I'll make this a short one. We had a flat tire the other day and when we went to change it, we found out that the spare was flat as well. We sat around the villa for an extra hour and a half. It was nice. Now if only I could get my license.
Everything else is going pretty well. I'm definitely starting to get the routine of the place. On Friday we went to the mall just to see what was out there. It reminded me of the big mall in Houston(whose name escapes me at the moment) except for the giant ice rink in the center(which is pretty cool(er... no pun intended...). I'll definitely be out there sometime after I get my license.
I definitely still miss you all.
PS: Zach, I don't care how many fans you have in Rock Band. Once I get back I'll fix that.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Well...
Things are very interesting around here right now. I suspect I'm just going to have to get used to some of my work related issues. It's very chaotic and fluid as it stands... the biggest problem is that I have too many "bosses" too close at hand. Any time someone has a question they just pull me aside at their leisure to get the inside scoop.
Time for more adventures in Doha.
So the last thing I have to do in Doha is get my drivers license. No big deal. I go in, get an eye exam, hand over my paper work with my picture and they pass it all along and a couple of days later a license shows up magically here in the office and I can legally drive. The morning started off alright, I got dehydrated the dy before and still had a lingering headache from that but I just needed to get rehydrated which is easy enough around the office... they have water stations everywhere. About 8:30 the guy comes and gets me saying "You're ride is here to go get your eye test" I pack up and head out.
We get down to Doha and wait around for an hour while they figure out who's going where and how to get them there. We had 5 people. Our driver was from India, we had a 65 year old American, a 37 year old Filipino(I would have sworn he was my age if not for his greying hair...) and a 29 year old Egyptian. Quite the crew. All three of them needed to do the medical(see my earlier post dealing with this part).
I thought it would be no big deal as it took me about 45 minutes to get through it all, en shala. No en shala this time... Me and the driver sat around for awhile in the air conditioned Accord trying to make small talk. This worked for awhile until the language barrier frustrated us into silence. At this point I looked at the clock... 1 hour and counting. I pulled out my book. The driver decided to try to take a short nap. My head was still pounding and the longer we sat there the worse the A/C in the car was working. Not only was my head hurting I hadn't eaten anything since lunchtime the previous day(monday for those of you still trying to keep track) I kept checking the clock...
hour and a half...
two hours...
What was going on? Finally after sitting for 3 hours in the car they came out. It turns out they were sitting in line when the call to pray came up...
and then the staff decided to take lunch...
We were all hungry(I was dying really... I was surprised I didn't just waste away in the car). We decided to get KFC for lunch. Of everything I've had here the KFC is the closest to how it is back home. Makes sense... how hard is it to make fried chicken? The only difference is they don't do Original Recipe. You get crispy or spicy. The spicy has a little kick to it...
After lunch we head back to the office for another 20 minutes of waiting. When the manager at the office notices that one of the guys who got the medical didn't get his chest x-ray... No one told him what he had to do so he didn't know. It's not very straightforward unless someone tells you(or you speak the language), so I understood. We swung back by there... he still didn't get it. They told him to come back at three and they'd take care of it.
Finally, time for the eye exam... easy. Go in, read a line on the wall, in, out, no problem...
*cough*
No problem, right?
Right?!?
Ah, this is Qatar. Nothing is easy in Qatar. I go in and the examiner looks at my picture and then at me and asks "You need your glasses to see?" I replied affirmative. He proceeded to tell me that I needed to have my glasses on in my picture for my license then.
I was not happy. I got my pictures taken the second day I was here. They never told me what they were for and so I just kind of went along for the ride. It was a regular photo studio so when I went in they suggested I take off my glasses...
So now it's 3 o'clock and I need to get a picture taken. Easy. In, picture taken and developed, out. Sure thing this time, eh? Haha, no. Everything closes in the middle of the day... makes sense in the desert. Unfortunately it meant we'd need to wait an hour just to have the picture taken... let alone processed. So we went back to Al Khor...
There was no way I was going back to work for an hour so I had the driver drop me off back at the apartment.
A wasted day and I still have to go back to Doha tomorrow for a stupid lousy picture... If the guy suggests I take off my glasses it might come to blows.
I thought it would be no big deal as it took me about 45 minutes to get through it all, en shala. No en shala this time... Me and the driver sat around for awhile in the air conditioned Accord trying to make small talk. This worked for awhile until the language barrier frustrated us into silence. At this point I looked at the clock... 1 hour and counting. I pulled out my book. The driver decided to try to take a short nap. My head was still pounding and the longer we sat there the worse the A/C in the car was working. Not only was my head hurting I hadn't eaten anything since lunchtime the previous day(monday for those of you still trying to keep track) I kept checking the clock...
hour and a half...
two hours...
What was going on? Finally after sitting for 3 hours in the car they came out. It turns out they were sitting in line when the call to pray came up...
and then the staff decided to take lunch...
