previous post you’ll see how we entered through Izki and passed through Sharaijah. This is a fertile plain and they grow a lot of produce up here. Not so much in the summer but we did pass through a few orchard and market gardens on our travels down the back streets

The world is not flat

I tried to grab an image off Google Earth to capture the complete extreme the geography is in Oman to Qatar. Some of the other images may give you a sense of it. Having come from a country where the highest point is 103metres you tend to notice the difference

How to tie a turban

Read story below. This is the local shopkeeper organisng my turban

Disdash or Thobe

While in the souqs I was invited into a shop to look at little hats to take home for a few people. The shop keeper was keen for me to purchase a disdash, which is the male omani costume. He then had a cap on me and added a local turban (check previous photo - courtesy of Damian). So here you see me as an Omani man (once I lose the mizuno squash shoes)

A More Liberal View

While we are loyal to the GR, we stayed in a different hotel chain in Oman. The breakfast was included in our package and was impressive, similar to the GR. I wandered down after a rather “challenging night” with the team and did a recki of the selection available. Being one who likes to make the most of “included” meals I worked my way along the cooked breakfast items and piles my plate. Grabbed a bit of melon as well to contribute to my 5 plus a day. As I was making my way back to my seat I came across a little table with a sign which said “pork products”. I lifted the lids of the two dishes and there to my surprise (and delight) were pork sausages and bacon. Now pigs or swine are offensive to Muslims so I had not expected to find these products in this country. A very liberal view I thought. I remember Kamala cooking me bacon in Waimiha when here view of pork was similar with her religious beliefs. I piled my plate and sat and ate. I have never felt so guilty eating. Part of the reason was a Muslim woman had been the restaurant hostess and had seated me and wandered around the restaurant making sure everyone was OK. I couldn’t look up or look at her.

The Plane

This image is of the air conditioning in the plane. Because of the high heat and humidity outside the plane and with the doors open we entered what felt like a smoke filled cabin. When we first got on it was so bad you could see the person in front of you walking in the aisle towards your seat.
When we got to our seats there was an issue with the people across from us which having thought about must happen quite frequently. As we approached our seats we heard the flight attendant explain to the woman that it was aviation policy and nothing could be changed. To describe the situation. The plane had sets of three seats. In the row in front of John was two Muslim woman and a Keralite man by the window. In the row behind was a Qatari gentleman by the window, a young Muslim woman in the middle and John in the aisle. This woman was quite distraught as she was having to sit between two men, not from her family. You could see here sitting forward trying to distance herself from the two men beside her. The Qatari gentleman could see this distress and was trying to get the Keralite man to swap seats (which would allow her to sit with the other woman). The Qatari man was pleading with him as he could appreciate the woman’s stress. The problem was the Keralite man appeared fearful of losing his seat and was being communicated to in languages he didn’t understand. It was quite tense. The same situation was occurring to a lesser degree in the seats directly in front of us. In the end another man who spoke the same language came to the aid and spoke to the man, who was then prepared to swap seats. Something we probably don’t even think about but must be a bit of a nightmare here.

Thirsty Work

A stroll along the cornice and a poke around the souqs in Muscat in low 40 degree heat with 70% humidity sure creates a mean thirst. John enjoys a cool refreshing Mango juice.

The Hotel

Perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea we stayed in the Crowne Plaze. Not the club room boys but sill nice rooms. We have a great swimming pool and private beach. We don’t spend too much time there as we tend to be out and about but this was a great choice by our tour organiser Damian.

Oh Maaaannn

Have just got back from a fantastic weekend in Oman. What a place. So different from where we live in lots of different ways. The people are more relaxed, very friendly and helpful. They just have a different sense of being which makes it a wonderful place to visit. We have come in the warmer months so some of the green is not there and the dust bowl that has blown up over the Middle East has joined us here as well. The country has a far more established infrastructure so the roading is well developed as are the drivers. We feel a lot safer on the roads here. People indicate and stay in their lanes and even give way. Local people talk to you more freely and children smile and laugh at and with you.

What have I bought in the last 12 weeks?

