The American Election in Qatar

Finally a safe topic of conversation...

Sometimes the topics of conversation between expats and locals in Qatar can be a bit limited. It's best not to ask men about their wives (the opposite does not seem to apply), unless you are Muslim you probably don't want to talk too much about religion (it is taken a lot more seriously than in my country, the UK) and there are a number of other topics it's usually best to stay clear of. (See Qatar Do's and Don'ts!)

So the US election makes a great change. It's a really safe topic of conversation, in that nobody in the world outside America wants Mc Cain to win - in the Doha debates only 13% of the audience voted in favour of Mc Cain, and similar figures appear to have been reflected around the world - and everyone can agree with each other quite happily that Obama would be the better choice.

Nevertheless, there is scepticism as to whether he will actually be allowed to win. Several Arabs I have spoken have expressed doubt over whether an America much of the Arab world perceive to be racist will allow a black man to win the election.

It's interesting that William Baker, an American brought up in a Palestinian village, argued in Arabs, Islam and the Middle East that Arabs do not really perceive coloured people from America to be American, but more as a fellow oppressed people. Perhaps this is why Obama is so popular in the Middle East, but it also bodes well for negotiations in the area should he win.

Muslims in the area will note that Obama had a Muslim stepfather, and hope that he may have more understanding of them. Having spent years in Indonesia as a child, he may well have more ideas of how to deal with a completely different culture and mindset, so alien from America, and be able to put aside the bludgeon approach of the Bush years. Certainly more than Palin, who first went abroad in 2007 and whose "gosh-darn I'm a hockey mum" approach bespeaks of a simplicity that would be worrying when dealing with the minefield of Middle Eastern politics.

So, it's nice to have a topic of conversation that you can agree on, assuming that you and the person speaking to are in the 87% of people who approve of Obama. But it will be even nicer if Obama wins the election and manages to restore America's reputation in the Middle East!

Update: It seems that Mc Cain may have even less support than this amongst Qatar Internet Users! A Qatar Living poll gave just 10% to Mc Cain. Obama should be happy with 60%, although a massive 30% say that they just don't care!

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As the Qatar Natural History goup have stopped sending emails prior to their trips (they are now relying on their website instead) I nearly missed what will be the first trip (rambling aside) of the season. The trip will take place on Friday, and sounds like a good one, involving a trip to a desert cave and digging for desert roses. For details of the trip check out the QNHG website. See you there!

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Sarah Palin

I really have no excuse for putting this on other than the person described in this video - a women who first went abroad in 2007, who thinks she has experience of foreign policy because she lives in Alaska (it faces Russia) and a woman who thinks dinosaurs roamed the earth 4000 years ago - could soon be dealing with the complexities of Middle Eastern politics.

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Qatar, land of sand - and chocolates?

Scanning through the news items late at night, a headline caught my eye:

Qatar: Land of Sand and Chocolate.

Yep, Qatar, not Belgium. I have never heard of chocolates being made in Qatar, but the thought of an undiscovered chocolate factory quickly got me clicking through.

The result was one of the most sycophantic pieces of travel writing I have seen in a decent publication (The Telegraph). After the first paragraph, where the writer assures her mother that Qatar is "perfectly safe - it's just like Dubai" barely a sentence goes by without ecstatic words bouncing out of them: seductive, rainbow, beautiful, sumptuous, fortified, relaxed...

Now, I don't want to sound bitter here. The writing was excellent: the control of the pace and the evocation of images was better than anything I could do - in fact by the time I was half way through I was dying to go to Qatar, which is pretty impressive considering the fact I'm already here.

Nor do I want to bash Qatar. There are many great things about Qatar. Of course, as with any country there are also many bad things about Qatar. And that's what gets me with this piece - there is no balance.

It's true that Souq Waqif is great, and the driving to the Inland Sea is exciting, and that Qatar is home to Al Jazeera, which (unmentioned) is often the only trusted source of news in many Arabic countries.

But what about the smelly bachelors banned from entering the malls, or the debt ridden labourers trapped in the country, or the air pollution causing numerous allergies amongst the population? Or does this go unoticed when lying in a 'Frette-sheeted bed' in a 'marvellously rococo Ritz-Carlton hotel' just after enjoying a ' bath pre-filled with tropical flower petals'?

