Qatteri and Kuwaiti Gazingas
We’ve lived in so many different places and dealt with so many currencies, you’d think we’d be used to it by now, but there is always that confusing time at the beginning, when you are mentally trying to multiply and divide and figure out how much things cost. Generally speaking, we call it the gazinga problem, gazinga being our family generic term for whatever currency we are currently using.
I think the cost of food in Qatar is cheaper, but to figure that out, I have to think what it costs here, translate that from Qatteri riyals to dollars, and then to translate that to Kuwaiti dinars. For example, the Vanilla Caramel coffee stuff I like is 2.250 in Kuwaiti dinars (when I can find it) which is about $8.25, and in Qatar, it is QR 15.50, which is $4.25, a significant difference.
Life in Kuwait became much simpler when my Kuwaiti friend told me “Just think about a Kuwaiti dinar being roughly equivalent to the dollar. Otherwise, you will go crazy.” He was right. When I would go grocery shopping and just think of it in dollars, life became much simpler. Every now and then, when I would multiply by 3.65 to figure out the cost in dollars, I would gasp and put the item back on the shelf. Life is simpler if you just go with it. Mostly, I would look for locally produced vegetables, eggs, etc., and that kept grocery costs down. It’s the imported stuff that gets crazy.
So, irrationally, when I have 500 riyals in my pocket, I feel RICH. I feel secure and protected. (500 riyals {$138} is approximately equivalent to 35KD {$128}). I can’t tell you the number of people who come into town in Qatar and offer to take us to dinner (we’ve learned – we always carry extra cash!) – and then when the bill comes, they are stunned – and embarrassed – that they don’t have enough riyals to cover the bill. It’s not that the places are that expensive – although some of them are – but that it all adds up so quickly, and a couple hundred gazingas may not cover a dinner for four.
In both Kuwait and Qatar, I make it a point to quickly learn where all the cash machines are, the ones for my bank, and the ones that you can use your US credit card in and get cash. You just never know when you are going to find something in a shop that doesn’t take credit cards, or find that you are low on cash and still have a couple stops before you get home. Like knowing where the clean toilets are; it’s a matter of survival. 🙂
In Qatar, 100 Qattari riyals is about $27.50, so when doing rapid calculations, I figure it is around $25, then I add a little.
We are working on getting rid of the pigeons. It took a while – when AdventureMan went to the management and said he wanted the pigeons gone, they didn’t understand him. We say “pijjens” and they say “oh! pij-ee-owns!” The cleaning crew came and cleared out the awful nest yesterday, and only one pigeon came to try to spend the night. I threw pencil erasers at him (I had to gather them all up this morning) and then clanked a big stick. Today I am going to buy a water pistol.
The cleaning crew asked if I wanted to have my windows washed, and oh, yes, I did. It really helps to have lived here before. I know that if you want your windows washed, you can go to the desk, they will schedule it and they charge you around 500 riyals – still a bargain, by stateside standards – about $128 for a two story house with some very hard-to-get-to windows. But if you ask the cleaning crew on the compound, they will come during their time off and charge about half – and all the money goes to the guys who clean the windows. I now have bright, shiny windows – I don’t think they had been washed on the outside since I left over three years ago. Now – they sparkle!
Banks in Kuwait and Qatar are way ahead of banks in the US with their use of technology. When I took money out of our bank account yesterday, AdventureMan called me immediately and asked if I had just taken money out of the account. They had SMS’d him what had been taken out and what was left!
My household goods were delivered two weeks ago today. There are still a few remaining little nests of things that need places, but – not much! We walk around the house with that satisfied feeling of knowing things are in their place, where we can find them insh’allah, when we need them, and there are no more boxes, no more piles – it looks pretty good! Even AdventureMan got his room all in order – Now he walks out of his room and says “Oh! It feels so good to walk in and everything is put away!” and he has a huge grin on his face.
Little Diamond arrives tomorrow night. We can hardly wait. 🙂
Quiet Saturday Lane Change in Doha
I was noticing this morning how quiet and calm the traffic is – after all, it is Saturday, and it is summer. Even so, there is considerable traffic on C-ring, and the occasional arrogant “get-out-of-my-way-this-is-my-country” driver, but not so bad.
At one of the busiest traffic lights in the country, now called the Ramada junction, or “where-the-Ramada-roundabout-used-to-be” the van in the far right lane needs to get over to the left turn lane. In Doha, this is possible. I don’t know how all the cars squeeze together, but the driver makes it across three lanes of traffic to the left turn lanes:
A Night at The Garden
A local well known (here they say “reputed” and I always think it strange, because if we say ‘reputed’ it implies that it may not be true, but here it is meant to say well-known and respected) restaurant, The Garden, is having a month long Indian food festival. It has Indian food year round, but during this month some specialities are introduced, different areas highlighted, etc.
I like this place because my niece, Little Diamond, likes Indian food a lot, and it is a good place to take her. They have a separate restaurant downstairs, purely vegetarian, and another restaurant upstairs that also serves meat.
We went to the purely veg one on Thursday night, and decided to try the buffet. The food was delicious. One curry was so complex that we agreed, adding meat to it would have added NOTHING! It was so tasty without it.