Saved a few dollars in the first 12 weeks living here so invested the savings into some clothes. The women in our team gave us a bit of a hard time about our shopping habits. I have tried to be a little eclectic in my purchases. The sales here are impressive with 50-75% off which makes it difficult to not go silly. Here is a photo of the shoes I have purchased. (to date, actually I found another pair in the other room. Have gone for a pair of Brazilian, Spanish and Italian shoes (the other pair are Timberlands)

Countdowns

3 countdowns coming soon, which have got me quite excited and suddenly conscious of time.

#1 This weekend is our one weekend away so we are off to Oman. Really looking forward to this as Conrad told me it is a beautiful country. Need to watch the currency as we get just under $3 riyal here to the NZ $1 although this is quickly changing for the worse in recent weeks. Whereas in Oman you need to think in English Pound as one Omani Riyal costs NZ $3.50.

#2 Kim and the girls arrive the following weekend which will be exciting. Not sure how they will deal with the climate in the first instance. Kim likes the heat but I think this may be more than she is expecting. It is only hitting 40 rather than the 45 of a few weeks ago with the wind / dust filtering the heat. It will be interesting to see how they deal with our neighbourhood as the girls will be the only western girls that I have seen in our area. This will probably cause a few looks from the male dominated area we live in.

#3 We have been given word today that the team will be moving to Abu Dhabi for the month of August. This creates a whole new chapter in our adventure which was unexpected. Really quite excited about this as it will give us a chance to check out Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai as I am hopeful that I will be back up this way some time in the future for work opportunities. That means we are down to the last six weeks of our time in Qatar, half of this will be spent with the family.

Blessing or Curse

In early June the wind arrives (Shamaal (sp)) It lasts as a colleagues of mine said, for forty days and nights. It has been whipping up around here for the last fortnight. It is a blessing in that it tosses up lots of sand and dust which filters the direct heat from the sun. We have had high 30s and low 40s temperatures which are very pleasant. Once the wind goes away we will get intense heat and humidity towards the end of July. The down sides of the shamaal are many. The car needs washing more regularly. Those who suffer asthma and allergies have it very hard.

The Socceroos are staying at the hotel where our gym and pool are as they have a match tonight against Qatar. The wind and heat will make this match difficult for them. We were supposed to go and play the sand course this afternoon but the wind will have blown all the sand off the browns. We’ll go to the gym and pool instead and watch the Wallabies play Ireland (having watched the All Blacks this morning). Yesterday the wind was so strong (the pool is on the top of the hotel) that drinks and other bits and pieces ended up being blown into the pool.

Falafel

We have quite a cool little system going since we moved out of the hotel. We still operate as a team as there are a range of economies of scale. One example is that we have one set of cleaning materials between us. Given the short time we are here it seemed silly to but 4 lots of everything. One person goes down each day and gets newspapers for us all. We also share cooking. We are trying to eat local every second night and we then take turns cooking a meal for the group on the other night. So that means you are only cooking a main meal once every 8 days which isn’t too difficult. So to date we’ve had sirloin steak and chips (NZ export of course), cottage pie, chilli con carne, and I made our Italian chicken and tomato dish. We really enjoyed the time in the hotel sharing meals, this allows us to continue that. On the other days we look for a local eatery. We haven’t been too game yet to jump into the deep end here so have had a couple of meals in some food chain stores. One of the food stores which is well serviced is just around the corner. We went in but there were no menus and the place was crowded and the guy behind the counter was very busy so wasn’t able to take the time to help. So yesterday I went back during the middle of the day. As it was Friday and very quiet. The place was a sort of falafel fast food store. Falafels are these balls made from fava beans or chickpeas. These two little beauties are falafels stuffed into a sort of pita bread with lettuce and while it looked like the mayo mix you get on a big mac. It wasn’t, it was hummus. This meal cost me $2.

You can't take the boy out of the man

This was upstairs in the school cafeteria. There were five race tracks. All computer controlled. No cars to play with while we were there which was unfortunate. There were a few excited men in our group. Unfortunately the maximum age for entry is 18 as we clamoured for application forms.

