Very very rough driving-even in cities... Qatari having big vehicles and driving very roughly and fast inside city, very dangerous and lots of people dies because of accidents.
I remember when I went abroad for school...I felt so0o0o sad and depressed...thats why I feel so0o sorry for those that come all the way from back home to make a few $$...homesick is not a pleasant feeling at all ;(
there is the good, the bad , and the ugly here like most countries of the world. everywhere you go u get culture shock. just a bit more here in qatar...thats all.
One should never mix culture norms with religion. Like for instance, women are not allowed to drive in Saudia Arabia but they are allowed to ride in taxis with non-mehram men.. Now if you take it in a Islamic point of view.. It is more safer and Islamically acceptable if she drove her own car alone instead of riding a taxi with a man who is not her husband, brother, father or son.. But then they have their own fundas of life which no one else understands.
Yes Karina but when we fast our kids eat infront of us shall we also make them starve?
come on there is not anything in islam that prohibits non-muslims from eating infront of muslims...well also what about diabetic people that cant fast? where do they eat?
anyways I dont want to divert from the topic but people always make mistakes when they mix cultural norms with religion...
In my country Pakistan, we have more or less the same rules when it comes to Ramadan.. No one is allowed to eat in public and no restaurants are allowed to serve lunch for the entire month..
You say is not fair to ban non-muslims to eat in Ramadan but you see we are not exactly banning anything. We are just requesting them not to eat in front of fasting Muslims. Like for instance in my office, the non Muslims are allowed to eat behind closed doors during Ramadan.
I must say you are 100% right...I agree with you...As i am living here since when i was born...so The new generation of Qatari's are very Different from there Forefathers................I agree with you :)
I know lots of Qatari men and women who are very open minded like Stallion. Infact my best friend here is a Qatari woman who is educated and broad minded. The new generation of the Qataris are very different from their forefathers. They are very liberal and fair. They do not discriminate between sex, religion, nationality etc. For instance I met a few Qatari guys and girls at the College of North Atlantic where I have enrolled for an evening course and there all the students in my batch mingle with each other freely.. Qataris and non-Qataris.. It is really a very vast variety of nationalities all sitting in one classroom and no discrimination whatsoever.. Times have changed and I agree with Stallion 100%..
phoonet we dont have gay in our country like you and your have ;)holding hands is not gay activities. you look at them as gay is your gay sence and gay activities.
Before coming here, i read Qatar is the richest country in the Gulf with the highest GDP. Coming here, I realised that the country is full of expat. Hence when the highest GDP was worked out using the Qatari only which stands at 12% of the population here.
What shocked me here were in order of most shocking
1. The driving standard
2. The difficulties in crossing the ring roads
3. The conditions of inside roads...
4. The concentration of some kinds of shops in the same street..ie all barbers in one same street.
5. The number of men in the city on Fridays and Saturdays. I do feel for these labourers and workers. I specially feel for those working in the hospitality industry. God, they are so polite and courteous unlike their contemporaries in european countries.And when they say how much they are paid, I got shocked.
6. Non muslims are not allowed to eat in public during Ramadaan. I hear this is in the Gulf countries. But is this Sunnah? I have never read any such thing in the books of Ahadith.
7. The heat in July...wow..i survived it with so much struggle...wow, I wonder what hellfire is like...
8 finally, there is no post delivery here...todate my landlord has not given me my complete address...he does not know either..so i don't know my address myself. I am getting used to it now...using landmarks to get somewhere..God be praised I have google earth.
But what I really like here in Qatar is;
The safety for my kids
The cheap petrol costs
The censure over indecency on tv.
The halal KFC, McDonald etc.
Lulu hypermarket
Some of you been saying, in earlier posts, that Qataris are arrogant, but I find all of those I met very nice. May be the young are arrogant. Also it depends on the level of education acquired. Oh, may be those who work in the government public offices front desks appear to be arrogant. But then, do you think these people has got a good level of education?
I really admire Stallion humility and modesty. Keep it up Stallion and let other people like abumaid learn from you. Just because someone say some bad comments about your country, you cant tell them to go back home.In fact, its better to reflect on it and amend things if the comments prove to be true.
The biggest shock for me was how bad and unpatient qatari drivers are, how they look down on other people, and one thing I couldnt figure out is that they have no patient and one other thing I mean "why do these badooz drive around with lights open inside the car!!!" Get a life badooz!
