Max is off to Pampered Pets

My little, annoying, tapping, lovable desert dog is off to pampered pets (www.ppkdoha.net/). As we didn’t intend to leave Qatar so quickly (and I wasn’t very organised), he isn’t ready to fly until the end of December, so he is going for a little holiday at pampered pets. 

The place is totally random! It's on a farm miles out of Doha in the middle of nowhere. They have a great set up there and hopefully he is going to enjoy it!!  

We have organised a pet relocator to take him to the airport and pop him on the plane to Manchester - which will be a shock to the system for the poor little fella!! It might be a tad cold for him, but at least he'll enjoy walking without burning his little paws on the tarmac. 

Slight issue is he is terrified of water! When I say terrified, I mean so terrified that he will risk breaking his legs to jump over a puddle – what on earth is he going to do in the UK in winter, poor little thing. I have a feeling Max’s first walk will need a post of its own.

Moving in with Triple J

So, we're officially moved in! Triple J have very kindly let us stay with them and Casper and Suki for a month or so. I am not sure Pete knows, but as the only person not working, he is now chief chef and food shopper - time to start learning how to switch the cooker on.

The cupboards are now bursting with food (two households merged into one), Casper has fallen in love with my flipflop, I am able to catch up on Eastenders as Julia is in charge of the remote control and Pete has a beer drinking partner. I am really happy we are spending our last few weeks here, it is relaxed and the kids are really happy chilling out with their cousin. 

Oliver and Lucy love being with Triple J. Leaving Doha and not having them close is going to be really hard. It has been so lovely for Oliver having his Auntie and Uncle living on his doorstep and now that Jacob and Lucy are growing up, it’s such a shame they won’t get to experience that. However, silver lining and all that - on the plus side, there will be plenty of holidays to be had and we will be meeting and spending some quality time together outside of Doha - yay! 

So the countdown is on. All I need to do now is give up work and spend some time at the pool working on the tan (oh and a few ministry/banking/visa formalities). Can't go back to winter in the UK without seeing any sun before I go.

Bye Beverley Hills Gardens 10

So that’s it. The packers have been and the house is empty (almost). Just a few last bits to sell or give away, but it’s done – finally. It is starting to feel real now. We are actually leaving Doha! We have one month left to enjoy Doha just as the winter is coming and the weather is starting to be bearable.

I am finding it so amazing how well Oliver has adapted to the change and how he is taking it all in his stride. Watching his toys get packed up and not knowing when or where he will see them next. It shows his maturity and his ability to cope with situations that other children will never experience. It shows what a well-rounded and well balanced little boy he is. He is an absolute little star.

I feel such relief that we are all done, but at the same time sadness that we are leaving our little home. We have lots of fond memories in this villa. After 7 years of being in Doha, this is the place which felt most like home. Probably down to the fact we made it our home with our own furniture, but also the fact that it became the family home. Or perhaps it could have all been down to Bailey’s bar, the best bar in Doha, where the fun never ends!

So we are now ‘homeless’ and I am left wondering what our next home will look like. Although the prospect of moving into a new house in a new country is quite exciting, it is also quite daunting as we literally have no idea about accommodation type or location. But hey, that’s life and for now we will be heading back to Sheffield for some Christmas cheer and to catch up with family and friends before our onward journey to our next destination. 

Packing up

This has been the most stressful part of leaving. Stuff – we have have so much stuff and more than we could fit into 4 suitcases. Where did this stuff come from? I know my husband will blame me totally, but there is a lot of his ‘stuff’ to shift as well and having 2 children doesn’t help. I have worked so hard to sell our furniture and at times felt tearful as my beautiful dining table and chairs were loaded onto the back of someone’s truck at a knock down price. I managed to sell most of our stuff on “buy it sell it swap it Qatar” and the day I delete that site from my facebook will be a joy. It is full of a load of idiots. I have met a few lovely people who have been true to their word and paid for and collected their purchases, but don’t get me started on the time wasters out there. I only hope that one day when they need to sell their possessions, they are also messed around with the ‘last price’ texts that infuriate me daily.

So as the house starts to look emptier and emptier, I keep reminding myself that it only ‘stuff’ and my 4 (including the dog) most important possessions are coming with me on to our next adventure.

7 years in Doha

Wow, I can’t believe we did 7 years here. I have loved it, hated it, liked it, loved it and never really until now, wanted to go anywhere else. Seven years has flown by and it has mostly been great. I would be lying if I said it has always been a breeze, this country can be so frustrating. The people, the rules and the trips to different ministries with the inshallah attitude can drive you nuts. But if you can put the frustrations aside and make sure you get away on regular holidays, Doha is a great place to live.

