Camel Folk

A couple of new faces of people who I have come into contact in my time here. On the left is Sue and her husband Taffy. Now they’re also Aussies. I call them third generation GR’s. We were the first ANZACs at the Grand Regency and then Murph, Old Barry, Keren and Rick came along. On the night of Murphs farewell dinner at the GR Mazen brought Sue and Taff over to our table as they had recently arrived in Doha and knew no one. So just as we helped the second generation get settled we have helped these two get sorted. Now These guys are lovely people and Taff has an interesting job here. He sisthe camel vet to the heir apparent. Sue and Taff used to live in Alice Springs where he was a camel vet. They moved to Cairns and he had been practicing normal vetting I suppose. He was approached to take on this job. They are building him a brand new vet clinic out in the dessert and so I’m hoping once he is sorted we’ll get an up close and personal look at the operation. He will be looking after the racing camels. They’re in the Grand Regency and are soon to move into a nice villa.

And it rained

Yep it rained this morning at the cricket, hence the last three pics. One of the sky with clouds. Clouds have only recently appeared in our sky. Drips on my sunnies and the drops on the tarseal beneath my feet. Cool even, actually very nice low 20s up to 30..perfect

Big Week

Yet another interesting week in Doha. My colleague Mary flew back home today so I’m left steering the ship. It has been a week of lots of conversations. Lots of stuff to think about, truckloads of reflection with a close look at behaviour.
Work has been challenging and sometimes you just need to chill, take a deep breath and go with the flow. Had a couple of significant meetings Thursday. Big in the scheme of things. So while trying to juggle several other balls we were working towards these meetings. Part of this was the handouts. Simple…no because we are working in a bilingual culture here so everything that is developed needs to be translated, approved, printed. Now there is translation and there is translation. The best example of this I can give was when I was doing my study. The university tried to get every student to get this particular lecturer during the course of the diploma programme. I missed him Ahumdilahlah but Kay didn’t. So when she got her assignments back she would have three pages of notes. Half a page would be on the content of the assignment and the other 2 and half would be on the use of English… “where you have used the term data and are talking about a single item the term in datum”Now Kay’s English is pretty good so lets just say I was pleased to escape this opportunity. Well you tell by my writing that it isn’t that koser. Anyway back to the story. So the translation comes back, we print off the masters and get them checked by the boss who then gets an Arabic specialist check it. Not good enough more changes. I have during this time damaged two colour photo copiers trying to start the print run. It’s now a half hour after we would normally leave for home and there is this continual correction of the work. We spot a gap , get an agreement and do a dash with the masters. Having broken the copier we head into town. Mary has another meeting to go to so I’m left trying to negotiate with a copy shop owner the notion of priority and doing the job on the spot. I’m able to get this done. 1700 colour copies and $NZ2000 later I then spend my evening making up these packs in the print shop. Carry the now boxes and folders across the busiest road in the country to get a cab. Get to work the next day and when the boss introduces the first workshops states that (in Arabic) the handouts have a small error so please disregard the information ionthe pack and we’ll send out corrected versions via email. Roll on next week I say as it’s a biggie !!

Maz

When you are away from home you tend to value people more. People at home, people you spend time with. I think this is because the social dynamic has changed. This is a picture of my “last supper” with Mazen. Mazen was really the first Arabic man I met when I came to Qatar. When we arrived at the Grand Regency back in March he took an interest in the little kiwi contingent. We have stayed in touch and I really enjoy his friendship. We met Mazen in town and he indicated that he was leaving Qatar. This is significant because of the labour laws he will not be able to return here for at least two years ( I think they are pushing for five) .
Mazen is leaving to work in Dubai as the new job has accommodation for his wife and baby daughter. While he is happy working where he is he cannot get accommodation for his family so needs to make the change.

A little fun about a serious matter

Won’t name names but had an interesting situation yesterday. One of the younger members of the Aussie group went out on a date with a bloke she met on a plane trip and caught up with again in Doha last week. Now the bloke was known only by his first name to her closest friends and she is of a generation who texts every couple of minutes. A bit like my children do. If fact I wrote recently about not being on our country's telephone tree and funnily enough I had been talking t oKim yesterday about communication plans for Emma over Chrissy.

