Cat in the Gulf: Living in Qatar: Love or Hate?

It is strange that I never blogged about my most interesting relationship of all. I am talking about my love/hate relationship with Qatar, of course.

I've been living here for four years and therefore I am entitled to all the conclusions and generalisations. If u happen to disagree with me - fine, I don't pretend to be universally correct. What I hate you might love, but please don't feel the need to fight tooth and nail for it. You won't change my opinion just because yours is different. I would like to hear what you think, not why you think I am wrong.

Part One - LOVE

First and foremost - I love Qatar. I don't hate it. Unlike perhaps most expats I am not here to make money and go home. I live here because I choose to, not because I have no choice. Here is why:

Qatar is a safe, clean and small country. I like small foreign countries :^) You tend to feel at home wherever you go. I feel safer here than pretty much everywhere else except back home.

I love Qatar's multinational character. I meet people from all over the world. I don't necessarily have to get along with all these people, but I like the fact that they are here. I believe being multinational is one of Qatar's best features. My friends come from five different continents and it's quite amazing.

I love that Qatar is a young country and that I can watch it grow at an unbelievable pace. I have the photographs of the Corniche of 4 years ago and I have a lot of fun comparing them with today's Corniche. People who know Doha will know what I am talking about ;-)

Qatar ATP and WTA tournaments. As a tennis junkie I feel really blessed that I can go and watch the greatest players of the world play the greatest game in the world - for free. Incredible.

Great experience career-wise. International corporation I work for looks great on my CV. Woot!

Arabian horses that I even got a chance to ride. They are amazing. I love all the equestrian events in Qatar and I am glad I had an opportunity to take part in some of them, including the marathon.

I like being exposed to local culture and traditions. Everything is so interesting! Yes so I might not agree with or understand it all, but it's so fascinating! I love Arabic food... I was thinking of putting the food in a separate category but I am on diet so I won't go ranting about the food - it'll make me hungry.

Hotels and shopping malls. Yes I do like them. And I like the restaurants in the hotels, too. I also like being able to shop for absolutely everything under one roof. I love the service in the hotels and malls.

I absolutely love the fact that I can afford certain luxuries which I couldn't afford back home. I don't have to do almost any housework here - it's such a blessing! I hate housework. It costs almost nothing to have your house cleaned and your clothes ironed. Paradise for a lazy cat!

Qatar is very conveniently located. It's so close to everywhere! Travelling almost anywhere from Qatar is quite easy. Of course America and Australia are still far but hey, these places are far from absolutely everywhere! And Australia is definitely closer than it used to be, lol. I want to go there sometime soon.

I love the weather in winter. From October to May the weather is fantastic. Summer heat is compensated by wonderful mild winters. I don't have any winter clothes anymore, yay! I hate rain and thankfully there isn't much of that here. I think last year it rained less than 5 times. Awesome.

Our new forum, Qatar Blah Blah. I love it!

Petrol in Qatar is cheaper than water. I love driving and I love my car, so cheap petrol comes handy. Cars are way more affordable here as well, great.

I made a lot of friends here. Met a lot of great people. You know who you are. Qatar brought us together and for that I am grateful.

My minion Penguin. He's Qatari so he reminded me that I have to put him on the list! <3

To be continued... I still have to write about what I hate :P