doha daily 5/29/06

Whoa. Yesterday, I was not impressed with the construction of our villa and I imagine there are many more out there in Doha who feel the same way I do. The temperature is hovering at 44-46 degrees everyday now…NO! No humidity yet. There is, however, a completely different element out there at the moment – WIND! Oh yes, and SAND! Put the two together and you have a DEADLY combination. Especially here, where, in each bathroom and kitchen you have a vent in the wall that reveals blue sky and open air to the outside world. Hence, what is supposed to be protecting us from odors, etc on the INSIDE, is offering absolutely no protection against anything entering from the OUTSIDE. Not to mention, from every other nook or crack around the house, where a splash of sand forms over hours and hours of wildly blowing wind. So, I conducted a test. I vacuumed the entire house and filled the bag with the finest of finest Arabian dust, then, I turned every vent on to make certain the wind was blowing OUT and not IN. I even vacuumed Tristan’s tub to avoid a brown bath – gross. It was “wait and see” time. Ok, it’s Tuesday now, and my test has failed me : ), although psychologically, I’m keeping those fool fans turned on. I think my next Doha home purchase is going to be brown and beige bath towels. And, everything that normally stays outside, like the patio furniture, jog stroller, bicycles, etc. has now been brought inside to avoid being pounded by the sun all summer long.


Thierry blowing sand off the bikes


Tristan and I are getting ready for a 2-wk vacation to France, leaving Friday. He seems very excited to go on the “airpane.” I’m waiting for our “exit visas” from the Hotel. As I stated before, if you see anyone out and about while running errands, the second question posed is, “So when are you leaving for the summer?”

Other than the changes in road construction and new buildings going up almost every other day, things are status quo. The newspapers (which are now being delivered directly to our front door) are pushing ticket sales for the Asian Games in Dec – people are saying, however, that participation is going to be minimal, especially if they are SELLING tickets to the local market as opposed to giving them away for free. Most sports venues that come to town, ie…Tennis Matches, Golf, etc…are provided free of charge. Thierry is still working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. For the months of June, July and August, due to the Hotel’s lack of occupancy, he will receive an additional day off – seems kind of bittersweet as there is nothing one can do outdoors during these months due to heat : )

Our motorcycles are at the dealership this week, FINALLY, getting life put back into them as well as their official Qatar license plates. One of the batteries had to be ordered from Saudi Arabia so that is postponing the riding by a few days.

See you!