So there is this constant exchange of texts between this group when they are apart. Well last night the women went out and for some reason her phone was turned off (apparently the battery went flat). So by 2-00am one of her close mates got very worried and contacts others. Even I knew at 2.37am in the morning about it. I also learned at 4-05am that she got home safely. (this gave about 20 minutes to sleep before being woken for prayers then up again at 7-00 to watch the Grand Regency boys play cricket and people wonder why I sleep through the day!) This was after people had been contacted outside the country as well. Now it may seem a bit over the top but this is a potential risk when you do things on your own and don’t leave enough information with others. It was brought home this morning reading a local paper over a coffee regarding a 52 years women in a nearby emirate found beaten and paralysed in a ditch. The article was about how she needed $23,000 dirhams to fly home in a bed because of her condition as she was no use to anyone as a house maid here as she couldn’t walk.
So between 2-00am and 4.05 a couple of this woman’s mates made up some rules about cellphones (machines) for the group which appeared in my email this morning. Thought I ‘d share, while quite funny (rotting in hell and never alive to real friends are actually statements of affection) it is still quite serious. And yes she did vomit.

1. You have a responsibility to have a functioning machine at all times
2. If, for some reason this is impossible, you must provide machine contact details of people who you are cavorting with
3. If, for some reason this is impossible, you must provide cavorting friends with real friends contact details
4. If, for some reason you don't have a functioning machine, you must text from cavorting friend's machine that you are ok and having a grouse time
5. If, for some reason you don't have a functioning machine, you must let real friends know that you're having a grouse time, with machine of cavorting friend, so that real friends can also come out and have a grouse time if they choose
6. You must keep credit on your machine at all times
7. If you don't have a functioning machine you are not allowed out
8. If you don't have a functioning machine and your friends have used all their credit on their functioning machine hatching plans around getting your body home to Australia, you owe them QR100 Hala Card
9. If you don't have a functioning machine you must take your laptop out with you and only go to venues with wireless internet so that you can skype in updates
10. If you don't have a functioning machine you are dead to all friends with functioning machines
11. If you make a real friend vomit (like I just did) because of stress and worry that your machine doesn't work as real friend doesn't know if you're ok or how much fun they're having without them, then you are to be congratulated for supporting their weight loss program
12. If you make a real friend vomit for a second time (like I just did) because of stress and worry that your machine doesn't work and real friend doesn't know if you're ok or how much fun you're having without them, then you will be rewarded with support in fixing machine
13. If for some reason your machine doesn't work and real friends have put out an alert across all hemispheres of this planet, including consulate offices and you are actually alright, then you are rotting in hell to us
14. If for some reason your machine doesn't work and real friends have put out an alert across all hemispheres of this planet and you come home, find a note on your door and don't contact your real friends immediately to let them know you're alright, then you were never alive to real friends

Another Face

Hassan is a Qatari colleague with whom I work with in my current job. When I first got here somebody had suggested to me that most Qatari don’t work hard as they are cared for financially by the state so lack the motivation. My experience has been quite the opposite. In my previous role and this one I have been fortunate to work with Qatari who have a great work ethic. Hassan is no exception. His English is a lot better than my Arabic but we work on his English every day. Hassan has been great in allowing me to see some of the life of Qatari men. A recent highlight for him was when he took me to one of the big clubs here where his son was being tutored by a Moroccan art teacher. This bloke was helping his son prepare for an art competition. We sat down and had a drink and talked about the art. Now this bloke was quite easy to understand but also had limited English. I think Hassan has got so use to my kiwi accent that when I was explaining a concept to the tutor which obviously confused him Hassan knew what I was saying and translated it into Arabic for him. When I pointed out that he was my new translator he just beamed because in the group that I work with Hassan would have the least English and so more often than not someone translates for him. He was so excited that the next day he went around telling everyone about it.