If you only ever dwell on the good side of things, and ignore the negative things, you would eventually lose the trust of your readers. People know that there is always a negative side to things. Sycophantic writing is expected in adverts - I scanned the page for the words "This is an advertisement" but they were nowhere to be found - but not in true travel writing. Which, of course, this isn't.

As could be expected, the article drew a few comments on Qatar Living: the words rose coloured spectacles entered the fray a few times.

However, I don't think the writer was wearing spectacles at all, or any spectacles for that matter - not after reading this section, written about the morning after arriving at the Ritz Carlton hotel:

The next morning I was excited to see what lay outside. Pulling back the curtains I wasn’t sure what to expect. The result was a surprise. Pure, yellow desert and sandy nothingness. For miles. Land, seemingly meeting the sky. It was beautiful in its starkness.

Hang on - miles of pure yellow desert? At the Ritz Carlton? I know the grounds of the hotel itself are lovely, but where are the half constructed buildings, the canals under construction or the scub land beyond the grounds of the hotel. I don't think she was wearing spectacles, because I don't think she was ever here at all.

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Smell Checkpoint

Amnesia has a great cartoon on his blog, Mr Q, which focuses on the recent comment by Hyatt Plaza that they will not allow smelly and badly dressed bachelors into their mall. (See No Bad Smelling Men Please for the full story.)

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Can Qatar ride out the recession?

Both the economy and the people may be as gloomy as the weather back in the UK, but so far the looming global recession does not seem to be affecting Qatar.

The average person seem to ploughing on with their usual life and concerns, and the state of the world's economy, while meriting the odd depressed comment, does not yet dominate conversations.

Many feel that Qatar, and indeed the Middle East, is a safe spot, and that the region's oil and gas reserves will insulate it from any crisis.

Indeed Brits can now finally enjoy more favourable exchange rates - the pound dropped below six riyals last week for the first time in several years.

More foreigners may also be seeking work in Qatar. Experts have been predicting that jobs seekers from the West will be forced by the miserable job market back home to seek work in the Middle East, and indeed a jump in the number of CVs being uploaded via our website seems to suggest that this is indeed the case.

Our optimism may not be justified. Many of the massive projects underway in Qatar have been financed with money from abroad, and finance worldwide is drying up. These projects may now be heading into trouble.

The government certainly has plenty of cash, but whether this will be enough, or whether they will be willing to use it to provide a net for the reckless business owners who have ridden the bubble till it popped, remains to be seen.

The price of oil is likely to fall. Initial cuts in production do seem to have stemmed the fall, but by doing so the oil cartels may be preventing one of the mechanisms which will help the industries of the West to recover. As the Middle East have huge investments in the West, this will hurt them as well. Of course, they could take advantage of the current situation to snap up assets at bargain prices, so a temporary fall in share values might not bother them hugely.

However, ambitous private projects aside, Qatar does have a serious advantage. Its huge natural gas reserves are only just beginning to be utilized, and with the formation of a cartel with other major suppliers Russia and Iran it may be able to enjoy stable prices even within the context of a global recession.

Ultimately, I don't know how well Qatar is going to weather the current financial crisis. Nevertheless, it still seems a better bet than debt ridden Britain and our spendthrift Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

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Hala Card Changes

Qtel is planning major changes to its hala card services, according to its press release in Zawya.com. Well, they call them enhancements, but we will reserve judgement until we have seen them. (Or at least until we know they don't involve a price rise!)

For anyone who is new to Qatar, Hala Cards are a very easy and convenient way of charging your phone with credit. You simply buy a card in the denomination you want (QAR30, 50 or a 100), scratch off the foil at the back and enter the number into your phone.

I have always wondered what happens if the number doesn't work, but it has never happened to me nor have I ever heard of it happening.

When something does work I always worry when there are plans to "energise" the service - energise being Qtel's words and not mine. Still, maybe I am being cynical, and the service will in someway be better. One improvement I can think of would be to make it easy to top up the phone online or by texting - or from abroad when your validity is about to run out!

Also see: Qatar Mobile Phones

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Doha Concert

Doha Community Orchestra Director – Mark Seay
Doha Singers Director – Bob Krebs

In Concert

Works by Tchaikovsky, Handel, Schubert, Randall Thompson and Ralph Vaughan-Williams

Friday 14th November 2008 at 6.30pm

The American School of Doha Fine Arts Theatre
Tickets QR 50 / QR 25 (under 16)

Available from:
dohaorchestra@gmail.com tel 5212257
dohasingerstickets@gmail.com tel 5574671
The American School of Doha, High School office
Internation Centre for Music

Click on the poster below for a larger size

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Doha Skyline

The Doha Skyline as pictured from the Intercontinental Beach. Click on the image for the full size.


