In this part of the world, the locals tend to import a lot of labor to do the 'ordinary work' - the NPC term is 'Third Country National' or 'TCN'. For example, in the hotel I was in, I did not see any Qataris - it was all TCNs. TCNs are common in this region, though the proportion depends on wealth - UAE, Saudi, and Qatar have a lot, Bahrain has less, and even dirt-poor Yemen had them... though in that case they were refugees from Somalia.
Qatar only has ~ 300,000 citizens and the remaining 90% of people here are TCNs - me included. Qatar has enough wealth so that it can afford to outsource most of the work, and locals tend to take jobs in finance or business management roles. You will not see a Qatari working in a McDonalds or the local IKEA. This manifests itself in some strange ways - language is one. I was at a Starbucks in one of the malls recently, just sipping my coffee. A Qatari man, dressed in a traditional thobe, walked up to the barista (who was from SE Asia) and placed his order in ENGLISH. It seems that English is the defacto common language in mixed company, which makes it easy for me.
And of course, construction. This whole country is one big construction project - besides all of the soccer stadiums and road construction to support it (sort of like Boston's 'Big Dig'), they are also adding a metro rail system which covers the whole city. The metro rail is actually pretty nice - a small spur recently opened and the family and I tried it out one night to avoid the traffic due to street closures from a marathon. It was the opposite of the NYC subway - brand spanking new, clean, and there were a ton of friendly people there to help with tickets, show you where to go...
The video is from a Qatari wedding that I attended earlier in the week. Weddings follow a different structure here - there are two separate ceremonies. I attended the groom's celebration, which was all men (though women guests can attend...). It was basically a four hour social - a receiving line, lots of chit chat and Arab coffee and tea, a prayer, a dinner, and more of the same. They also have traditional dancing and music (see video)... but that is as close as it gets to what I am used to. But there is no 'wedding ceremony' - that is apparently a private affair. And, the bride has her own party - and that is apparently more of a party (albeit no alcohol...) - fancy dresses, DJ, music, dancing, disco balls.. So, the groom's ceremony was Wednesday, the bride's on Thursday, and apparently the actual formal ceremony was on Friday.
Besides that, not much to blog about - keeping busy. I did attend the USMC birthday ball a week ago - basically the highlight of the embassy social season. It was a nice time at a very posh hotel, great food and conversation, and there was plenty of booze there.
The weather has changed - temps are now dropping into the 70s at night and highs in the 90s - bearable. I experienced my first rain since leaving the US on Sunday, and more is forecast for the coming week. Things like dining outside are now possible - and my runs are now limited by my endurance, not heat stroke. I am even training for a half marathon - ran 6.6 miles today without too much trouble.
Qatar only has ~ 300,000 citizens and the remaining 90% of people here are TCNs - me included. Qatar has enough wealth so that it can afford to outsource most of the work, and locals tend to take jobs in finance or business management roles. You will not see a Qatari working in a McDonalds or the local IKEA. This manifests itself in some strange ways - language is one. I was at a Starbucks in one of the malls recently, just sipping my coffee. A Qatari man, dressed in a traditional thobe, walked up to the barista (who was from SE Asia) and placed his order in ENGLISH. It seems that English is the defacto common language in mixed company, which makes it easy for me.
And of course, construction. This whole country is one big construction project - besides all of the soccer stadiums and road construction to support it (sort of like Boston's 'Big Dig'), they are also adding a metro rail system which covers the whole city. The metro rail is actually pretty nice - a small spur recently opened and the family and I tried it out one night to avoid the traffic due to street closures from a marathon. It was the opposite of the NYC subway - brand spanking new, clean, and there were a ton of friendly people there to help with tickets, show you where to go...
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| Challenge 'coin' given out by USMC Det at the recent USMC birthday ball. More like a belt buckle! |
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| One of several stadiums being built
Traditional music and dancing at wedding
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Besides that, not much to blog about - keeping busy. I did attend the USMC birthday ball a week ago - basically the highlight of the embassy social season. It was a nice time at a very posh hotel, great food and conversation, and there was plenty of booze there.
The weather has changed - temps are now dropping into the 70s at night and highs in the 90s - bearable. I experienced my first rain since leaving the US on Sunday, and more is forecast for the coming week. Things like dining outside are now possible - and my runs are now limited by my endurance, not heat stroke. I am even training for a half marathon - ran 6.6 miles today without too much trouble.
This is all so very interesting. It gives one a whole new insight to everything. The video and wedding description was quite interesting. Running 6.6 miles at your age WOW. Just kidding.
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