Hi Iowa Girl,

Welcome to Doha.. its a good place, 5 months( Oct to Feb) the weather is good and the other 7 months (March to Sep )its hot. Its not a very busy place so you can have a lot of time for yourself,and about the locals , its the same like every country where you will find a mix of people and majority of them are nice people.
Come with a open mind i think you will able to adapt to Doha.