Today I became a permanent resident of Qatar!

My Resident Permit came through today, and it feels so good! Now I can get a driver's license and a liquor permit - two things that you wouldn't expect to go hand-in-hand, but that's the way it is in Qatar. In any case , it feels like FREEDOM! In order to complete the process to obtain my driver's license, I will first need to do an eye test (oh, dear) and then obtain a letter from my employer. I take those items, along with copies of my resident permit, passport, visa, Alberta driver's license and the employer letter to the Transportation department where, hopefully, it will be just a matter of issuing the license (no test, please). The liquor permit will likely require the same ridiculous amount of paper work. There is only one liquor store in town and it is at the outskirts of town, I'm told. I will also only be permitted to buy liquor up to a certain percentage of my income - so I obviously won't be drinking much.

CJ and I are starting the process to rent a car. We have talked to several of our co-workers to see what companies they went with and how it works. One of them accepts only cash for the monthly payments and comes to campus to pick up the payment, and it's not a set date so you never know exactly when to have your money for them. I asked what happens if you don't have the cash on the day they come to collect (do they break your kneecaps?), and was told they will just come on another day. Sound business practice, don't you think? CJ and I are both looking forward to having the independence that a car at our disposal will bring to us, but also are a little apprehensive of our first driving in the chaos that is Doha-driving.

Since my last post, on Friday I took part in the Doha Walk for Breast Cancer. It was a 5K walk along Al Corniche which is the lovely walkway downtown along the gulf. It was very hot and humid - so humid that it was more hazy than usual. Although we arrived at about 3:45, the walk didn't start until nearly 5:00 - after the sun was mostly down and it was a bit cooler. It was still plenty hot, tho. I registered on-site and so had to put my pink t-shirt on over the shirt I had worn. That made me even hotter and by about half-way through the walk I decided to get the shirt I had worn off. The contortions I went through to pull my arms out from both shirts and then put then through only the pink shirt, and then pull the other shirt off over my head was completely comical . . . . but I was much cooler! It only took us about an hour to do the 5K and it felt really good to walk the distance as it had been a long time since I had moved my body much.

A couple of impressions of the day stick in my mind. First, on the way down to the start of the walk we passed an area which is apparently a gathering spot for "the bachelors". They are not permitted to congregate in 'family' areas so are very restricted as to where they can go. Thus, they end up gathered in one or two areas of the city in huge groups. I found it really sad to think that they did not have the freedom to go wherever they wanted, and that they had essentially nothing to do except mill around. I know it's a cultural thing, but it seemed so discriminatory. These men come from mostly SE Asian countries and are working to send money back to their families. I couldn't help but think how lonely they must be and that their living situations are abysmal. Seeing them all gathered like a herd just made me very sad and somber.

The other impression from the day was how little support there was from Qataris for the breast cancer walk, in stark contrast to the incredible support our culture provides for such things. Although some of our students were involved in getting the UC-Q on board with the walk, it was truly only a handful of students - likely only six. I'm not even sure they did the walk - I saw a few of them (and some sisters and brothers) at the starting line, and then I saw some at a table UC-Q had set up about halfway down the route. I don't recall seeing any other women in abayas walking the route - it was all the expat community that took part in the walk. I don't think Qataris get the whole fund-raising thing, even though this money was being raised to help in the fight against breast cancer in Qatar.

Saturday was a fairly quiet day - although I did some. . . . . are you ready for it . . . . . more shopping! I still can't believe how much stuff I need, and I'm truly not being extravagant in acquiring things. Saturday is very busy at the malls and it took me nearly two hours to complete some basic shopping at Carrefour (the French Walmart). Later in the afternoon I walked to a nearby store to get some more sheets. I brought one set with me and they needed washing - desperately. With no dryer, it takes a day to dry the sheets, so I had to have something to put on the bed in the meantime. The sheets and beds in this country are the oddest sizes and there seems to be no standardization. I took the measurements of my mattress with me and I had my choice of several sizes - none that were very close to the measurements of my bed and, after choosing the ones that were closest in measurement (at least from what was written on the package) got them home to find they were quite a bit too large (tuck, tuck, tuck). I suppose it is better than having them too small!

Sunday it was back to work and I was actually able to help a student in distress! It was a great feeling to actually know what to do for her and to get her on the right path to resolving her problem. There is still so much to learn and it is very different here at UCQ than on main campus.

Sunday night a group of us went to the finals of the Sony Ericsson Women's Tennis Championships, the last tournament of the women's tour for this year. The singles final was between Venus and Serena Williams. I have never seen tennis of this calibre live and in person. Although we were seated way up on the nose-bleed section it was still quite an experience. Sondra, one of my Student Services colleagues, won a contest in which one of the prizes was box seats for the match. She was so close she could see the sweat dripping down Serena and Venus' faces! Serena won and after the presentation ceremony there was a show a la Cirque du Qatar in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Qatar Tennis Federation. There were drummers on steel oil drums, and acrobats dressed as tennis players who were lowered from great heights and mimed a tennis match in the sky, coming down to the ground to claim the prize. Other acrobats were then raised up to do some aerial work; and fire twirlers (I guess you would call them) were twirling fire thing-ies all around the stage, while huge gold confetti rained down. All the time this woman with bright blue hair and long white robe sang some Enya-Arabic thing. It was quite the extravaganza . . . and then it all had to be cleaned up for the final doubles match!