The chef was making little crepe-like pancakes that you can roll food in, and then these little “paniera” made with the same dough, only with chives and savory flavorings in them:
This is what they look like up close:
The Garden is located at the corner of Al Rayyan and Kharabaa (also called Old Electricity Street). If you haven’t been in that area for a while, take your hard hat. A lot of the buildings are being bulldozed. I cannot imagine what the street will be like without Bombay Silk and Qatar Studios, but I see several stores have already disappeared.
Angel Wings
Every now and then, a blessing happens that is just so magnanimous, so unexpected, that I am just overwhelmed with awe at it all.
One of my sweet friends flew into Doha to help me unpack boxes. I was stuck; the room I was unpacking required lots of decisions, and I just couldn’t see my way to making them. I was just overwhelmed.
My angel friend showed up on my doorstep and whirled through the boxes, unpacking, shooing me out of the room, getting everything put away while I worked elsewhere. The room is now in order, and, as she says, I can re-order it to my liking a little piece at a time, but meanwhile, I can work in there without having a panic attack from all the boxes not unpacked.
When she had finished unpacking and putting away, she put her hand on her hips and said “That’s all??? No more boxes???” I was tempted to let her loose on AdventureMan’s room, but I resisted the temptation. LLLOOOLLL, I was so stuck, and she really rescued me.
Progress
The living room is now an island of sanity, but the women’s majlis has descended into semi-insanity until I get the book cases there together.
The kitchen remains an island of sanity, as does the guest bedroom.
The master bedroom has some insane corners.
The office and the quilt room are the big challenge.
One little Pigeon has flown, but . . . he doesn’t seem to be able to get back to the ledge. He is hiding behind a large flower pot on my porch. Theother one shows signs of being interested, but hasn’t taken the leap. I wish the little one on the ground would fly – until he does, he is just . . . cat food!
And in case any of you are really reading this far – I’m going to become a grandmother! WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I don’t know why I didn’t read this book sooner! First, I saw people like me reading it in airports, and it certainly has a memorable title. The people reading looked totally engrossed. I’m not one to strike up conversations in airports, but on occasion, when I see people reading a book I don’t know about and it is the size of the books that book groups usually read, I will ask, and write it down, and bother the person no further.
I had ordered it on amazon.com when my son’s wife’s father’s wife (and you thought Gulf relationships were complicated!) mentioned to me in an e-mail that she was reading it and that she could barely tear herself away. She and I often pass really good books and/or recommendations back and forth, so that bumped it up a few notches in priority. When it got here, I had just finished Rutherfurd’s London (oops, I thought I had reviewed it, and I haven’t, so I will,) and I thought it was a southern book, like The Ya-Ya Sisterhood or Sweet Potato Queens, no, you are right, I hadn’t read anything about it, just trusted from all the people I saw reading it that it was good, but because of the name, I thought it would be light.
Wrong!
It isn’t depressingly heavy, like The Little Prisoner was heavy, and it had some totally wonderful laugh-out-loud moments, but the subject matter was the German occupation of the island of Guernsey, in the English Channel, and an author in search of a book topic in post-war London, and a little girl born outside of marriage and cared for by a village of caring people. It is spiced up by a dashing romance, and the process of relationship building that happens in the novel, unlikely relationships, aren’t those the very best kind for spice? 😉
The entire story is told in letters. The primary voice, that of Juliet, a thirty-something author, ties all the letters together, but not all letters are to her or from her. It is a great technique for allowing many different voices and many different perspectives. From the first page, you are captivated. Right now, Guernsey is more real to me than the boxes I need to unpack, and there is a part of me that yearns to flee to Guernsey and find a house near a cliff where I can watch the sun set in the west and the clouds turn colors . . .
Here is one sample of the kind of letters you will find when you read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Don’t wait! This is an unforgettable book!
1st May 1946
Dear Mark,
I didn’t refuse, you know. I said I wanted to think about it. You were so busy ranting about Sidney and Guernsey that perhaps you didn’t notice – I only said I wanted time. I’ve known you two months. It’s not long enough for me to be certain that we should spend the rest of our lives together, even if you are. I once made a terrible mistake and almost married a man I hardly knew (perhaps you read about it in the papers) – and at least in that case, the war was an extenuating circumstance. I won’t be such a fool again.
Think of it: I’ve never seen you home – I don’t even know where it is, really. New York, but which street? What does it look like? What color are your walls? Your sofa? Do you arrange books alphabetically? (I hope not.) Are your drawers tidy or messy? Do you ever hum, and if so, what? Do you prefer cats or dogs? Or fish? What on earth do you eat for breakfast – or do you have a cook?
You see? I don’t know you well enough to marry you.
I have one other piece of news that may interest you: Sidney is not your rival. I am not now nor have I ever been in love with Sidney, nor he with me. Nor will I ever marry him. Is that decisive enough for you?
Are you absolutely certain you wouldn’t rather be married to someone more tractable than I?