Also see: Qatar Images

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Rating System for Qatar Schools, Nurseries & Hotels

The latest feature of our website is a rating system. By clicking on a rating from poor to excellent you can share your opinion with other users with only one click. While it might be useful for those who want to stay in a hotel, we think it is particularly important for parents who sometimes have to make the difficult decision of choosing a school or a nursery from thousands of miles away. If you have more information to share you can also leave a review.

So far we have integrated the rating system on the following pages:

• Doha Nurseries
• Doha Schools
• Doha Hotels

So share your info and get clicking!





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"Extinct" Jackal still alive in Qatar

The Golden Jackal, an animal that has not been sighted in Qatar since the 1950's, appears to be alive and well in the Qatar Desert.

The shy night-loving creature was recently spotted, according to the Qatar Natural History Group's latest newsletter, by Bo Madsen, the director of the small team of Danish archaeologists excavating in the oasis at Ras Abrouq.

Further enquiries revealed that the caretaker of the film set in the area had seen jackals on three different occasions, while the archeoligists also discovered sets of burrows in the area which were too large to be those of a fox.

Despite its name, the Golden Jackal, which can be found in Saudi Arabia, is probably more closely related to wolves and the domestic dog than other jackals.

It is also very much a family animal, with male animals remaning monogamous throughout their lives, and younger animals staying on beyond puberty to act as helpers, looking after their siblings.

For more information on the Natural History of Qatar, check out Fran Gillespie's article, Qatar's Natural History.

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Fines for Wasting Water and Electricity

Washing your car in the car park outside your home? Forgot to turn the lights off before leaving for work? Under new laws in Qatar you can be fined over two and a half thousand dollars.

Under new laws it has been made illegal to use drinking water to clean cars outside homes or to use it for cleaning areas in front of buildings. Henceforth, the dreaded Doha dust can only be cleaned in designated car cleaning areas.

What's more, homeowners who forget to turn off exterior lights between seven am and four pm could also be fined, as could those who fail to deal with leaking pipes.

Before complaining, it might be worth remembering that we do live in a desert, and most of our water does not come from the sky!

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Qatar Writers: Finding your Voice

A fund to support creative writers based in Qatar and international writers writing about Qatar is being launched at the Waqif Art Center today at 5pm. The launch of the fund will feature readings by a number of writers. The fund ultimately aims to hold workshops and conferences and help writers to get published. An initial project will involve the publication of a sequel to Qatar Narratives entitled In My Grandmother's Eyes: Glimpses in Between a Generation In Qatar.

Writers may also be interested in the Doha Writer's Workshop being held on Saturday, or in joining our Qatar Writers listing, which you can reach by typing in www.QatarWriters.com.

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Sports and Activities

There are a number of things coming up in the next couple of weeks, one of which is the cricket competition, - and if there are any girls who can play cricket and would like to be part of a team, please contact us! You could end up going to Abu Dhabi as we have good, if all male, team.

The Intercontinental also have a biathlon event coming up. The event, which is open to all, will open on 14th November at 9am. Ring the Intercontinental on 4844852 or check out the poster below.

On Sunday 25th October there will be a rather more gentle event, with the breast cancer awareness society holding their annual walk on the Corniche. At the walk, which will start at 5pm, participants can choose to walk as slowly or as quickly as they want. Check out Think Pink Qatar for more details.

Finally there is the Qatar Natural History Group's first ramble, which will take place this Friday. You have to be a member to take part in this, but you can sign up right away at QNHG's website.

Also see: Things to Do in Qatar

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Big Changes at Al Wakra

I had heard that Al Wakra beach was closed for "renovation", but as we were planning a beach barbeque with some friends I thought I would head down to check it out for myself. I expected the park to be closed, perhaps for some much needed cleaning up and repairing.

The entrance to the park was indeed boarded up - and when we peered through the boards all we could see was water. Proceeding past the former park, we could see that the majority of both the park and the beach had been dug up, with large pools of water being formed, and just a thin strip of being beach being left between the beach and the pools.


