Doha, Qatar

Three months have passed since I arrived in Doha. It seems like three wonderful days now, and I do not regret accepting the job offer even once. The people who know me personally, also know that I am quite an unapproachable person, even though, not exactly unpleasant and unfriendly, so… I often asked myself as if from their perspective, how would I ever adapt anywhere but in town where I lived for a long time, and made it my comfort zone. Surprisingly,  I feel as myself in Doha all the time, and I am free to be myself as much as I want.
I am thoughtful, observative, quiet, a real loner, one would say! In Qatar, people could not care less if I am a bit strange. And, they could not care more about being polite, nice, interested in how they can help, leaving an impression that they are well-mannered and well-bred.

Leaving the popular shopping mall, I pushed my cart towards the cab outside. A boy in the white traditional clothes stepped closer to me, took my cart, and pushed it all the way to the cab. He smiled at me once, as if he is saying: “Here you go, all done!”, and then run back to his mother, the woman in the traditional Qatari dress. Well, let’s say that this young gentleman made me feel as a lady, and he gave me a little lesson about manners, also. He seemed to be 6, or 7. I hope this cavalier have a long, healthy, and happy life full of ladies talking about him in this much of appreciation.
Qatari people are tremendously concerned about their appearance in public! I assume they are taught to be like that since young, because it comes so naturally for them to walk graciously, to talk to their friends without disturbing other people, to communicate through glances sometimes, and to show up all noble, clean, perfumed, with unbelievably calm expressions on their faces.

Women here are just another versions of their men. They also walk in grace, pride, all-present appearance, but they pay as much attention to be the same by everything to other women. In European countries, women tend to show off by their looks, to make others envious, to compete about fashion, make-ups, hairstyles, and basically everything that can be displayed to the audience's eyes. Here women, trust me, have probably the best make-ups on their faces, all branded by Chanel and Dior. They also wear probably the most expensive clothes available. They are treated like princesses by their families, husbands and friends. However, they are perfectly happy if nobody sees how wealthy, beautiful, and fashioned they are. You can see their handbags sometimes, or shoes as they walk, but that is all. About this traditional clothing style, I would write some other time, and I am sure that you would be amazed by its meaning and purpose, which is not solely for the religious matters.

There is a prejudice that Qatari women are arrogant and bossy, but I heard them apologise if they even touched me in passing at the malls. I cannot expect to be more entertained and assured by Qatari women of their mild behaviour when we have never been introduced to start with. Somehow, it is just the thing of common sense to ask employees of certain objects here, when they are literally everywhere, about directions for example, and not to stop a lady in abaya to ask her instead. It does not have anything to do with how fearsome and arrogant the ladies are.

I have read a lot about job experiences of ex-patriots here, and there are some very bad. Unfortunately, it happens everywhere when the companies are workforce exploitation oriented. Before I arrived in Doha, I checked the details about my company as much as I could. They also provided me with information about everything I can expect on arrival. Happily, my company is one of the greatest in Qatar, and they prevent others from using their name in any activity unrelated to the company itself. As the company is founded by a very important person of Qatar, it is of the highest interest to preserve the brilliant reputation of a noble family as first, and that of the company which succeeded in staying spotless and working like a Swiss watch, as the second.

In a diversified society like this, regulations are very strict for a good reason. However, Qatar is probably the kindest and caring Arabic country in overall to its visitors. In my humble opinion, Dubai is the greatest Arabic city right now, but as the FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, I am sure that there is a short time left to wait until Doha becomes something tourists just have to visit.

Besides the fact that one is not allowed to walk around drunk and indecent, and having in mind the fact that one cannot find any narcotic in entire Qatar, visitors are welcome to enjoy all the beauties of this country. The coffee-shops are wonderful, the restaurants are always with a special theme in both exterior and interior display, the hotels are Lux category beyond the Lux category known in Europe, and the service is almost always just perfect.  You are treated like a king wherever you go. You must be absorbed in the waiter’s performance which is like a ritual while he is delivering your coffee. The food is coming from all over the world, but the most of the people in Qatar prefer Lebanese cuisine for a good reason, and the variety of everything is absolutely mind-blowing. There are also many well-organised events each week, and people cannot wait Friday to have fun in Doha's clubs.

Qatar does not tolerate criminals, lies,physical/verbal offence, dishonesty, people prone to deviant addictions and deviant behaviours, narcotics, alcoholics in public sites, sex workers, etc. Anything of the mentioned is enough to end up in the jail, and then to be transferred back to the mother country. And extravagancy in clothing is not looked upon with agreement regarding both men and women, but the accent is still on women, as non-Arabic fashions are way too much far from good taste in their eyes. Nobody will look at you weird if you are a woman in trousers, jeans(no matter if ripped moderately), regular shirts, blazers and jackets, no matter how embellished and flashy in colour or fabric. Nobody reacts badly if I wear a knee-length skirt and high heels. However, three months have passed, and I did not see any woman trying out wild fashions such as extremely short skirts, naked belly, or deep V cut. It is also just a common sense. There are some urban legends about girls displaying crazy outfits in public who ended up slapped by elder women, but there was not such an incident recently, and nobody I have met remembered something like that. Other legends are those about being reported to the police for indecent clothing.

When you arm yourself with patience, and when you learn to manage your time according to the expected and unexpected phenomena of Qatari traffic, you do not have to worry about a thing. The first thing is to count all the semaphores you will be passing from the start point to your everyday destination-work. You will not be in curiosity how the employers here take tardiness! Well, once you count those wild things, you must leave around ten minutes of your precious life on each. That is how you learn when to take the way. Traffic is jammed and crowded very often here, but people do not horn out of anger, and they do not yell at each other. Everybody is waiting for the green light, and everybody's time is appreciated the same. Qatar is one of the rare countries whose citizens do not waste their lives in car accidents. Fines for traffic violations are very high, and there is no way to wink at the officer and soften his heart by offering some money to him.
Except for the working hours, you must respect without being late, Doha leaves it on you where you want to go, and when. Life is slow, relaxed and enjoyable. For the past three months, I did not try to take the public transportation, but the buses here are seen with a few passengers in all the time. It is not the most popular way to go anywhere. You basically leave the price of one average piece of clothing to the cab driver, and it is one way. Pretty expensive!

Qatari people are very respected by their country. They are the country’s pride, they are trusted very much, and they deserve the best, and the country gives to its people only the best. On the way to work, I saw this phrase as a motto of the entire highway: Qatar deserves the best! So, I ask myself sometimes if Qatar deserves me…

Anyway, of all the places to be, I am more and more confident about saying that Qatar is the most adequate for me right now. I am not sure if I will strike my roots deep here and become a desert rose, but all the time I am spending here, I enjoy with gratitude and awareness of how wonderful country this is. I do not consider myself as a person with any roots to strike, but if I were to leave right away, I am sure that Doha would travel with me, staying in my heart as something closest to the definition of home.

29th November 2016.

Doha, Qatar