So I am now settled in my home for the next year: Doha, Qatar. I didn't know too much about Qatar before, but have learned a lot in the last few months and am pretty excited to be here. It is SO much nicer than Sana'a, Yemen - the ride from the airport was a totally different experience this time.
One of the geopolitical quirks is that Qatar is in a diplomatic tiff with its neighbors Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and UAE... long story, but one of the side effects is there is no direct air travel between the countries. So, Bahrain and Qatar are really close - but to get from Bahrain to Doha I had to fly via Muscat, Oman. I was going to make a snarky comment about flying from Hartford to JFK via Charlotte... but that is pretty much the way it is with airlines anyhow. And I got to fly in a new Oman Air Boeing 787 from Muscat to Doha, so that was a plus - and it was less than half full.
So, I will pretty much be doing the same thing as I did a decade ago - working at the US Embassy and working with the Qatari Navy and Coast Guard. Piracy isn't the big issue now, but apparently there is this country just to the north of us across the Arabian Gulf that is an issue...
Final word - trust me, I will NOT need care packages. Doha is quite modern and I just came back from cocktails and light snacks in the hotel lounge.
One of the geopolitical quirks is that Qatar is in a diplomatic tiff with its neighbors Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and UAE... long story, but one of the side effects is there is no direct air travel between the countries. So, Bahrain and Qatar are really close - but to get from Bahrain to Doha I had to fly via Muscat, Oman. I was going to make a snarky comment about flying from Hartford to JFK via Charlotte... but that is pretty much the way it is with airlines anyhow. And I got to fly in a new Oman Air Boeing 787 from Muscat to Doha, so that was a plus - and it was less than half full.
So, I will pretty much be doing the same thing as I did a decade ago - working at the US Embassy and working with the Qatari Navy and Coast Guard. Piracy isn't the big issue now, but apparently there is this country just to the north of us across the Arabian Gulf that is an issue...
Final word - trust me, I will NOT need care packages. Doha is quite modern and I just came back from cocktails and light snacks in the hotel lounge. 
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