Update - The Qatari Files

Saturday morning. Wife at work and I'm sitting in the hotel room in Musheireb, looking out over the sea at Westbay, the commercial heartland of Qatar.

Almost 11 years since we first set foot in this country, and we have been here on and off since. First five years permanently. Then back to South Africa. My wife returned again after two years, and I have been in and out of here since, depending on the availability of work in both countries in the training and consulting environments.

Initially it was a strange and intimidating environment and culture, but this country has grown on us. Great to have seen how everything has developed in this time, especially the infrastructure. Qataris are the richest people on the planet, in terms of GDP per capita. Still, they have their challenges. Not least of which the last couple of years brought about by the GCC embargo against them.

If anything though, it has drawn them closer together as a nation. There is a great sense of patriotism, even if the locals only number close on 300,000 out of a total population of almost 3 million. This sense of togetherness, nation-ness, patriotism, is something that I miss nowadays. There is little talk of that now left in my country, save for the occasional spike as a result of e.g. great sporting achievements.

And the weather! I've often said that if the weather in Qatar could be throughout the year the same as in November, it would be the best place on earth to live in! A cool breeze blowing in through the bedroom window at the moment, and one does not even need to put on the AC. Amazing that one cannot live in this place during September and early October as a result of the heat and high humidity, and then, in about middle October every year, it is as if one evening someone just throws a switch and the next morning you wake up to this wonderful weather. Quite fascinating!

I'm counting about eight dhows on the water in the bay. It's only during winter that they are out on the water during daytime. The green belt that is Al Bidda park stretches between me and the bay for a distance of about four kilometers. Amazing what can be done if people really want to plant trees and make a country green. Already I can see some families walking in the park and settling down on the grass with picnic baskets, some of them not too far from the new metro station which runs underground.

Ah well, suppose it's time to get down to work....