[tomtud]

I wrote a mini report over a year ago so after finishing my 2 year stint I thought I will share some of my experiences and personal opinions to culminate the experience.

Pros:
safe: robberies, burglaries etc are essentially non-existent.
Work: lots of employment opportunities in a variety of sectors. Check out http://www.bayt.com if you are searching for a job out in the ME.
Sleep: you will have a chance to sleep!!!! A lot! The Middle East gives you work and a chance to sleep. Two good things.
Saving money: Yes you can save money, but many things are ridiculously expensive except for petrol. Some things may be cheaper. For example an iPhone 5 as of today's post is approximately 2500qar which is $720 Canadian dollars/US and to buy it in the apple store in Canada it's after taxes around $800CAD out the door. I know it's cheaper in the USA. No taxes on purchases or income.
Weather: sunny most of the year. May till October it's ridiculously hot. Towards August and September the area gets ridiculously humid. Picture Las Vegas with the humidity of Miami. But the rest of the year is actually quite pleasant. There were only a few days where I put on my radiator in January. Winters aren't bad at all.
Expats: you will get a chance to meet people from all over the world.
Locals: closed society. Very hard to befriend them. I never had any problems with them.
Beaches: there are some nice beaches but its a trek to get to them. A car is needed. These beaches aren't going to have restaurants or bathrooms. It's like camping. You have to bring everything from food to toiletries.
Souk waqif: cool place for hanging out, watching football (soccer) having a shisha and people watching.

Cons:
Taxis: service is terrible. You may have to wait 4 hours if you need a specific location pickup. So call way ahead in advance. Cabbies in many countries sometimes have a bad reputation. Here I will group them in with those countries who have bad taxi service. The good is that you won't be robbed but you will be cheated or ripped off at times. Here's the kicker: cabbies will actually refuse to drive you to certain places!!!! Why? Well they have to deal with the terrible traffic and secondly have to pay a fixed rental cost each shift. After this is profit. Well, for them to reach this high daily rental (265-280) they need to overcharge the customer by manipulating the meter, take the long route or refuse service and wait for a more lucrative ride. This can get frustrating if you need to go somewhere and they refuse or ask for a non-metered rate at a price double or triple the usual going rate. I actually made a formal complaint regarding the manipulated meter and being overcharged. The company let me know that they fined the driver and given him a written warning. Yet when I asked for the money that I was overcharged they don't return it or give you a voucher to compensate you. So my lesson here, it's pointless to even file a complaint.

Housing: some expats live in villas (more like town houses) not the ones you see on the old show MTV cribs. Yes some may live in some nice houses, but the majority live in apartments. This year I was lucky to live in a nicer apartment and had no complaints except for the lack of daylight in my unit. As for my last flat, I was close to a mosque. At 4am etc, when there is a call to prayer, it can be a nuisance. You will be awaken.

Women: (local) I mentioned a little about this on my other thread (doha mini report). To add something well to be with them it is much easier if you meet them where they travel or live outside of their country. There is one specific area in London where the khaleeji (gulf Arabs) go and hang out (forgot its name). The abayas come off before they land and its game on. What game would work on them? I don't know but what I do know is that it's possible to get one. Marriage etc, well slowly they are becoming more accepting of foreign men marrying their women. Slowly is the key word.

On a note: nature always wins. Clothes are man made. Some cover their whole faces while others cake on 2kg of makeup. I believe the majority want to get rid of the abaya and be free from this "barrier". Showing skin whether one views it as indecent or normal, it is nonetheless natural. I think a few dress stylishly with their abayas but a few look like death. My viewpoint is that religion should come from within and wearing an abaya and head cover to show modesty is a man made thing. I don't believe god instructed women to dress like this. But when you see some in abayas etc especially from Saudi (many Saudis come to the souk waqif on weekends) they look like death. No soul or spirit with their dull black abayas. Sorry went off on a tangent, but this is just my viewpoint. Others have different ones, this is fine.

If you want to know more about their women and culture there are two sources that I used. Since it is a closed culture I got information from cabin crew (pilots and stewardesses) and live in nannies. In my work I did get a chance to talk with a few and each "tribe/family" is different. Some are more open while others not. For example one Qatari women has never shaken hands with her husbands male relatives. Not even once. So this shows you where some are in terms of male female interactions. While others I have shaken hands with. If you want the scoop, the live in nannies will make your mouth drop in astonishment as to what you hear. Now these nannies work in other households as well, not just Qatari. (It's quite cheap to have a live in nanny/cook) even I considered it being a single bachelor. Anyhow, if you think abayas, hijabs and niqabs display modesty, well for some it does but don't be fooled by the veil. Hence the expression wool over your eyes. (However that goes lol).

