Well knowledge of traffic signs save you of road surprise

Well the correct wheels have been greased because we got our licenses- the american teachers were taken over to the beautiful yellow and brown El Rayan traffic school compound for our 2 part driving test. As we sat waiting in the lobby we could study the huge poster of Doha traffic signs to as they say "save you of road surprise". Every so often it must have become too noisy because a large man sitting at the "info" desk would hammer his shoe until it became quiet. The test involved a man at a counter with a laminated sign of signs- he would point to 4 of them and then... back to the chairs to wait. Then we all got up and went to counter to pay... then back to the chairs to wait. When the test time finally began we all barreled out and got into 1 of 3 waiting cars. Car #1 was the test car, Car # 2 was the ladies car, Car # 3 was for the homies.... and then he arrived. By he I am speaking of the driving tester- I would have taken a picture but he had the aura about him that if you made him mad you might just not drive for many months- kind of like the Seinfeld soup nazi. He wore an ill fitting military jumpsuit that would have been impressive on its own but when he added the beret and thick chinbeard- it was... magical. Lisa was first and became the first to hear the instructors vocabulary: "DRIVE!", "LEFT!", "RIGHT!", "PARK!" Then a type of chinese fire drill would take place as the driver would jump out and the rest of us would sort of rotate up to the next position. I was getting a bit nervous thinking about the fact that I had not driven in over a month, but then realized that I had have been doing this since I was 14. (Big thanks to my sister Caryn for teaching me to drive freshman year- MOM- DAD- ignore that part)

It all went well in the end and after a bit more waiting we received our temporary licenses- I've been told that changing a temp into a real license is easy... but I'm thinking I'll be waiting in the lobby with the man and his shoe for at least a few more minutes.

and don't you forget it

That's Lisa up there- the driving general has yet to appear.

This bus was full of wanna be drivers waiting their turn to pilot the yellow and brown jalopys

Coincidence? I get a license and we walk by the Rolls dealer- I'll take 2

Luca votes for a boat to drive

Lisa will be happy with whatever we end up driving.

Al Garrafa- our local football team

As luck would have it we were in the store the other night and wandered by a promo tent- I stopped as this one had soccer balls, a goal for the kids to shoot at, jerseys hanging up. It ended up being a promotion for the season opening weekend of the Qatar Stars league (local version of the premier league) and when they asked "would you like some free tickets to the games?" I knew I was in business. I did get a quizzical look when I answered 4 as the number of my family (4 is considered to be a very small family over here.) But maybe they then thought I was just taking my sons. So holding on to a fistful of what were surely the hottest ticket in town I eagerly awaited the friday night lights. Al Garrafa is the local sports complex- they have football, volleyball, and basketball teams. The teams include the top level all the way down to their youth teams- it would be like the rockies hosting a pee wee baseball team. The mascot is the cheetah which to be honest I have not seen at all since we moved here. Last year they finished 2nd in the league after 2 straight years at 1st. (Thanks Nate for the research) As I'm sure all of the other Al Garrafa fans were I was hungry to get back that title.
But first we had to eat. We took a taxi to a place called Katara. This is were we will take you when you come to visit us. It is absolutely beautiful. We walked along the Corniche (a boulevard along the sea), we toured the open air amphitheater, and we found a Lebanese restaurant. As the saying goes: When in Qatar eat Lebanese food. We decided on the sample platter: "a little taste of everything" the waiter told us. Soon many many plates began to appear and it was good, very good. Just as we sat back and began to wonder about dessert more plates began to appear, then yet again more- this time with the announcement "these are your appetizers". Wait- you mean more will come after this? My little food baby was already a bit uncomfortable and now I would have to eat more- I had to -really- it was so tasty. We honestly had to turn down dessert as we, to quote Monty P. "couldn't eat another bite". So we waddled back to the taxi and went to the game. We could see the lights from a few kilometers away but could feel the energy from... well from even further away. We were greeted by 3 very excited scarf salesmen- maybe business was slow? We entered the stadium and found our seats along with the cheering crowd of about 300. I guess the whole of Doha was not feeling the fever like I was- 300? seriously? Well the 300 that were there made up for it- there was a drum section pounding away non stop with a guy chanting into a megaphone so large he had 2 small boys holding it up. We had no idea what we were chanting but sure did enjoy clapping along. A few minutes in Lisa leans over and whispers "I am the only woman here". She was right- absolutely not another female cheetah in sight- not even working! It was great fun- I would love to say the Homeboys won but we left at halftime with a 1-0 lead. So if you want to know you'll have to watch the highlights on TV- and chances are you will see us- we are the lone group of white faces wrapped in yellow and Blue Al Garrafa scarves- It's Fantastic.

we still had about 15 plates coming

GO GARRAFA!!!!

Check out those packed seats!

Luca doing a little dance to the drum beats

Wilder and Nikita

Learning how things work...slowly

We are approaching the one month mark and we are learning a few things... slowly. In fact we are taking this slowly approach to everything and it is helping us not be frustrated by the little things. Maybe it's just that we don't know any better but the process so far is quite smooth. Examples: Driving. We are not ready to jump into prime Doha traffic just yet- but it sure would be nice to have a set of wheels. The issue is somewhere in the past a Qatari must have had an issue with a ticket of some sort in America and was not given a "get out of jail free" card. This means that now if you are american in Qatar you cannot use your driver's license. A New Zealand friend said "we drive on the other side of the road and they gave a license to us no questions." So we wait- at some point the director of our school will meet with the director of the local DMV and...slowly... we will have our licenses- an interesting process and if you get upset and yell and bluster you just make it take longer. 

Another thing that I will never get used to with driving is the kids. UNBUCKLED ALL THE TIME!!! We have such incredible car seats, boosters, baby on board signs, etc- to make sure our little bambinos are safe. Here safety is left to Allah. Kids are never buckled, they are standing in the backseat, standing in the front seat, standing on the driver! Our neighbor has seen a driver holding a baby while texting- and everyone is texting- there is no voicemail so you have to leave a text- add these little distractions to the F1 speeds on the road and you feel like you are in a video game- so maybe it's good I don't have my license yet. 

So buckle up everyone and think of us over here as we (soon) drive like crazy- it's like the vail roundabouts- on crack!  We love and miss you.

Due to the aggressive driving in Qatar our children now have to wear helmets anytime they leave the house

The Qatar Stars league begins on 9/16 this is the jersey of our local squad Gharrafa. We will be cheering on the cheetahs this year.

Luca is 5!

Time is just flying- Luca has turned 5! He got a sweet new FC Barcelona jersey (notice the sponsor) and played with all of his new friends.

Dad also got a new jersey but was voted down when it came time to pick a new carpet for the kids play area- I can't even imagine what kind of animal this is from

This is the neighborhood gang of scooter toughs- don't mess with them... of course the gang shouldn't mess with the pavement either- the next shot is after Luca wiped out.