Adventures in Apartment Living in Doha

Sunrise from JZog's Balcony

Overall, I like my apartment. It has high ceilings and open space, great views and sits in close proximity to downtown Doha. But, as with every apartment I have ever lived in, this one also has its idiosyncrasies. Some I would attribute to living outside of the United States, and others, well, I think the others are just conditions of living in an apartment anywhere.

In addition to the different outlets (thank you, Dad for sending me with your adapters!), each outlet has a switch to turn it on/off, and each major appliance has its own wall switch to power it on/off.

Two of My Many Wall Switches, in the "On" Position

It took me almost 2 days to figure this out, and therefore I could not use the stove, microwave, dishwasher, or hot water (oh, was that fun after a 14 hour flight). I searched for some sort of magical all-knowing apartment guide to tell me how to fix these issues, but to no avail. (I know, I know, I should have just called someone.) Finally I did what any frantic person would do and starting flipping all the, to me, random switches everywhere. Then, lo and behold! Numbers flashing everywhere! My success with the stove, microwave and dishwasher led me to believe that I had solved my hot water issue as well.

Not so.

Turns out my hot water did not work because my hot water did not work. Unlike most apartments in the US, here I do not have to turn in a maintenance request and wait for someone to maybe respond to me about my problem. Here I just call the front desk and they send someone up. The only catch is that the tenant has to remain in the apartment for the duration of the repair.

While I appreciate the responsiveness of the staff here, I have already experienced two major problems. After resolution of the hot water issue, my laundry room flooded when I attempted, imagine this, to wash my clothes. That proved a two-day repair affair and delayed my trip to the Museum of Islamic Art last weekend.

Speaking of, here's another photo of the view from the Museum:

JZog with Downtown Doha

Sometimes new, it seems, does not equal perfect. (Construction on this building was completed in 2012.) I have also heard rumors of rampant mold problems and water leaks in the walls in Doha, so I will keep my fingers crossed that I may avoid those unpleasantries.

And now, time for an episode of Dissertation Situation. Last week I sent a complete draft of Chapter 1 to my adviser.  Over the next two weeks I hope to complete the next chapter. Though sometimes my process becomes quite tedious, laborious, torturous (and many other "ous"es), for the most part I find that I am able to commit to writing without too much of an urge to hurl my laptop off of my balcony.

Hurrah for having dedicated, productive writing time!

Tonight I plan to have dinner with two of my friends and colleagues, and tomorrow night I will head out to the Souq again. I should probably make a list before I go. Let's see, I need fresh dates, and honey, and some fabric for a dress for my niece, and a nice scarf, maybe a monkey . . .

XO,
JZog

SRV

Hooray for jenniferdawn! She did the historianly thing and looked up the answer to yesterday's "Today in Rock History" quiz, which makes sense, since she is a historian!

Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a plane crash in East Troy, Wisconsin, on August 27, 1990. I dig pretty much any music with solid rhythms, but I especially like this one:

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" never sounded so good. RIP SRV, indeed.

On deck for tomorrow's post: "Adventures in Apartment Living in Doha", or "Construction Completed at the Speed of Light Renders Poor Results and Therefore Debatable Success in Maintaining One's Apartment".

'Til then!

XO,

JZog

This Day in Rock Music History and . . .

Happy Birthday wishes to LRowlands, whose birthday I always remember because of this sad day in rock music history. (Sorry about that, L.)

Who knows what happened (and I know that some of you do know)?

Post your responses in the comment section; I'll disclose the answer tomorrow!

XO,
JZog

On Fitness and Beer

Well, I have been in Doha for almost two weeks now and have happily settled into a fairly productive and, hopefully, sustainable schedule.  My days look something like this: Wake up with the sun, sometime between 5:30 and 6am; catch KZog on FaceTime before he crashes for the night; head upstairs for a swim or stay put and practice my yoga; make breakfast; then, either I head to campus to work all day, or I stay in the apartment and work all day. Usually by 6pm, my eyes have completely glazed over and I zone out with some knitting or by watching an American movie with Arabic subtitles, typically something released around 2005 that I normally would never have sat through. (Yesterday, I numbed my brain with Catch and Release, a perfectly average Jennifer Garner vehicle. Benefit: it did have Timothy Olyphant, who I really like in Justified.) Sometimes I head over to a mall to walk around for a bit.

As at home, my fitness routine has proven essential to maintaining a sense of normalcy. Because of the oppressive heat - today we will entertain temperatures around 108 degrees with a heat index over 111 - all my physical activity must happen indoors. Luckily, my building has an acceptable swimming pool. It is not really a lap pool, but I make it work. Besides, I have yet to see anyone else use the pool, and I enjoy some lovely views while swimming on the 29th floor:

"Club 29" Pool at Dareen Tower

Glass Wall of Pool Area at Dareen Tower

View of Downtown Doha from "Club 29"

Another View of Downtown Doha from "Club 29"

Unlike at home, I do not unwind at the end of the day with a frosty adult beverage, which while not an essential to normalcy, I have to admit I miss more than a little.

Beer (and whiskey and wine) exists here, but its accessibility remains limited, especially without a car. In order to purchase alcohol from the one, count 'em, one, liquor distributor here (Qatar Distribution Company, or QDC), you must obtain a letter from your employer stating your salary. Once you take this letter to one of QDC's two branches in Doha, they determine how much alcohol you may purchase based on how much money you make. Can't have all the expats spending their tripled salaries on booze, can we? Snark aside, I did not pursue this because 1. Despite my much improved salary, I am still a graduate student. They'd probably let me buy one beer a month; and 2. I don't have a car, which would make trips to QDC kind of a pain. Restaurants in the hotels do serve alcohol, though at a price that makes beer in NYC look cheap. A friend here told me that three cocktails once set him back nearly $100. 

Thank goodness I enjoyed one last boozy treat before I embarked on this journey. . . 

 Nothing Finer

So Texan of me, I know. Moral of the story: between my swimming and yoga routine and utter lack of beer, I should achieve physical fitness nirvana after a year here (as long as I don't eat too much bread with my hummus . . .)!

Slainte!

XO,

JZog

Coffee Anyone?

Qataris love their coffee . . . 

Qatari Men Gather at the Starbucks at Landmark Mall

XO,

JZog