How I got to Qatar Living (QL)
I was on the bus on my way back from lunch with a friend. As I realized that my stop was next, I threw my scarf around my neck and closed my coat. I put back in my purse the guide to Qatar that one of my friends gave to me a few days earlier, after I announced that I was temporarily moving to Doha in a month's time. As I walked towards home, I started daydreaming about this new place that I didn't recall knowing about, never, ever in my life. I had no idea of what to expect from it.
As the days passed by, I started getting anxious. Two weeks before my departure from Madrid, I was living at my friends' flat. I had my two suitcases prepared to leave, and I started saying 'hasta luego' to my favorite sites in the city. As I didn't know much about Qatar, I started researching about it. I'm a Wikipedia freak, and I always have a tab with Wikipedia ready to search any topic I'm curious about. When I typed 'Qatar' on the search tab, a very short page showed up and I was not satisfied with what I read. Not enough at all. As I searched in Google this time, I scrolled down the page, and I found JUST what I was looking for: QatarLiving: Everything you need to know about LIVING in Qatar. That was exactly what I needed. I didn't need a tourist guide online, I needed a place where I could find helpful hints on the issues involving living in a place. From schools, housing, what to wear, where to go, everything.
My biggest concern was what to wear. As a firs-timer in an Islamic country, I didn't know what was considered inappropriate and disrespectful to the culture. So my first enquiries where about the kind of clothing I should be wearing while in Qatar. I was relieved that I didn't have to wear an Abaya, or to cover my face. I was not relieved when I had to leave behind all of my strapless summer dresses, shorts, short skirts... basically 3/4 of my summer wardrobe. So, as I put each one of the garments in a box, I thought of the heat, those 50˚ I've read about, and I sighed. Not this summer.
And of course, one thread led me to the other, and for some reason I ended up reading a post by a woman, complaining that her niece arrived to Qatar and they denied her visa because "they didn't want prostitutes" in their country. That came to me as a shock. In two days I was going to take off from Madrid, by myself, and I was going to arrive to Doha, by myself... I panicked because she was saying something about women arriving alone to Doha. So I dressed pretty much like a nun for my travel. When I arrived there was no problem at all. Soon enough, I let the city embrace me with its unique Islamic charm. I've been here just for a couple of months, but I think I know my way very well. I don't use the map for driving anymore (only a very few times every now and then), and i feel like there is an answer to any of my questions. This is how I ended up in QL. And now, I have always a tab opened with QL, next to Wikipedia, and next to FB.
I maybe late but I still want to welcome you to Qatarliving. It's the best online place in Qatar. Sometimes information here is better than the local newspaper.
____________________________
And now every time somebody searches 'pregnant rights qatar' one lands in here. What did I tell you? Is this your idea of discretion? Hopeless...
Somebody in amigasqatar had already told me and recently I logged in to ask for something since I did not get too far searching the web for 'pregnant rights in Qatar'
I didn't have a clue where Qatar was, and after my parents freaked me out with the Saudi movie they saw, I google 'living in Qatar' and I ended up here!
I first read it for weeks, and when we finally got here I contacted Butterfly (where are you now???) and begged her to help me to keep my mental health. I guess we didn't succeed but nevertheless I met wonderful people, Novita, Xihuitl, amigasqatar, many others which nicks I forgot but which names I still have in my telephone book.
I have met hundred of trolls too and that has kept me away from writing but I still follow (everyday!), total QL-addict I must admit.
Thanks QL , after all I got to admit my life here has been easier thanks to you!
Welcome to Qatar dear..
I wish you best of the best..
[img_assist|nid=7232|title=Dua|desc=Amen :-)|link=none|align=left|width=440|height=56]
to my fellow North American & my fellow member of the "first forum on QL got bumped to a front page feature" club! ;-)
Great story! Our family can really relate!
no offense...but somebody needs some History here, or at least the basic knowledge about Latin origin languages..and some good sense theory!!!but..no hijacking;-)
meses. No sabe espanol, acaba de traducir las palabras a este le saludamos cordialmente...although it is pretty warm already ;P
"Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy, in the one case that confidence may not sleep,in the other that it may not be dismayed." - Baltasar Gracian
Donosa - Yes... you....
Rule - When we do not write name of person whom the post is for.. it is for the main forum then....
this one is for you as your username is written....
And stay away thing.. its an advice... interpret the way you wish to....
n m out now.. thurday evening... can't waste posting in QL..... :)
C ya.. happy weekend.... if you in Qatar
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
LOOOL, nice story
ashwindoke... are you talking to me? should I stay away? from whom?