Everything seemed so big

You forget that this country has a population of just over a million of which approximately 200,000 are local yet they have the largest facility in the world. It's huge. They use this special artifical grass onthe field. It is long, not like the short stuff you find in NZ. This means that you don't tear your skin to pieces when you slide.

Aspire

We were very lucky this week as a membe rof our team organised for us to visit the Aspire sports complex. The complex is the largest indoor sports facility in the world and seven events were held there during the 2006 Asian games. There is a group (200-210) of Qatari students who reside there. Go to school and train there. A wonderful facility built for competition rather than training. It included a whole range of sports hall, three olympic size swimming pools (two outside), a dive pool. A full size indoor football field with 8-9 outside. An indoor track and various other facilities which we didn't get to. We were taken around by one of the talent coaches, who happens to be a kiwi. Terry has worked with the warriors, blues and NZ track and field.

Stuck in our own world

A friend was sharing a conversation she had with a local woman who saw so many positives to their culture that we saw as restrictive. We are so caught up in euro- centric thinking that things we see as issues or negative aspects of culture are seen as positive and celebrated. It is so easy to pass judgment on what you see and experience and so feel very fortunate that from time to time we get to experience alternative viewpoints.

Knowing your place

It was a simple thing but a clear reminder of our status. A carpark at a shopping mall, a car moving out. My friends are in our car and are first to take its place. The park is close to the entrance way so is desirable in this weather. Along he comes and turns towards the park even though he clearly sees that we are to take it. He drives aggressively pushes his large vehicle forward. Our car moves slightly forward to demonstrate that we are already here. He moves his car forward and gestures at my friends. He is local we are not, my friends retreat.

A better picture

To give you a sense of the interior of this restaurant fromthe previous post. I can't afford to eat there. My friend John went in and took these photos (John lives in the Bay above you Nick). I'll include a further photo in the next post of the table setting.

Movie star ...maybe

She was a celebrity of some sort. I'm not sure if she was a movie star or someone in a soap opera (you get a lot of those here). She was down in the Iranian restaurant in the old souqs. A stunning restaurant, as you can see by the entrance hallway. There were a group of photographers who may have been local papparazzi. I joined the mob to squeeze off a shot. The auto focus caught the camera and not her. She was very beautiful and had a presence. What you see on your walk home from the gym.

Shoes

We headed off before midday prayers on Friday. This is a significant time each week for muslims and we were told to move our car out of the building as cars are parked three deep and you can’t get out. This was taken an hour before the midday prayers which are very busy in our little part of town

Prayer Call

I must be getting use to it as Fajr (first prayer call) was at 3.14am this morning and I woke up a minute or two before hand. Slept through Sarooq (sunrise 4.43am) but woke at six. This photo is from my bedroom window and we don’t have double glazing so the sand, the heat and the mosque come straight through. I must admit I enjoy the sound.

You could be anywhere back home

We went to watch the All Blacks play Ireland this morning. We normally head out to the golf club to watch the rugby as it is always open in the morning and they have the South African sports channels which supply the feed. We were having a swim yesterday afternoon and we caught up with Matt, who manages Rydges who said that they were going to screen it and put on breakfast. Part of the reason for this was the New Zealand navy frigate Te Mana was in port and the crew were coming to watch. It was on at 10.30 am local time. I walked down at 7-30 (mid thirties). It takes just over half an hour. Went to the gym for an hour or so jumped in the pool and swam 40 lengths (the pool is probably only 12 metres long at best so while it sounds a lot it was not far at all). Worked on the tan, got dressed and met the rest of the crew to watch the rugger. You could have been in New Zealand as there were 60 – 70 kiwis all cheering. The weather in Wellington looked dreadful. Cold and miserable, but so green.

Keeping the grass green

The city is developing more and more green belts. The corniche has this green belt right along it's length. To keep it that way in this heat requires a fair bit of watering.