We were all hungry(I was dying really... I was surprised I didn't just waste away in the car). We decided to get KFC for lunch. Of everything I've had here the KFC is the closest to how it is back home. Makes sense... how hard is it to make fried chicken? The only difference is they don't do Original Recipe. You get crispy or spicy. The spicy has a little kick to it...
After lunch we head back to the office for another 20 minutes of waiting. When the manager at the office notices that one of the guys who got the medical didn't get his chest x-ray... No one told him what he had to do so he didn't know. It's not very straightforward unless someone tells you(or you speak the language), so I understood. We swung back by there... he still didn't get it. They told him to come back at three and they'd take care of it.
Finally, time for the eye exam... easy. Go in, read a line on the wall, in, out, no problem...
*cough*
No problem, right?
Right?!?
Ah, this is Qatar. Nothing is easy in Qatar. I go in and the examiner looks at my picture and then at me and asks "You need your glasses to see?" I replied affirmative. He proceeded to tell me that I needed to have my glasses on in my picture for my license then.
I was not happy. I got my pictures taken the second day I was here. They never told me what they were for and so I just kind of went along for the ride. It was a regular photo studio so when I went in they suggested I take off my glasses...
So now it's 3 o'clock and I need to get a picture taken. Easy. In, picture taken and developed, out. Sure thing this time, eh? Haha, no. Everything closes in the middle of the day... makes sense in the desert. Unfortunately it meant we'd need to wait an hour just to have the picture taken... let alone processed. So we went back to Al Khor...
There was no way I was going back to work for an hour so I had the driver drop me off back at the apartment.
A wasted day and I still have to go back to Doha tomorrow for a stupid lousy picture... If the guy suggests I take off my glasses it might come to blows.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
*Cough*
I wish I could take some pictures out here at the site to give you guys an idea what the sand is like... Visibility is under half a mile and the stuff gets into your nose and lungs and it's pretty unpleasant.
Some google map updates...
This is Al Ghariyah.
View Larger Map
The resort condos are lined up in the middle of the map. Ours was the farthest one to the west. It's pretty much in a straight line down from the jetty(that's what I was calling it whether I was right or not...)/breakwater to the north(also where we swam out to watch the sunrise).
This is the site(aka Qatargas CSP).
View Larger Map
Technically it's just the office. If you drag the map to the northeast along the road you eventually land at the berth where we're building this thing. The pictures are definitely awhile ago since there's a real building out at the berth(it's huge). There should also be several smaller trailers near the two big buildings in the initial picture(they would be in the parking area to the southwest). If you zoom out you can see the whole area, the city is called Ras Laffan Industrial City. Plenty industrial, not much city.
Last one: This is Al Kohr.
View Larger Map
Just ignore the fact that Google spells it wrong. All of the road signs here show Al Khor so that's what I go with. Directly to the left of the word Al Khawr is the soccer field. Somewhere west of there is the villa. I'm not oriented well enough yet to have any idea where it exactly is.
Still missing you guys. I'll update again soon.
PS These people don't know how to make a proper pizza.
Some google map updates...
This is Al Ghariyah.
View Larger Map
The resort condos are lined up in the middle of the map. Ours was the farthest one to the west. It's pretty much in a straight line down from the jetty(that's what I was calling it whether I was right or not...)/breakwater to the north(also where we swam out to watch the sunrise).
This is the site(aka Qatargas CSP).
View Larger Map
Technically it's just the office. If you drag the map to the northeast along the road you eventually land at the berth where we're building this thing. The pictures are definitely awhile ago since there's a real building out at the berth(it's huge). There should also be several smaller trailers near the two big buildings in the initial picture(they would be in the parking area to the southwest). If you zoom out you can see the whole area, the city is called Ras Laffan Industrial City. Plenty industrial, not much city.
Last one: This is Al Kohr.
View Larger Map
Just ignore the fact that Google spells it wrong. All of the road signs here show Al Khor so that's what I go with. Directly to the left of the word Al Khawr is the soccer field. Somewhere west of there is the villa. I'm not oriented well enough yet to have any idea where it exactly is.
Still missing you guys. I'll update again soon.
PS These people don't know how to make a proper pizza.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
En Shala
I'm spelling that phonetically because I have no idea how to spell it in Arabic. Basically it means "If God wills it." It's typically used in a "There's nothing I can do now but wait" fashion. It's very appropriate for how I'm feeling about work right now. Within a two day span I managed to create and then avert my first major catastrophe here(I'm not exaggerating either. It would have been a serious problem if it had gone undetected). I guess technically I didn't create it. I was just the messenger, but that didn't stop me from take the brunt of the shouting and scrutiny. Let me tell you it is a very different experience when you make a mistake in the office vs when you make one during work out in the field. Let's just say I had people very high up in the company very interested in the details of my job and how I was doing it. It's a very uncomfortable situation. Lessons learned and time to move on.
