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

A friend of mine from Saudi who’s in constant communication with me has always been generous in giving praises whenever I tell her that I drive here in Doha. She’s simply amazed that I am actually driving here already. Then she tells me about someone they know who’s just new driving in Saudi, how that person is so scared to drive. I tell my friend that I too am a bit scared but I had to brave if I want to be able to drive. I just try my best to drive safely and pray a lot especially before I start driving. I also start telling her that their friend has a valid reason to be terrified when driving in Saudi. Having lived there for...

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Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Since Islam uses a lunar calendar—with each month starting with the sighting of the new moon, so does Ramadan. More than a billion Muslims around the world, spend Ramadan with prayer, charity and most of all fasting. It is the Muslims belief that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam to Muhammad their prophet and founder of Islam. On the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims practice “sawm” or fasting. During this time they cannot eat or drink, including water, while the sun shines. As one of the “Five Pillars (duties)” of Islam, all able Muslims take part in sawm from about age twelve. Thus, families...

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A lot of people have been emailing me to help them find a job in the gulf. I am not a contractor nor employed in an employment agency so I really can't help you with that. However, let me tell you this. I got my first job in Saudi Arabia through the Internet. I found a post in jobisland.com in which an employer wanted someone with experience in graphics and web design to work as a consultant for another company. That was in 1999. I got my second job in the gulf in 2002 by searching the web and looking for company websites where my work would fit in. I was able to find an advertising agency in the gulf and directly sent the General...

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Yesterday was a really busy day for me. I was scheduled to have my ADSL connected in the morning so I had to wake up early as the guys who do the installation can come anytime. I called Qtel just to ask them if they knew what time their technicians would be coming but was told to just wait for their call. After a while, I got a SMS message confirming that I do have a scheduled appointment and I should call a number which apparently was the number of the technician. And so I called and told the guy that I had to have it installed as I had to leave the flat at 11:30 as I had a flight to catch. By 9:30...

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It was Xiane's Bday last Friday. As planed, we took her to the Seef Mall as they have a play area for the kids. She rode the teacup ride, the Flying carpet, a horse, a camel and went jumping on an inflated play area. She enjoyed it! Mavis also tried driving a car while I tried flying a jet fighter. Both, without success in our chosen games. At Lunch time (1:00 p.m.) , we ate at a place we usually go to, Rendezvous. The Managers and waiters already know us and greet us, esp. Xiane, when we come to eat. So we told them that it was Xiane's birthday that Friday. By the end of our meal, they brought our a piece of cake covered...

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