Doing it tough

That workout last week came back to bite me big time. Did some fairly serious muscle damage which got progressively worse over several days. By the third I was struggling to sleep I was in agony and had loss all the strength in hands and struggled to lift my arms over my head to get my suit on. Felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing and then a little annoyed as I was really getting into my exercise. It has now been a week and I still can't use the weight machines without considerable pain. After day three I rocked into a pharmacy and explained my situation. I was given some anti inflamms which were the same as what Kim has prescribed for her lupis, but double the dosage! Worked a treat and the pain has reduced significantly. So hoping to get back to the gym in a week or so.In the meantime walking for an hour in 40 degree heat will have to do.

Our first shop

It sounded like a good idea at the time. We thought we'd head down to the supermarket and stock up our larders. A bit of leaderhsip in the group got us sorted with sharing supplies of cleaning products as an economy of scale and so we were left to get stuff for ourselves. Now most people who have shopped with me will know I'm an in and out, no messing about sort of shopper. John on the other hand got truly engaged in the process. It was fascintating watching him shop (from where I was standing outside the shop for 15 minutes before going off for a coffee and a muffin and then coming back and watching some more :-) ). So as a result we arrived at the car with a truck load of bags and only one boot. We got it all in but I think Colleen and Damian's grapes suffered as a consequence. The Colleen was called to work, Brian turned up with some books and so we had this hilarious dance aroudn the lift and down the corridor as one carrefour bag looks like every other. We had plans to go to a function later int he evening unfortunately John had a small prang and so we called halas and are having a quiet one.

Which one is yours

Went up on the roof for a bit of a poke around. As mentioned earlier the white water tanks on the roof don't help keep the water cool. You'll notice that most people have satelite TV. There was a bit of a dust storm today so no chance of getting decent photos up there.

Boys doing it tough

Sorry to those who take offence to exposed flesh. This was the morning after our first night in our new accommodation. I was organisng plans for lunch and found Damian in his lavalava. Their main air con unit isn't working too well. I went to grab John to have a wee team meeting and found him in similar attire. The heat was getting to him as well. If you look closely in the mirror you will see that I'm fully clothed! Although Julia did take exception last night when she asked if I would fix her TV and wandered down the corridor in my boxers and singlet.

I still have a little black gold

This is a picture of my kitchen a couple of hours after I moved in. You'll see my little jar of vegemite on the microwave. I still have some left. Off to get some bread and cheese. Yum!

Talk to Me!

Been in a little bit of limbo of late. Waiting for emails from people and have no control over when these will be answered or responded to so a little frustrated. Technology is great when you’re trying to plan out your life and you have good information streams. It’s not so great when the people you want to communicate with don’t feel that urgency. May just need to cut my losses. A great example of how it works well was this week we had a problem in NZ with access to an online calendar. I got hold of some guy in Wimbledon of all places who got straight back to me (same time zone sort of) with a response which I was than able to pass onto my techie back home who had the issue solved within an hour. I wish all communication could be this easy.

Hot Water - That makes sense!

The heat has picked up in the last week or two. The temperature gauge in the car spends more time closer to 50 than 40 during the middle of the day. The humidity is creeping up as well so at night the air feels thick. One thing that I hadn’t expected but makes sense is the water temperature. No cold shower in this block. Looking at how the pipes are laid out it is like the old solar panel on the roof at Waimiha. The water comes out fairly warm. In fact at different times of the day it is hot. I have turned off the hot water cylinder but it makes no difference. So it pays to have an early morning shower while the water is cool. This will be bit of a worry with washing clothes as well as they will all be hot washes.

No Newspaper!

First thing I noticed when I got up this morning (That was after the prayer call woke me a couple of hours earlier) was that there would be no paper hanging on my door. I would actually have to go down to the shop to buy one. That I would have to put water in the jug and make a cup of coffee as Pramith, Andie, Shiva, Niroshan or Dimuth weren’t going to rock up and pour one for me. I’ll have to do the dishes!