Doha will always have a special place in my life as it was the first place we left the UK for, it was where we got married and where both of our children were born. It was the first place our little family made a home. 

Marriage

A man and woman should not live together unmarried in Doha. We were aware of the rule and were engaged shortly after arriving in Doha. However, getting pregnant before we actually tied the knot was not planned and although it was one of the best things that happened to us, it did mean we has to change our wedding plans and get married in Doha (quickly). 

After 3 months of finding out I was pregnant I was wandering down the aisle in a random villa/makeshift chapel in the Middle East. Who would have thought it? But it was an amazing wedding and I couldn’t of wished for a better day. My only regret was that my bestest friends were not there to share the day with us, but we did have our family and new friends in Doha to make up for it.

Oliver and Lucy 

So 5 months after our wedding at the end of April, beautiful and amazing Oliver came into this world. He is the most wonderful little boy and I couldn’t be prouder of him. The life of an expat has taught him so much and given him so many opportunities. He thinks the sun always shines, gets excited when it rains and going home is always a disappointment if it doesn’t snow (even in summer). He has experienced Christmas in the cold and in the sun and he knows that Santa will always find you, no matter where you are. He is amazing at swimming, golf, tennis, football, cricket. He has opportunity after opportunity. Yet when you ask him what a forest is or how to play pooh sticks or what English money looks like, he searches your face for the answers.

There is so much opportunity being an expat child, but he misses out on so much of what we took for granted. Once we are home, I think he will struggle with not being allowed out of the house on his own to ride his bike, go to the shops or walk into school alone. Life is pretty safe here.

Lucy came along 5 years later. It was a tough time trying, but finally we were blessed with a feisty, beautiful and confident little girl. She is still so young, so doubt she will remember her experience of Doha, but she will be ready to experience the next adventure and make her mark on the next place we travel to. She already tries very hard now to make her mark – it’s going to be interesting ride!

Friends who have left and who remain

All of them have had an impact on our time in Doha and all of them have made life in Doha worth living there for. In the past couple of years there has been a big change and many friends have made the move to another country and that’s hard. Goodbyes are hard, but thanks to technology, some of them still feel like they’re still just down the road. I didn’t realise it when we first arrived, but people leaving is hard and you become hardened to those goodbyes, but now it’s our time.

Brunch

I couldn’t write about life in Doha and not mention Brunch. My ultimate and most favourite pastime on a Friday and I know you all take the piss out of me, but who can disagree? Bubbles and 5 star food, I'll take that, thank you very much. I am glad I will be leaving known as the ‘brunch queen’. It has added to my Doha kilos, but boy has it been fun. Some of my most favoured memories (or lack of them) have been at brunch and it beats hanging out in Villaggio at Paul café anytime! 

The city of Steel

This is where I am from. Born and bred in Sheffield. My husband is from Sheffield and home will always be Sheffield. If I think about Sheffield or see a picture, I can smell it. I really can smell it. I can smell Meadowhall at Christmas and I can smell the local pub beer garden in summer. I can take something out of my wardrobe which hasn’t been worn since my last visit and I can smell home. The best feeling in the world is walking through my parent’s front door and being home (even if I always need a jumper).

The curser is blinking at me

I have no idea how to put it onto paper. The emotions, the stress, the uncertainty, the worry, the stress and the stress.

I have been an expat for 7 years living in Doha, Qatar, but now we are on the move. It’s been a tough few months with uncertainty hanging over us, but the mist is clearing and we are leaving. Back to the UK for Christmas and then hopefully onward and upwards to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Doha was my first time as an expat, not counting travelling in Australia (which I plan to write about in a different blog sometime). Leaving the UK to come here was no big deal and I jumped on the plane, following my boyfriend with only a little bit of information about the country I was going to make my home. Seven years later it still feels it was no big deal, even though I got married here and had two children in this country.

But now it is a big deal, we are leaving. I am leaving everything I know and it’s not just for a holiday. We are giving up our home, the school places, my job, my furniture,our cars. We are moving with all our ‘stuff’ to a country I know nothing about, but when I look for information I am so overwhelmed that I can’t read. We have to find a school, find a house, find a friend. Now it feels like a big deal. I didn’t think I would feel like this about Doha and I didn’t think that I was so settled here. Yes, it felt like home, but it was always temporary – or so I thought.