Anyway apart from that the weather was like I am standing in front of oven! :-)
Ive been here one year and im still shocked at the "family day" at the malls. I witnessed three "bachelors" trying to get in and told "only familes" and that same moment, while trying to negotiate getting in, they were pushed out of the way to allow three qatari guys (with no ladies or kids), in with a huge welcome. I should be used to it by now, it still get shocks me..
Britexpat, if you go to the US on an H1 visa for a fixed period of time of COURSE you will be allowed to criticize the government, culture and authorities. It may not make you a very popular person, but you certainly would be allowed to do so.
Britexpat, as usual you have hit the nail on the head. I do feel for those guys but I don't believe they are being exploited unless they were promised something different and then made to do this. I take the bus from Dukhan to Doha several times a week and the road workers use the bus to get from one place to another. They have a real laugh and sometimes even let me in to the joke. It is sad that other countries are still corrupt, dangerous places to the extent that it is preferable to spend 5 years here, away from family, working in the heat. I do not think that Qatar is any worse than many other countries, let's face it, without illegal immigrants the UK hospitality industry would be finished. The law in the summer months banning outside work from 11am to 3pm, at least on the Dukhan road has been largely observed for the last 2 years.
By the way, I love living in Qatar but do feel self conscious about the status us Westerners have sometimes, for example the other day when renewing the car insurance the man called me to the front of a very long queue. I am not sure what us Brits have done to deserve such reverence.
Labda ..back when we were in the USA a Qatari friend of mine who is tall and big with a long beard... used to wear the white thobe but with nothing on top of his head in the evenings when we used to visit one another in the same compund...
one day a little kid saw the big man in a white thobe...was looking at him and was kind of scared !!...the kid told his father "dady look it is god" lol !
I was in awe of the men in their thobes and scared to death of the women in their abayas. I think its the other way round now...I AM JOKING. Where's Scotiabank, lol
------------Virgos dont like chaos, gerrit? ----------
stallion, you are a qatari, even though your profile says something else. but im really impressed how open minded you sound. anyway keep it up , because it is a very good way to live your life..just thought id tell you that....i have a couple of qatari friends that are really open minded and are really very nice chaps too.
Our population is only 12% citizens...I wonder when we run out of oil or when there comes a new form of energy...the streets will be empty !!!...then I am sure Abohmaid will feel terrible ;)
Abohmaid lets try to be nice or this place will become an empty quarter ;O
oh well, everyone has their own impression, mine is what i said before, and i stand by it. i think criticism is a good thing in the end, cause it makes you a better individual....
Qatar differs from other places , in that people come here to work and not as immigrants.
They come to work with the clear understanding that they will be paid an agreed amount of money in return for work carried out. It is a contract.
Yes, some criticism should be allowed, but the simple fact is that they don't have to.
Let's say I go to the USA on an H1 Visa to work for a fixed period. Will I be allowed to criticise the government, local authorities, local culture etc ??
When I landed in, the impression was quite desolate. Specially after looking at complete dryness in Qatar.
Becasue i have been in few western and few GCC countires culture wasnt suprising thing to see. If all locals are soft spoken like Stallion this would have been a quite nice place.
well spoken stallion..with criticism, you become a stronger individual. thats life. here it seems all they want is for you to say nice things all the time, and the moment you say anything negative, they all tell you to leave qatar. come on pple, take things easy.......
Jasmine, stallion -- I feel the same for them mates, havent heard anyone talkin nice of them here except curses for staring, teases for the odd colour shirts they wear and hatred for their stinkin sweat. Its sad.. really sad
abohmaid qataris go out to other countries too and they are free to criticize...so why cant we????i have a number of qatari friends that talk about the uk negatively too so hey no harm......every country has positive and negative. it might help if you listen to the guests and learn from the advice they give. il start try not to drive like you are out to kill 24, 7. or always be arrogant on the roads like you own everyone else.....
you are 100% right about the workers...I always feel bad when I drive down the road and think why would a person leave their family to earn like 1000 reyal per month..thats when I realise how lucky am I to be in this country.
about the safety thats what I hear from many expats here...they cant believe the level of safety here...governments pay fortunes to keep crimes low and here we have it by default ;)
LOL holding hands is ok in this part of the world. They are not gay.
Also wearing colone is not considered gay. In fact it is considered neat and desirable.
When I went to US and greeted a friend of mine like we do in Qatar (kissing on the cheek) he yelled at me and said DONT DO THAT they will think we are GAY !!
