Kodachrome

Last week I *finally* received the new camera kit I ordered from the US. As with most everything else here, transporting something across time and space took a few minor bureaucratic miracles. But, after 11 days, I may retire my 10-year-old digital Nikon in favor of this:

Nikon D3100, Courtesy en.wikipedia.org

I now have both a 18-55mm lens and a 55-200mm lens, a combination with which I can capture pretty much anything on film. I also ordered an independent flash, though I had to send it to Texas, as shipping it to Doha would violate export controls. (I could write an entire post on how I do not fully understand the ins and outs of export control and compliance, but that would bore everyone.) The quality of the photos is fantastic, and despite its fancy schmancy appearance, the cost did not break the ol' Zog piggy bank. Of course a generous donation from JZog's dad certainly helped. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Dad!) In fact, this camera kit proved such a steal that Dad ordered one, too. Instead of dueling banjos on the ranch, we'll have dueling cameras!

I follow in a well-established family tradition of shutterbugging (I'm looking at you, Dad, Aunt D and CMit!), and will work hard to live up to the standards set. The new Nikon had its first trip out to the Souq last Friday:

 

Souq and Spiral Mosque

 

Camels - I cannot resist!

 

Public Transportation?

Souq Interior

Ewers and Swords

Rosebuds

 

Souq Spices

 

Camomile  

Souq Shuttle

A Refreshing Lemon-Mint

 

 Friday Night at the Souq

I still have a soft spot for my 10-year-old Nikon. It has documented most of the Zogs' travels and other exploits, took nearly all of the thousands upon thousands of research photos for my dissertation, and snapped hundreds of pictures of PeppeRoni the Wonderpup.  So, especially because my new camera does not exactly qualify as "compact", I keep the ol' girl charged and tucked in my satchel in case of a photo-taking emergency. 

And with any new Nikon, one must have Kodachrome:

(For even more information on my new camera, see Ken Rockwell, who runs a wonderful site for anyone looking for any camera-related reviews or advice.)

XO, 

JZog

Medical Mayhem

Part I.
As I mentioned before, Qatar requires a medical exam of sorts - blood drawn and a chest x-ray - in order to secure a residency permit. They keep tight reigns on who enters and exits the country.

Earlier this week I received an email instructing me to reclaim my passport (hooray!) and report to a shuttle bus the next morning for the medical visit (boo!). Fortunately for me, a friend of mine had to endure the medical exam as well, so she picked me up from my building and we arrived with a few minutes to spare before the scheduled time of departure. Unfortunately for everyone, the air conditioning on the bus did not work, making for a very long ten minutes that we sat and waited for some unknown reason an even longer twenty-some-odd minutes on the road to the medical center.

Now part of the benefit in working for Qatar Foundation, which sponsors Education City, which contains the campus of Texas A&M University - Qatar, is that we receive expedited processing for those administrative tasks associated with obtaining our residency permits. In the email directing us to retrieve our passports, we also learned that upon our arrival at the medical center someone would meet us and help guide us through the process.

After our mobile sauna experience, our guide arrived over 10 minutes late, by which time three-quarters of the group had split up to try to figure out how to navigate the hellish labyrinth that is this medical center dedicated to residency permit processing. Once our guide did manage to grace us with his presence, the ladies and gents had to part ways, meaning that we ladies still had to flail through on our own. After receipt of a stamp for "registration confirmation", we stood in a line to have blood drawn. No names called here; only waiting in lines and barcodes - on the paperwork, on the test tube for the blood sample.

Unusually for me, I escaped any troubles giving blood. They then herded us into a waiting room for the chest x-ray where we waited for over an hour before discovering that "the systems were down" and would not function again for at least a few hours.

With no other options we regrouped and schlepped back to the non-air conditioned bus where we were told that we would have to return the next day for the chest x-ray. Confoundingly, we were also told that we could not return on our own and that this x-ray required an appointment. I saw no evidence that day that having an appointment mattered.

Part II.
Our second visit transpired much more smoothly, though it involved much perspiration since we still had to travel in the steam machine. After separating the ladies from the gents, we walked into the waiting room, sat down, and immediately the workers shuffled our party to a different x-ray area. There they took us in groups of about ten where they directed us to change into gowns in either one doorless room or the hallway. (Nothing like a shared physical experience to grow closer to one's colleagues.) Luckily the x-rays took little time and soon we had all re-enrobed and trekked back to the bus. After roasting for another half an hour waiting everyone to finish, our guide collecting our passports and paperwork (ugh) and we sweated back to campus.

While terribly inconvenient and uncomfortable, I now find myself one step closer to securing my residency permit, and, more importantly, my exit visa, so that I may leave and reenter Qatar. In the meantime, I have devised a Disneyworld Epcot national experience ride for Qatar in which park-goers step onto a bus with the heat turned to 105 degrees and have to navigate different tasks in return for stamps, including giving up your passport, stripping to your skivvies and organizing paperwork in order to exit the ride. Think Disney might be interested?

In other news, my new camera has arrived!  I'll write another post all about it, but for now I leave you with a couple of photos I took from my balcony.

 

 

XO,
JZog

Victory is Mine!

