The Move

We flew to Qatar via Paris last March. It’s approximately 24 hours from a random location in the states to Qatar, counting transfers and customs. A 24-hour flight leaves you feeling like you just got beaten up! One thing we learned, is that when traveling with children, it is much easier to break the flight up into two distinct segments, rather than just blast through. On our vacation this past summer we stopped in Paris for few days each way. It worked beautifully…we were never in the plane more than 8 hours at a time, and the kids loved it. Incidentally, Paris is a great place to make an impromptu stopover; free shuttles take you directly from the terminal to a series of inexpensive hotels, which in turn are connected to the train stations.

We first arrived in Doha with our luggage plus several large boxes that we had checked through…. boxes of the maximum size allowable ……20x20x20. This was an effort to minimize shipping. We still shipped just over a metric ton of stuff, mostly books, toys and kitchen things. Our house is furnished, so furniture was largely unnecessary. The shipment arrived about six weeks after we did. Everything was more or less intact, but two boxes of kitchen stuff never made it into the shipping crate somehow (that means that the problem happened in the states). Thank you Allied Van Lines… Fortunately nothing truly essential was lost.

If I were to do it again, I would take far less. I was told before we came that everything you might ever need is available here…it’s true. Eighty percent of the population of Qatar is expatriate workers. Virtually every country on Earth has workers here of some sort… the majority are from India, but there are also plenty from the Philippines, Thailand, Sudan, Morocco, Russia, Australia, you name it. The local merchants try to please as many of these folks as possible with their selection of goods, so you find an incredibly rich array of consumer products from every corner of the globe. You can live very simply here, or, you may live almost exactly as you did back home (wherever that may be). Prices tend to be pretty good too. There are very few taxes of any sort in Qatar, and labor is fairly cheap (imported labor), so many things cost less here than they would at home.

Our house is spacious and furnished. It’s two stories, approximately 2000 square feet or maybe a bit more, with a maid’s quarters. It was pretty dirty when we arrived, and work started immediately, so it was a chore getting it in shape. Cleaning services are available here for very little money. For $150 you can get about 50 man/hours of intense cleaning, including equipment and supplies. When we arrived, the refrigerator was fully stocked, that was nice.

The house is typically Arabian. It has a majlis… a room in the front to host guests…while the rest of the house can be closed off. The house can also be divided for those times when separation of the sexes is warranted, for instance when entertaining Qataris. There is also this odd little walkway at the top of the stairway. This is for communicating with those in the majlis without actually being seen. An unmarried daughter for instance could speak to a potential suitor this way. The ceilings are very high, there is tile everywhere. Overall, we are very happy with our housing.

Taxis in Qatar must be very nearly the cheapest on Earth. When we first arrived we had no car, and taxis were how we got around. They cost about $0.56 plus $0.14 per kilometer. Operating a vehicle yourself costs about the same. There is no public transportation here, aside from the taxis. There are plans, I am told, for bus lines and more eventually. Most employers offer their employees free transport to work and back, so public transportation hasn’t been a priority. Gasoline here is about $0.70 per gallon (QR 0.65-0.70 per liter), and comes in 90 and 97 octane. Soon after arriving we rented a car, not a bad option for getting around, and after returning from our summer trip we bought a new van.

Our van is a 2005 Hyundai H1. We love it! It seats 9 people in a variety of changeable configurations, and its huge! It cost just over $16000 US. Oddly, it was the first of its kind sold in Qatar, as the 2004’s were of a different design, and the 9-seater had not been formerly available in Qatar.

Driving in Qatar is a bit of an experience. The roads are wide and modern and a roundabout rather than a traffic light serves most intersections. The skill level of drivers here varies widely. For many expatriates, Qatar is their first experience at driving. Driving schools here do a booming business. Unfortunately, this presents its own hazards. Another anomaly here is that because of its harbor location, the city is planned around concentric rings of streets, rather than a grid; as a result streets often join at strange angles, and it is easy to lose your bearings at first.

The plan of the city follows more of an American developmental model than European. Everything is very spread out. Doha has more in common with LA than Paris, and a car is a must. Personal taste plays a role here. Qataris prefer BIG houses with large, walled yards for privacy. This means that population density will not exceed suburbia-type levels in areas where Qataris live. Ex-pats from India and elsewhere tend to live in apartments, and the center of the city is quite dense. There is actually a housing shortage at the moment, and construction is booming. Qatar is hosting the Asian games in 2006, and the run-up to that is partially responsible for the current wave of construction.

I am told that within a few years the corniche…. The main road along the coast that runs through Doha, will be full of skyscrapers. There are plenty as it is. The corniche maintains a fair balance between development and public parks, and most buildings are on the inland, rather than coastal side of the road, meaning that you can see the water as you drive along it.

The water here is a perfect, radiant turquoise blue…except when it’s this surreal green. Marine life is plentiful, and the sea looks healthy. Fishing is a major industry. The fishing boats are traditional Arabian dhows that have been motorized. They are still made of wood, not fiberglass. Fishermen make their own crab and lobster traps by weaving wire. Most crew comes from India, and they tend to live aboard their craft. Pleasure boating is slowly catching on, but so far you won’t find things crowded.

Qatar may be home to some of the only thriving shopping malls in the world. Where I am from, malls have been dying a slow and miserable death for years. Usually they are replaced with outdoor shopping centers featuring Wal-marts and dollar stores, an indication of the state of the economy as much as shopping preferences I guess. I haven’t seen a crowded shopping mall in the states in at least ten years. Here in Doha, they are packed! I suppose the Gulf in general in a natural for shopping malls because of the climate.

I now know what happens to American clothing labels that don’t sell in US outlet stores… they send them to Gulf outlet stores. The best outlet shopping I have ever seen is right here. You can get great Eddie Bauer pants, etc for about $5. Kids clothing is insanely cheap too. I don’t buy western labels for them; the stuff made for this market is generally better quality. You wouldn’t believe the little girl’s dresses especially, they are very elaborate, and full of lace and bows etc. People would stop us in the streets in Paris and want to take pictures of my daughter.
Tailors are cheap here too. For about $20-$30 you can have a complete outfit made…. made very well in fact. My wife had all of her maternity clothes made here, and she says that they are the best she’s ever worn. We wear both western and traditional clothing here, depending upon the occasion. Those who seem to adapt best to this environment tend to be shape-shifters.

At this point, we are fully moved in. We have a vehicle, and my son attends school. We have addressed most of the bureaucratic issues surrounding the move, shipping, customs, immigration etc. We have a home telephone and internet access (that was a tale in itself), and we have hired a maid. Aside from buying some furniture etc in the near future, we are, for the most part, settled.