Juliet
Written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, the book will challenge your ideas, will inform you of an obscure episode in World War II, will make your heart sorrow at the inhumanity of which we human beings are capable towards one another, and make your heart sing at the goodness in the human soul. That’s pretty amazing for one book.
Sealine Resort, Doha, Qatar
Qatar just isn’t that big. You can take a day trip, and actually, it’s more like a half a day trip, or even an hour trip. AdventureMan wanted to find his way to Wakra and to the SeaLine Resort, and I wanted to see the big dunes, not as big as in Namibia but pretty impressive, with their sinuous lines.
There are about a hundred different vendors renting out ATVs for racing across the dunes, even in this heat, and it was not easy finding virgin sand dunes, untracked by ATV wheels. We went on an ATV dune safari in Namibia, out of Soussesvlei Lodge, and it was fantastic. I love ATVs. I expect that anything that is so much fun can’t be good for you. It’s probably bad for the dunes . . . anyone?
When we got to Doha before, six plus years ago, I rented a limo and driver to take me and Little Diamond out to the resort and dunes. He kept showing us things on the way, like Wakra, etc. and we were a little restless. But it only took like 20 minutes, even with all the sightseeing, and we were there. We ran up the dunes, we looked for seashells, we walked in the sea, we did everything – and we were back in Doha by 11 in the morning. We laughed – we hadn’t realized, looking at the map, how close it was. The driver must have thought we were crazy.
Sealine also looked a little seedy to me – then. This time when we drove up, it looked very different. It looked all spruced up. The people working there had on clean, neat looking uniforms, and they looked like they were doing their jobs. We took a look at the chalets (cool) and at the villas (also cool) right on the umm. . . errr. . . SeaLine! Waves rolling up, almost to your doorstep – it is pretty lovely. We were planning a stay there when we noticed multiple vehicles at most villas and chalets – and whereas we love to go to sleep to the sound of waves, we kinda thought hmmm. . . this could be a place where the party starts around midnight.
It’s beautiful.
This shot is taken from the main section of the hotel, but to each side, where the chalets are and the villas are, the sea is almost right on your doorstep.
Qatar is a conservative country. There are separate areas for men who are not accompanying their wives and children.
And there is a whole different kind of beachwear! (I blurred the faces to protect their privacy.)
As we were leaving, we spotted two little Qatteris finishing their brunch with gusto!
Missing Day
I knew I was coming down with something Thursday when I just felt uncomfortable, but by Friday morning, I knew I was sick. You know how it feels when all you want to do is sleep? Your head is thick and your innards are gurgling? I think I must have had the flu. Or food poisoning. I’m still not entirely well, but it feels good enough just to feel normal again.
I slept most of the whole day yesterday, while AdventureMan unpacked his boxes and got things put away, tiptoeing in now and then to ask if he could bring me something. The Qatteri Cat kept close by, cuddling up, comforting me while I slept. If I hadn’t felt so rotten, it would have been a nice day.
In one of those management tests that enjoy a flurry of popularity and then drop into obscurity, I once learned that I am primarily motivated by achievement. It’s probably true. The thing I hate about being sick, apart from the being sick part, which was/is pretty awful, is that I haven’t gotten anything done. Today AdventureMan got the cat scratching post and the cat furniture put together. I ate a banana. Even just writing a post is stretching my limits today.
It feels like some kind of flu, but I don’t think I have a fever, and I seem to be recovering fairly quickly. Insh’allah . . . I think I’ll go back to bed now. 🙂
We had such grand plans for this weekend, the first one in a long time where AdventureMan is home for two days. Happy Fourth of July!
A Small Adventure in Qatar
Here is one reason I love AdventureMan. He loves to go exploring, and Friday mornings after church are our favorite time. I am showing him some new routes, because the street patterns have changed, and where the pigeon mosque used to be, and he notices that the GATE IS OPEN!
So here is what I love. The gate is open. There is no sign saying No Entry. To AdventureMan – and to me – that means that it is not forbidden, which means that it is allowed, right?
There is no guard on duty – it’s Friday. Maybe they are praying.
And the pigeon mosque is still there! I was so afraid they were tearing it down. I don’t know what the real name of this mosque is. There used to be parking behind it where all the Pakistani drivers parked their decorated delivery trucks, and those of us visiting the souks in that area parked there, too. Now, there is almost NO parking available unless you get there at like 6 in the morning. (Actually, if you get there around 0830 on Saturday morning, you can find a parking place.) We call it the pigeon mosque because all the pigeons gather on the roof there. The mosque has been totally gutted and is being renovated.
The rest of what used to be a place filled with cheap junky stores is gone. Demolished and carted away. It’s just a big empty space. No clue yet as to what is going in.
We will have to wait for another day when the gate is open – inviting us to come in. 🙂
Ready to Fly Away
The baby pigeons are up, walking around and fluttering their wings – until I open the window to take a photo, and then they go into the if-we-hide-our-faces-she-can’t-see-us-mode. Daddy pigeon makes noises deep in his throat which I understand to mean “Go away.”
This may be the last photo. They seem to me to be getting ready to fly, and once that happens, we will clean out the area and hope they don’t come back. I love the sound of their voices, but I totally hate pigeon poop.
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