Welcome .....
We pretend to be nice... but we are MEN...
a advice from a concerned stranger - Stay away...
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
(A flyer (nice nick name too)(also spelled flier or called handbill) is a single page leaflet advertising a nightclub, event, service, or other activity - WIKI DIXIT)
.
.
Romanian is a Romance language, belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family, having much in common with languages such as French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Compared with the other Romance languages, the closest relative of Romanian is Italian; the two languages show a limited degree of asymmetrical mutual intelligibility, especially in their cultivated forms: speakers of Romanian seem to understand Italian more easily than the other way around. Even though Romanian has obvious grammatical and lexical similarities with French, Catalan, Spanish or Portuguese, it is not mutually intelligible with them to a practical extent.
The lexical similarity with Italian is estimated at 77%, followed by French at 75%, Sardinian 74%, Catalan 73%, Spanish 71%, Portuguese, and Rhaeto-Romance at 72%.
.
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_language
.
.
Sorry for hijack, Donosa...just a short History lesson for flyer
Thank you Gilgamesh =)
Glad you guys liked it!
Very Entertaining article
Welcome to Doha
---
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today"
asking to speak in english, when almost every post has people talking in other languages, mainly philipino (tagalog) or arabic... common-sense, my friend, analyze before talking... But with this nickname... By the way, 90% close to spanish, the only language close to that I know is portuguese, but damn sure you are not from Brazil or Portugal, they are more open minded than you! With this name you look like romenian, but saying the languages are similar it's another joke, well, coming from you...
We will just have to go shopping for some new strapless dresses! I arrive in August :) Glad you like my pic...it is my little parrot! I will miss her when I come to Doha..she has to stay with my mom :(
=============================================
" Failure is Not an OPTION "
=============================================
Thank you Athena!
The bad news is, all of that is back in Madrid...
Love your picture! Love, love, love it =)
Cool post, Donosa. Glad to hear you have adjusted well. Your strapless dresses can still work with a light cardigan and a pair of jeans :)
.
.
:-)
.
.
Don't worry about the fake Dracula... He can bite he just suck LOL.
The Venezuelan Sensation!!!
.
.
My native language it's 90% similar with spanish.
I don't "feel threatened of your Spanish"
It's just ...showing respect in front of hundreds and thousands of QL members non-Spanish speakers.
.
.
Bloody Regards,
Drac
.
.
already a member.
I read the guidelines and couldn't find what you're talking about, but if you feel threatened of my Spanish, I'll keep it in english. Besides, It was only a reply to somebody that speaks Spanish as me.
.
.
You can join in "Latinos in Qatar" - Group
.
.
Here you go:
http://www.qatarliving.com/group/latinos-qatar
.
.
Dear Donosa!
Again, welcome!
Please use English only in the main forum.
.
Here you go: COMMUNITY GUIDELINES / Qatarliving.com
.
.
.
http://www.qatarliving.com/guidelines
.
.
Thanks and bloody regards,
Drac
MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO MEJICO.
;)
Ok ok MEXICO!!!
Viva Mexico Cabrones...
The Venezuelan Sensation!!!
Hola has an H on it ;) basic Spanish!
Se que se puede escribir con las dos, pero como mexicana, me gusta que escriban el nombre de mi país como oficialmente se escribe =)
yo soy del norte, de Monterrey
un beso
Wheres the "H" of HOLA
LOL
The Venezuelan Sensation!!!
OLA AMIGA
I was tired of all the crap and gossip that u people have sometimes...
So today I feel like coming here and give u a little of sensation.
The Venezuelan Sensation!!!
We need to have BBQ in your Villa Again
[img_assist|nid=50852|title=hmm|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
wow and all of a sudden you get active on QL.
Se puede escribir con ambas... Google that!
Bueno pues bienvenida a estas tierras, mi mama nacio en el DF hace muchos anos Hahaha.
Saludos.
The Venezuelan Sensation!!!
Welcome to Dohaland and moreso, QL!!
Hey Maa look at me....what no one wants to see....much too young to focus but too old to see!
JAJAJA NO PUEDO CON LA RISA CON TU POST!! ;)
sólo que México se escribe con X, pero bueno, con J también es aceptable jeje
No te me achicopales!!!
Viva mejico Cabrones!!!
LOL
The Venezuelan Sensation!!!