Faces of Qatar

Have just done the maths and technically I only have 17 more entries to make on the blog to meet my target of 1 entry for every day in Qatar (284). I have got a head of myself somewhere along the line as I still have 60 days still to go. The work is full on and the time really flies. The rest of the time can go really slow unless you fill it up with stuff. I think that is why people do lots of stuff here together. They do make an effort to do something. So yesterday I decided to get a ride down to City Centre to find a hoody as it was just starting to cool off in the evenings. Now Anne was driving and she mentioned that as they had nothing to do on Saturday they decided to count the number of times each of the Aussies had been mentioned in my blog (as you do on Saturday afternoon in Doha when you have nothing to do) . Now she was quite aggrieved that her name had only appeared twice and this was in her mind significantly less than that of the other Aussies. So what I thought I would do is introduce you to some of the people that I have met on this trip. So I thought I would start with Anne because Anne as I mentioned was worried about having a presence and Anne has been known to get “the rage” if Anne (there’s five extra mentions there Anne plus a picture is worth a thousand names!) is not happy with things. In her real life Anne is a psychologist and has been a teacher. In Auz Anne would be like Bernice at GSE but possibly one step up. She is involved with a behaviour initiative here working in a small team managed by young Barry (I’ll introduce him in a separate entry). I think Anne arrived about the same time I turned up for my first tour here but as can be the case, you can be working in a similar field but never meet.

A couple of pics from the opening

I shot this on ISO with a 7 series flying by. It's just a blur

The Opening Story

The Museum of Islamic Art was opened on Saturday night here in Doha. The video below got a slightly better look at what was going on than us…only slightly mind. This was a significant event with over a thousand dignitaries there for the opening. I have never seen so many black series 7 BMWs. (apparently there were over 250 of them) as well as a huge assortment of limos, jags .mercs. Now we wandered down as we thought there would be a fireworks display and also that there would be large crowds watching from outside the fence, you know to witness the opening. There was nobody there so we wandered up to the ISF (internal security force guys) asked if we could cross over in front..marfi miskala and sat right up by the fence so that we could see the big screen inside televising the opening ceremony (as seen on the you tube video below). So technically we were only 250 metres away all the major leaders of Islamic countries,( plus Robert De Niro) and no one asked us what we were doing , looked at us. So we watched the opening ceremony, then the 8 minute fireworks display ( I have it on video all 168 megabytes of it so will edit and compress and hopefully upload it) and then wandered back out to the car. We had to run the gauntlet of ISF which was now a significant force given that all the leaders were now contained inside the museum grounds. They didn’t smile at us as we walked past. There was a small crowd watching but they had obviously been too scared to go through the security guys.

The Opening

Financial Pinch

During the last few days the Kiwi has dipped against the US and with the Riyal pegged to the dollar we have slipped under the 2 for 1 mark. Not sure how far it will fall. While living it still fairly cheap here the exchange rate is making some things very expensive. I was in the supermarket this week and went for a troll through the fruit and veges. Now evey now and again Kim and I will have steam brocolli with fresh black pepper. Reviewing my own cooking I can't remember the last time I cooked vegetables here. So on the shelf were some nice heads of Aussie Broc. A closer inspection revealed that with the current exchange rate it was going to cost me about $NZ14 for one. Buggar that I'll just take a berocca.

Winter is coming

The days are getting shorter and it is starting to get cooler. I walked the corniche to West Bay a couple of nights ago. Its about 6km. If I had done that when I first arrived back I'd be bathed in sweat. Apart from feeling a little warm, given that I was wearing my jeans and a polo it was a cool breezy evening. The temperature was 23. It won't be long before the ice breaker gear will be out.

When is Thanksgiving?

