I have been staying in this gulf country for almost 15
months now and at that period I have adjusted to the life of being in a desert
country. Qatar is one of the very rich countries in terms of crude production
and its people including the expatriates are benefiting so much for that. A
former British colony, the State of Qatar is blissfully enjoying its
sovereignty and freedom. High-end structures, towering commercial buildings, hotels,
apartments, and landmarks are continuously proliferating around the city. There
are so much to talk about this tiny state and so far I have listed some of
these plain observations below:
- Ana is not my friend’s name, either of my colleague’s name or any woman’s name. Actually it refers to me.
- Khalas is the most used Arabic word in the conversation.
- Aiwa is not an appliance brand; it is basically yes.
- The most common private vehicle of the Qataris or Locals is the White Land Cruiser. You see them freely parked outside in every Qatari’s house.
- If you’re a boss or office staff in your work, everything inside is served. If you want a glass of water – you ask; if you need a tea – you ask; if you need something to photocopy; you ask again. The office has someone tasked to do that for you.
- A liter of gasoline and a quarter liter of water costs 1 Qatar Riyal each. Water is 4x more expensive than gas. And that’s a fact.
- Expatriates are larger than the Qatari Nationals – in terms of numbers.
- The largest populations among the expats are the Indian Nationals.
- The number 1 enemies of the people inside their house are the bed bugs.
- Summer time means spending your time inside your house or playing your favorite games in an indoor area.
- Highest temperature reaches as high as 50-something degree Celsius during summer.
- Every house has air conditioner (aircon). It’s a must.
- Ramadan is the best time for shopping.
- Date trees are everywhere in the city.
- If you want to buy something in a grocery store or fast food chain – just honk the horn of your car. Someone will come from the store to get your order. By the way, this is mostly done by Qataris. Just like a privilege enjoyed by the Qatari nationals.
- Holding hands in public by two lovers is not prohibited.
- People always bring with them their Qatar ID (Pataka in Arabic).
- Every mobile SIM used by the people is registered in the government.
- You see Indian nationals everywhere.
- Public parks from afternoon until night on Fridays are prohibited to persons who are singles unless he is seen with a woman or kids.
- Trees, plants and even grasses do not grow freely. They are being taken care of everyday.
- Markets (Souq) or shopping malls are livelier at night than in day time. People prefer to shop after sun sets.
- Pepsi products are popular than Coca Cola products.
- Chicken meat is widely consumed than any other meat livestock products.
- Public transport is solely run by the government.
- It usually rains when change in season is imminent.
- In driving, you will get used to round-abouts instead of intersections in the street.
- Say signal instead of traffic lights, flat instead of apartment, lift for elevators, fridge for refrigerators; petrol for gasolines
- When talking with other nationals (except British, Australians, Americans) – carabao english is more preferred than grammatically-correct english
- KFC and McDonalds don’t serve spaghettis.
- Rain is very rare. Maybe more or less 5 times it pours annually.
- Police officers don’t carry fire arms on their belts.
- Condoms are visibly displayed in the pharmacies.
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| Me in the city center Doha |
