doha daily 11/29/06

Today was the Asian Games torch relay for the Qatar Harley-Davidson Chapter and whoa, was it FUN! Approximately 50 Harley’s (one Buell) met up in an organized and dedicated fashion to make up a 2KM leg of the torch relay where the torch was passed between 3 motorcycles. We finished with an early morning breakfast alongside the Gulf at the Intercontinental Hotel accompanied by an absolutely fantastic blue sky and cool comfortable weather. Thierry and I sat in the 4th and 5th positions behind the torch with a great view of the action amidst the photographers, escort police, etc. I got rather caught up in it, actually. The most overwhelming feeling I had this morning was not necessarily the whole meaning of why we were there which was to represent Qatar and escort the torch and the history of the games, etc…but HOW we came to be here, in which we partially have Harley-Davidson to thank. It is amazing the amount of different nationalities that were represented within the Chapter this morning and everyone is so friendly; they reach out to get to know each other every chance they get. We are lucky to be a part.
530am - can you tell?
630am - lining up and awaiting torch arrivalleaving with torch
thierry and others behind - - - finishing at doha golf club
passing torch to a runner

breakfast at the intercontinental hotel
Here are 3 of the 4, possibly 5 women riders in Qatar - whoohoo! Lis, from Denmark and Lena, from Sweden

Of course, Thierry and I would not have been able to do this event together if it hadn’t been for Lulu volunteering to watch Tristan in the wee hours of the morning. Thank you, Lulu!

See you!

doha daily 11/27/06

I hope your Thanksgiving went really well! Ours seemed so traditional and normal it was GREAT! We started at Rob and Patti’s for cocktails and hors doerves, then on to Warren and Ann’s for turkey, stuffing, et al, and back to our place for pumpkin pie and football, all within the neighborhood/compound. I was in charge of sweet potatoes, which when I went to the store to buy them, I quickly realized a sweet potato here in Doha at Thanksgiving should be considered a commodity and sold on the market. (60 riyals or $16.50 for 6 large sp’s) In an unrelated yet interesting incident, Patti went to the same store for green beans. It seems that when shopping here in Doha, you walk into the store, have a quick scan of the produce to see how your grocery trip is going to go, because what is in stock one day, will most likely not be for the next 10 days. So Patti walked in, conducted her scan and saw they had a mess of green beans, so she didn’t worry. Understandably, she moved on worry-free to get the bread, milk, etc - any of YOU would have done the same. As it stands, however, her judgment was deceived, for when she finished her shopping and rounded the produce corner, a man (possibly a small grocer store owner?) was filling his cart with the entire lot of green beans….hence, we ate snow peas for dinner. This is just one of hundreds of Doha grocery stories circulating.

tristan megan lauren matthew and tessa on thankgiving

The weather has cooled down considerably, so Fall is definitely here. The temperature ranges from 18C (64F) to 27C (80F) now. And all books I’ve read on Qatar have stated the country receives 10 days of rain per year, yet we seem to have hit that quota already as it has rained several times within the last 10 days. I wouldn’t call any of it a knockdown, drag-out Midwest summer’s day rain, though. This seems more like a drizzle; just enough to make your car look as if it has been 4-wheeling in the desert, covered in streaks of sand. The guys in the compound came by yesterday and finally mortared a marble piece onto our front entryway to keep any rain from coming in underneath the door. That was an interesting experience when we received our final downpour in April - I was squeegee-ing the water out of our living room before it hit any of the furniture. Remember when I called the office back in June to give them a heads-up that rain enters our villa and they may want to be proactive in fixing it and then he laughed at me saying it never rains here in Doha, blah blah blah? I DO! The point is, it’s fixed and no more water in the house.

The Asian Games are only 4 days away! Colorful banners are still hurriedly being hung up to detract one’s attention away from what lay behind them. They also bring well-needed décor to the wall of white landscape. We are all going to miss them after the games are over, I’m sure. Wednesday morning is the big Harley torch ride - - - a definite once-in-a-lifetime event. And for 10QR’s ($3), you can get tickets to the events.

