Moving won't necessarily sort out the situation. However I'm not saying you should date, either.
Men are what they are. The problem with the Middle East and its indigenous populations is that it is struggling to come to terms with reality so a majority of people, in this case men, will adopt an outwardly accpetable aura while their convictions lie elsewhere. So what is permissible for the man is impermissible for that man's female relatives. It's schizophrenic. I think The Times published an article last year whose headline read "We Can Hold Hands and Kiss in Public while Married Couples Can't: homosexuals in Saudi Arabia."
This problem is not only social; it extends to other spheres of life in the region but that's the context we're talking about now.
However there is a positive side to this in Qatar with women being given special treatment. I've seen it in government offices, at Q-Tel, with the police.
But that makes little difference to those seeking fulfilling companionship.
Qatar doesn't afford couples the opportunity to be expressive unless you gout to a place like Admiral's or Pearl. Taking the kids out to a fun activity is a chore. Yes, we go to the beach, once in a while to the zoo but there isn't a park to speak of, no museums, no family-oriented activities... But happy families do exist and happy children make life so much more tolerable. Ultimately we are missing much in Qatar but the country has come a very long way in the past ten years.
Why don't you have normal contact with people and let your intuition guide you not only to the intentions of this guy or that but also to what actually lies beneath the facade?
I've lived and worked in Kuwait, the US, the UK and must have travelled to more than 30 countries and believe me the gender-based issue of relationships is the same everywhere with local idiosyncracies applying the difference here and there.
Moving won't necessarily sort out the situation. However I'm not saying you should date, either.
Men are what they are. The problem with the Middle East and its indigenous populations is that it is struggling to come to terms with reality so a majority of people, in this case men, will adopt an outwardly accpetable aura while their convictions lie elsewhere. So what is permissible for the man is impermissible for that man's female relatives. It's schizophrenic. I think The Times published an article last year whose headline read "We Can Hold Hands and Kiss in Public while Married Couples Can't: homosexuals in Saudi Arabia."
This problem is not only social; it extends to other spheres of life in the region but that's the context we're talking about now.
However there is a positive side to this in Qatar with women being given special treatment. I've seen it in government offices, at Q-Tel, with the police.
But that makes little difference to those seeking fulfilling companionship.
Qatar doesn't afford couples the opportunity to be expressive unless you gout to a place like Admiral's or Pearl. Taking the kids out to a fun activity is a chore. Yes, we go to the beach, once in a while to the zoo but there isn't a park to speak of, no museums, no family-oriented activities... But happy families do exist and happy children make life so much more tolerable. Ultimately we are missing much in Qatar but the country has come a very long way in the past ten years.
Why don't you have normal contact with people and let your intuition guide you not only to the intentions of this guy or that but also to what actually lies beneath the facade?
I've lived and worked in Kuwait, the US, the UK and must have travelled to more than 30 countries and believe me the gender-based issue of relationships is the same everywhere with local idiosyncracies applying the difference here and there.