Day 1 in Doha

Well my first day in Doha was exciting to say the least. I didn't sleep at all last night due to a mix of excitement and jet lag. So, I was up bright and early at 5am to watch the sunrise from the amazing view or my hotel room on the 20th floor. Doha is gorgeous. It's like they rounded up all the best architects in the world and said build a city. No matter which direction you look in you see cranes, cement and more construction. In just six years, Doha has created a city that far surpasses any western country in modernity. Doha is definitely a hidden gem.

After watching the sunrise, I ventured outside of the hotel a little bit. Doha is hot to say the least, but I don't find that its any warmer or humid than Louisiana. Actually, I find the heat a little easier to deal with because of the breeze that comes off the Persian Gulf. Anyhow, after my short venture. I went to the mall. The Vellagio mall in Doha is designed to look like Italy. There is even a canal that runs through the center of the mall. The Vellagio reminds me of home. They have massive super stores and common American chains like H&M, Sephora, Applebees, TGI Fridays, Gap, Banana Republic Etc. Things are actually reasonably priced. I bought this wonderful Dolce and Gabanna perfume for 30 US Dollars. You can take the girl out of America but not the America out of the girl lol.

Four hours later, Im done shopping and I head home for a nap. The jet lag must have caught up with me because I could have sworn I was just dreaming when my colleague woke me up. We head down to the lobby because my principal is taking us to the Souq Waqif. The Souq is a street market. It's equivalent to a flea market in the states. You can get anything you want at the souq. I was at the souq for 3 hours and didn't even cover a quarter of it. Anyhow, my boss took us to this Yemen restaurant inside the souq. It was different to me. You take off your shoes and go into a carpet filled room. You sit on the floor amongst these pillows and eat on the floor. For the first time I ate Yemen food. I ate buried Chicken, Chicken Mandid and a plethora of other things that I really didn't know. It was all delicious. It's funny in the Middle East you finish a meal with a cup of tea. It was the best tea I had ever tasted. It's my first thing on my list to bring back to the states.

Ive also had my first set of frustrations in Doha. For one my plug blew. They use a different voltage of electricity and me thinking I was prepared bought a convertor. Until my convertor got a smoky smell and popped lol. Oh well. I will buy one at the market tomorrow. Also, I bought a prepaid phone today. It was like a small act of congress lol. You buy the phone at one shop, the sim at another and then minutes at a different location. With my type A personality, I was screaming for them to put everything in the same darn place lol. Then, I realized I'm not in Kansas anymore and it kind of goes with the territory. lol

Ive spent the last 12 hours exploring Doha. Now, I think Im ready to go to bed and knock out the Jet Lag. Besides tomorrow is my first day at work!! Im loving Doha so far. You don't even realize you are in the Middle East. You look around and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Every now and then there are men and women that walk around in their native dress and that snaps you back to reality. But Doha is a melting pot, full of people from every walks of life. I can't wait to see more.