This wasn't stopping the inteprid locals from enjoying the sea - although who knows for how much longer! Bird's feet could also be seen in the sand, perhaps looking for the few remains of the mangrove swamps that we reported being uprooted a year ago.

I am not sure what changes are planned for Al Wakra. There have been murmers before about a water development, and there seems to be a Waqif style souq being built. However, with few good public beaches around Doha, and none worth a visit in Doha, I just hope the beach is not replaced with concrete.

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Doha Writer's Workshop

We're happy to announce that in conjunction with Carol Henderson's third visit to Qatar, the Doha Writers' Workshop will sponsor its 3rd 'write -in' where community members join together for a half day of writing.

If you're not familiar with this format, it includes prompt writing, reading fresh material, and exposure to a variety of writing techniques and styles. Please see www.CarolHenderson.com for more information on Carol, her work, and her approach.

Saturday, October 25, 2008
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
(bring bag lunch)
College of the North Atlantic
Building 3, Learning Commons


Cost: 300 QR
Payable in cash on day of event

To reserve your spot, please RSVP to mohanalakshmi@hotmail.com
Please circulate this notice widely to those for whom it might be of interest.

Also see: Qatar Writers

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Smoking in Qatar

News comes in daily about the smoking ban implemented in ever more places. From the urban jungles of India to campuses in America, it seems that there is no place or country where smokers can escape the ban. Many smokers are even turning to e-cigarettes to avoid the ban!

One exception for hardened smokers and drinkers are the bars and clubs of Qatar. Many bars, from Garvy's to the Orion at the Ramada, are filled with smoke and smokers, a sight relegated to history in many other countries. Non-smokers and ex-smokers like myself must once again resign ourselves to breathing in the second hand smoke and waking up stinking of stale tobacco if we are to enjoy a drink out.

It's not that Qatar does not care about smoking. The country is very aware of the health problems smoking causes, has been forward in addressing the issue and smoking is banned in a number of public places - although smokers can still enjoy their shisha in restaurants and cafes!

As for bars, I have often wondered if Qatar cared about what happened in them. After all, drinking is considered a sin by many Muslims, and at one point in the Qu'ran Mohammed called alcohol an abomination of Satan. If, therefore, we are already engaged in something so wrong, why would it matter if we are also damaging our lungs?

However, maybe I am wrong, as a Qatari health official has now called for a blanket ban on smoking in public places (see the full story in the Gulf Times.) If it is put in place, I suspect it there may be a lot less resistance from expat smokers in bars than from the shisha smokers that frequent Qatar's cafes and restaurants.



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Qatar Media Center & Freedom of the Press

A New Media Center was opened in Qatar yesterday, promising to defend the freedom of the press. It also promised to push for a change in some of the laws of Qatar. A newspaper editorial in the Gulf Times yesterday welcomed the establishment, but frustration in the editorial escaped with the newspaper regretting frequent threats from businesses that marred the everyday reporting of the newspaper.

Qatar seems to have an ambiguous attitude towards freedom of the press. The country supports the outspoken Al Jazeera network, which has criticised many countries and governments in the world - but rarely criticises Qatar. The country refused to join in many other Gulf countries when they passed laws restricting freedom of the press, but has taken journalists to court for their reporting.

Now they have invited a Media freedom body to Qatar. According to one thread on Qatar Living, the very writer who reported the story of the Media Center, Peter Townsend, was detained by police for inciting racial hatred after his report on police beating and kicking labourers trying to enter a souq. Our sources refused to confirm that the story was true - but then they didn't confirm that the story wasn't true. If it is true, then it is shocking that the story didn't appear in the newspapers this morning, and the events will truly prove an inaugral challenge for the Doha Media Center.

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Studying Arabic on the net.

A great little site for anyone studying Arabic is Arabic Pod. The site consists of podcasts divided into different levels: from Beginner to Advanced. During the podcast you listen to a dialogue in Arabic, along with an explanation of the dialogue. You can also rate each lesson on how good you think it is. What's more, while you can join or become a premium member, there is no need to do either in order to listen to the podcasts.

Also see: A Beginners Guide to Arabic

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Qatar Back Street

A backstreet in Doha, Qatar.

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Calling all swimmers

H20 has posted details of a swimming club on the Qatar Visitor forum. Although focussing on children's swimming, the club will also offer adult swimming and mother and tot swimming. The club also have access to 25 metre indoor and outdoor pools. For full details of the swimming club and images check out H2o's post on the forum.

