In Sickness And In Health

The past few weeks have been challenging, to say the least. With the exception of me, the entire household fell sick, one after the other. Many forms of illnesses have been perpetrating Dohaites these days and quite a few colleagues and friends have also been under their influence.

But in all honesty, this happens every year, right after the long winter break. Residents who had gone abroad during this period return to Doha from all over the world, bearing a mélange of gifts, viruses including.

It has also been unusually cold these past few weeks. The thermostat may be hovering in the 60’and 70’s, but harsh, bone chilling winds have been sweeping throughout the city. It also manages to seep through the cracks in the windows and doors (construction here leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least); no matter how many newspapers we stuff into them.

So we residents of the Middle East, who are accustomed to bringing out our sweaters, comforters, space heaters and fur lined abaya’s (some even consider this a good time to break out the thermals and anoraks) when the temperature drops to the 80’s, are in a predicament which has left our sun drenched systems unbalanced. But, we find comfort in the fact that in just a few short weeks the temperatures will return to hot, hotter and scorching – up to tissaa wa arbaaeen (49 C / 120 F) and no, this is not a typo.

Of course the kids stayed home from school and K did not go to work. I also missed a few classes since I have been playing the part of Florence Nightingale. My job description had been modified to include dispenser of a variety of medicines – both allopathic and home made, shoulder provider (to moan on), dispenser of clean and disposer of snotty tissues, and maintaining the continuous flow of chicken soup.

Coughing and lightheadedness persists, but everyone is now out of the house and have gone back to their respective schedules

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to check myself into rehab for the next few days.

All Juiced Up

Summer has arrived early in Qatar. In reality we should still call it spring since we have a long way to go until June 21, which is considered the official first day of summer. But tell this to the thermometer in my car. The temperature often surpasses 100 F /38 C, in a few weeks it will exceed 120 F /49 C. This year is assumed to be much hotter than previous ones. Fortunately, we will be escaping this heat for 2 months when we go back home for a visit.

So how does one survive this scalding weather? Most of us will now voluntarily stay inside, and most activities will be indoor based. People will flock to bowling alleys, movie theatres, restaurants, and most importantly, to malls in greater numbers then usual. The evenings however are still cooler; it is perfect for alfresco dining in the courtyards of numerous restaurants, or picnicking along the much loved shoreline called the Cornish. In a few weeks however, even this simple pleasure will become a rarity.

In this heat, as all of us know, one needs to continuously hydrate and replenish lost fluids throughout the day. Supermarkets will commence to stock capacious arrays of drinks from all over the world. The expat community is exceptionally large and diverse, and all palates and tastes need to be pleased.

Fruit juices are enormously popular in this part of the world, and they come in an extensive selection. They come freshly squeezed and in bottles, cartons, cans, and in powdered and liquid mixes. The flavors are representative of the world. Fresh Tropicana orange juice from the United States, lemon barley water from the United Kingdom, lychee and durian from Thailand, tamarind from the Philippines, mango and coconut from India, pomegranate from Lebanon, apricot (called qamar el deen) from Egypt … I can go on and on.

A great assortment of other drinks besides juice is also available. Tang, which is now obsolete in the United States, is hugely popular here and is greatly enjoyed by my children as well. A combination of milk and juice (appropriately called juice-milk) is also well liked, especially among children. Flavored milk comes in a mélange of flavors. Along with the more common chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, we also see coffee, mango, guava, chikoo, banana and biscuit flavors. Soft drinks and sports drinks such as Gatorade are also available, but with such great choices of other products, why bother with these? Having said all this, I however, personally prefer the ultimate drink of all – good old water.

Al Shama'al fi'd Doha

Dust storms, called shama’al in Arabic, are not an uncommon occurrence here. Every few months or so we endure through them. Although they can occur any time of year, they are more prevalent in the hot summer months. The past week, we were witness to one of the largest and fiercest storms this area has seen in years. The winds traveling at 70-75 km/h affected not only Qatar, but bought life to a standstill in many parts of Kuwait as well. Driving here is challenging as it is, but during these storms, which brings blinding winds and causes visibility to become drastically low, it becomes extremely dangerous. Yet there is also a certain beauty to them, especially when encountered in the vast open and unpopulated landscape. The billowing golden sand gracefully sweeps across the black tarmac of the roads, resembling waves of the ocean. It is surreal, and paradoxically serene.

The storm comes when least expected, suddenly creeping up on us and unleashing its fury. Doors and windows start shaking and knocking. Winds will start howling, wreaking havoc and bringing with it swirls upon swirls of sand and grit, enveloping everything within its reach. It affects us more since we live in a relatively less populated area on the outskirts of Doha, where there is an abundance of open land.

There will be a layer of dust over every single item inside the home. It even manages to find its way inside closed closets and cupboards. Keeping the house clean is a nightmare; I have to sweep the floor every few hours, especially around the windows and doors. In order to prevent dust from coming in, I have dust blockers on the doors and even stuff newspapers into the cracks and crevices, but to no avail. The dust, as fine as talcum powder, manages to seep in through even the thinnest cracks. The children will sometimes wear socks and skate on it. At times like these, I wish I had a full time, live-in maid, but only at times like these. I still cannot wrap my western brain around the fact that someone who I don’t know and am not related to will be living with me 24 hours a day, seven days a week - yet.

The Big Chill

Winter had eluded us, until now. It typically begins to rain and the weather tends to cool off by early December. Yet by the end of the year it was still mild and dry. However, cold temperatures are now here with full force. The thermostat is hovering around 50 F /10 C during the days and dips to 43/7 at night, which is considerably cold for Doha. To top it off, the past few days it had also began to rain, bringing with it as expected much chaos and confusion. We have witnessed a profusion of accidents, several more than the average one accident a week I usually see. Since there are no rain gutters, huge muddy puddles abound everywhere, some as big as mini lakes in which our cars slosh about, giving them a mud bath. So now our cars are splattered and crusted with mud. Needless to say, no point in getting them washed while it is raining, but the lines at the car wash will be maddeningly long and frustrating during a respite from the rain. Patience here is truly a virtue.

There has been a lull in the rain for the past few days, but the temperatures are still quite low. There is no central heating system here (no central air conditioning in most homes for that matter), so we are relying on sweaters, socks and most importantly, space heaters to keep us warm. Our home is very open with high ceilings; therefore keeping it warm is quite an ordeal. In the main living room where we generally spend most of our time, we have 2 large heaters on at all times. Taking last year’s example of all heaters being sold out in the entire city at the onset of winter, this year we had stockpiled them when we first saw them, way back in October. Storing up on items is not an uncommon phenomenon in this country. Many items, both perishable and non perishable, run out fairly quickly so people tend to hoard things when they see them. I will write more about these shortages in later postings as well, but the latest item that I find to be missing from all grocery stores which I have visited is Philadelphia brand cream cheese. I had wanted to make cheesecake a few days ago, but my plans must be put on the back burner, so to speak, until I can locate it.

We have also caved in and bought a clothes dryer. We never thought we would need one since during the warm/hot months (which of course are most of the year) clothes tend to dry on drying racks very quickly, sometimes in a matter of a few hours. But these days they stay damp for several days, and often start to give off a horrible musty odor. The kids are happy though, now they don’t have to wear ‘crunchy’ clothes. Imagine the joy an appliance can bring!

But alas, we will only enjoy this cool weather for a short time. It will start to turn warmer in a few weeks, and by the end of March or early April it will become hot. By end of April it will become unbearably hot, so much so, that we only go out when it is absolutely necessary. We will try to take advantage of this pleasant weather as much as we can, then get ready for another 6-7 months of self imposed hibernation.