It's Friday. Friday is basically Sunday here and it's our only day off. I may or may not go into Doha today. Unfortunately with the way work's been going I haven't had any time to take more pictures. I can't wait till I get my driver's license so I can go out and explore a bit on my own(with my camera for sure).
The temperature since I arrived has averaged about 115-116. What's surprised me though is how comfortable I've felt with it even getting off the plane. Of course the last few days the wind has kicked up some pretty fierce sandstorms. It was cool though watching the sand snake across the road just like powdery snow. Of course the difference here was that the temperature was much higher and I was driving through a desert with Arabic music blasting on the radio... Definitely reminded me that I'm not home right now. The other big thing that reminds me that I'm not in Colorado anymore is the tan colored skies in the morning... or any time the wind is blowing... No blue to be seen. Eerie.
Hope you all have a good weekend.
It's Friday. Friday is basically Sunday here and it's our only day off. I may or may not go into Doha today. Unfortunately with the way work's been going I haven't had any time to take more pictures. I can't wait till I get my driver's license so I can go out and explore a bit on my own(with my camera for sure).
The temperature since I arrived has averaged about 115-116. What's surprised me though is how comfortable I've felt with it even getting off the plane. Of course the last few days the wind has kicked up some pretty fierce sandstorms. It was cool though watching the sand snake across the road just like powdery snow. Of course the difference here was that the temperature was much higher and I was driving through a desert with Arabic music blasting on the radio... Definitely reminded me that I'm not home right now. The other big thing that reminds me that I'm not in Colorado anymore is the tan colored skies in the morning... or any time the wind is blowing... No blue to be seen. Eerie.
Hope you all have a good weekend.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Major picture update
Here are some shots of the area around the villa.
And some inside shots
This is my room. It's definitely big enough.
This is the staircase leading up to my room. My room is on the third floor of the building(which you can't see from the shots I posted yesterday.
Here is the dining room. To the right in this shot is the front door.
This is the living room. Those chairs are insanely comfortable.
And this is our cat... she stays outside. I can't recall her name at the moment.
Up next: some outdoor shots.
And some inside shots
This is my room. It's definitely big enough.
This is the staircase leading up to my room. My room is on the third floor of the building(which you can't see from the shots I posted yesterday.
Here is the dining room. To the right in this shot is the front door.
This is the living room. Those chairs are insanely comfortable.
And this is our cat... she stays outside. I can't recall her name at the moment.
Up next: some outdoor shots.
Turkish food, medical exams, and a few pics
I'm still having trouble adjusting to the time change over here... It's pretty rough. I'm so disoriented I keep having to figure out what day it is....
Todays adventures began with a trip to Doha to get pictures taken and blood types determined and eventually led to the wild part of the day: the "medical exam". The medical exam consisted of drawing vial of blood and a chest x-ray. Pretty easy, takes about 15 minutes.... Except for the check in process. Now normally if you go to check in to get this kind of stuff done it works pretty much like a bank line. You have some windows or partitions and the people taking care of you would be set up there and everyone would be lined up and waiting for their turn. Ah, but this is Qatar. I'm quickly learning that things are never that simple around here. So the way it really works there are 6 windows(only between 2 and 4 are open at any given moment) and about 15 rows of chairs set up three wide. There's a man speaking fast and angry arabic at the front directing people to the windows. Basically as one line gets down to about 3 people he'll call the next row up(each line had 6 people at most) and either send them all to one line or randomly send them to different lines(it was quite strange). Sometimes he'd go yell at one of the people checking people in and other times one of them would yell at him. The craziness happened as he'd call a row up... There was always someone who would try to advance their spot... and sometimes succeeded. It's a twisted form of musical chairs... As one person I talked to put it "It's a very mercenary society." Basically every man for himself (this doesn't translate well to driving but it's how they operate anyway... more on driving later).
So once I got through check in and got my receipt(which included having a picture taken so they can verify that the person with the receipt is the person they are checking) I proceeded to the line to have my blood drawn. Yes, line. It's a pretty efficient assembly line they have set up... the first lady looks at your paperwork and hands it off to the second who stamps it. You have two people in the room drawing blood at a time. It felt like being in one of those Visa commercials where everyone is very efficiently and happily passing through the line until that one guy comes along and messes the whole thing up. That guy is sharply rebuked in Arabic and quickly tries to get to the next point before further embarrassing himself. The blood draw was probably the least harrowing part of the ordeal. I didn't even have time to look away before he stuck me but it didn't hurt and I don't have a giant bruise so he obviously has a clue what he's doing(makes sense when you're a basically a robot sticking 50 people an hour). After that was the chest x-ray. Imagine a room not unlike a department store dressing room with stalls... and 10-15 sweaty men of rather varied nationalities(Egyptian, Indian, English, Filipino just to name the ones I could figure out right off) without shirts standing in a line front of a door where a very gruff, dark skinned man looks out the door and yells "Next" turns back inside and then yells at the person because he's holding up the line. Inside there are always two people 1 waiting behind the partition and one getting x-rayed. The part that concerned me was that there was nothing between me and the machine... I was touching my chest to something that was never sterilized and had already been touched by 150-200 people, just today... I'd better not break out in some kind of crazy rash or I'm going to be angry.
