What day is it?

Although the date on this says, Monday, Oct. 19, I'm really writing this on Wednesday, Oct. 21st.

Ok, when we last left our heroine, she was just about to move into her new apartment!

My driver picked me up at the Four Seasons Hotel at noon on Sunday and as we drove further away from the water front and closer to the apartment building, I realized that my days of being spoiled were over. The city is, as most of you have heard, under construction and it looks a bit like a war-zone in some areas, only you have to remind yourself that it is CONstruction, not DEstruction! We arrived at the apartment building, which is a brand new building and not completely finished. The street looks more like a wide alley - dirt street with a huge crater right in front of the building. The front is so unfinished that we have to climb a make-shift stairway made of a pile of bricks. However, once you get past that, the building is quite nice. My apartment is on the 7th floor, #701, with a view of rooftop air conditioning units and satellite dishes! The elevators are a kick - about 4x4 feet (and that may be a stretch) with mirrored walls with scrolly etching on the mirrors. I will try to add some photos later of the outside of the building and my apartment, but I have no internet at home, so am doing this from work (lunch hour and after hours).

My apartment has two huge bedrooms and 1 full and 1 half bath, a large living and dining room - the table is round and can seat 8 easily. The living room furniture is what we call "Arabic Chic" and not terribly comfy, but it works well enough. The half bath is situated so that you look from the dining and living rooms right into the bathroom, so I keep that door closed most of the time. The kitchen is basic and could use more cupboards (a woman's usual lament about her kitchen), but is serviceable. I am actually quite happy with the space despite the obvious drawbacks in workmanship. The tiling looks like it was done by a grade 7 shop class - really pathetic. There is a huge gouge out of the flooring in my bedroom, and the kitchen sink/counter is metal with no bracing, so when you open the cupboard under the sink you scrape the cupboard door on the underside of the sink. The air conditioning has controls that indicate 3 fan speeds, but there is really only one speed - fast and loud (for those who work in Enrolment Services, think the Conference Room at 9:00 a.m.)! I have tried different ways of running it through the night so I won't wake up gasping for air; the best seems to be to run the unit in the living area only and to wear earplugs!

The first day I moved in, my assigned "buddy", Marianne, took me to a shopping centre called Villagio where there is a store called Carrefour - the French equivalent of Walmart. I got some basic stuff, but hadn't made a list (typical Kathy), so ended up with no pillow, duvet or towels. Can't remember at this point exactly what I DID get, but it must have been some pretty useless stuff. Marianne had to get back to the office, but CJ met me with our driver and got me home with my useless stuff. We then walked to an Arabian restaurant near our building for dinner; had a good meal, and then went to another store where I picked up some bedding so I could at least go to bed that night. Slept ok until about 3:30 and then could not get back to sleep . . . . all in preparation for my first day at the office!

It was great to see Fred and some of the others I knew from UofC, met my new colleagues and had a tour of campus. By 2:00 I was completely bagged but managed to make it to the end of the day. When I got home, I lay down for a while but felt so lousy - I can't remember feeling quite so awful before. I couldn't even get up or even think what to do re: dinner, although I knew I needed to eat something. Well, CJ came to the rescue again. She called to see if I wanted to go to dinner and I explained my situation. She brought up some food and sat and listened to me talk. It's at about this time that I was questioning my sanity for coming to Doha! It's normal and I'm sure I'll experience the feelings again, but the food and sympathetic ear helped me immensely, as did an early bed night and the realization that I was in need of completing the furnishing of my new home. It's really hard to do the "urban camping" thing. I did get a very good night's sleep and left the next morning for work feeling more rested, but wondering what my job will entail.

My assigned office also has some interesting quirks. It is freezing cold (thank God for the fleece wrap Nina made for me, which also kept me cozy on the flight from Calgary to London - brrrr that was cold, too); and has four of the these floor thingies for electical wiring that I have to roll over all the time. At the end of my 2nd day, I asked Fred if I could move into the office next door which is a bit warmer (but not much) and w/o the floor problem. My new office was originally to be for the admin assistant since it is right by the entrance to the Student Services area. That may be a draw back, but I think this location will help me to become acquainted with the students much more quickly.

At the end of my second day of work (day 4 in Doha) I was feeling pretty good, and Marianne took me to do a bit more shopping for things like a rug for the bathroom, a shower curtain (since I'd been hunkering down in the tub to shower for the past 2 days, a couple of lamps for the bedside tables, some more kitcheny stuff and cleaning supplies. When we got home, I seemed to be missing a bag. Marianne and I looked in her car, her apartment (which was tricky because her power was out so we were using the flashlight in her cell phone) and then Marianne realized that I hadn't retrieved the bag from the store where I had to check it when we went into it. I was relieved that she remembered it. I can get my driver (Arshad) to take me there at lunchtime tomorrow the pick it up. I had dinner (some version of Kraft Dinner and raw veggies) and set to work getting the shower curtain up, washing the dusty floors, taking out garbage (there's no such thing as recycling here) and I had tons of wrappers, boxes, bags, etc. that had to go out. I opened the boxes of the two bedside lamps only to find they were completely smashed. Returned those today (Wednesday) when I picked up the wayward bag I'd left behind.

So far, I'm happy I made the move. I know I have huge challenges ahead, both in personal and professional terms. I'm still dealing with jet lag in a big way and understand it can take a couple of weeks before I will feel "normal" again. (But maybe the flu shot I had yesterday is contributing to my tired, achy feeling today.) The need to depend on a driver to get around is proving to be a real challenge to me, as is the fact that I don't know where the hell I am most of the time. I hope on the weekend to go out and do some walking around on my own to learn my way around the immediate neighbourhood anyway. I can't get my driver's license until I get my Resident Permit, and that usually takes 3-4 weeks, so I will be using Arshad (my driver) for a while. There are cool discoveries all the time, tho, which makes everyday so interesting. One thing I think is so cool is the ramps they have instead of escalators. They are like flat escalators (no stairs - just ramps) and you can push your basket or stroller onto the ramp and they don't roll down the ramp! It is sooo cool and makes so much sense!

My work day is coming to an end (Wednesday). I am again extraordinarily tired. Tomorrow I go for my medical "stuff" - blood work, x-ray and blood type. Another day I will have to be finger-printed . . . . all part of the process of getting my resident permit. Hopefully, I will get over the jet lag soon and be able to feel like I can make it through the day without a nap! More later!