Last Supper

In case you wanted to know how I finished my last meal off at the hotel. Here is the start of the third course. Signed the bill for my stay which was more than the average NZ wage. For the record I didn't eat all of them. Well I tried them all but didn't finish them all :-)

We've Arrived

Well we have arrived. With farewells and hugs from the hotel staff as well as exchanges of cell numbers we headed for our new home. I have a great space and feel very happy with my lot. We’re all on the top floor in apartments next to each other. Each one is different because the way the building is designed. John got a six which is seen as the best as it has the most windows and also doesn’t directly face the mosque so is a little quieter. My Internet works, as does my TV with all 1320 channels. The air con is cool enough and while I haven’t used the washing machine I’m feeling pretty lucky that it to will do the job. There’s space for the kids so am looking forward to their reaction when they get here. The challenge will be all about the heat. This a pic of the boys from the hotel

Day 92

This is Post Number 106 on the blog and I had a little check and I left 92 days ago. I think that is pretty good going for some one who is a reluctant writer. My goal is try and have achieved a post a day for the entire journey. I know some of my group have suggested to family and friends to check it out as it tracks our time (from my word view of course which is a little off centre) as a group together. This by the way is a photo of our chef who made us omelets, stir frys and pasta dishes to order.

The end is near

New adventures start tomorrow. We got the word that we’re out of here. Gone by lunchtime tomorrow. A quarter of a year is a long time in a hotel, I’m sure we could of coped with longer if we had to. We told Mazen and Susan a couple of the staff today as we found out at lunchtime. They were a little upset. I was thinking about that and they must meet lots of people who spend very short periods of time here. We are different as we have got to know them really well over a long period of time. I know about some of their families, their circumstances for being here in Qatar, there work conditions, their lives. Dimuth has been getting into trouble a little as he enjoys our company so much he gravitates to our table and likes to joke with us. Mazen has given him a very sharp words and reminding him that there are other people in the restaurant. We have our special table that is reserved for us. They had blocked off the end of restaurant for a gymnastics group. Our table sits in this area. It doesn’t matter that let us rock up to our special place. Moving gives me a chance to write about a new set of experiences. I have had some wonderful times here which I will remember but have also spent a bit of time hanging out in Al Hitmi. If my experiences are like they have already been then it will be a place to look forward to.

I had a bit of an unpleasant job to do today. As I was working through this task I went into a room with a group of men who would be affected greatly by this process. It was sort of funny situation as I was part of that process yet culturally it was important for me to greet them as I entered the room and for them to greet and host me. So I was given a seat and offered some Shey (tea). One or two spoke a little English so with their English and my very little Arabic we sat and shared a drink and conversation. One of them said “ana mutaassif marfi englesi” He was wanting to tell a joke but was apologizing to me as he couldn’t speak English and didn’t want me to feel excluded. So I told him “marfi mishkala” no problem, carry on. His friend decided that he would translate the joke for me into English. Now some things don’t translate well. Jokes I have decided don’t. He gave me the punch line which I didn’t get, but smiled anyway. This encouraged several more like this. The last one I completely missed the punch line to which this dear man replied. Ah, it is an old saying and very funny if you are Qatari, never mind. I was thinking that in a similar situation back home I would not have been shown such hospitality given what I was doing. This was very much how things were going to be inshallah (god willing) and it was accepted.

This was a very special moment for me. I have written before about the chances of such an event happening and have plotted how the story has unfolded from casual conversation over a drink at Auckland airport to the Doha Golf Club to now an apartment off Salwa Road. What an interesting journey it has been. Well here we are. Can you see the family resemblance Dad? This is Pip and her husband Gary along with Phil’s wife Marion. Interestingly enough Marion’s sister’s daughter is principal of Samuel Marsden. Well it was great to share a meal with whanau, relatively close whanau I might add. Second cousins are not too far disconnected. They are lovely, friendly people and I felt very much at home. Marion talked of your Dad, Moss and how Phil kept a photo of Roland in his prayer book. Two years ago if you had asked me I wouldn’t have known anything about Qatar let alone where it was. Now I can say its where you “coast” cousins hang out.

Lost Tribe

It seemed ironic that on one of my Internet news feeds this week was the story of some lost tribe in central Africa being photographed for the first time. One of the photographs was of the men brandishing their spears. It was bit like being confronted by Harrison and Cameron with their blow up swords. These two characters were great. Very excited to see their new cousin, articulate and full of energy. They are waiting to meet their new third cousins in a few weeks when the girls arrive.