Regency Doha

Here are a few pictures of my current apartment. Another colleague is in one almost identical to it and he affectionaly calls his "the bat cave" due it's lack of natural light. I love natural light and completely believe in sunshine therapy but I'm not often in my apartment while it's sunny out so it doesn't bother me much. Word is we gave up the lease on my apartment and several others as of September 1 so ...

... difficult now because so many people are on vacation and not a lot is happening around town. I get along well with many of my co-workers but I prefer to separate my social and professional life.

On the Impact of Islam

As I’m sure most of you know, Qatar is an Islamic state. What does this mean for day to day life? There are many women in abayas (black “robe”, head covering and sometimes but not always face covering) and many men in ...

... so before I even sat down, the man on the aisle seat assured me that it wasn't my perfume, but he was going to move once they'd closed the doors - brilliant - 2 seats to myself!

Food was great, though not for the weak stomached on a flight - spicy bean salad and curry! I also watched 'New in Town' with Renee Zellwegger and Harry Connick Junior and would recommend it.

I've never ...

... HOT. I miss Nepal. I had so much fun there, and I love the mountains so much. But I am in the Middle East to learn. I spent so much time studying the Middle East in college and would love to continue studying it, but I have to experience it. As places go, it has everything I generally don't like: sand, heat, and flatness! But I have to see it, and I am seeing it. It's going to be a very interesting next section of the trip... That's for sure. --Jimmy

... L spends some time in the malls back in the U.S., G. doesn't) but this was the only thing we could do for free in an air-conditioned environment. The bottom line? Qatar is a more interesting country that some of the blogs here would make you think but one needs to be aware of several things before planning to come here: 1. Get a car. In this country and its capital city, without a car you are dead. The distances are big for walking around in the hot ...

... when we walked out to our waiting hotel van (which in Doha is a very expensive BMW sedan), every Muslim man turned away from Francis for fear of harming their immortal souls! When we were sweating by the pool - I would say chilling, but it was over 40 degrees celsiu - the waiter wouldn't take a food order from Francis, so she had to come get Matt so he could order for her. We ate a delicious Indian food dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, and the waiter even ...

... scanning, typing, and checking, she opened up my passport to the Israeli page...but instead of looking down and noticing, she just stamped my entry visa...right on top of the Israeli stamp! Seriously, I must have a pretty unique passport at this point with a Qatar visa overlapping my Israeli exit stamp. So I got a cab, and went to the hotel...it was incredible, especially after the foam mattresses and tents in East Africa. They give this ...

... They're in Bombay somewhere annoying the hell out of some poor punjabis. One of the stewards at the gate finally calls us over and admits he has given up on his colleague. So he says: "well, I suppose we can use on of these labels instead" and hands us the copy. WOrds cannot describe the look on my face now. I just hopes we will fly faster than this guy thinks. Anyway, we are determined not to get distraught by little set-backs like these and now we're on board!Just ...

... I would like to know if that time starts once we are all loaded, away from the gate or actually lift off the ground? Anyway ...I got to be part of the 5% that's not on time. The plane took off about 40 min late. The flight itself was uneventful, just as a flight should be! Troy and I did manage to find Scott one of the other people on this assignment. So it gave us an opportunity to talk to him more. I only briefly met him once before ...