Fun at the park amongst other things

Just a few pictures of Emily enjoying the local park yesterday afternoon. Today (my Birthday!) me and Em went to look around a nursery. Emily is going to be going for 2 days a week to make sure she is socialising with other children enough. The nursery day here goes from 6am till 2pm (I won't be dropping her off at 6!). She will be attending busy bees in Al Waab and has a first settling in session on Thursday. I can only hope its as good as her lovely nursery in the UK. I can't believe I'm confessing this but as a birthday treat I'm getting Mcdonalds delivered to the apartment (yes they deliver!). With the meal, delivery and a tip its only about £4.50! Naughty but nice - Happy Birthday to me!

 

My new permanent hire car has arrived! Toot toot

Visit to the beach and king of the road!

On Saturday late afternoon we visited Al Wakra beach. Al Wakra is about a 15-20 min drive out of the Doha. I've attached some photos of us enjoying a walk on the beach following which we found a lovely local coffee shop where as you'll see from the pictures Andi found a beer substitute. On Saturday evening I got a hire car and so Emily and I are mobile! I have been given a temporary car until my permanent one is ready - its quite funny going from driving a ford KA to a 4.5 litre 7 seater chevrolet! Emily and I went shopping in it this morning and I felt like king of the road! I think I'll like driving over here........

Not much mischief I can find here!

Paddling with mummy

Team Harris

Beer substitute!

Which Emily shared!

Mummy's runaround

Fasten our seat belts mummy's in front!

Learning curves

We learnt yesterday that on a Friday everything closes until about 4pm. Friday is a very religious day here and Friday prayers mean that the mosques are full and the streets empty. It was a good morning for me to

practice my driving. We visited Katara Cultural Village in the morning and found a lovely beach.  The beach has a family section that has giant inflatable slides out at sea - Emily will have a such fun when she's a bit older! We went out for lunch and unfortunately due to everything being closed we ended up in an American diner - Emily enjoyed her healthy lunch of chicken burger and chips! This morning (Saturday) Emily and daddy went swimming in the hotel pool as it was a pleasant 23 degrees. 

Yummy chicken and chips

Night-time view from the hotel pool of the mosque

Daddy's brought me this - swimming or Miss World?

Where's that cocktail I ordered

Sunny pool days with daddy

Splish Splash

One two three jump!

paddle kick paddle kick

An evening walk

A walk along the harbour (corniche) with mummy and daddy after work

Hurray daddy's home and its the weekend

Just checking out the view

City lights

Brave days and haggling

As I write this its Thursday lunchtime here and Em is having a nap. We've had a hectic couple of days house hunting. Yesterday was a brave day for me! When Andi returned from work and Em was in bed I went late night shopping on my own and drove into the city centre. I think I've cracked driving on the wrong side of the road and I didn't get lost! The shopping malls here are huge and very busy even at 10pm at night. I'm also learning that the rules of the road are that there are no rules! We've both got our provisional drivers licence which will last until we get residence permits. I still can't believe the price of petrol - the petrol light came on yesterday and Andi accidentally got into the queue for premium unleaded - a full tank cost roughly £6!! Crazy. 

Camels at the souk

Exploring the souk

Exploring in the hot weather is just exhausting

Exciting times - lots to see!

Soaking up the atmosphere

Emily and I ventured out into the souk yesterday which is pretty amazing - there are rows and rows of little stalls selling everything from household goods to spices. Emily still draws attention everywhere we go and one family asked to take her photo and another little girl came up and said something to me in arabic and then gave Emily a big hug and kiss. We can't go anywhere without her being scooped up for cuddles and showered with kisses. Quite often she doesn't know whether to smile or cry-no such thing as stranger danger here! I learnt on our trip to the souk that Emily needs a lesson in haggling. I was always told to not pay the price quoted in the souk and so when Emily picked up a musical toy she wanted I was told it was 13 QR - I offered 10 and was told no and so I took the toy off Emily (bringing on big tears!) I'm sure the man thought 'ah a western mother she won't see her little girl cry and will pay full price' but we walked off with Emily looking back longingly. We visited the souk again today and I had a coffee in the sunshine (its quite hot today) and we pottered around. We met some camels - photo attached. 

The pace of life here is pretty slow - I'm learning there is the actual time and then Qatari time - everyone is late for everything! 

Hopefully we've found a permanent house for when we move in 3 weeks time but we're negotiating a price and going to take a second look so more about that another time......

Tomorrow is the start of the weekend and the current plan is to spend a family day at the beach. Can't wait. 

First weekend in Doha

Welcome to our blog from our new home in Doha, Qatar! Hopefully this will provide a good way for all our family and friends to keep in touch, see how we are getting on and what escapades Emily gets up to!! 


Our first 48 hours in Doha have been exciting as we get used to our new life. The city is half amazing and half building site! No-one walks anywhere - they all drive big 4 wheel drives and so you take your life in your hands when you cross the road - its like crossing the M25 with a buggy! Still it did only cost £5 to fill up the car with petrol! We have had lunch in the souk, done our first food shop, been to a local park, visited numerous shopping malls and had a drive around the city to get our bearings. We had to wear jumpers today - outrageous! It was only 18 degrees and a bit windy! I have sourced some playgroups for Emily and found a swimming club and all the shopping malls have endless opportunities for soft play. Andi brought an Iraqi cookbook and so we've been cooking with local ingredients - I made a tasty mince and green pea stew tonight - tasted better than it sounds! 


The Arabs all seem very friendly and Emily is doted upon by all! So far its all looking very positive. 

Mummy and Emily at Aspire Park

Daddy and Emily at Aspire Park fountain

Hello ducks!

Hot dog and chips for lunch at the park!

Inspecting the Corniche

I attach some photos of our first few days.