Expat habits: Two weddings
There is a phenomenon amongst expats that I wasn’t aware of until I partook in it myself. It is the double wedding. As in, get married and then get married again, usually in a different location. Usually with different guests. Sometimes there is a significant time delay. Sometimes there is a delay of just [...]
Newbie Tuesdays: Clothes I wear to death in Qatar
Before I moved to Qatar I obsessed about what to wear. Obsessed. Now that I’m here, I can see that there’s nothing to worry about. It’s all about staples and layers. One of the best pieces of advice I got about dressing in Qatar was from Kirsty at 4 kids, 20 suitcases and a [...]
Christmas in Qatar is…
; Christmas in Qatar is not an assumption. Christmas is a work day. Christmas is celebrated in advance, at brunch, with friends and strangers. Christmas is not affordable, after I spent QR5,000 to find out my dog is dying. Christmas is a story I tell my friends who don’t celebrate it. Christmas is a ‘Season’s [...]
Newbie Tuesdays: Outlay for your move to Qatar
There is a common preconception that all expats, especially ones living in the Middle East, are rolling in money. And fair enough I guess – from the outside I can see how it seems that way: tax free, nice house, lots of travel etc etc. And let’s face it, many people wouldn’t ditch their [...]
Don’t ask why
Not long after I arrived in Doha I was handed a piece of paper by one of my new friends which was a compiled list of mantras or sayings that expats had adopted to rationalise their new lives and help them get through the many unusual and trying situations they encountered. Top of the list was: [...]
9 Rules for Expats in Qatar
I have written a guest post for the Matador Network titled ‘9 Rules for Expats in Qatar’. I really enjoyed writing this piece and having a chuckle about the unusual rules we expats follow here. I think you can become so accustomed to them that you forget that they once seemed foreign. I know a lot of [...]
Qatar Ramadan Diary: Simply confusing for an expat
Below is my original piece for Doha News and their Ramadan Diary. As I’ve said, due to a timing conflict, this is not what I submitted. You can view my reviewed, published piece here. I find it quite funny that I wrote this before Ramadan started. It’s so perky and optimistic! I still believe it’s true, I’m [...]
Ramadan – 2 weeks in
A few weeks ago I was invited by Doha News to write a guest post for their Ramadan Diary feature. The brief was: “We are looking for anecdotes, thoughts, reflections, experiences on Ramadan. The experiences/thoughts can be good/bad/black/white/gray and come from non-Muslims and Muslims”. So pretty broad, really. I originally wrote a piece about my [...]
Newbie Tuesdays: The medical test
In order to get a Residency Permit for Qatar, every expat must have a medical test to make sure they don’t have any infectious diseases. They take blood and do an X-ray to screen for Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and HIV. My medical test took place around 1 year ago. In 2011 this was the day before [...]
Your job in Qatar
I’m going to tell you something about your job in Qatar. It’s not what you think. It might look the same. You may have a job title resembling the job you had at home. You might even have a job description that outlines the role you have signed up for and you might recognise some [...]