We had a thanksgiving dinner last night. Keren is the event planner, saw an ad for a turkey meal from the Marriot and put two and two together and made thanksgiving. Keren enjoys hosting dinner parties back home so went at this with military precision. If you check out earlier entries in my blog you’ll have seen a photo of an al hitmi apartment. Keren lives on the second floor in an 01 which is the mirror image of my pokey little place. She organized this dinner party for 10 people. So space and resources are hard to come by. Now you may also recall the limited items we have in our apartments. Some of us have a 4 piece dinner set (not necessarily matching). Some have 1 cup, plate and bowl. Keren went all out and bought a 12 piece dinner set and then followed it up with matching glasses (3 per person), table cloths and napkins. Table cloths were problematic as everything here is embroidered and colourful.

So a couple of white sheets did the trick. So we have this amazing meal with fantastic table setting. Keren leaves the end of December so someone will end up with the kit for the next one I suppose. Now what happens at Thanksgiving is that people get together and give thanks to others. This was organized where we were given a card with someone’s name on it to write on. This had its challenges as I didn’t know many of the people well enough to write a thank you card. Now all the cards were colour coded (refer to previous entry about me being green) So the photos are of the card and message I got which was really cool. What was great to watch was that secretly Anne had organized for everyone to make an extra card for Keren as she had gone to a lot of trouble organizing the event. From the comments it was clear that she has obviously touched many of their lives with her generosity and support and it is truly valued by people who find themselves dumped in the sandpit.

The Job List

With Thanksgiving dinner Keren had made a whole series of lists and people were given jobs and roles. So here is a couple of photos of people helping out Old Baz (who is 67 as opposed to young Baz who is 60 something) carving up the turkey and Anne and Carla are into the dishes. Now I was given the job of making salads. I knew this because I was given a piece of paper with the job on it. During the week there was a discussion about organizing to move Baz’s table into Keren’s room so everyone could have a seat. I said I was happy to help. Now people back in NZ people know that if they ask me to do something they usually send me an email because if you tell me it goes in through one ear and out the other. I think I was reminded a couple of times about the table verbally but you know me. Well anyway the offer of soccer came my way and so I jumped at it. I got caught up at work so didn’t get home at my usual time. Had a little kip and then off to the soccer. This was while I was supposed to be moving tables. Now the tables are large and heavy and the rooms are small and difficult to navigate. So as I was enjoying the footy my name was mud as Keren was trying to sort the table on her own.

As a result I was reminded that there is no I in team and the word table featured throughout thanksgiving dinner so had to eat humble pie after stuffing my face with turkey and cranberry sauce with gravy and potatoes with sautéed carrots and cauliflower, broccoli!!

A little resilience

There has been a series of little administrative hick ups along the way with this journey up here this time. It started with no key for the apartment, then followed with being locked in. My insurance claims went missing. My medical claims went missing. I went for the first month not being part of the email communication tree because no one added me to the list. They forgot to pay me as no one had authorized this tour of duty to payroll. I was then left off the international phone list and just this week I was removed from our country list meaning that technically I don’t exist for emergency purposes. Now most of these things are just small admin errors and have since been corrected. But if you didn’t have a little resilience you would start to wonder wouldn’t you?

The crowd goes wild

The Qatari fans pretty much up sticks and left when the score was 3-0 to Japan

Easy Access

The photo and video which will be posted is at a footy match I went to this week. The Aussie lads had been in a school where free tickets were given away and as they had a spare invited me along. The tickets were free I think because they wanted to fill the stadium. I’m sitting six rows back from the front just off to the side of the goal. Did I mention this is a world cup qualifying match? Easy access. You just don’t get these sorts of opportunities in NZ.

Yessir Culture

One of the traps for young players so to speak is getting caught up in the stratified culture that exists here. There are layers that operate within this country depending on your nationality and role. I was having a conversation with a bloke here about it and he talked about the dangers of a yessir culture. We have many people in this country who answer yessir. So in my typical day I get up, head downstairs and get a “good morning sir” and the door opened by the security guard. I get picked up by my driver with a “good morning sir”. I get to work and my Sudanese friend (photo) will bring me a coffee and a mango juice. During the day I may need to go out so get a different driver who calls me sir. The security guys at work also greet me with a yessir. This bloke pointed out that when he went to Europe recently he said he felt the service was poor but then on reflecting he decided that the service was fine he had just been immersed too long in the yessir culture that exists here where pretty everything can be done by someone else for you. I feel I’m in for a rude awakening when I get home.

