First Day in Doha
Yesterday was my first full day in Doha, and so far everything is good. I woke up about 10am, as my boss over here told me to sleep in and call when I was ready to come in. It's a good thing we have serious air conditioning here, as I doubt I could ever sleep in this heat.
When I was ready, I gave them a call - two of the guys I will be working with, John and Mike, picked me up in John's SUV. Both of these guys seem like good guys, and both are close to my age, which I assume will make this trip a lot of fun. They've both been here a while, and I can foresee myself hanging out with them most of the time. When they arrived, they decided it was time for lunch - so we headed out. Our destination: City Center Mall. The drive took about 15 minutes, so I got to see some of Doha. It's dry, gray, and beige - not a whole lot of color. It's also under construction in almost every direction you look. The Asian Games are coming here in December, and that is the cause of a lot of it.
When we finally arrived at City Center, I was pretty amazed by the size of it. It was one heck of a gigantic mall. They have a lot of Western stores, too - I was suprised by the amount. Plus, there are McDonalds and Hardees everywhere! We went in to a place called Pizza Express and had a buffet lunch that cost 35 riyals- which is about $4 US. It was very good pizza, and John and Mike treated me to lunch. Then we went to the equivalent of Wal-Mart to pick up some things for the office, and I got some food to cook at home (although I was told that I will probably eat out almost every night). They didn't have any TV dinners, but I got some pizza and ramen - how exciting!
After the trip to the mall, we went in to the LAS Building at Qatar Foundation's Education City, where GU operates. I got a walking tour of the building, met some people, and then took my seat in IT. We didn't end up doing much, although most everyone was gone because of a conference. It doesn't seem like it will be that bad of a job, however it also looks like I won't get bored, which is good.
Friday and Saturday are their weekends here, so I have today off. John, who has been here over 6 months, is coming by around 11am QT to pick me up and we are headed over to the Marriott. Apparently, the only place to get alcohol if you aren't a resident is the western resorts. The plan is just to hang out by the pool for most of the day. I'm not upset about that at all. I just don't want to spend too much money, as my bank account is virtually empty until I get paid next week.
I took some pictures of my complex last night, and will take some more of the Marriott today. I'm hoping that the USB cable I have will work, and I can get some of them online tonight.