Year: 2007

In this post, and maybe some more in the future (that’s why the 101, because there might still be 102, 103, and so on), I would like to point out some singularities of living in Qatar. Some of these may not be particularly unique only to Qatar, but as it is different compared to my beloved Pilipinas – anyway, I’ve only lived in these two countries so far.

1. Camels – being a desert country, I thought I would see a lot of camels around. However, this is not the case. Instead, you only see camels as exhibits in certain places. As a matter of fact, camels were already replaced by Land Cruisers on the road.
2. Roundabouts – this country is just simply full of roundabouts. You’ll see them almost all over Doha, the capital. Did it help ease out traffic? Well maybe before, but not now with the volume level of cars and trucks swarming the city.
3. Drainage System – obviously because of the scarcity of rain in this country, government failed or maybe just simply ignored provision for drainage system.
4. Street Names – from the looks of it, every street has a name. However, if you ask people about the street names or mentioning the name to a taxi driver, they wouldn’t know. They’ll just give you a blank look. Obviously, they don’t know the names. Even the major roads like the C-Ring, D-Ring, etc., they are not familiar with. You’ll have to rely on the use of landmarks if you want to go from one place to another. By the way, all offices and houses have PO Boxes. That’s where postal mail will reach you.
5. Construction Everywhere – wherever you go in the city, you’ll encounter construction going on. What’s annoying, though, is that in some cases it seems like eternity before construction is through. Just take for example the construction at the side of the road of the Toyota Tower (Al Abdulghani Tower), at the corner of C-Ring and Airport Road, since we arrived here more than 6 months ago, the construction is already going on. Until now it’s not yet finished. A friend even suggested before that it should have been finished before the start of the Asian Games, but now Asian Games is long way over, and it’s not yet done.
6. Foreigners outnumbering the locals – going around the city, it won’t take long for you to realize that indeed foreigners outnumber the locals.
7. Qtel – apparently they are the only telco in the country, providing telephone, mobile phone and internet connectivity. I’m just glad we already have our ADSL connection (at last!), at least I had a break from waiting long minutes over the phone for the customer service representative to pick-up, while you don’t really have a ground at which you can voice out your feedback about their service.

Well, so far those are my collection. If you are also in Qatar or maybe have been here and you want to add on the list above, just leave a comment below. More pecularities to follow as I encounter (and take note of) them in the future.