I've been here exactly a week. And while I have yet to see a giraffe, I did just notice a lizard crawling around by the pool.
This week has been a whirlwind- a 2-day journey through the Middle East, followed almost immediately by an off site meeting at a resort, then back to deal with housekeeping issues and general orientation.
The flights were long but uneventful. We spent our layover in Qatar, which was beautiful and vibrant. We stayed in the al Jasra Hotel, on Souq Waqif, a busy street filled with shops and restaurants.
Here we had our first experience with non - urgency which will quickly become a prominent theme. I asked for change at the front desk and was told that it would be brought up in 5 minutes. 5 minutes equaled 20, but luckily not 25 because that is about when the alarms began to sound and we had to evacuate. Apparently, it was just a power outage and not a fire. We used the time to explore a little and grab dinner. The coolest thing we saw was the falcon store... stores that sold hunting falcons! So cool! Apparently the biggest falcon hospital in the world is also in Qatar. After a restless night, we headed to the airport at 4 am to continue our journey to our new home.
If I tried to share every detail of my experiences this week, I will be writing for days, so i will sum it up in a highlight list...
Top 10 Things I learned this week:
1. Monkey Gland Sauce does not equal monkey gland sauce.
2. Hoot is horn. Hooters are people who hoot a lot.
3. Africa time. Time moves much slower, there rarely seems to be a sense of urgency. When you ask for things, they may eventually get done or they may not.
Sunday- "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?" "Yes, tomorrow"
Monday- "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?" "Yes, tomorrow"
Tuesday- "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?" "Yes, tomorrow"
Wednesday- "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?" "Yes, tomorrow"
"Um, what does tomorrow mean to you, because I don't think it means the same to me?" "I promise, tomorrow"
Thursday- "Today? Can it be done TODAY?" "Well, I don't know if we have hangers. Maybe dishes"
Friday- I go on a shopping spree.
4. Mini taxis- Avoid at all costs. They can go fast, slow, cut you off, stop in the middle of the road... pretty much anything.
5. Internations is a pretty good resource for expats, has decent events and I think will be an asset here. Friday we went to a Halloween party. I was Wednesday Adams.
6. The cleaning staff is screwing with me.... this will probably needs to be a separate post.
7.
8. Parking guards- You pay them to guard your car. Unclear if they are a real job or not. But they have uniforms. Sometimes they will push your cart and load your car. Sometimes not.
9. "just now" and "now, now"- what to reply when you may do something at some undefined point in the future.
10. "Happiness!!"- Alternative to "great" or "awesome"
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