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No bad smelling men please

The Gulf Times leads today with the continuing story of labourers barred from Malls.

The latest mall to ban single men has been the Hyatt Plaza.

We have noticed before, when in the Hyatt Plaza, that there have been a number of labourers, presumably as fall out from Villagio, which has closed its doors to them on their single day of leisure.

Now this remaining oasis of Air Conditioning and shopping has been closed to the men, although Hyatt Plaza has promised to be more flexible than Villagio, only turning away "bad-smelling, poorly-dressed adult men."

Presumably, only security guards with a good sense of fashion will be allowed on the front door. Even then, they will be forced to sniff every man coming through the door before the man will be allowed entrance.

No mention was made regarding badly dressed and smelly women.

One comment regarding this issue was left on our City Center review.

The man leaving the comment was understandably irked that he could not enter the City Center shopping mall. However, his comment may not be agreeable to either women or the libertarians amongst us, his solution being that all unaccompaied women stay at home to make way for the men.

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Diabetes

"Ramadam Kareem," shouted the KFC posters across Doha during the month long fast, before advising potential punters to break their fast with a bucket of fried chicken in the American fast food chain.

Other fast food chains followed suit. The Corniche, much to the ire of local residents, may have been devoid of decorations during the Holy Month, but McDonald's looked superb.

So many Muslims broke their fast not as Mohammed did, with a little water and a few dates - which contain numerous minerals which help the body to replace those lost during fasting - but with American fast food. Sometimes, the only difference between the food in America in Qatar is that the American version is healthier, as we noted in Krispy Kreme invades Qatar.

Of course, locals do have a sweet tooth. One Arab friend brings food so sweet when she comes to dinner that I can barely eat the mandatory one. Mandatory- because it is of course rude to refuse. At other times when I have been to friends' houses there has been nothing that has not been sweet.

And then there is the climate. In the hard times of old, there was no alternative but to work hard, in the sea or in the desert, whatever the heat. In easier times, the harsh climate is not conducive to either work - especially when Asian labourers can be hired for pennies - or for exercise.

Which is perhaps why the tragedy of diabetes is striking Qatar - not just adults, but children, some of whom are younger than five years old.

According to the Peninsula newspaper, a shocking 28.2% of children under the age of five have got diabetes. This was an increase from an already high proportion of 13.7% in 1997.

Educating the public is hard, takes years, and often seems to have little or no discernable effect. However, the Qatar government has already spent years and lots of money trying to persuade the public to take up sport. Let's hope they also educate the public about diet. It may be a difficult task, but the consequence of failure is the short and blighted future of its children.

Image by wer33y

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Beach Cricket in Doha

As the temperatures in Qatar get down to what you would want on a pleasant beach holiday, the Intercontinental is holding a beach cricket competition in the Intercontinental. Qualifying will start on 25th October, from 10 am to 6 pm. For more information call 4844852 or click on the brochure below.





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AWA Meeting: Change of Location

October 13 - Monday - General Meeting - Change of location

The AWA meeting will now be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Za Moda Restaurant from 10 am - 12 noon. Registration will begin at 9:30am. All members are encouraged to attend and potential members are always welcome. Refreshments will be served and a program will presented by Mrs. Iman Al Kowari on Women In Qatar, especially women in business. Cost is QR60 for members, QR80 for non-members. Ladies only.

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Robert Cheesman

In her latest article for Qatar Visitor, France Gillespie, author of Discovering Qatar, takes a look at desert explorer Robert Cheesman and his little chronicled trip along Qatar's Salwa coast in the early 1920's. He was traveling in search of Gerrha, the fabled Phonecian city, but he was close to breaking new ground even before making any discoveries: he was only the second Westerner to travel along this bare and desolate stretch of coast, empty of inhabitation except for a few Bedouin. Although he was entering the land of the Qatari bedouins, he was accompanied by Bedouin from the interior: Bedouin who lived so remote form the sea that they had never seen or eaten fish before.

France's next article, The Ubaid Period in Qatar, will be published next month. In the meantime you may be interested in her other articles on Qatar: Qatar's Natural History, Qatar Seas and the Archeology of Qatar.

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Qatar Immigration: Turned Away at the Gates

British residents who have previously worked in Qatar are being turned away from the formerly hospitable country.