Here's a nanny story: one western expat couple were interviewing a nanny. At the end of the interview they ask her if she has any questions for them. She does and she asks "what is the headache pay"? The couple look at each other and made a weird face trying to understand the question (much like you are reading this). They ask her excuse me, she repeats "what is the headache pay"? What does that mean they ask. Well, she replies its when Madame has a headache and the husband wants sex. (The main woman/wife of the household is referred to as Madame by the helpers). You hear of abuses etc on nannies but it does not make the front page of the newspaper. There is a safehouse next to the Philippine embassy where runaway nannies live waiting to leave.

Freedom:
Being a guest worker in their country has good and bad points. Since this is the cons section I will share with you some. From your sponsor you need the following:
Permission to: leave the country, get a drivers license, get a license to buy alcohol and open up a bank account. So each time you plan on going on a vacation, you will need to hand your passport over, get the paperwork and then you may leave. It's a big inconvenience.

Stuff is blocked within the country. A vpn is needed. I recommend that you purchase this before you go as some vpn home pages are even blocked from within. If you want to read what is happening and bout certain issues, qatarliving.com has the info. However, it is monitored and criticism of certain issues is deleted nd blocked so you will get a one sided viewpoint. For example the peninsula paper I forgot the exact date, I read it before watching a sporting event. I read an article by a westerner by name criticizing Christianity and praising Islam. Now could you do the opposite? No.

Employment--NOC: no objection certificate. Why is this important? For anybody planning on working in any country you should know what freedom you do have when you end your employment and desire to seek alternative employment elsewhere within the country. This certificate is issued by a sponsor who gives you permission (no objection) for you working for somebody else. This is only needed for a period of 2 years following your last day of work. After 2 years, you do not need this certificate. So even if you find a lucrative job that will help you improve your life even if its in a different industry, Qatari sponsors are known to not issue this certificate. Why would they not give you permission to improve your life even after you have successfully completed the terms of your contract? Well I still haven't found a logical reason but from my opinion it comes down to either since he is not doing it so why should I mentality etc. or by living in a harsh environment has shaped their mentality on "personal property" and to not give it away easily.

My advice: add in the NOC clause. State that upon termination by either party of the working relationship, an NOC will be issued immediately.

Law- it is a common joke around all expats is that if you get into a car accident and a Qatari is at fault, you will be the one to be blamed. Now, this is not 100% correct, but with every joke there is a hint of truth in them.

There are many pay scales for example. Here is the list: Qatari, western expat and s.africa, Aussie etc, Eastern Europe expat, other arab, china/Korea then Nepal, India and Philippines etc. the order represents salary more or less for doing the same exact work. For example a bank teller who is Qatari will make more than a Morroccan and the Morroccan will make more than the Nepali for doing the exact same job more or less.

Many things are negotiable in this country from purchasing souvenir trinkets to salary. If housing, transportation and flights are included in your package well how much you think you need to live on a month and save is subjective and personal. Here is the cost of living in local currency. 1 riyal = 30 cents approx.

Big Mac 1 combo- 18
Starbucks grande frappe- 20
Corona beer in hotel bars from 30-50 (many hotels have happy hours, is cheaper at that time)
Brunch buffet in hotels 200-300
Day pass to use swimming pool in hotels - 200-350
Car rental monthly (compact) - 1500-2000
Dinner low end at local Indian or Turkish place 20-30
Dinner higher end 40-50 or above.

Those with children, private school tuition in the range of 30000 per year.
Live in a decent compound with a club house and pool approximately 10000 per month.

Now my cons list is very long as I did not enjoy my time there. Yes there were some good times but I am glad that I am no longer there. It is a country that is changing. Will they learn from the growing pains and mistakes made by other countries or will they progress at a much smoother and rapid pace. Seeing men in dish dashas drinking a beer at a hotel bar and women wearing stylish abayas with fancy high heels gives me pleasure as they are ridding themselves from being controlled by religion and culture in their entire existence. For every Muslim you meet in this country you will have those who consider Christians and Jews as people of the book and should be respected while you have others who think thy are sons of apes and pigs and will be sent to hell. Now, my advice is to not talk too much about religion in this country. It's still a "conservative" Islamic country, so criticism of Islam is not taken lightly even if you feel that it's the logical truth.

Before I forget. Would I recommend my worst enemy to go live there? The answer is no! It's not a place for straight bachelors. (You get the point).

[Moma]

tomtud - where to now, bro? Back to the dot?

[tomtud]

Yup,,,then colombia....hit me a PM talk bout Miami.....nice to hear from ya.

[OSL]

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Thank you for this very detailed writeup, Tomtud.

