Missing Qatar

I'll give everything to be in your shoes!

Has anything changed in the last years? I checked the threads from 2007 and things seem sooooo similar. Any hope? Would I ever get used to THIS?

Ooh I want to go to Madrid!

You can't teach experience...

Donosa, you write well and from the heart. Doha is a magnificent place, minus the over-speeding Land Cruisers and other factors that most of us complain about. But generally, this is our second home, that is why whenever we leave, a part of us misses Qatar.

I am not having the hen syndrom but what the h are you talking about? Really, excuse me but, inguesuuu, the sun must have really affected you.

Maybe back home we know things are a bit though (do you still go to Mexico) but this is just a Fatamorgana my friend. It's like saying 'I miss Disneyland' , of course, one miss the blitz , the glamour of the fakely reproduced souq, did you know it is re-made? when I arrived here there was a REAL souq that was tore apart to make this one?

I know that all of Qatar is Rre-made... I know, and I'm sorry not to agree with your thoughts, I do not dislike it THAT much...
Come on people, I also bitch about the heat, and the Landcruisers, the lack of human rights with the laborers.... But that doesn't blind me at all from the good things about Doha... and I'm sorry if I go against your feelings about the place... but maybe it is my way to be happy wherever I go, and I don't feel embarrassed to say it or feel that way.
There are lots and lots of threads talking about things people hate about Qatar, so if you want, go ahead and complain there.

For once people, look at things from a different perspective, maybe you find yourself enjoying your life without bitterness.

Thank you for keeping the thread positive.

well said and its soo spot on.what happened to your IPOD?
i really cnt blame you from missing doha.

Donosa, Guapa, keep hold of your positive attitude for as long as you can, for the cynicism will creep in over time.Enjoy life with the Madrillen~os and dont forget to paseo on sunday. Hopefully I will be getting my desayuno de Cerdo in 4 weeks time in Andalucia. Lets hope the weather stays good! Suerte y besos

Haha wow britexpat angry today huh??? I'd advise therapy but that too is flawed in Doha xD !! what would QL do without you xD

Tienes suerte que estas en Madrid en vez de aqui!

Party on and have some sangria and paella for me!

But I do make more money here...

You can't teach experience...

You can't teach experience...

Guys..
Whats wrong with you all?
Why this place makes you crib so much?
Or simply for the heck of it - you just want to join people who suffered due to few sick labor laws.

All those people who lack that sense of understanding the beauty of their surrounding - I wished you should have been here just 15 years back to experience real 'Gulf'.

Surely the life-style & the comfort you all are in today, I challenge, if you can get all that back in your respective home countries.
Tell me frankly - in any other country do you have the guts to honk outside a cafeteria & order that hot cuppa tea wherever you parked your car? For that 1 shevrama or just 1 can of coke - poor guys follow you, so that you enjoy the super cooled air inside your vehicle.

Guys, you are in The-Gulf; you get water bottles delivered at your door step, never there was potable water shortage.
Govt is spending millions of 'dollars' in planting-replanting those trees after almost every 10 months, maintaining that lovely greenery & flowers while you drive.
You saw world celebrities here from a shortest possible distance. Football heroes, hot singers, Tennis champions, even Marcel Khalife performed live infront of you for a petty fee's.

All this is for us friends, not for local Qatari's - Do you get me?
Friends - stop cribbing, crying, complaining.
Every global city has its charm - Qatar certainly has it.

From this moment, just look around, gather the beauty of everything your sight can cover - trust me - you will fall in love with your own self.

Donosa, I could very well understand your sentiments, your lines came straight from the heart simply bcoz you are pretty close with Life. It was pleasure replying to you here. Stay hooked onto QL & you will not miss Qatar, I promise - hehehe
Anything I can help you with locally, just drop me a line :)

With love & blessings,

- Yp -

+974 6989650

cant explain doha, because its different? i think doha, in terms-culturally, its between dubai and riyadh lifestyle in terms of lifestyle so. its the middle of middle east, for now.

i dont know. whatever. im tryin to enjoy.

"give the man a half of a fish, you'll feed him for a day. teach the man how to catch fish, be sure to let him sign a franchise clause."

Donosa, of course, if you come from Mexico, how do you expect to feel when you are in Spain? It is not always easy to cope with us.

For all the others, it is not bitching around, I agree that to see things with the pink shades help to feel better and to enjoy but you do not need to be so cheesy. You are a good writer, nevertheless, a clap to your essay, primera plana in QL, of course, everything nice stays there forever and the nasty other comments need to be digged out even if they had more hits.

And to tell you the true, I think that if you miss Qatar it means you do not feel beloved anywhere else, that the superficiality, easiness and comfort of the everyday life here (for you) overcomes whatever feelings you ever have before. I agree that to make ‘good’ friends is sort of easier than in other places because we clinch to whoever to feel better, we are after all social animals.