Once the insanity for the day was over we went out for lunch. The Romanians(3) outnumber the Americans(2) in the car so we went for Turkish food(not that we put up a fight... wouldn't have mattered since me and the other guy had no idea what they were talking about until they told us what they decided). I like Turkish food. Lots of meat. Lots of pita bread and some crazy spreads for the pita bread. I had kababs and some other craziness that I have no hope of ever getting the names right so I'm not going to try. All that matters is that it was good. I ate way too much though. And it looks like we're going to have a huge dinner too. One of the guys in the house is making spaghetti with homemade meatballs, eggplant parmesan, and roasted chicken(we're going to be eating a lot of chicken around here for awhile...)
Now for some pictures...
This is our front gate
This is the front of the Villa
Another shot of the Villa with the pool
More later.
Still missing you all. Bye for now.
Todays adventures began with a trip to Doha to get pictures taken and blood types determined and eventually led to the wild part of the day: the "medical exam". The medical exam consisted of drawing vial of blood and a chest x-ray. Pretty easy, takes about 15 minutes.... Except for the check in process. Now normally if you go to check in to get this kind of stuff done it works pretty much like a bank line. You have some windows or partitions and the people taking care of you would be set up there and everyone would be lined up and waiting for their turn. Ah, but this is Qatar. I'm quickly learning that things are never that simple around here. So the way it really works there are 6 windows(only between 2 and 4 are open at any given moment) and about 15 rows of chairs set up three wide. There's a man speaking fast and angry arabic at the front directing people to the windows. Basically as one line gets down to about 3 people he'll call the next row up(each line had 6 people at most) and either send them all to one line or randomly send them to different lines(it was quite strange). Sometimes he'd go yell at one of the people checking people in and other times one of them would yell at him. The craziness happened as he'd call a row up... There was always someone who would try to advance their spot... and sometimes succeeded. It's a twisted form of musical chairs... As one person I talked to put it "It's a very mercenary society." Basically every man for himself (this doesn't translate well to driving but it's how they operate anyway... more on driving later).
So once I got through check in and got my receipt(which included having a picture taken so they can verify that the person with the receipt is the person they are checking) I proceeded to the line to have my blood drawn. Yes, line. It's a pretty efficient assembly line they have set up... the first lady looks at your paperwork and hands it off to the second who stamps it. You have two people in the room drawing blood at a time. It felt like being in one of those Visa commercials where everyone is very efficiently and happily passing through the line until that one guy comes along and messes the whole thing up. That guy is sharply rebuked in Arabic and quickly tries to get to the next point before further embarrassing himself. The blood draw was probably the least harrowing part of the ordeal. I didn't even have time to look away before he stuck me but it didn't hurt and I don't have a giant bruise so he obviously has a clue what he's doing(makes sense when you're a basically a robot sticking 50 people an hour). After that was the chest x-ray. Imagine a room not unlike a department store dressing room with stalls... and 10-15 sweaty men of rather varied nationalities(Egyptian, Indian, English, Filipino just to name the ones I could figure out right off) without shirts standing in a line front of a door where a very gruff, dark skinned man looks out the door and yells "Next" turns back inside and then yells at the person because he's holding up the line. Inside there are always two people 1 waiting behind the partition and one getting x-rayed. The part that concerned me was that there was nothing between me and the machine... I was touching my chest to something that was never sterilized and had already been touched by 150-200 people, just today... I'd better not break out in some kind of crazy rash or I'm going to be angry.
Once the insanity for the day was over we went out for lunch. The Romanians(3) outnumber the Americans(2) in the car so we went for Turkish food(not that we put up a fight... wouldn't have mattered since me and the other guy had no idea what they were talking about until they told us what they decided). I like Turkish food. Lots of meat. Lots of pita bread and some crazy spreads for the pita bread. I had kababs and some other craziness that I have no hope of ever getting the names right so I'm not going to try. All that matters is that it was good. I ate way too much though. And it looks like we're going to have a huge dinner too. One of the guys in the house is making spaghetti with homemade meatballs, eggplant parmesan, and roasted chicken(we're going to be eating a lot of chicken around here for awhile...)
Now for some pictures...
This is our front gate
This is the front of the Villa
Another shot of the Villa with the pool
More later.
Still missing you all. Bye for now.
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