No Birthdays Here

Another year older but this time I got more than a day to celebrate my birthday. My day started in NZ and ended in QATAR so technically I got 34 hours worth. So got a couple of emails the evening before, which was great. Really appreciate them. Now I hadn’t mentioned my birthday here but there was a discussion about age last week and someone remembered that my birthday was on the same day as Murphs (This was something he had shared with them one day after Ridges). So this started a chain reaction. I’m waiting with a couple of colleagues for my driver down in the foyer of our apartment block and the Aussies drive past and shout out Happy Birthday. So then my Kiwi colleagues knew. This in turn was communicated to my boss and the Qatari staff at work. My Qatari boss explained there is not really a birthday celebration in Islam. What is supposed to happen on your anniversary of your birth is that you are to reflect on the year that has past and think how you can better serve god and others for the coming year. Even so she wished me a happy birthday. Now the Aussies had organized a ticket for me to go with them to the Comedy Club. This is a monthly stand up comedy event at one of the hotels. They had organized a table for the 20 or so of us and had also organized a cake and presents. So the photo shows the collection which all have some meaning. The big box of very flash choices is from Mary my boss. Now the green hat is important because Keren is like the camp mother and events are organized with lists and colour coded spreadsheets. My colour is green so if she receives an email from say Murph back in Aus she then colour codes the bits of the email which relate to individuals and forwards it on. So I know I just have to read the green bits or look at the green timetable. The photos are to remind me that my Aussie mates are important. The Aussie certificate I think is because a number fo times now I’ve been mistaken for being an aussie so I sort of get Aussie status (until I open my mouth). The CD is Roberta Flacks, Where is the love. My GR5 team will remember I was a “share the love” and kumbya sort of guy. I’ve had to adopt the same sort of phrases as these guys like to chip away at each other. Hence, ”where is the love?” Some vouchers for Titto Bluni. I bought some jeans which I really like from Titto’s so can now get some new gear as well. Plus I brought my possum and angora socks Ma and Pa form NZ. So not bad for a no birthday.

The Incident

This was a real interesting story as we watched it unfold from a distance and then was able to piece it together from a range of sources. Carla one of the Aussies (Miss Melbourne Cup Doha 2008) was invited by a bloke to watch the tennis from one of the corporate boxes. The rest of us ( the 50 odd Aussies and Americans) were all sitting in the nose bleeders (the seats up really high) on the opposite side of the court so watched as the events unfolded. So Carla walks in with her date and as you would expect she has dressed to impress her date. She was wearing her high heels and missed a step heading down to the box. She survived the fall by grabbing the rail. Now she was with her date and a couple of other blokes from his company and so they were given directions to their box. The box had six seats but there were two young women in Abayas sitting in the box. So the three guys grab the front three seats and Carla walks in front of the two women and sits next to them. Now Carla has dressed to impress so is in a sleeveless white top with spaghetti strings. She assesses the situation that as she is now sitting next to a couple of Qatari woman she should cover up, so does so. After the first game there is a flurry from the ushers and security and they are asking the guys and Carla to move boxes. We can see one of the guys arguing with the usher and showing him their tickets which indicated that they are in the right place. But they move to another box. Problem? The problem was that one of the girls was in fact the Emir’s daughter and here were three western men sharing the box with her. A western woman had stood over her (and was wearing clothing you would not normally wear when meeting royalty) to get past. Mary my boss was sitting just behind and said the ushers and security guys were frantic when they initially realised what had happened with letting the men into the box. I think it meant that somebody was going to be for it for letting such a thing happen.