Is it not the money that makes it great, right? Really? Try living in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunez, for the half of it… Or simply here, with the salary of a supermarket cashier, would you love it the same? Or like a single guy regardless of your job being sent away from the Malls *and even the souq, because you are ‘alone’…. Yes, my friend, enjoy your life here because it means you have no life somewhere else. Bad news: it is not for ever, a least not for you, so make the most out of it :-)

How long did you stay here? Working or study?

Hahahahahahahahahhaahahah

SpikenButchsMom, thank you, it's a pleasure for me to write whenever I get inspired =)

You will like it, even with its flaws...

Donosa,

It seems you've touched a nerve here. Good for you to ignore the nasty comments. Is your computer equiped with a special filter? I just got mad at you writing 'missing Qatar' when you are in Madrid!!!!! otherwise, I agree with you that it is easier to thrive in a place when one has a positive attitude. Maja!

I'm sorry, I didn't read your previous post, but I can assure you that I feel loved, VERY MUCH loved by my friends in Spain... i can't explain how much, how happy they were to see me again, how much fun we have together, and how many things and experiences we share. And I can also assure you how much my family and friends love me back in Mexico. I actually don't feel that in Doha... It really upsets me you saying that I don't have a life anywhere else, just because I don't write about how much I miss Spain and Mexico. Sorry, but I don't have to share those feelings, as they are the same feelings all of us here in QL have. I'm sharing something different, just for the sake of writing and period.

All I'm trying to do is to have a positive perspective on things, and believe me, I feel blessed with my life, humble, but my life, and it is mine to enjoy it wherever I am, and don't feel embarrassed to share it.

There's nothing wrong with missing Qatar while being in Madrid... sorry, I have the time of my life here, just miss these little things on Doha....

Some expatriates whine about being here. Why are they here then? Just for the money? If you are that unhappy then just go home, it's not worth being unhappy, life's too short. And the rest of us are sick of listening to the whining. Of course everyone has their gripes, and you can get a good laugh talking with each other about some beaurocratic problem you've encountered, but it's those 'professional' whiners I am talking about, the ones who would be unhappy ANYWHERE (including back home). If you met these people back in their home country you'd hear all sorts of whinging about trivial rubbish.
Life is what you make it wherever you are. There is plenty to do here if you join some club or society, involve yourself in sport, socialise, go to the beach etc. Most western expatriates can have their families here, and those I know love it as it is so safe. Personally I finb it fascinating watching Qatar slowly but surely grow out of the desert.

I left my ipod (very silly of me) in the plane toilet when I went to get changed.. when I realized I left it there, 15min had already passed, and at least 10 people had gone in =...(
Of course, the flight attendants wouldn't help me...

buuuuhuuu... I miss my iPod =..(

I just wanna say :

Appreciate where you are and be thankful.

happy life to you all...

I just arrived from MAdrid... and i have to say, this time was harder to leave than ever =...(
The good news for me is that I'll be back there for good in September... =)

notsoglad: why the yawning?

Of course not!! Not hard feelings!!
Are you feeling down or something??? Hope everything gets better for you...Un besazo para ti =)

Would you like a Qatari persons response?

For those who don't like it here...

How is it that "Britexpat, notsoglad & Stone Cold" and any the of the others who smugly sneer at Qatar do it ever so conviniently from behinds their very comfortable chairs & fake names.

Im not one for disrespect, but I usually dont walk on egg shells either,especially when stating the obvious; I find it highly indignant & uncouth to be that ungrateful & rant the way you do while enjoying the fat cushy salaries you get every month.

I'll have you know that MANY Qatari's with Masters degrees and above don't get the same salary you do?
Nor the extremely attractive perks and bonuses, all of which is what no doubt lured you out of your 'civilised home' and brought to to our 'Godforsaken backward country' to have to put up with the horrors of our 'fake souq' (which btw is only half fake or rather its restored, the other half is still original)
Qatar - A country which not only is accomodating but we as the Qatari nationals are at least courteous, hospitable & welcoming towards you being here.

Which is far more than what I can say when I was growing up in England, as we were vehemently reffered to as 'foriegners' while you ironically glorify yourselves as 'expatriates' (Arian supremists anyone?)

If anything you should be grateful & if you can't bear it then maybe its time you do your 'patriotic' duty to rise above it all, unclench the money and head home.

Our government has gone out of its way within a short period of time to make our country comfortable for you, changes that fyi were not all easy ,some of which are still contravestial!

Believe me I know Qatar is not perfect(and im not refering to YOUR percieved notion of perfection either) However it IS evolving and for all of us being able to witness this is a rare opportunity and its obviously been made well worth your while.

