Renaissance Doha Hotel, City Centre

Today I received my Qatar Residence Permit (RP). An RP is required for all foreigners coming to live and work in Qatar and, while fairly easy to obtian, requires applicants to jump through a few hoops. Namely, a chest x-ray, blood sample, blood typing, and fingerprinting. UCQ staff are guided through the process by an Arabic speaking "fixer" named Mr. Mohammed. Mohammed is his first name but it is common here to address men in ...

... including a face veil. One woman, pushing her kids, who wore jeans and t-shirts, in a stroller had a black veil with a set of glasses on the OUTSIDE of the veil...as she walked though an arcade. Some robes are simply black and spartan, others sequined and flashy. I have spent a lot of time studying Islam and the Middle East, but I admit I have never fully comprehended both A: the prevalence of the hijab, and B: the gradations of the hijab. One couple ...

After I arrived in the morning I found one problem: The Doha Airport has no locker. Where to place the luggage for a whole day? I just rented a car. And then I drove off for the city and the countys south, to the oilfields.
At night I went back to the airport and took the flight to Manama in Bahrain.

... I was flying to Dubai, then on Qatar to Doha. The flight was very nice. There were only four of us in First Class on the B777-300. Unfortunately, this was not the "B777-300ER" just a B777-300, so there were no individual suites or seats. Old fashioned two-by-two. But since there were only four of us, there was nobody seated next to me. Good thing, because I spread my stuff out on a flight...magazines ...

... mix I think. It would appear that a lot of restaurants here that arent in the 5 star resorts tends to provide a very extensive menu of a mixture of cuisines from all around the world....will have to go back sometime to try their pizzas I think. Other than that I do not really have a huge amount to report on from here. Hope that all is well back home and will be in touch in the near future with more of an update and more pictures.

... in the best restaurants and drive the nicest cars - all paid for with money from taxpayers from their home countries) as it is for the recipients. Anyway, Sharon is at least sincere in her desire to help the world's poor - even though her efforts might in fact be exacerbating the problem. After dinner, it was back to my hotel room through the dark streets of Stone Town with my flashlight guiding the way, as well as being a potential weapon should anyone decide to take ...

... The bus staff told me that the last bus will leave for Doha at 5.00 PM so if I have to catch that I must return and I did so. I had my handicam on and have captured the landscape for my dad. Then I noticed that the Karwa bus is approaching from a intersection which is about 1KM from the gate. I was happy to know that I do not walk back the whole way to Umm-Said town to get it. I finally got the bus and returned to Doha.

... our supper at around 7 pm and thinking that there would be plenty of time before my flight departure time at 11pm. It turned out to be not enough time as we got lost on our way to the airport in the middle of the rainstorm and another problem was that I still needed to do my last minute packing, as we could not manage to do it earlier. However, we got there and I got my flight. Anyway, back to Doha now...

... of oil and sand and white robed rich men with their black veiled mystery of wives in tow. Upon departing the plane, my lungs were violated by a most unwelcome sensation-desert air. Never having felt it I could not expect it to be so searing. One gasps at the air and it feels as though no matter how much you breathe no oxygen will reach your lungs. Ah, but the desert- it looks so pure and clean, so emptied of clutter and it looks good and wholesome in a strange sort of way. Even so ...

... after states and were called avenues e.g. White House was on Pennsylvania Avenue. So it was easy to go from K12 to M14. Went to an NBA game on the Tuesday night - Wizards versus Raptors. Nice cheer squad. Any way back home to the heat. Week went very well - got a lot done...