Thierry and I have been told to meet the principal of the American School to get Tristan’s name on the list and that just because he is American does not guarantee him a slot. Doesn’t that stink?

See you after Wednesday!

'tristan in bath,' by kelcey liebowitz

doha daily 11/20/06

It is sprinkling rain today! And quite chilly! 20C (68F) when Thierry left for work. Now I know why everyone was in sweaters and turtlenecks when we arrived here in January – I was looking at them and saying to myself, “This isn’t cold! This is like a mild day in L.A…” Meanwhile, it’s 70F and I am now wearing a long-sleeve tee shirt and am contemplating a light jacket or sweater. Last week was 37C and we had a few days of 32-33C temp and BAM! It’s winter! Although the AC has been on in most of the rooms for the past 7 months, it feels as though we will be able to turn them off permanently if it remains this cool.

the very visible dairy queen - thierry martin and aj at al khor harbor - tristan wearing "his" helmet and googles

nap time at nursery

on our way to play tennis one afternoon

Thierry and I went on the Qatar Chapter ride two Fridays ago – everyone meets at 730a at the local DQ and once gathers, leaves from there around 800a. One person is elected “road captain,” and then we all just follow him (don’t think it has ever been a ‘her,’ but that could change.) The big story for the HOG chapter is the torch relay which takes place next Wednesday (11/29). They are expecting 40-50 bikes to be involved.

Roads that have been under construction since we can remember are now opening up almost daily and although there is much traffic here in Doha, it is fun to see new and improved paved roads. I think the Doha version of the Autobahn is just in front of our compound – it has been a one-lane street for so long now lined on either side with construction barrels, cones and rope, now that it is a 3-lane highway in either direction, all of the Land Cruisers seem to be letting loose.

We are going to spend Thanksgiving dinner with two other American families in the compound. It has now turned into a progressive dinner with dessert Chez Grandsire as we have Fox Sports Net and will able to catch the football game on at 900p.

doha daily 11/8/06

Since ‘speaking’ with you last, the Cardinals won the World Series, Halloween occurred and Tristan started attending his new nursery, Little Angels. Let’s start with the beginning. The Cardinals winning the World Series is only further proof that no matter how challenging life is while living in this developing country, this “Doha experience” is nothing but a positive thing!!! WHOOHOO!

Halloween. Our compound put together a party on the night of the 30th in the function room and it seemed to be a great success with approximately 50+ kids running around in a cookie-induced frenzy. I directed the “ankle balloon” game on the basketball court with the kids running around trying to pop each other’s balloons in 90+degree heat in their full costumes and streaks of makeup running down their faces. The week before, I slaved over collecting cardboard boxes and constructed a sandwich board pirate ship with a hole cut in front to collect Tristan’s ‘treasure.” He could hang it on his shoulders and walk around with a sword, etc. Looks like, though, I am going have to chock it up to one of those parents’ ‘moments’ when we put in all sorts of effort to make something for our kids and then they couldn’t care less – in fact, Tristan preferred throwing his dolphins into the candy hole and then going off to play with the bubble machine. When the trick-or-treaters arrived on the night of the 31st, some of us had decorated our homes with spider webs and other things. I had downloaded some spooky music on my iPod, etc…but that too, was a bust, as the kids were so polite, they never came to the front door, but instead rang the doorbell at the front gate, so Tristan and I hung out outside all night giving out candy on the street – not quite the same experience as trick-or-treating on Madison in Pasadena.

Here are some pictures of the Little Angels nursery. Tristan has adjusted after starting Nov. 1, and with the school shortage that Doha is experiencing, several new nurseries seemed to have popped up this past September.

As all of the expats talk and recommend their very best services/experiences to each other, someone mentioned to me there is a guy at the Diplomatic Club who specializes in cutting short hair (not much short hair around here, fyi), so I called to make an appointment, and um, ya, he is booked solid until mid-January.


The new Harley-Davidson Dealership is officially opening November 16. Looks like this date is firm, as it was originally slated for end of this past April : ).

This morning, we woke up to heavy heavy fog and 23C (76F) temperature. Winter is coming!!!

See you!