We do, however, have news!
The dates are set. The bureaucracy is in full swing. Our move is afoot!
As it stands now, the movers are coming to pack the house on September 30 and October 1. They will load the truck on October 2. We will spend those nights in the Ritz again (woo-hoo!). On the 3rd, we will fly from Doha to the Seychelles for a family vacation between postings. Yippee!!! We will spend three nights on La Digue and three nights on Mahe before flying back to Doha on October 9. Then, it's back to the Ritz for two nights before we fly to Amsterdam on October 11th. The Hague, here we come!
For those of you who don't know the Seychelles, it's an island paradise made up of over 100 small islands off the eastern coast of Africa (above Madagascar). It is supposedly one of the world's most beautiful diving spots. Though diving is pretty much out with Ellie in tow, we're looking forward to some good snorkeling! La Digue is still home to indigenous giant tortoises, which we expect Miss Ellie will love! The beaches are paradise from what we hear! But, you think to yourself, you guys aren't really beach holiday people, so why are you going? Well, consider the location. This is probably the closest we will ever be to the Seychelles, and it's an excellent opportunity to see paradise for a few days! Can't possibly complain about that, although to escape our desert life we're more up for a trip to the cool mountains someplace than a tropical beach. We know it will be gorgeous, so we're excited!
In the meantime, we're trying to wrap things up here, which is no easy matter. We thought things were inefficient in New Orleans. HA! Everything takes three times as long as you expect it to here, and that's based on expectations that it will take three times longer than it should. One interesting factor is that while they are incredibly inefficient in almost every respect, they have somehow centralized all computing to the degree that you will not be cleared for departure at the airport unless all of your accounts are closed and finalized. Any open or unpaid utilities, traffic violations, what-have-you will show up on the screen when they swipe our passports, and if anything comes up, we are not free to go. Amazing. They don't make it easy to close things out, either. Markus inquired with our bank this week about closing the account (we can't even have an open bank account here when we go). We have a credit card attached to the account, though we don't use it. The bank informed Markus that we have to give 45 days notice before the account will be closed and finalized. During those 45 days, our account balance will be frozen to 170% of the credit limit of our card. The only way around that massive mess is to find someone remaining here in Qatar to go in person to the bank and sign forms to be responsible for any charges that might arise (even though the card is frozen and unavailable for use). We definitely went with Option B on this, because 1) we don't have 45 days to be money-free and 2) we are 95% certain some issue would arise on their end that would entangle our money even longer or make it impossible to retrieve once we attempt to depart. This place is crazy.
Qatari national flag hanging in City Center
It has had its upsides, though. We have made some wonderful friends here, and we will be very sad to say goodbye so soon. We will also miss the club at the Four Seasons. We've spent many a happy afternoon splashing about in the pools and frolicking in the spa there. Just today, Jennifer went for an early birthday girls' brunch at the Four Seasons...incredible array, folks! Just the dessert buffet had its own room! Only serious foodies need apply!
Finally, we have really appreciated the eye-opening cultural experience. This is our first time living in a Muslim country, albeit a fairly Westernized one. Ramadan starts in a few days (though we'll happily escape most of that...it's too hot to think about not even being able to drink water in public or in our cars). It's amazing how the differences that were once so obvious (men wearing all white, women wearing all black, the HUGE sunglasses, everyone and their brother driving Land Cruisers...and more serious things like the regular calls to prayer broadcast all over the city, in the malls, on the radio...) have faded into normalcy over the months. It would be nice if Ellie were old enough to remember any of this, but we're ready to make some new memories in Holland!
Soon, we will start the settling in process all over again, but don't worry...we're definitely planning to look for a home with plenty of guest room and we expect visitors!
crosswalk sign
1 comment:
WOW!! A news packed post! A fine return to blogging. How exciting about your upcoming vacation. I look forward to seeing pictures. I also look forward to putting the Netherlands on my farewatcher :-)
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