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| Oscar just chillin' |
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| This guy runs at least 45 km/hr |
Well it seems like we have survived ….. survived what you may ask?! Survived the damn summer and the month of Ramadan , because we are survivors and we are not going to give up. I hope that when you read that last line you started singing “ I’m A Survivor” by Destiny’s Child in your head. You could have sang it aloud , but if you have a bad voice please stop in the name of love before you break everyones heart , I mean ear drums. Whoa off topic there let’s get back to business.
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site , what you see is what you get |
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| Thank you Palmers for the yummy b-day gift xoxo |
So yes we have seemed to survive our first summer in the desert ( quick tip , if you can’t remember if desert has one “s” or two always think that dessert has two “s” because you will always want seconds. Thank you Mrs Scopel grade 2 teacher of the year). What was it like you ask? If you refer to all my older posts about the inevitable appearance of my back sweat, my body did not let me down. It was hot and sticky and sweaty and smelly. The heat is one thing, like some pale people from Canada can handle 46 degrees , but when you throw in the humidity it is enough to kill. Actually there are a lot more deaths in Qatar during the summer months. A lot of cardiovascular related deaths . It seems like eating a bucket of KFC chicken thighs and then venturing into 56 degree weather is not the smartest thing. When Mike and I had our share box , 2 BigMacs , 2 McRoyales ( yes they do exist here , but whoppers are better) , 9 piece chicken nugget ( tasted a little like popcorn ) , 2 large fries and 2 large pops ( they wanted to give us four but we didn’t want to go crazy ) , we parked our sodium ridden bums on the couch and watched TV because god knows you do not want to play with fire. We actually went to the beach the other day and I swear to you the temperature of the OCEAN was as hot as a bath. If I had some bubble bath and a rubber duckie I would have made it my own personal bathtub. It was a little uncomfortable and I have never felt anything like that. The obvious key to success is to stay hydrated and indoors during the peak hours. All the outdoor workers are allowed to take a break from 11am – 3pm in order to stay shaded during the hottest parts of the day.
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| B-Day dinner - missing a few in the pic |
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| Angie's sick photo skills |
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| Trip to Budapest - Puszi Lujza |
Ramadan was an interesting experience. The obvious challenges for someone not practicing was not being able to publicly eat or drink anything from sun rise to sunset. For me at work they allowed me some water but all my meals had to be taken in a separate room with closed blinds so no one could see in. The roads were a lot less congested though which was a good thing. Grocery stores and malls were open to midnight , sometime even 1 am. It was literally midnight madness every day for a month. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and things get back to normal. This year it happened to fall on August 8th , woot woot the day alcohol was allowed to be served was also the day of my birthday. The night was great , I started out looking like a rockstar but once the heat and humidity hit things took a turn for the worse. I guess I only have another 20 birthdays to deal with it. Ramadan moves forward about a week every year as it follows the cycle of the moon.
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| Mike with Lotti - This little girl walks with a purpose |
For the last two months we have really just been working and vegging out because like I just explained it was too hot to do anything. Mike’s mom was also just here for a week , so was able to experience some of the Doha summer . That is also something that I survived . I am just kidding , she honestly told me to write that. Mike and I are heading on vacation in two weeks and are meeting up some amazingly , beautiful people on the way! Naz is going to come and meet us in Rome and then head to Nice to stay with our friends Nina and Julien for a week. Mike and I will be in Italy , France and maybe Spain for about 3 weeks and consuming record breaking amounts of cured meat and wine. Well I will be for sure , I guess I shouldn’t speak for Mike.
Mike has been enjoying flying , this month he went/is going to Moscow , Tbilisi twice , Rome , Thiruvananth India , Athens and some day turns around the Gulf. Work for me is……. well it’s going. Candy Crush is still keeping me busy and I have recently started intensely watching Downton Abbey . If you have not watched it please do and don’t make the same mistake as me and call it “Downtown Abbey”. Hope you all are watching the final season of Dexter and Breaking Bad. Walt is such a badass.
Oh and we will be home from Jan 8th for two weeks , hopefully 3 if Mike can sweet talk the right person ;)
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| Yummy Gelato made into a flower - Budapest |
Alright all you beautiful people , keep it real and start planning some trip to Doha now that the hottest time of the year is over.
All our love,
Mike , Megan , Winston , Bailey , and Oscar xo
P.S Parinaz if you do not message me and tell me that you read this - well I can't promise our future
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| Iftar tent at the W- Breaking the fast buffet , we broke something - think it was the scale |
