Livin' the Qatar Dream

Monday, March 10, 2014

Soccer Showdown

Nate and I had an epic soccer match with our neighbour and the other young boys in the compound. Check out Nate's face. He had nothing left in the tank.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Souq Field Trip

I took my kids on a field trip to the Souq for our Travel and Tourism course. It was nice to be there during the day when hardly anyone else was. Here are a few pictures from our time there.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Ford-zee

In case you were wondering, Rob Ford even makes the paper in Qatar! I love this guy. It's like Chris Farley has been reincarnated just because we didn't get enough of him.

Linds and I sometimes escape the harsh realities of our life in Qatar. A little globalization goes a long way when you are living in the desert. The IKEA food court has a wonderful lake view. Check it out!

Ripe!

So we came home from work yesterday and the entire house smelled like poo. Not kidding. The smell went from top to bottom. Linds began to freak out and I went into investigation mode. The sewage system here is a series of open underground troughs that use gravity as a means to an end. Sometimes, under the right conditions, there is a blockage. You can figure out why based on what one might put down the toilet. So, there are two steel covers in our courtyard. I began to explore. With a white towel around my face, I cracked the first one open and saw what can only be described as a big pile of... Wonderful. Luckily for me, I have a neighbour who is well versed in this type of situation. A Canadian who has called the Middle-East his home for over a decade now. I got the hose, put it on max Mid-East pressure and began to spray. I could have attached pictures, but I figured that the story is graphic enough. You get the point. After some disgusting grunt work, I freed to pipes of their oppressive contents and let them flow freely once again. Ed, the septic hero of Umm Salal Mohamed!

Lessons learned:

1 - There is great value in a modern sewage system, and
2 - I am glad that stayed in school, and
3 - White towels don't mask the smell.

Syrian Crisis

This photo caught my attention and I thought that I would share it with you. Syria is in a major crisis and I have heard of the terrible things that are happening to the men, women and children fleeing the country. I invite you to take a look at the following link by the Washington Post. It takes a close look at the dire situation with what appears to have no end in sight.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/syrian-refugees/story/refuge/

This apocalyptic photo does not look real, but it is!

My trip to Bahrain

Sorry for the long delay. I have been meaning to update the blog for the last few days, but things keep getting in the way.

I wanted to share with you my experience in Bahrain. Bahrain is undergoing a civil dispute in which a group of people are in protest of ruling King of the country. We stayed in Manama, the Capital of Bahrain. It seemed like we were taking a risk going there and we were, but to what extent? The city is surrounded by a wall and barbwire and on the days when the organized demonstrations take place, there is a hefty military presence. On the second day there, a funeral turned sideways and a riot broke out. No one was injured, but peoplewere arrested. Our cab driver told us that if we hopped over the fence we would be questioned and detained…worst case scenario, they would shoot us. So we decided to avoid that mess.

I have many stories to share...many! My favourite is when I thought that a group of Indian fellas were beating someone up with a stick. There was all sorts of noise coming from the alley way. Turns out is was just a group of Indians beating the snot out of a giant rat! I have seen it all!

Here are a few samples of the things that I saw on my magical trip to Bahrain.