the really exceptional driver

was a Qatari one . He was in his sixties .I did not ask him but he started to tell me about his life .
he
has got everything .Villa , business , nice pension , family .Nothing
forces him to work . Just, it is difficult to live like that being unuseful ...

The most amazing driver

I met some weeks ago after my shopping tour at the Center supermarket ...
When I tried to explain him where to go he answered this way ." I know your house "
" Once you came with me from City Center " Eight months ago "
And he really knew where we lived ....

Funniest taxi driver

It happened to us four years ago.I had to
go with my child to a school celebration .We were new to Doha and being
so were not very confident about going out on our own .But my husband
was very busy and we had no choice but to take taxi .

The driver
looked like a North Indian guy wearing beautifully embroidered small
cap .As he started driving he spitted through the window and started
singing .It was very very funny .My first thought was that az extra charge must be paid in Venice when the guy in gondola is singing .I wondered if the same would happen to us .
My second concern was how to restrain from laughing .It was not an easy task . We pretended to cough during the trip.
However , the song was very nice , I guess a North Indian folk song .I feel sorry that I had not been able to record it ...

Qatari taxi drivers

are not Qatari in fact . Though once I met such one as well . The rare exception .Most of them are Indians , Far Eastern and perhaps some Arabs as well/?/ ,

last week I had to see the doctor .I had an appointment .I did not have to wait a lot . The greatest suffering was to find a taxi to arrive at the out patient clinics . it was around eleven o clock .It took me forty minutes to find one . BUt what kind a ...
He was a short Indian guy , he kept shouting during all the time with other drivers , calling their names in Tamil and showing obscene signs by his hands .
I tried to explain him where to stop exactly , but his answer was rude as well to me ..
Karwa is the name of the taxi company here . My message is the following to them : it is not enough to buy nice , modern cars .You know taxi is a service .Being so , the human factor is much more important than the quality of the car .You should carefully check the persons you employ .Are they fit for this job mentally? Do they have basic knowledge in Engilsh and in Arabic ?Do they know the city they work in ?

I must add that most of the drivers are not like the above described one . But after all I am the customer I pay for the ride , I have the right to travel in a peaceful atmosphere .

Where are the old people ?

You can see so rarely senior citizens in Qatar .
The non qatari ,yes ,I understsand ,they must go ,if they are over 60 .
No mercy , they must get old in their own country .
before they become a burden .
But where are the qatari grandmas and grandpas ?.
So rarely can someone see them , at the outpatient clinics there are more of them , but why can not I see them in the park playing with their grandchildren?

Qatar is surrealistic from many point of views .Qatar looks very very young .
When I was flying home from Doha to Frankfurt the airplane was like a flying nursery .
On the other hand between Frankfurt and Budapest there were only three kids on the plane . That is Europe .

Things that I hate in Qatar :

traffic jams
difficulties to find taxis /last week we had to wait 30-40 minutes for a taxi in the morning after visiting a clinic in Rumeila/
buses are jammed with labourers so no way for a family to get on them/ interestingly , we have family days here in supermarkets ,exhibitions etc , but it does not come to the mind of Qatari planners to establish buses for families as well to treat the traffic problems in Qatar /
too many males , females are in minority
no way to ride my bike to get from one place to the other / in my country it is the normal way of getting from one place to the other ,there are many paths for riders only . here it is the way of transport for some poor Indian males- and it seems very dangerous/
no way for walking - as there are not enough zebra crossings and sidewalks
censorship on my art gallery / though I do not display nudes or similar things/
censorod cartoons / Piglet in some books/
my favourite pizza restaurants homepage is banned / whyyyyy? I used to visit it when I was homesick , when a day I was shocked to see that it was banned/
too much food products made in usa
no hungarian paprika at all/ we must make do with some french or spanish paprika/
no free education for non-qatari kids / and the level of teaching is much to be desired /
any extra activities for kids is terribly expensive / karate lessons for a month about100 dollars - in our little town it is about50 dollars for a year /
ooooh I would be able to list for you soooo many things but it is enough for today, is not it ?

The thing that I really liked in Doha when we moved here was that it gave me so much information about the Indian art and culture .India was a great dream for me and I could see it here more or less without having to face the shady sides of that country .
I was happy to discover some words similar in Hungarian , the similiraty in cooking , and in the names. my grandmother s last name happens to be"ranga " , which is the name of millions of Indian as well .
It means colors in Hindi .
Kutta means dog in hindi , in Hungarian it is kutya .There is a state in India called
Bihar . There is a county in Hungary , it is also called Bihar .
The other day I found myself in a Kashmiri souvenir shop :Reshmi . I was shocked to see how the embroidery of that area is similar to the one of South Hungary .
A new mystery to be solved .
In the first pictures you can see the embroidery of Kashmir .In the last one you can see a local artist from South Hungary with her artwork at the background .

AS we started January by having flu we also got it in February .Great,great begining.
WE drank a lots of tea . We have just discovered 'karkade " tea .It is hibiscus in latin .
Weather is getting warmer .I do not really know : is it good or bad news ?