I first heard about this when a friend of a friend arrived at Doha airport. He had worked here before, and had visited his friends in the country on two occasions.

After queueing at immigration he was ordered to sit to the side. After a two hour wait, he was told he would be refused entrance as two years had not passed since his resident permit had expired.

It turned out that a little known law had just been introduced, and even his airline, Qatar Airways, had not known about this law. Typically enough, the law was introduced just before Eid.

Although details of the law are still not clear, according to the Peninsula former residents who have worked in Qatar may not be allowed into the country until two years after their work permit has expired. We have been told that residents who have a letter of no-objection from their employer will probably be able to enter the country.

The law is applicable to all residents, although those nationalities who get a tourist visa on arrival are those who will be most affected. It is not clear if the law is being applied to everyone, and some people may still be getting through without a problem.

The law itself represents a dramatic change in policy. Previously, former residents could not return to work within two years without the approval of their former employees.

This disturbing change in policy could affect Qatar's developing tourist industry, as many so called tourists are in fact Westerners coming to visit friends and familes. These 'tourists' include a sizable 40,000 Brits.

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AWA October General Meeting

Announcement from the AWA:

Our Speaker this month is Iman Al Kawari. She is a Qatari woman who has had the unique privilege of growing up in the USA. Her subject will be about what it's like being a Qatari woman from an American perspective and what it's like being a female Qatari in business.

Location: Intercon hotel

Date : 13 October 2008
Time: 9:30 am Registration
10:00 am General Meeting

Meeting is 55 QR for members/65 for guests

There will be coffee, tea, juice, fruit and sweets to nibble on.

Please confirm your attendance through AWA website.


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Qatar Business

Greenhorns coming to Qatar from the West to do business in Qatar, and expecting the groundrules to be the same as at home, will be in for a sharp shock. Qatar is a quagmire for the unitiated and inexperienced, and there is a whole, and very different, etiquette of doing business. Before doing business here, then, it is a good idea to get the advice of more experienced business people who have been here for years and have an extensive knowledge of the country, its people and its business practices.

In the first of two articles for Qatar Visitor, both excerpted from his book, Qatar: A Business Travellers Handbook, author and businessman David Chaddock offers no-nonsense advice to business people coming to Qatar. The article, Doing Business in Qatar, includes suggestions on how to conduct your first meeting, the intricacies of swapping business cards and general tips on how to conduct business in Qatar. With more than thirty years of experience of conducting business in Qatar and the Middle East, there can be few people more qualified to give this advice.

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Qatar Tourism: Not Up to the Mark?

According to a story in the Peninsula today, a majority of residents in Qatar felt that the development of tourism in Qatar is lacking. What's more, we have to agree.

While there has been a marked increase in the number of expensive hotels in Qatar, there has been no matched development in theme parks, water parks or the other amenities expected by tourists. Entertainment City should eventually arrive, but with the usual delays it will be some years before this makes a difference. There are no decent beaches in reach of Doha, and while Al Wakra has been cleaned up a bit it is certainly now what a tourist paying top whack prices would expect!

Some of Qatar's greatest assets have been underplayed. Very little is ever heard of camel racing, something which many Western visitors to the country would be interested in, and it is very difficult to find out when all but the major races are on. Nor is the desert marketed as well as it should be - although I do enjoy my trips to the singing sandunes, where there is rarely anyone else to disturb the peace!

You can see fishing in Qatar on the tourist movies on Qatar Airways, but it hard to book a professional trip - each time I have tried I have been let down. People who have been on dhow fishing trips have complained that they only caught one fish.

What has developed is shopping - but not everyone is as keen on shopping as Arabic ladies! Even to get to the admittedly impressive shopping malls, you need to get a taxi - not always an easy task any more!

Most of the musuems in the country also seem to be shut, although this situation is slowly improving. The Waqif Art Centre is now open, although it hardly matches Qatar National Museum, which has now been closed for several years. Eventually museum lovers should be cheered by the opening of the Islamic Museum in December, assuning that it is not delayed again.

Hopefully, things will improve - I have even heard rumours of a secret ski-slope in the desert to match anything the UAE can provide - now that would put Dubai's noses out of joint!

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Qatar Writers

Update: We have bought the URL QatarWriters.com and pointed it at our Qatar Writers listing page. This should make it a bit easier to remember! We already have two excellent and very well known writers listed on the page, but obviously we hope to find a lot more. So if there are any freelance writers there, list your details and find some work!

