Life on the Compound

After living out of our suitcases for a week, we finally move into compound two and start to settle in. Alhamdulillah, after getting unpacked and buying a few needed items (such as carpets for the house!), it is starting to feel like home, kind of. One thing that's apparent, is the cold. Yes, the cold! It's not that it is cold outside. Everyday is bright and sunny and just perfect. But inside the house is different. Since there is no heating and cold flooring, it makes for a cold winter. These houses are definitely built for the intense heat of Qatar. So, we buy a heater and pray it doesn't cause a fire (that has been known to happen). We all huddle around it and wear our sweaters and slippers in the house.

Actually, the second week, we all got very sick, one by one. Most of the time was spent lying around, wondering what to eat. In one of these instances, when I had a high fever, I remember looking up at the ceiling and thinking, 'Where am I? This is not home...I am in a foreign country.' However, after going to the hospital (Doha Clinic this time), and being provided with bagfuls of drugs, we got better alhamdulillah.

Now I am working out a schedule, and starting to homeschool the kids and am again obsessed with keeping the house clean (perfect, I am back to my normal self)!

The compound we live on is quite nice alhamdulilllah. There is a small park right across the street from our villa, and a building called the 'clubhouse', where I check my e-mail (until we get our phone line) and hangout and also a pool which will come in handy in the summer. We are surrounded by other Canadians, and quite a few Muslim families with kids. There is a nice little Canadian Muslim community here, which makes our transition to Doha much easier. I have even joined up with a weekly halaqa, which includes tajweed and have already met some really amazing sisters, alhamdulillah. Everyone has been so helpful in getting us settled in, may Allah reward them all!

Our villa is right beside a little masjid, so again, the adhan being heard for every prayer is just amazing! And Ibrahim and Asma both walk next door to the masjid for prayer.

So, basically, our days go like this: Ovaise wakes up and goes to work, I wake up and homeschool the kids, we eat lunch, I clean [there is so much dust here (the off-white floors and walls don't help either!). I almost considered getting a maid to help out at first, but then it's not thaaat much work and once I figured out how to use the laundry machine (thanks to my sister in law), and got a proper mop (I miss my swiffer!), it was smooth sailing from there]. After cleaning, I usually take the kids out to the park, cook dinner, we eat, go out somewhere, come home and go to sleep. However, after going out almost every evening, the whole social scene was getting to be too much for me and the kids. Not to mention, we don't have a car yet, which means we have to rely on one of our friends to take us out. Which reminds me, driving is crazy here! I am satisfied with just sitting in the passenger's seat and watching, praying we don't get into an accident. Basically, you should stay out of the way of local drivers, since they want to go fast and just be completely on guard at all times. The roundabouts make things a bit more complicated as well. Oh, and you haven't seen real 'road rage' until you come here. Which is why (for now at least), I don't intend to drive here. Even though I know plenty of sisters who do, and they say you just get used to it. We'll see....

Anyway, I opt to only go out on the weekends and focus my energy on the homechooling and hifdh for the kids.

We have had plenty of visitors come in a short period of time: some friends from Saudi, my brother and his family also from Saudi and my in-laws. It's busy, but alhamdulillah, nice to have people around at the same time. It also gives us an excuse to go and start sightseeing in Doha. There isn't too much, but you can still find some places. I start taking the kids to the various amusement rides in the malls. However, I quickly decide that this will be a 'once in a while' outting, as I didn't want them to expect to go on the rides everytime we go shopping! One thing I notice very quickly at these places, are the amount of nannies present. I am surrounded with kids and their nannies, not their parents. It seems rather odd to me, but then I realize that it is part of life here. I have never considered getting one myself, but it is a big help to those who are working. The thing that seems bizarre to me is the fact that many of these kids are being raised by the nannies. That is the sad part.

Besides the malls and rides, there are also the souqs, which I love. I'd rather go to the souq than the malls, because they feel more traditional, things are cheaper and you can bargain.

We also quickly realize that our favourite spot to go are the deserts. In particular, there is one where the sand dunes 'sing.' Being in the desert is amazing. Just you and the sand, as far as you can see. My most memorable time is praying maghrib there. You can't help but just fall in love with the beauty of it. SubhanAllah, that is when you realize you are far away from home, but that this could be a new home.