A language partner of mine from Spain recently took a position at a 5 star hotel as a fitness trainer. His English is awful, I am not sure who he is going to be training but they set him up with housing/meals and a work visa. Seems pretty cush to me as far as living goes.

I've heard mixed things about Qatar. I feel like Doha might be trying to become the new Dubai - what do you think about that statement?

Also - do you feel like that place is open for business? A french friend of mine in Paris/Monaco told me that he thinks Qatar would be a great place to do business but he didn't really specify why. The guy isn't that experienced himself - comes from a French/African diplomat family, got a cush job at the World Bank through connections+ivyleague.....not sure how seriously I should be taking his opinion about this as he tends to be wildly optimistic about everything.

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[villageindian]

Tomtud, great writeup. Meaning to write one on Doha since we met. :thumbsup: apologies that I lost touch with you there

One thing that you forgot to mention is Doha's pretentiousness when compared to Dubai! Dubai is on another level and Doha tries to match it but seems unable to do so. (e.g. Pearl Qatar) It's like Doha is the smaller cousin of Dubai and wants to one-up it all the time but it cannot match the sheer size and show of Dubai.

While it is a good place to work, living is another thing completely. Doing business is a bit of challenge as one has to find a Qatari partner (51% minimum ownership per law) who will form a LLC with you to form it.

All profits are given first to him and he can be. Titular head only in name without interfering in operations after receiving his cut.

Overall the place has to do quite a bit before it reaches the level of Dubai. I think it is racing against time with the World Cup and might be a challenge on the growth front. Socioeconomically and culturally, it won't see much of that growth. Infect it is rumored to become regressive under the new emir.

But great post again and nice seeing you! Good luck in your solo adventures

[tomtud]

Thanks for the kind words.

To do business there yes it's 51-49 ownership by law. You as a foreigner can purchase property only in a few areas I think. But I know of a man who bought an apartment there and after delays and poor workmanship wanted to sue the builder. Bu the builder happens to be a local. Good luck suing a Qatari, odds are you won't win.

[Sp5]

I was there for three weeks. It's pleasant enough this time of year, some sights to see like the Islamic Arts Museum, right now the Damien Hirst exhibition, and the aforementioned Souk Waqif area, which has a lot of small shops and some restaurants. The Corniche is a nice walk along the waterfront. A few interesting buildings in the downtown.

With regard to nightlife, not much and ratios are extremely unfavorable.

For example, the Irish Harp at the Sheraton has a ladies' night offering free drinks for women all night long on Tuesdays. I saw the notice on another night when it was quiet and decided to come back and check it out.

When I got there, I find there is a 100 Qatari riyal ($27) cover charge for men. You get one drink for that. I had already let the driver go, so I paid and went in.

You'd think with free drinks for women and a cover for men, the ratio would be pretty good, right? Not. It was very crowded, and still about 70/30. I was hanging out with an Iraqi wingman and we approached two Indian women. They were drunk, but also both married. I gave them shit about how did their husbands let their wives go out like this. They were obviously reveling in the attention, basically attention whoring, but would not give out their numbers for fear hubby would find out.

We also met a bunch of Filipina teachers, nothing special, but I got a couple of numbers, and before I could call, the older one (50) called me up in the morning. So it was game on with her. She was good company, spent a few nights with her. She helped me clean up the house I was housesitting.

The W Hotel downtown has a nice lounge bar, the Wahm lounge, with an outdoor deck with gas heaters which weren't needed when I was there. Again, the ratio was very unfavorable, with a bunch of entitled and/or unattractive Indian and western women.
When I was leaving after midnight, there were a couple of legit 8s and 9s coming into the hotel all dressed, to the Wahm or the Crystal nightclub in the hotel.

The Champions Bar at the Marriott was the other place I went to, it was 80/20 on happy hour on a Thursday.

There are some real asshole drivers among the Qataris, cutting across lanes and tailgating like crazy. The Qataris almost all drive white SUVs, usually Land Cruisers. Quite a few Bentleys and Rolls-Royces around.

The shop girls at the malls are almost all Filipinas, Indonesians and Africans, I am sure you can get some things going as long as you are discreet. If no Qataris are around in the store, you can talk and flirt some - if any Qataris are around, they are all business, because they're scared. A lot more fear here among the expat workers than in the UAE.

I chatted with some domestic servants on WeChat and Tango, they are basically prisoners who work seven days a week, so no luck.

I had an interesting time on National Day, put on a jacket and tie and visited a few sheikh's tents set up on the outskirts of town to celebrate. They thought I was a VIP ("Welcome, Ambassador!") and though I told them I was not an ambassador, I got invited in for coffee and had some interesting conversations. Met the French, Moroccan and Chinese ambassadors, and was the only western guy around. Zero post-menarche females around in these tents, it's a patriarchal thing.