Strong Leadership

My camera battery went flat before I could capture the photo I wanted for this. In this photo is Sheika Mousa, one of the Emir’s wives. She is truly in inspirational leader and is a fantastic role model. She has been the driving force behind the educational reforms of this country. Behind her in Billy Jean King. A wonderful irony as she is known not only for her strong leadership in women’s tennis but also her sexual orientation. Billy set up the WTO tour and all the winners acknowledged the impact the tour was having on their careers. Although a colleague did highlight the fact hey the players will having to market themselves as stunning models rather than stunning athletes (which they are by the way). The third person who would have been in the picture would have been Venus for her skills. They were all on the court for the prize giving but as I said my battery went flat.

Good money if you can get it

This is Venus in the final a few points short before winning $1.3 million US dollars for her weeks work.

Being Aussie

I feel a little like I’m Jane Goodall in the movie Gorillas in the Mist. I’ve been invited into the tribe of people we know as Aussies. I’m sort of like the participant researcher. Spending time studying human behaviour. They invite me along to different events (tennis, Melbourne Cup, comedy night and I sit and try to make sense of their behaviour. You learn new lingo, like dropping the end of names and replacing them with an a or an i. There are things called sharts and eski’s which I won’t go into but one is a good thing to have in Qatar and one is not. There is a wonderful directness about many of the Aussies which is quite refreshing, sometimes challenging. As the Aussie doubles player who was part of the winning pair spoke at the awards ceremony she mentioned two things which stood out. She thanked the sponsor (Sony Ericcson) as having them on board meant they could make some good money on the tour. And then she followed up by saying that “it was good to see the Sheika here watching the tennis” Direct, bold, to the point, no her royal highness or nothing like that just the Sheika. She was genuine in her comments in a truly Aussie sort of way.

Tennis Pics

How close?

Not too bad in the nose bleeders

Top Events

The WTO are holding their end of season event here in Doha. Now while we have an event in Auckland we don't get the quality of fields that we have here. This event has the top ten women players in world and accesstosuch an event is pretty easy. The court side tickets sold out too quickly for me to grab for $60NZ but I was able to get a couple of cheap seat tickets fro $5NZ.

Serena played on Wednesday but had to pull out because of injury.

The Dancing Kiwis

Video Part Two. The kiwis decided to dance as well as sing along which made it kind of interesting for the guy sitting by himself behind the dancing. Look fo rthe guy in the white shirt

The Singing Waiters

I went here a few weeks ago for Murphs farewell. We went back this time for the kiwis who are moving out. The light was poor but you'll get an idea of how it works. They can really sing

The Diplomat

I have a really good relationship with the Qatari men I am currently working with. This has provided me an opportunity to see a little of their lives beyond work. I’ve been for coffee in one of my colleagues Majlis. (meeting tent). He has taken me to a few places I couldn’t visit as an expat. Last night he was invited to the Malaysian National Day celebrations at the Dip Club. He thought it would be a good idea if I went along with him so he made a phone call. The WTA Tennis is on at the moment and to the top ten female players are in town. I had planned to go to the tennis but organised to go with him and then pop into the tennis for the last match. When we got there I knew I was a little out of my league. I think every embassy or consulate had sent their ambassadors to the event. There was me with my little silver fern on my suit lapel standing in the food queue next to the guy from South Korea in front of me and the Belgium ambassador behind me. I survived the initial interactions until my Qatari colleague dragged me along to meet the Malaysian ambassador who was hosting the event, who happened to be sitting with the Qatari deputy minister for foreign affairs. I was invited to sit and join their table so I’m starting to panic a little. Here was this kiwi bloke rubbing shoulders with a room full of fairly important people. I am introduced with a title that basically translated to being the New Zealand international expert working with the Supreme Education Council. (just in case you didn’t know..I’m not) A deferring of my seat to other dignitaries and a hasty retreat to the far corners of the room was in order to munch on my chicken satay with the waiting staff. All in a days work representing my country. One day educationist the next unofficial diplomat

Language

I love it. Susie got the last post, Faz missed it. Read between the lines buddy !