Glad to now every thing is Ok now and back to normal.
Hope you enjoy your stay on QL and in Qatar.
Everything is back to normal back in my country. I'm from north of Mexico, where Swine flu didn't really affect. My family and friends are fine, catching up with the things they had to postpone due to the quarantine the country lived in. More than worried, everyone was annoyed and bored to death (cinemas and restaurants were closed).
So, that's about it, nothing major than a flu. But overreaction is better than no reaction when it comes to health topics, I guess.
Did you say that you are from Mexico. OMG is that the place where Swine Flu pandemic started.
Donosa do you know how the situation is back in your country now?
Donosa....you gonna be infected with QL flu...
....sleepless nights......browsing fatigue...etc.....lol
Welcome onboard...
Welcome to Qatar, all the way from Mexico. We hope that you will enjoy your stay with us.
welcome to Qatar
and by time you will have the phenomena of Qatar Living addict where every 15 to 20 min you have to chick what is new on the QL......
then things will become more and more complicated when you will be in vacation and log in to QL and see what is going on while you are not in the country .
That is QL
:)))))
may i have the honor to invite you to join MMM group...
NFH, we can have the next munch at a Mexican resto or maybe in Donosa's kitchen? ;)
mi tutora would kill me for mixing up my verbs and direct objects again! (in public, how embarassing ...)
sorry, i did not mean to sell you :-<
i meant to say no, i don't buy it - no, la compro (hope it's correct this time).
i have better luck - i can get (some) Malaysian sauces which are imported from back home. but other stuffs are, as you've said it - not the same.
welcome again. as with any place, there are both positives and negatives here ... i sometimes get upset with the negatives but i try to avoid those and try to enjoy the positives.
Featured!
The title in essence is the same =)
elxxxv: i don't know what do you mean by 'no te vendo'? hehe if you say it in english I can tell you how you say it in Spanish ;)
Well, the 'salsa verde' that I see in the supermarkets does not taste AT ALL like the one I make in Mexico... so I do not buy it, because I do not really like it.
Thank you all!
DaRuDe your right, A feature on front page should be hijacked at least. I have just noticed that the Moderator has just changed the title to make it more appealing.
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
welcome donosa and very nice description .... enjoy ur stay here .....
very nice post donosa. mucho gusto (on-line at least). i think you can find salsa verde in most big supermarkets ... of course not completely sure since no te vendo! (pls correct if it's wrong :-)
a topic on front page shouldn't be hijacked.
[img_assist|nid=50852|title=hmm|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
Have seen salsa in bottles in LULU, Carrefour and villagio
[img_assist|nid=50852|title=hmm|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
I have seen it in Megamart..
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
Where can I get it??
you can buy tinned salsa verde here....
O come on people, show some spirits...I'm just telling her welcome aboard...and told her to embrace us like we did to her... by some hot spicy stuff all the way from the Kitchens of Mexicana...!!!
lol UkEng, that's about as far as i go when it comes to Spanish... :P
welcome to qatar..... hehehe
youve started to embraced the heat of qatar....
try to embrace me also lolz... hehehehe just kidding
have a great stay in qatar... donosa....
DONOSA... i love tacos heheheheh
Oryx I only know the Mexican food that you can get in Tesco and Sainsbury..lol
Thanks for the Information. I always had a feeling that there was more than Fajita's in Mexico..
Gracias profesor,,:))
Barca for me tonight...
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
I don't like tamales, unfortunately... I don't know why! My grandmother used to make them twice a year, and everyone in the family would come over to her house to help her cook!
I miss tacos, salsa verde, omG! I miss it so much!! And mole poblano, with red rice... I can't wait for the summer to come!!
Cuisine in Mexico is very regional...
so what they eat in one area they dont in another...
there is a massive variety a lot of it depending what indigenous group is in the area....
a lot of it is actually a fusion
So there are Aztec influenced food and Mayan
really tasty is chochinita pibil...and at halloween/day of the dead they eat Mumbi Pollo in the Yucatan
Also in the Yucatan they eat Poc Chuc
In Oaxaca...well its the centre of mole which is the most delicious food ever invented.
I miss tamales
Welcome welcome welcome to sunny Qatar and QL
[img_assist|nid=50852|title=hmm|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
You can't teach experience...
FS absolutely.. Every time he see's a newbee he creeps back into QL.Plus since he has become the Manager of QLSG he is scaring alot of people away..lol
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
KSA you also be nice and show up at times ...and not creep out of your Den...when you see a new Prey! LOL
Oi Ksarat.. You stick to your dosa stuff.