After over a month, my search is over. The battle is won!

I found pepper! That tasty, speckled dust is mine!

I thought that I had searched everywhere, high and low, near and far, for ground black pepper. Alas, I neglected the bulk kiosk at the Carrefour, which actually offers three varieties of black pepper: peppercorns, slightly less round than peppercorns, and ground up into the delicious powder that I know and love and use on everything. It did not occur to me to buy pepper in bulk, I suppose, because I have never bought pepper in bulk. Still, I cannot understand why I can purchase salt in a shaker but not pepper.

Right now, my precious commodity remains in its "original" packaging.

As a bonus, this entire bag cost 2.79 Qatari riyals, which amounts to 77 US cents. (By the way, does everyone realize the cents sign no longer appears on computer keyboards?)

Luckily I managed to smuggled one pork-related product in Qatar.

 Pepper Pig

Salty Sow lives with KZog in TX. Anyway, now I may enjoy my perfectly poached eggs with black pepper. Huzzah!

Elevator Update: Since Monday, only three of our six lifts have returned to operational status, though, really, that suffices to keep all us residents mobile.

Dissertation Situation: On Monday, I sent my second of five chapters to my adviser and began working through the next one. Though my brain feels a little fuzzy, I think I can keep this pace and turn in the third chapter within three weeks.

Next Episode: Parts I and II of "Medical Mayhem in the Middle East" or "Liaison Schmiaison". 

'Til then!

XO,
JZog

Lows and Highs

First the lows.

Low #1: Envision arriving home after a long day of staring at a computer screen and numbly entering edits to a dissertation chapter you cannot even remember the thesis statement for anymore, and one of the concierge staff conveys to you in a hybrid dialect of Thai, American English and gesture that, no, you cannot use the elevator because it *mysteriously* has ceased operation. With no answer to when it might begin to function properly again, nor, for that matter, any evidence of someone working to correct the problem, you begin the trek to your fifth floor apartment. Ugh. Oh, such fond memories I have of my semester in Brooklyn (where I shared a fifth floor walk-up apartment)! Here's to hoping that they find and fix the issue soon, as my overactive imagination cannot handle the thought of taking an elevator that may or may not work. Too many heist movies and television dramas, I know. Thank the maker that I do not live on the 32nd floor.

Low #2: I truly detest the chapter I have labored over for the past three weeks.

Low #3: I would very much like to be home tomorrow, but I cannot be home tomorrow.

And now, the highs (it's always better to end with the highs!):

High #1: Camels! And pictures of camels!

Camel Ham

This camel likes to ham it up for the camera. He would scoot as close to the fence as he could (they are tethered) and flash his gums like a horse. I call him Scooby. 

The next photo perfectly encapsulates Doha: Traditional against the backdrop of the modern.

 

Camels and Construction 

High #2: Trip to the Souq

The camels are part of the Souq, of course, but they merited separate consideration. In addition to stocking up on a few items I like to keep on hand (dates and dried mint - oh! and I bought some new fabric, too . . . that counts as an "on hand" item right?), I saw two new-to-me areas: the Gold Souq and the Art Center. Yes, there really are enough areas of the Souq to visit three (or more!) times and still not see everything. As one might expect the Gold Souq has stall after stall of gold, and gemstones and pearls and any other fathomable combination of precious metals and stones. The shopkeepers kind of frown upon photographing the jewelry, so I instead took several pictures of the inside of the Gold Souq. While most of the Souq shops face the outdoor pathways, the Gold Souq has own, quite lovely, stand alone building.  I especially love these colored, patterned lanterns:

Lantern Inside the Gold Souq

More Lanterns in the Gold Souq

Inclusion of this picture should not require explanation:

 

High #3: I have survived, nay, thrived in my first month in Qatar. To date I have submitted one complete chapter draft and will complete another in the next two days. I have kept up with my blog and my fitness routines, gotten enough regular sleep and almost finished knitting project number one. Doha has proven a wonderful place to work thus far.

The lack of American football on television has contributed to this unusual spate of fall productivity.  But, the wonders of YouTube have allowed me to partake of this football-related weirdness. In honor of the Manning Bowl today may I present:

                       

Happy Sunday!

XO,

JZog

JZog and the Beast

Many apologies for the dearth and brevity of my posts of late.

I have crawled into my cave to do battle with the next chapter of the dissertation. Beastly, really beastly, it is.

Still, I called a truce with the beast this morning to walk down to the bay and practice my photography skills. While still not cool, in any sense of the word, the heat index has finally dipped below 100 degrees in the mornings, making it comparatively bearable to spend some time outside.

Sunrise at the Sheraton

Established in 1979, this Sheraton holds the status as one of the oldest hotels in Doha. It remains popular as a conference center even though several newer hotels have popped up in downtown Doha.  Of course none of those has their own peninsula that juts out into the bay.

Near the Sheraton, I discovered this monument to the ewer.

 

Pouring Sunshine

 

Ewer on the Bay

I also had a different vantage point to some of the buildings I see every day from the apartment.

Yes, That Appears to be a Flying Saucer

And, last but not least, a decent photo of my apartment building.

Now, time to return to my cave to slay the beast!

XO,

JZog