I didn't know what to expect. The first thing that hit me was the safety. I couldn't believe that my family and our property were free to live without the constant fear of vandalism and theft. Before we came here from the UK we had a problem with drunk people doing every horrid thing you can think of in our front garden on their way home from the pub. People (not just men) used to pee on our car and our front door was starting to rot because of it.
On the down side, I was so shocked at the conditions the men were working in on the roads. It was so hot. I was also very frightened by the fact that they covered their faces to protect themselves from the dust. I had never seen anything like it. I now take the bus twice a week that these guys use and they couldn't be more polite. I still feel sad for them being seperated from their families.
Qatar's winter months are brimming with unmissable experiences, from the AFC Asian Cup 2023 to the World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024 and a variety of outdoor adventures and cultural delights.
Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a sweet escape into the world of budget-friendly Mango Sticky Rice that's sure to satisfy both your cravings and your budget!
Celebrate World Vegan Day with our list of vegan food outlets offering an array of delectable options, spanning from colorful salads to savory shawarma and indulgent desserts.
i went out to go shopping on a friday (lunchtime) all the shops are closed til 4pm. at least the grocery is open.
Very very rough driving-even in cities... Qatari having big vehicles and driving very roughly and fast inside city, very dangerous and lots of people dies because of accidents.
Since when did somebody else's culture (in which population domination occurs) becomes the rule of this land?
"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
I remember when I went abroad for school...I felt so0o0o sad and depressed...thats why I feel so0o sorry for those that come all the way from back home to make a few $$...homesick is not a pleasant feeling at all ;(
there is the good, the bad , and the ugly here like most countries of the world. everywhere you go u get culture shock. just a bit more here in qatar...thats all.
One should never mix culture norms with religion. Like for instance, women are not allowed to drive in Saudia Arabia but they are allowed to ride in taxis with non-mehram men.. Now if you take it in a Islamic point of view.. It is more safer and Islamically acceptable if she drove her own car alone instead of riding a taxi with a man who is not her husband, brother, father or son.. But then they have their own fundas of life which no one else understands.
Yes Karina but when we fast our kids eat infront of us shall we also make them starve?
come on there is not anything in islam that prohibits non-muslims from eating infront of muslims...well also what about diabetic people that cant fast? where do they eat?
anyways I dont want to divert from the topic but people always make mistakes when they mix cultural norms with religion...
glad to hear from all of you buddies :)
You used the right word - "unfair"..
Perhaps its cultural, because the same thing happens in Saudi.
However, the fact is that this rule is something we are all aware of before we come here.. So, we have to live with it..
Request means arresting and puting you behind the bars???
Kareena74, there's a difference between corporate policy and the law of the land (whether its written or unwritten).
------------Virgos dont like chaos, gerrit? ----------
In my country Pakistan, we have more or less the same rules when it comes to Ramadan.. No one is allowed to eat in public and no restaurants are allowed to serve lunch for the entire month..
You say is not fair to ban non-muslims to eat in Ramadan but you see we are not exactly banning anything. We are just requesting them not to eat in front of fasting Muslims. Like for instance in my office, the non Muslims are allowed to eat behind closed doors during Ramadan.
I also think it is unfair to ban non-eating for non-muslims in Ramadan...it is so not in our religion !...
I must say you are 100% right...I agree with you...As i am living here since when i was born...so The new generation of Qatari's are very Different from there Forefathers................I agree with you :)
I know lots of Qatari men and women who are very open minded like Stallion. Infact my best friend here is a Qatari woman who is educated and broad minded. The new generation of the Qataris are very different from their forefathers. They are very liberal and fair. They do not discriminate between sex, religion, nationality etc. For instance I met a few Qatari guys and girls at the College of North Atlantic where I have enrolled for an evening course and there all the students in my batch mingle with each other freely.. Qataris and non-Qataris.. It is really a very vast variety of nationalities all sitting in one classroom and no discrimination whatsoever.. Times have changed and I agree with Stallion 100%..
MMmm you are right...I myself can not stand it when they drive like it is judgment day !
I wondered why the bath mats had compasses on them... then i was told they were prayer mats...oooooooops
i was in for a nasty shock at my job...that is a whole other story!!
Everything I've read about India in books and encyclopedias seem wrong.
"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
phoonet we dont have gay in our country like you and your have ;)holding hands is not gay activities. you look at them as gay is your gay sence and gay activities.
NEPAL
Before coming here, i read Qatar is the richest country in the Gulf with the highest GDP. Coming here, I realised that the country is full of expat. Hence when the highest GDP was worked out using the Qatari only which stands at 12% of the population here.