Note - we have added one restriction. Writers submitting their details have to use correct English, unless they specify that English is not their native language. Submissions with serious grammar and/or spelling mistakes may be deleted. After all, no serious editor would consider a submission with language errors in it.

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Labourers Whipped and Kicked by Police

According to a story in the Gulf Times this morning labourers were beaten with whips and kicked by police yesterday to prevent them entering a souq. It has been common to deny labourers and bachelors entrance to souqs and malls in Qatar, with the distincton often being made on race - a Western man, for example, will have no problem entering Villagio, whereas an Asian man is likely to be denied entrance. Only yesterday Villagio told the Peninsula newspaper that they didn't want bachelors because they didn't spend enough. Qatar's badly paid labourers are often also poorly treated, with numerous men having to share a single room for living accommodation. However, this is the first time that a newspaper has reported Qatar's labourer's being beaten by police.

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Borrowing money in Qatar

It is quite common for newcomers to Qatar to borrow money. This is normally in the form of a vehicle loan, but I have also known people borrow money towards a house back home.

Before doing so, it is worth remembering that when you borrow money in Qatar, you are not allowed to leave the country on a permanent basis without paying back all debts.

Potentially, this could lead to a very sticky situation, especially if a person who had borrowed a sum of money then lost their job before earning enough to pay back the money.

The danger of this situation has been vividly illustrated with the tragic story of an American stranded in Doha. He had borrowed money to fund the cancer treatment of his mother in America - a country which can spend trillions on war, but has yet to fund a National Health Service.

His mother has since died, and he has lost his job. Now he is stranded in Doha, with no place to live, no money, no job and an uninterested embassy. (You can read the full story here in the Gulf Times.)

I don't think anyone can blame him for borrowing money for his mother. But at least we can refrain from borrowing large sums of money for other reasons. The banks here are very ready to lend you money, but if you can not pay the money back from the salary and bonus of your current contract - best not to borrow any at all.

Also see: Qatar Money for information about Qatar's currency and banks.

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My Dear

Today, my dear, we are going to speak about language.

Or specifically, my dear. It's a phrase you will notice when you work/live here, and may be used to a complete stranger. In fact, I pulled one friend up and she retorted she was Asian, that this was Asian English and she was going to use it.

To a native speaker it sounds over familiar, close to my darling - not something you would say to a lover, but to your family. Even then it sounds wrong. My dear sounds old fashioned, or condescending - if we used it, it would be to achieve a certain effect, either self-mocking or patronising. Personally, I am more likely to use the word dear with an Oh in front - normally in front of my mother-in-law when I can't say anything stronger!

But it has become part of the language here, a variant of a language which is, after all, spoken by more non-native speakers than by native speakers. It is used to be friendly, often during the first meeting, though it may still jar with a native speaker.

There are a lot of odd phrases here, many of them imported and picked up from India - not surprisingly, as there are more Indians than Qataris here. One I always love is an old fashioned phrase which must have been preserved in India long after it was lost in England. "May I know your good name, sir?"

Of course some things are just plain wrong, if we are allowed to say anything is wrong in this post modern world. I personally hate "open your shoes," mostly because my daughter has picked it up from someone or somewhere and always uses it. This error has come about, I believe, as it is a translation of what people say in many other languages.

I like, on the other hand, the over-use of the present continuous, which still seems to be a mostly Indian trait, with limited use among the Arabs here. There is nothing like a "I am liking this very much," accompanied by a friendly waggle of the head to warm your heart. (Presumably it was one of these chaps who came up with the Mac Donalds ad "I'm lovin' it".)

A lack of awareness of the subtlities of English can lead to embarassment - or even loss of appetite. I was put off by one menu when fried crab was spelt as fried crap, only to move on to the next cafe and discover that there was pregnant chicken on the menu. (Fortunately, it tasted very nice, especially when accompanied by Truckish coffee.)

It's not just menus where you can find such gems - at one building site there was a sign saying "Danger: Erection Going On."

But none of these errors really matter; the great thing is that people from all over the world and with many different tongues are able to communicate - and native speakers of English like me are very lucky that it is our language being spoken. So at the end of the day, as long as you can get your meaning across, it is all "Same Same".

Want to communicate with the locals? Check out our Beginners Guide to Arabic.

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