Not What I Expected

I'm not really sure what I expected once I got here, but my first impressions are certainly not what I envisioned. Doha is undergoing massive construction. You can't find a spot in Doha where you don't see construction going on. The picture above is taken in the city centre, and as you can see, it is very modern with some of the most fantastic architecture I've seen anywhere.

With a population of around 1.5 million, only about 350,000 are Qatari nationals with the rest being expats mostly from other Asian countries. There is definitely a class system here with Qatari's being on the top rung, followed by Westerners, like myself, then other Arab nationals, then the rest. It's not right, but it's nice to be in the upper echelon of these classes.

One of the most common comments from people at home when they heard I was coming here to work on a three-year contract was '... be careful and take care over there', which showed their concern that this might be a dangerous place being in the Middle East, which is commonly believed (by westerners) is a centre of terrorism. After being here such a short time, it is already evident that these concerns are unfounded. I have never lived in a city where I felt safer - except when driving, but more on that later.