We are talking Tex Mex here..
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
Seriously you both...dont scare away the lady...
Be Nice like how I am being...
FS lol.. I thought its just me!!! we are three now. lol
______________________________________________
- Listen to Many...Speak to a Few -
So it is not Espanol but Mexicano eyyy...!!!
Hmmmm...
So some Chilli...sounds even better...!!!
UKEng, stay OUT of this ... dont make me drag your azz catching you by the ear and taking you to your dear lovely wife and telling her "How Bad you have been Online" :P
so its not only me who thought so..lol
You can't teach experience...
That's Tex-Mex dude!! hehe
I'm having a very hard time finding ingredients for my beloved REAL Mexican cuisine :..(
UKEngQatar...if I may say, please step aside...you are not getting any Spanish Omlettes...my dear friend...
Donosa...well dont think too hard and damage your brain girl...that brain that you brought over here all the way from Espanol...so...get in the kitchen and start displaying your master cullinary skills... LOL!
And dont listen to anyone else especially the likes of UKENG and DaRude...! LOL!
Aaaah you're on the First page...not bad for a start eyy ... see now this gives you more reason to actually celebrate with us (Only a FEW of US!)
Well in that case. Taco, Fajita and nacho's and some Buritos would be nice. Now don't tell that these are not Mexican cusine's..:)
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
donosa, have you ever noticed how many threads there are about how much we all miss MEXICAN food?
hint, hint....
Well the thing is I'm not Spanish, I'm Mexican, lived in Madrid for 2 years before coming to Qatar... my knowledge of Spanish Cuisine is not that good, I can eat it, but I can't cook it.. :( sorry...
Donosa.. I am not into cakes. Spanish Omelet or a Paella would be nice.
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
It just happens :)
how did that happen?!
Welcome donosa!
Nice post, you're on the front page :-)
Thanks for sharing
Hola mjamille!! =)
Thank you everyone! So far, enjoying it. Hmm... spanish cakes... I need to think about it... hehe
Hola MJ.. Que pasa? lol
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
Hola donosa! welcome to QL... :)
Gracias donosa
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
Ok a quickie, sounds more like that Indian dish "Dosa"... :)
Anyways...a very interesting read through and indeed it is true, one page just leads to the other...nothing more nothing less...
You find things, you make friends and you get to know your life around Qatar...and thats what is Qatar Living all about...and Donosa...dont forget there are other groups in this site that are specifically laid out for individual interests...have a look!
And as Smoke...not only that this place Embraces you, you should return the favor as well and embrace us, Smoke, Khanan, KSA with a cud of coffee if not some Spanish Cake made by you...your pick...!!! LOL!
Welcome aboard girl and have fun!!!
totalmente perdonado ;)
ooops
apenado, perdón, lo siento Amiga
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
welcome to QL donosa...hope you had a wonderful stay here...Happy QLing...=D
Mitzzyy Mitz '09
Welcome aboard...
______________________________________________
- Listen to Many...Speak to a Few -
Yeah agreed with you
well said :)
This is QL... one page just leads you to another.
Welcome to Qatar Living :)
very nice post
Hope u have a great time here
Cheers !!!
It's 'amiga', I'm a girl!
;)
Ah and please becareful with these animal faces on QL ;-)
by the way my beep beep is peaceful ...
her name also is one of the characters in NCIS
Welcome aboard Amigo
bienvenido
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
Beautiful description. it was like reading a novel..hmm
-----------------
HE WHO DARES WINS
Welcome on Board...enjoy your stay in Qatar and QL...make sure you don’t get yourself baked in coming three months... after that you gonna love it!
Btw ...your name reminds me of Jurrasic Park. .lol
bienvinido donosa!
and enjoy your time.
nice post...
I love this site the way it helps people in differenst aspects of life in Qatar.
____________________________________________________
Have Courage To Live.
Anyone Can Die.
Thank you very much everyone =)
more than anything, I'm letting the HEAT embrace me.... I mean, I really don't have much choice! hehe
To Qatar then Donosa
action speaks louder than words
nice post!
welcome to qatar! hope u enjoy ur time here.
action speaks louder than words
.
.
Love it!
.
Welcome on QL.
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
.
.
Bloody Regards,
Drac.
.
.
Great now perhaps you should start embracing the people...starting with me :)
Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)
_[]~SMoKE~[]_
and youve embraced QL....congratulations!