Hey Koro

It’s been an interesting 48 hours with a minor family crisis to deal with. Now, I have expectations of my kids and have been known to express my frustration at times as fathers can do. I think I’m fair and reasonable. I’m told I over react. But leading up to this situation I spent a bit of time listening to my Aussie mates share some life stories. Stories that make you realize that other people live through major life challenges that make our little crisis appear insignificant in the scheme of things. I think it came as a bit of a surprise to Kim that I was calm, collected and accepting of the situation. I know I use to wind the GR5 up with my “world peace” expression, which was really saying what we‘re dealing with is small compared to world peace and not worth worrying about. I think the more opportunities you get to experience what others deal with in their lives you realize how lucky some of us are.

Wide Awake

Have had a tough week sleep wise and has taken me a little while to work out why. I've been cominmg home for a snooze late afternoon and then waking up in the middle of the night, not sleeping and then struggling to get up for my ride in the morning. I think the problem has been my visits to lots of schools during the week. Each visit involves a lot of greeting and hospitality. It always involves an Arabic coffee (green coffee bean) followed by turkish, nescafe of shey (red or green tea). A few choclates or sweets thrown in. So by the end of the day when I've been to three or four schools I'm tired from the meetings but pumped full of caffiene and sugar. No wonder I can't sleep!. I only have 45 schools to visit so should be sorted by the end of November as I don't think they know what decaf is.

Fashion in the Field

This is a picture of me with Carla (L) and Keren (R) on our way to the Melbourne Cup night. Keren had organized a ticket for me to go with the group of Aussies her and Baz hang out with. A was in my jeans and tee shirt about half an hour before we left when she rang to tell me that the ladies would be wearing frocks and the lads would be suited up. A quick change to casual smart and they still let me go with them. Carla won the fashion in the field competition. It was really quite serious with about twenty women in the field plus there was a male and couples section. People went to a lot of trouble (apart from me) with big hats and matching outfits. Both Keren and Carla had spent the day making their fascinators. Carla’s was made out of peacock feathers to match her dress which apparently had a peacock pattern. (Sorry typical male didn’t notice and got berated for it by the team!). The event was judged by the real Miss Melbourne Cup 1984 (She still had her sash which looked in pretty good knick given it was 24 years old!). Apparently she does a few of these events as this was the third time she had been in Doha to judge.

An evening at the races

I’ve now been adopted by the Aussies. With Murph having gone back home I am helping to fill a gap for Barry and Keren. Murph has been a huge part of their lives here so I think they’ll need about ten people to fill it. They have simple rules for the lone Kiwi. I must be seen at least once a week ( I thinkthis is so we can exchange insults about some sort of sporting event)as well as participate in team social events and share a meal. These guys will hopefully be around till mid / late December inshallah and they are a lot of fun. There is a rather large contingent of Aussies up here so it is always good for a bit of niggle. Buggar about the netball. The first team event was the Melbourne Cup. They have a function at the golf club where people get dressed up as if they are going to race day back in Aus. They have a race track with squares which jockeys (people on broomsticks with horse heads move along to the roll of a dice)race along. You bet on horses like Wellington Lady, Why kick a moo cow and Budgie Smugglers to name but a few. They run a tote and a percentage goes towards paying for the kids Christmas party. All I can say is that I hope the kids enjoy their party given my investment.

Inclusion

I’ve been very lucky because of the inclusive nature of many expats in Qatar. My job is currently working with 9 Qatari and one other expat, my boss. She lives with a group of Kiwis in another part of town. While being on my own I have been taken in by a group of Kiwis (Team Cooghan) who are here for a short stint. Some leave this Thursday and the rest the following week. So I have been part of their social events – (desert trip / pearl tour). Brian also looks out for me. Brian is from the West Coast and if you have followed my blog you’ll know him as the guy who helped me meet my cousin who was living here. Brian invites me to some form of event at least once a week. I have been busy with work so have missed a few as well as slept through one. I did make it over yesterday to his place to watch the All Blacks in Hong Kong. As there will be four weeks of test matches I think I’ll end up seeing a bit of him and Sally.