My days

For all of my friends out there who are sometimes reading this- I thought I would describe a typical day in my present life so that you can see that I am doing what you all advised and taking it truly easy. Steve and Jonah get up at 5.45 to leave for school at 6.45. I am left here by myself with no car but with lots of lovely ideas. I first go for a walk on the compound with a South African and a Lebanese lady. We cannot walk too far even at this hour because of the heat increasing daily. At present it is getting up to around 38 degrees and will increase to 48 in the next month or two. It is a dry heat at present and quite tolerable. The other day Jonah was playing baseball at midday and there were many expats sitting out in the direct sun with no hats and no sleeves and shorts. I was of course cowering in the shade with my long sleeves and hat and sunscreen on. If I venture to suggest anything about skin cancer I am told that we Australians are unusually paranoid about this subject and vitamin D is important etc etc. So I have learned to say nothing. I digress, when I get home I can watch the daily news from Britain, USA or Aljazzeer - an excellent local news chanel that gives very unbiased news from around the world. I do this while I eat my organic breakfast. Next I check my computer for emails, and get ready for my next adventure. If I want to go downtown I phone my driver and ask a neighbour to join me for a couple of hours in the morning. We have learned that you do not go out at certain times of the day because there is a defenite peak hour time at midday and then again at 4 p.m. In Qatar the work day is usually split into two sessions with a siesta in between.

For those of you who are wondering about my exercise program, you will be truly amazed that I have at last been forced to go to the gym because of the heat and because we have at our disposal a fully equipped gym with a personal trainer if needed. So, four days a week I go and work out by myself in the ladies gym which I am really enjoying. Of course I don't overdo it- not in my nature at all. Two days I go to the pool and do a water aerobics class which is also great fun and feels good for my muscles as well. I have just added a Thai massage to one of my days and will continue to do this weekly as I have found a truly excellent woman who walks up and down my spine for want of a better description. In between all of this activity I am exploring all of the options available to us in Doha. Yesterday we ended up at the La Cigale coffee shop which was a mind-boggling experience. In this brand new hotel -ordered by the Emir because he stayed in one in Lebanon, you can find candies, chocolates, cakes, fresh juices, sushi, sandwiches, quiche etc etc. You simply wander around the huge delicatessen and point to what you want to eat and it is all served to you on delicate platters while you sip the beverage of your choice. Kind of like Lulu's in Mullum with a face lift. Not saying that I prefer this kind of swanky hotel to Lulus and I miss being there often, but it is just an example of life here in the rich lane I guess. When I don't go out I sit here in my air conditioned villa and write or play jazz chords on my ukulele just for the heck of it. Tomorrow I will go to work to help out the admissions team at school for a couple of days so that I can make a little bit of spending money for my visit next week to my family in London. Steve and Jonah are heading off for Thailand to an outdoor adventure camp. I will be sipping tea at Crouch End.