Getting a driving liscense!

I recently took my newly received Qatari residency and went to get a drivers licence.

Now...keep in mind that I really have not driven much in the past 10 years and that driving here is like Mad Max style. Seems like a smart idea huh?

So the driving "laws" here are much more like "ideas" than actual laws. They did not even have a licence program until 1986...so things are still in the "being worked out phase".

Regardless, off 4 of us went.

Step 1: You stand in line to visit type writer guy, however he speaks no English. So..you go back outside to find somebody outside who speaks Arabic. We were prepared and had brought a local guy named Ahmet with us. After typewrite guy and Ahmet worked out the cost then typewriter guy wrote our Arabic names on his 1953 model typewriter and shoo'ed us out of the building. Step 2: you go to a non marked little building with the most disgusting bathrooms this side of Calcutta to get your eyes tested.

Step 3: Once they determine that it makes no difference if you can see or not, they give you another form in Arabic

Step 4: You take all of your forms to yet another building that actually looks like a DMV. Common sense would say that you pick up a numbered ticket and wait for your turn. So the 4 of us Westerners did that but Ahmet decided that wasn't his plan and pushed his way through the line. 20 minutes later the 4 of us had Qatari driving license in our hand.

Now if they would just make a road map of the city...

When worlds merge!

In the past month, I have run into 3 different people from my time in the Pacific islands. I love when your worlds merge!

I had one guy come up to me here in Qatar and ask if I rememberd him, I said no and then he told me that he was in a band that I had hired to come out to Johnston Island about 7 years ago!
This is a picture of friends from the Marshall Islands. Great to see Danny the "Ahi Slayer" out here in the sandstorm!!

22456

22456 is the miles i flew on my vacation. apparently Doha is not close to anything.

The trip took me to the Bahamas for a stay at the super duper fancy Atlantis resort. Then to Oregon for some family time and a quick trip the country fair. Dad getting his cherry picking on!

me and tree man at the country fair
one of the best parts of the country fair are all the random parades that come through. If you dont know about the fair check out http://www.oregoncountryfair.org

Voodoo donuts in Portland is I think somewhat famous..you can get donuts that have bacon on them or coated in tang. You can also buy underpants and get married there!

good times with the family
great tree people at the fair
what i look like in multiples!

this was this was the view from our hotel room in the Bahamas



Mom & Dad on the BBQ!!


So...I am now back in Qatar...stay tuned for more from the sandbox

Same Same but Different

Life in Qatar is not that different than life in Antarctica.

Its actually the same just different. I dont think things are meant to live here...just like the ice. Weather wise in Antarctica our most extreme weather condition was called condition 1. Today here in the sandbox we are having a condition 5. Which means that when you step outside you are greeted by an unforgiving heat and full blown sandblast. Its like somebody is pouring sand into a hot fan and putting it on full blast in front of you.

Here are some pictures that my friend Joey took this week. You can have a better idea of where I am day to day...


This week I got to see my old friend Joey from Johnston Island. She is living and working in Afghanistan and was passing through town on her way back from vacation. It was great to see her and get caught up, it had been 5 years!!
My cubicle

My beautiful neighborhood
This is the plaza, where we do most of our special events and its a hang out zone. Only problem is who wants to hang out in a 140 degree sand storm? Whey they didn't design an indoor place...who knows.
Thank goodness for a smart idea around here. The indoor pool!! This is one of the two pools and places that I do spend any free time I have.
The main recreation center and where I work...

12 days till vacation...

I am officially a resident of...

Qatar. I am now an official resident of Qatar and so after 5 months of super strange residency requirements its official. The biggest perks to me are that I can drive and have Internet access. If you are born here in Qatar you get somewhere between $60,000-$80,000 USD per year every year as a stipend.

Life here is different and the middle east is very different than anywhere else I have ever been. The food, culture, scenery, laws...its all drastically different than everything I have been around. I am enjoying learning about it all. Its super duper super HOT here now, its been around 120 degrees by 9:00 am most days and it stays there till about 6:00 pm. I have no idea how people work outside all day.

Doha is a city under construction. It would be hard to find a building without a crane in it, on it or next to it. Doha had been in the running for the 2016 Olympic games but a couple of days ago it was announced that they were cut from the final 4.
Part of the old town...I really like the old town and when you arrive there its like stepping back in time. Which for Qatar was not that long ago (probably 20 years at most)

There are just as many wheelbarrows as there are cranes. You often see the workers sleeping in the wheelbarrows.


Out of old town and into modern times...a tricked out golf cart

Doha has its share of luxury hotels. This one is called Sharq Village and really is mind blowing! I think the cheapest rooms are $800 a night..but look how nice the pool is!



Qataris have money and the majority do not work. They spend their days shopping, eating, having kids and driving around huge cars & boats.

more cranes on top of all these buildings. Its like we are seeing the city be built for the first time ever.


Camels were replaced in 1986 for driving cars. I don't understand how they live outside here in the extreme heat, wind and sand without water!!!

fun for the tourists

me and a local
sand, sand and more sand

until next time...

