Tuesday, February 28, 2006

This morning, we were given a tour of Doha by a lovely South African woman named Antoinette. One common outlet here is club membership, so we took a look at a couple of clubs first. For you US folks, it's like being a member of a country club...only almost everyone seems to be a member of one club or another. Most are in hotels. We've seen and used the one here at the Ritz and it's generally acknowledged to be the most luxurious...but maybe a bit too posh for us. Today, we looked at the club at the Hotel Intercontinental and the independent "Diplomatic Club" (where most of the diplomats go since it's near their homes). Both of those have private beaches (something the Ritz lacks), but the Intercontinental Club definitely had a swinging singles scene idea going (and not in a particularly nice way). Over the next few days, I'll try to see some more clubs and see what we like. If we can find a home in a compound with nice facilities, we might not need a club at all. We'll see houses on Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed for us that they will show us something nice (since we have to take one the company finds for us).
Antoinette drove us all over the town and showed us a number of nice shops, grocery stores and markets. Although we didn't get to go there, she did point out the market where one can buy all types of animals...including camels!

Doha is definitely a different location for us. We still have a lot of adjusting to do, but I think it will be interesting. Next step, find a house. Though staying at the Ritz is nice, it will be even nicer to have a home again!

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