Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

I am on the verge of changing our transport service.  Aside from his usual reckless driving (which I thought at first was a special driving ability until it has become too daring), I think our transport guy is not the type who should be driving children to school.  We need someone who naturally cares for the safety of his passengers, especially that of children.  In less than 2 months he’s been into 2 accidents although he claims it wasn’t his fault.  And today, I am writing this instead of being in school to fetch my kid because our transport guy got into another accident on his way to fetch me.  I called my husband last minute to pick up our daughter (if only Karwa was more efficient then I would have easily taken a cab).  Yesterday, transport guy called to inform me an hour before he was supposed to pick me up that he wouldn’t be able to do so because he had to take care of his car insurance which was due yesterday.  I just feel that this is too much of a hassle rather than a convenience.  We hired a transport service so that I’ll have a break from driving and to make sure that my daughter goes to school safe everyday.  But now I think it’s only proper that I make a decision.  It’s either I look for a new guy or just drive the car myself.  This is going to be his last day of driving for us.  I haven’t told my husband but I’ve made up my mind.  I hope to find a better replacement but if not, I’d rather place my safety of my daughter in my hands.  I don’t want to wait for something worse to happen before I realize it.  And on Thursday I would deliver the news to him as Donald Trump would in his reality TV show The Apprentice, “Hiroshan, you’re fired!”

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The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society.  Using this definition from Wikipedia, my daughter Xianelle is definitely on her road to literacy and a rather tough one.

Ever since she started to speak, communication has rarely been a problem.  At 1 year old she could already communicate with us.  Although she still lacked the words then, it had not been a difficult task to understand her.  Before she turned 2, she had already learned more words and had more understanding of them.  And now that she’s 4, she has completely turned into a chatterbox!  Most of the time, we would beg for her to take a break from talking. 

Little did I know that my daughter already has the 2 important conditions for literacy, speaking and listening, two years ago.  Now she’s embarking into a really big ship called “education” that will be the key to becoming a completely literate person.

Xianelle now can write and is learning to read.  As a parent, it is very fulfilling to see your child able to write her name, have mastery of the alphabet and start reading words from a book or from billboards and buildings while you’re on the road.  It makes you smile to hear your child spell words.  But this is just half of the story; the other half which involves teaching your child to write and read is sometimes not too pleasant. 

It is not pleasant when we, parents forget that our children are not us, when we fail to remember that as children we were also like them when we were just starting to learn to read and write, maybe even worse.  It gets to our nerves when our children don’t pay enough attention to us when we try hard to tutor them.  I know that a lot of parents especially mothers can empathize with me.

Well nothing is perfect, we make mistakes by being too hard on children and pressuring our kids to learn things at the pace that we expect them to. Children on the other hand are sometimes too young to be so concerned about their learning, more so their education.  But I guess when we have the realization that as adults we should have more patience and understanding of our children.  We should try to find ways to make the learning process a little more enjoyable and fun for our children; to be more empathic of our children’s plight.  The sooner we, as parents bear in mind that we had been this road before, the more receptive our children will be.  More receptiveness will then lead to more learning in the process.  We must never forget that this road that was once ours, is tough and at times can be rough.

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Xianelle wearing her Snow White Costume

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Yesterday I went to Villagio Mall to check out the sale that certain stores have.  The Villagio Mall opens at around 9:00 which is quite early for a mall.  I was with the other mothers from school, actually they just invited me to come.  Our very first stop was at H&M which is the biggest store in the mall.  They also have the most number of items on sale.

Once inside the store we all started to look at the clothes rack and the pile of clothes, like perusing a book.  Shopping especially during a sale (which is the only time when I shop) could be tricky.  One has to have very keen eyes and be able to spot a nice item in a pile of clothes, next you have to look for your size and then make sure that the price is right.

Some people are lucky since they’re bodies fall into the “one-size-fits-all” or the “free size” category.  Unfortunately for me, it is a bit more difficult.  I really have to make sure that it is my size or else it would just go to waste.  And because of the time constraint, I can’t possibly try on every piece of clothing that I like.

Then you really have to make sure that the price on the tag is the actual price they’re selling it for.  It has happened to me a couple of times before, a item is tagged with a certain price then when you get to the cashier you’ll be shocked that it’s not what you expect it to be.  I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one who has had that experience.

We also got to visit the other stores that are on sale like Top Shop, Top Man, Next, Bershka and Dorothy Perkins.  I can’t believe that these stores especially Next and Bershka are claiming be on sale when their prices are way too costly!  And some people actually buy from these stores?  It’s insane!  But I guess some people have so much money to spare and I can’t blame them for that.  But as for me, I wouldn’t spend on anything more than 50 riyals not unless I really, really like it. 

Yesterday I only spent 160 riyals for the 10 items that I bought.  Well all I needed were clothes for everyday use.  Maybe when I lose weight I would splurge a bit on shopping nice clothes but still I’m not crazy enough to spend a hundreds on a single piece of clothing. 

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Yesterday I got to bond with my co-mothers from school.  Although we see each other and get to talk almost every day when we bring our children to school, I would say that yesterday was on a different level.  It all started when Tina (also a Filipina) and Ida (an Indonesian who also happens to live in the same building where we reside) whose children also belong to the Reception classes, invited me and Dimple to come with them to Villagio Mall.  Some stores are on sale and they were going to check them out and shop.  At first, Dimps and I were a bit hesitant because of the chores that we had to attend to in our own homes.  But then I thought this doesn’t happen everyday so I called my husband and told him about their invitation.  My husband allowed me to go in a heartbeat because it meant that he didn’t have to bring me to Villagio himself. 

Since it was still early, we proceeded to the home of Tina and waited there.  There were five of us, Tina, Ida, Dimps, myself and Chocho from Burma and whose kid is also in Reception.  I must say that I admire her place a lot.  It’s just perfect.  I had lived in a villa before but it doesn’t come close to their villa.  It’s spacious but it is very cozy.  While we were waiting she gave us coffee and we just chattered the whole time.  It was amazing how much you’ll learn about a person even in such a short time.  Although we all wished we could have stayed a little while longer we had to leave if we wanted to have enough time to go around the stores.

When we got inside the store, it was every woman for herself.  We got to go about our own business although occasionally we would check out on each other and sometimes ask each other whether a certain piece of clothing was nice.  We split in two groups but of course we all ended up seeing each other when it was time to go.  It was quite a nice way to spend the day (well half a day).  More than just the shopping, it was really nice that I got to spend sometime with these cool mommas.  I look forward to forming friendships with these women and I hope to have a lasting one.  

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