What shocked me here were in order of most shocking
1. The driving standard
2. The difficulties in crossing the ring roads
3. The conditions of inside roads...
4. The concentration of some kinds of shops in the same street..ie all barbers in one same street.
5. The number of men in the city on Fridays and Saturdays. I do feel for these labourers and workers. I specially feel for those working in the hospitality industry. God, they are so polite and courteous unlike their contemporaries in european countries.And when they say how much they are paid, I got shocked.
6. Non muslims are not allowed to eat in public during Ramadaan. I hear this is in the Gulf countries. But is this Sunnah? I have never read any such thing in the books of Ahadith.
7. The heat in July...wow..i survived it with so much struggle...wow, I wonder what hellfire is like...
8 finally, there is no post delivery here...todate my landlord has not given me my complete address...he does not know either..so i don't know my address myself. I am getting used to it now...using landmarks to get somewhere..God be praised I have google earth.
But what I really like here in Qatar is;
The safety for my kids
The cheap petrol costs
The censure over indecency on tv.
The halal KFC, McDonald etc.
Lulu hypermarket
Some of you been saying, in earlier posts, that Qataris are arrogant, but I find all of those I met very nice. May be the young are arrogant. Also it depends on the level of education acquired. Oh, may be those who work in the government public offices front desks appear to be arrogant. But then, do you think these people has got a good level of education?
I really admire Stallion humility and modesty. Keep it up Stallion and let other people like abumaid learn from you. Just because someone say some bad comments about your country, you cant tell them to go back home.In fact, its better to reflect on it and amend things if the comments prove to be true.
regards to you all
The biggest shock for me was how bad and unpatient qatari drivers are, how they look down on other people, and one thing I couldnt figure out is that they have no patient and one other thing I mean "why do these badooz drive around with lights open inside the car!!!" Get a life badooz!
Anyway apart from that the weather was like I am standing in front of oven! :-)
But its good to see so many nationalities around!
Britttttt!!!! Aaaah no comment lol!!!
------------Virgos dont like chaos, gerrit? ----------
how r u i am Rajeev i am working in Alnasr area for Qtraq can you tell me more about you.
Wipe that smirk off your face..Those are just rumours..
stallion, lol...it's true though, something very majestic about thobe wearers. :)
------------Virgos dont like chaos, gerrit? ----------
Stallion.. Good to know you mate.. cheers
Ive been here one year and im still shocked at the "family day" at the malls. I witnessed three "bachelors" trying to get in and told "only familes" and that same moment, while trying to negotiate getting in, they were pushed out of the way to allow three qatari guys (with no ladies or kids), in with a huge welcome. I should be used to it by now, it still get shocks me..
I was shocked the first day they stopped us in the middle of a meeting for pray time...
(by today, Im used to it)
War looking for peace,
is like fornication looking for virginity.
Britexpat, if you go to the US on an H1 visa for a fixed period of time of COURSE you will be allowed to criticize the government, culture and authorities. It may not make you a very popular person, but you certainly would be allowed to do so.
Mandi
Britexpat, as usual you have hit the nail on the head. I do feel for those guys but I don't believe they are being exploited unless they were promised something different and then made to do this. I take the bus from Dukhan to Doha several times a week and the road workers use the bus to get from one place to another. They have a real laugh and sometimes even let me in to the joke. It is sad that other countries are still corrupt, dangerous places to the extent that it is preferable to spend 5 years here, away from family, working in the heat. I do not think that Qatar is any worse than many other countries, let's face it, without illegal immigrants the UK hospitality industry would be finished. The law in the summer months banning outside work from 11am to 3pm, at least on the Dukhan road has been largely observed for the last 2 years.
By the way, I love living in Qatar but do feel self conscious about the status us Westerners have sometimes, for example the other day when renewing the car insurance the man called me to the front of a very long queue. I am not sure what us Brits have done to deserve such reverence.
Oh, that's wonderful, Stallion! We do tend to associate God with men in long white robes.
Mandi
Labda ..back when we were in the USA a Qatari friend of mine who is tall and big with a long beard... used to wear the white thobe but with nothing on top of his head in the evenings when we used to visit one another in the same compund...
one day a little kid saw the big man in a white thobe...was looking at him and was kind of scared !!...the kid told his father "dady look it is god" lol !
welcome mate
:) thanks OmarSK
I chose in my profile a country "Mcdonalds islands" so no one could blow my cover ;) but I guess I blew it myself
I was in awe of the men in their thobes and scared to death of the women in their abayas. I think its the other way round now...I AM JOKING. Where's Scotiabank, lol
------------Virgos dont like chaos, gerrit? ----------
stallion, you are a qatari, even though your profile says something else. but im really impressed how open minded you sound. anyway keep it up , because it is a very good way to live your life..just thought id tell you that....i have a couple of qatari friends that are really open minded and are really very nice chaps too.
