Doha Diaries 5: Lebanese Cherries

Friday July 20, 2007

It's the weekend here. Fridays and Saturdays are the days off. I slept most of the day today, likely recovering from jet lag. Not that I hadn't slept enough the night before ... I didn't set an alarm and was woken up by the head superintendent explaining why I might not have running water. It came back 20 minutes later and had he not called me, I would have slept properly and wouldn't have even known.

I'm ssttaaaaarving!!! Not that there isn't any food here. I went grocery shopping last night at the last minute and hadn't made a list. So i bought fruit and milk and a couple household items. Now i realize none of it is enough to give me sustenance!! So today, lebanese cherries filled my tummy at suppertime. Hopefully that will be enough to hold me 'til i write this blog and go grab something.

Speaking of grocery shopping, it's beyond pricey here. I don't know how people get by. The local stuff isn't great quality so you have to buy american or european brands. For example: Scott towels are $20 for 6. Kellogg's cereals are $9-$12 a box. Grapefruit and oranges are ALL from Florida and cost $10/kg!! Those are all in USD. Instead i save on gaz...about $.20/L. YES! TWENTY CENTS per LITRE!! Ghe weather is super hot during the day, in the evening you can be outside for a while. Right now it's about 33C, which is totally bearable but you get thirsty really fast and started sweating for no reason even if you stand still.

Tomorrow, I will get a little taste of life here. One of my colleagues is leaving Doha, which is quite a frequent occurrence apparently and we are having a goodbye supper for her. I'm looking forward to experiencing the friend/work dynamics.

I hope you guys are reading and enjoying this. There are no computers left in the regular space, so i'm in the smoke infested area of this internet cafe. I'm sure my cancer cells are getting fed very well and preparing to take over more than just my lungs. Time to go feed myself.