By all means, have your little say & voice your opinion but be pragmatic about it, there is no need to be disdainful, condescending & disrespectful.
You do have the option to simply go home.

Donosa, the piece you wrote was beautifully poignant and I cound't have described that 'missing' feeling better when I too nostalgically recall what I still refer to as my second home.

Well said gregturnbull , and for all the others who are either realistic or the ones who genuinely like being here; you are more than welcome to consider Qatar your home as it is mine.

viva la de español..

"There are three types of men:
One who makes things happen;
One who watches things happen;
One who wonders what happen."

Thank you donosa

olah komestas

grathias

Donosa
It was nice of you to write about how you felt.
Some will say its delusional as this was a short trip abroad. we all feel nostalgic about places we leave behind because we forget the bad things about it. I know I did when I once returned to Uk after a 2 year gap.
So I would say carry on with the positive thoughts you have, so long as you do not lose sight of the reality. That way you will have a balanced viewpoint here and will not receive any shocks

There will always be some expatriates who are never happy wherever they go and I make a point to avoid such people where ever I live.

gregturnbull
The idea that somehow Qatar is so safe for western expatriates families (why just the west) is delusional. Qatar is not as safe as people would like to think ( the fatalities rate on the roads is higher than some countries with more cars), read novitas articles on the recent pedestrian accident.
I have to say to qatarita that not every expat western or otherwise is on some cushy salary. My standard of living is lower here than my former homes and I did not come here for the money( its piss poor compared to other places) but rather for my wife careers( and she knows a damm sight more than the western expatriates).But for now I make Qatar another one of my homes and make the best of it and see it for the reality it is. I always believe that when you move countries you trade one set of problems / benefits for another.
Kindly do not label all English as being racist or even hint at Aryan supremists (that is extremely offensive) and as you said “You do have the option to simply go home.”

Qatar is not considered as some godforsaken backward country but rather as a developing country, sometimes measured in the number of years needed to catch up ( 10 years etc). I do feel that perhaps the rate of progress for Qatar is too much because it is easy to use wealth to build cities and facilities to modernise, but society takes rather longer to catch up especially when you feel overwhelmed by 3 or 4 times the number of “guests” here

I do feel that I have the right to criticise about certain aspects of this country especially when a local runs me off the road in his glorified tank of an SUV whilst he is on the mobile phone , all because i could not get out of the way fast enough for him in the right hand most lane. I have even heard Qataris criticise aspects of Qatar such as the labour laws and even the driving skills ( lack of). This may be due more to their exposure to the rest of the world and therefore a more rounded view of the world( something that most expatriates will eventually find)

Qatar is far from perfect and criticism has to be raised in order to make changes. The way criticism is raised may be challenged, but not the fact it’s raised. I really don’t want to hear the excuse “if you don’t like my country then get out” because the expatriates were brought here by Qatar. For now Qatar needs us far more that we need you. You only have 62,000 qataris in the labour force and even if they were all highly skilled, that would only fill less than 1/3 of the jobs . This labour force increases at the rate of 3000-3,500 annually. So you have a long wait to say goodbye to us. BTW these figures were quoted in the media from the ( I think it was the labour ministry). Most of us have no issue with imparting our knowledge and experience to Qataris provided we don’t get abuse back (otherwise yes we do leave and Qatar is the poorer for it). This relationship of course works both way.

Donasa
When you come back, please follow up with your impressions on coming back and how it all compares with Madrid (pros and cons) and at the end of the day just be yourself.

aplogies for the long comment :)

Regards

Yet another beautiful post ruined :(

thank you for reading Ajay ;)

It seems Donosa has bever been to a real Arabic country...... I personally find Qatar very very pale when it comes to culture.

Sorry Donosa for the negative undertone, nicely written story though.

Well Donosa, maybe my opinion is not entirely fair. As I have been in quite a few countries but surely I have not seen all.

I am not negative, more honest, yet I understood you might experience my post as negative, hence the apology.

Qatar lacks a great deal when compared to

- Tunis (Medina, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said, Souse etc)
- Lebanon (Byblos, Bekaa, Downtown Beirut, Farajah etc)
- Morocco (Agadir, Casablanca)
- Syria (Damascus)
- Jordan (Petra)

Qatar to me is a melting pot of cultures that unfortunately has very little cultural heritage.

I can understand the impressiveness of stepping into another culture opposed to the Spanish, man if I am in Barcelona I always wonder why the South of Europe has such a rich culture opposed to the North. Italy, Spain, Croatia, Greece... love 'm all. Love the peoples.

Anyway, again my apologies for 'bursting your bubbleof positivity' I am sure I can be forgiven :-P

**be forgiven hehe

Thank you Rich

You\re most welcome QatariLady =)