Our population is only 12% citizens...I wonder when we run out of oil or when there comes a new form of energy...the streets will be empty !!!...then I am sure Abohmaid will feel terrible ;)
Abohmaid lets try to be nice or this place will become an empty quarter ;O
oh well, everyone has their own impression, mine is what i said before, and i stand by it. i think criticism is a good thing in the end, cause it makes you a better individual....
Qatar differs from other places , in that people come here to work and not as immigrants.
They come to work with the clear understanding that they will be paid an agreed amount of money in return for work carried out. It is a contract.
Yes, some criticism should be allowed, but the simple fact is that they don't have to.
Let's say I go to the USA on an H1 Visa to work for a fixed period. Will I be allowed to criticise the government, local authorities, local culture etc ??
I doubt it.
When I landed in, the impression was quite desolate. Specially after looking at complete dryness in Qatar.
Becasue i have been in few western and few GCC countires culture wasnt suprising thing to see. If all locals are soft spoken like Stallion this would have been a quite nice place.
-- F L A M M A B L E --
well spoken stallion..with criticism, you become a stronger individual. thats life. here it seems all they want is for you to say nice things all the time, and the moment you say anything negative, they all tell you to leave qatar. come on pple, take things easy.......
Didn't have an impression of Qatar, but surprised at how easy going the place is ..
Life will never be the same...
Think of the current financial crisis...how many people lost their jobs...millionairs lost their fortunes and now they are back to square one...
Thats why we should feel sorry for those unfortunate workers and the poor. if we dont want to help them fine but let us at least not look down on them
You are right Omarsk...We should be open to criticism and not close our minds.
I learned valuable lessons in my life all from criticism...even when you are harshly criticised try to take what is reasonable...
Some Qataris unfortunately dont believe in the other side at all
Jasmine, stallion -- I feel the same for them mates, havent heard anyone talkin nice of them here except curses for staring, teases for the odd colour shirts they wear and hatred for their stinkin sweat. Its sad.. really sad
abohmaid qataris go out to other countries too and they are free to criticize...so why cant we????i have a number of qatari friends that talk about the uk negatively too so hey no harm......every country has positive and negative. it might help if you listen to the guests and learn from the advice they give. il start try not to drive like you are out to kill 24, 7. or always be arrogant on the roads like you own everyone else.....
you are 100% right about the workers...I always feel bad when I drive down the road and think why would a person leave their family to earn like 1000 reyal per month..thats when I realise how lucky am I to be in this country.
about the safety thats what I hear from many expats here...they cant believe the level of safety here...governments pay fortunes to keep crimes low and here we have it by default ;)
ABOHMAID !! This was not nice...this is not what we say to our guests man !
LOL holding hands is ok in this part of the world. They are not gay.
Also wearing colone is not considered gay. In fact it is considered neat and desirable.
When I went to US and greeted a friend of mine like we do in Qatar (kissing on the cheek) he yelled at me and said DONT DO THAT they will think we are GAY !!
Drunken Public Toilet in UK :)
Ban Spoon Feeding not Me
I didn't know what to expect. The first thing that hit me was the safety. I couldn't believe that my family and our property were free to live without the constant fear of vandalism and theft. Before we came here from the UK we had a problem with drunk people doing every horrid thing you can think of in our front garden on their way home from the pub. People (not just men) used to pee on our car and our front door was starting to rot because of it.
On the down side, I was so shocked at the conditions the men were working in on the roads. It was so hot. I was also very frightened by the fact that they covered their faces to protect themselves from the dust. I had never seen anything like it. I now take the bus twice a week that these guys use and they couldn't be more polite. I still feel sad for them being seperated from their families.
go back to ur homeland
from firstimer in Middle East. But to us who's been here before, we already knew the culture.
"dgoodrebel will always be the rebellious good one"
nothing suprised me cos lived in Saudi and Bahrain.
Been there, seen it, got the tee shirt ha ha!
holding hands while walking theme by indian and neapli men..wahahaha...are you all gay?
what surprised me the most... ah.. uhmmm, .. nothing...