Life in Qatar

Just a brief re-cap of the past 6 weeks...

I am living in Doha, Qatar which is a very small country on the Persian Gulf. The country is very rich because of all the oil & natural gas that sit just off shore. There is an american presence here because it sounds that the Qataris are worried that big strong Iran (just across the sea) is going to try and take the oil from them. I dont know how I did this, but I seem to have gotten myself a job in the middle of a battle for oil. Funny that my role it in all is to make sure people are happy and having a good time while they fight it out.

A few things I have learned in the past 42 days...

It costs $11USD to fill up a ford explorer here, I think its about $50 in the states
They started driving cars over here in the 1970's and started a drivers liscence program in 1986
Camels are the national animal
Muslims can have 4 wives
I have had 2 proposals (1 with a ring)
Most Qataris dont work because they get a $60,000 stipend for just being here
They import all the workers from the Phillipines, Egypt, Nepal and Bangladesh

Many sites here are under old fashioned censorship, so I was able to find a sneaky way to get at this one..but it doesnt seem to let me change the colors or add any pictures.

Thats about it for now, the strange continues!

hearts, kb

Life in Qatar

snowy glass bananas

Well...I am going back to work, its been a good 14 months of playing around but time to come out of retirement and fill the bank account back up.

I have accepted a job in the country of Qatar (next to Dubai) and am currently in Houston learning crazy things. I have learned what to do if I get taken hostage, how to survive a camel spider bite, how to survive in 140 degree heat and my new favorite is how to put on a chemical attack survival suit. The common word of the week seems to be "survive".

This is a picture of "after" our training in the suits. We were taught by some military guys to put on and seal gas masks in a very timely manner and then put on this crazy banana yellow suit and accessorise the seals with duct tape. Apparently duct tape is the answer for everything!! After we were fully suited up we were "gassed" and then put through some jumping jacks, stretches and jogging. I am happy to say that I successfully sealed myself up in the banana suit and didn't feel any of the "gas". I must somehow be attracted to the opposite of everything. When I first moved to the central pacific I was living in Crested Butte, Colorado. (no ocean, very big mountains). Then 7 years later when I left the tropical island life I moved to Antarctica (freezing cold, very big mountains). Now..I seem to be heading to a giant desert where the summer temperature range is 100-140 degrees. Not sure what the opposite of Qatar will be but I am sure I will find it.

Today's sky reminded me of how the snow/ice would look in Antarctica when the big snow cats were out driving around on the runways.
Just thought this was pretty...its from the hotel lobby and all hand blown glass

Lipstick Convention

I am in Houston, Texas with 4,000 Mary Kay Ladies, no joke!! They are the top sellers in the US and they are vicious in their pink & purple suits.

They are full of questions these ladies, the typical conversation seems to go like this:

"Are you with Mary Kay"
me: no
"You should be a Mary Kay Lady"
me: no thanks, I like to do other things
"Its a great way to make a living"
me: I am not that interested in lipstick
"Even when the economy is bad, you can still make great money"
me: Do you have a pink Cadillac?
"yes, and you get a new one every 2 years
me: Great, have a nice day
"Here is my card if you change your mind, I would love to help you set up a successful business

I am staying in a 1200 room hotel and there are 4000 Mary Kay Ladies crammed into most of those rooms. Today was a mass checkout and really amazing to watch the purple suit chaos.

Its a New Year!!

I love that people read this and then write to me and ask why I have not updated the site.

I didnt plan to update as I thought I would be "staying put" for 6 months but...easier said than done. I have done something that I have not done in quite awhile and that is taken several short trips in the United States. In the past few months I have spent some time in Indiana, Florida, San Francisco and scuba diving up here in the Pacific Northwest.

sunset in Key West, Florida This is Vanessa and this is a great story! I was with my family in Key West, Florida and getting on the trolley to take the town tour and she was the tour guide. We worked together in Antarctica but had not kept in touch so it was a real surprise for both of us! If you are ever in Key West, she gives an OUTSTANDING town tour! (this just after I had ran into 2 other fellow Antarctica winterovers here in a Portland bar)

Mom and Dad as tourists
I always love a trip to the ocean
A few days after returning from warm Florida, I found myself with some friends up in the mountains at a hot springs. Snow Angel ready positionI made up a Christmas Eve triathlon for the family, this is momma in event #2 which she excelled in with her softball pitching skills.
Portland had a white Christmas for the first time in 17 years!!! We rushed out to take the picture before it had accumulated but it really did snow all day!Dad loving the snow and also loving his new blue furry pants and pink necklace
New Years! A few of us girls decided to take a last minute trip to San Francisco. The word for the weekend was LEGENDARY and we really had a wonderful time!

This is a self portrait from the end of the night....good times and I definitely rang in the New Year!

That's it for now but stay tuned because it looks like I will be setting off on another overseas adventure pretty soon....

happy new year and thanks for following my adventures