New budget airline from Qatar to Europe

Pegasus is a private Turkish airline with excellent safety records  which has been operating for more than twenty years .It will start flights from Doha to Europe via Istanbul in mid June .I checked the prices for various European cities and I found the average price was around 2000 Qatari riyal .They do not fly to Budapest but to Vienna from where there are a lots of cheap buses to Budapest .( only two hours ride )
I found  round trip tickets as cheap as 1400 riyal online .
What are the disadvantages ? No direct flights -one must change the plane in Istanbul .It flies to a smaller airport to Istanbul not to the big international one .Luggage included in the ticket price is only 20 kg .You must buy your own meals in flight or in advance .It costs around 10 -15 USD /meal .

Qatar airways is around the  double in price .It has direct flights in more  convenient  times with gourmet meals .

Turkish Airways is a bit more expensive than Pegasus .Its safety records are not the best .The flight between Doha -Istanbul   was very uncomfortable for me with so little leg room  . Istanbul Budapest was much better .Their meals are OK  a bit better than a  canteen style meal . One must change plane in the big international airport in Istanbul . They are flying in less convenient  hours .

All in all -if money does not  matter then QA seems to be the best choice going home .But it does matter and for me Pegasus seems to be a hope of  being able to go home more often . Have a nice Journey !

A year after the Villaggio fire

A year  after the Villaggio fire we still do not understand what had happened on that terrible day .
It was a nightmare just to hear that 13 little kids died trapped in a mall's day care .How many times I saw nightmares after this tragedy ."My kids were on the other side of the wall and I could not reach them "
I hope  that the families of the victims  managed to restart their lives .I hope that the truth will turn out one day .
I hope that Doha Mums Club will apologize at least once for heavily advertising a dangerous  facility for little kids .
 So few people attended the remembrance   - it was a Doha Mum Club event rather than a real nationwide  thing .

the safety of our kids in Qatar

 This country is work in progress  -   everywhere  constructions  Half -ready buildings  , buildings to be destroyed or being destroyed . I have been reading the news for more than ten  years and I remember many accidents where the victims were kids .
 More than ten years ago a Pakistani boy was going to the grocery  when  a four wheeler  hit him while walking at the sidewalk .He died . A three years old little girl died some 8 years ago while walking in the Corniche  with his parents and touched an uncovered lamp post  .Lamp posts in the street with naked wires and no cover are  not a rare thing to see around here  !  Even nowadays after that tragedy !

I just wonder who takes those covers off  and why nobody cares at the municipality !  Then the uncovered manholes  ! They took the life of a little child  last year -  not in a poorly lit suburb but in  front of a Hotel's main entrance    in the center of the city !Similar  horror happened  in  Wakra as well .

 The little Sudani girl survived  when she   fell into the lift shaft   at the hospital   while her mum was waiting at the pharmacy ...

 This country is safe . If you leave your belongings in the car  then most probably  nobody will   steal it . Burglary is not common . But on the other hand  negligence  can cause a lots of tragedy .I forgot to mention that  workers   tend just  to throw  unwanted things out of the building  including   bags full of cement .

 Living in a small town in Hungary  I  could send my ten year old to  school alone / shopping in the supermarket  or to visit  grandma . Here I do not dare . Sometimes I  think I should give her more freedom .   Then my motherly instinct does not allow me to do so .  This is the city   full of single males /constructions and unpredictable  dangers which can happen   due to the transitional state of this country .Unfortunately   it s very difficult to let them have life experience .

The First Qatari at the top of Mount Everest

He is a lover of mountains previously climbed up  the Mont Blanc , Kilimanjaro and other peaks around the world . He is Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani  coming from the upper ten  of the local society  . He  was promoting  the  charity organization Rota .  He climbed with Raed Zidan , Masoud Mohammad, Raha Muharrak ,Elia Saikaly .

Congratulations  !

My  cousin    conquered  in March a nearly 5000 meter peak  ...She has never been so high before and she was over fifty when it happened .I was very happy for her success  .
Much of this victory is due to the Serpas . They fix the ropes , they carry the luggage , they go to rescue, they know the mountains , they take care of every step of the strangers .They eventually die during all this .Their names  rarely make headlines but they are a must for  hikers .   Some  Hungarian hikers just disappeared  some days before  the  Qatari victory  while coming  down the Everest .Above 8 000 meters . That day 11 people reached the peak and five of them died .It is a dangerous sport indeed . But even more dangerous when climbers  want to save money and  leave the Serpas out of their climb . This is what happened to the Hungarians .

Raha Muharrak  the first Saudi woman to reach the highest peak of the world .

Water melon Carving

Watermelon carving is the hobby of many Indians around here . This fruit is available at low /moderate price during six months .This carved watermelons make a wonderful centerpiece on the diner table . Usually mandalas ,birds ,faces are carved into the fruit but oh my even they had Che Guevara on the surface of a carved watermelon !These pictures were taken at Qafco vegetables and flower show on March29 , Messaid ,Qatar. Happy carvings !

watermelon mandala - add text medium gift bag

by almawad

Longer maternity leave planned for more breastfed babies

I am always shocked to see how short the maternity leave is in Qatar . In Hungary mothers can stay at home for years and they get some kind of allocations  during those years .Now  some experts think Qatari working women should have a longer leave .

 It's the norm to stay at home in Hungary with little kids for three years . Here it is just some weeks - I guess - the American model is followed .

 The percentage of breastfeeding mothers is very low here .

 People in my home think the opposite about Arab mothers .They think Arab mothers are more traditional and they certainly   breastfeed . Unfortunately it is not the case .

 The hospital staff is poorly trained as well when it comes about teaching new moms how to breastfeed . My personal experience was that they  just throw the baby into the arm of the exhausted  mother . Just six hours after the C -section  came a nurse  and threw my baby into my weak arms and gave the order ; Feed your Baby !  She was talking to me as to a criminal who must be reminded to the law . I was horrified . I was still very weak after / suffering from motion sickness  / needles in my arm . I was screaming " Take away the baby - I can not even hold him "  Then they took  the baby angrily and came a doctor with serious face  reminding me to my duty of breastfeeding.

 This is not the way . Friendly approach needed from experienced and well trained female staff .Not orders but sisterly advice .

Eat Local / Breastfeeding / Nursing Icon Poster by TerryBain
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Hungary and Qatar for stronger trade

Coming soon ! Hopefully . More cooperation in tourism, farming, and communications between Hungary and Qatar . Officials met and expressed their intention for stronger  trade ties .Let it be . There is already daily flights between the two countries and cargos are coming as  well . Hungarian expats in Qatar can't wait to see Hungarian food products on the shelves of Doha supermarkets .

Source 

Harbor Fish Market - take-away restaurant

Harbor  - take-away  restaurant  . It is a small new place at Badriya signal at a new half-ready shopping corner in Bin Mahmoud . It  has retro interior design -very nice old photos /graphics /metal sail boat  and the  available fishes displayed .Even the staff is wearing sailor suit .Though it has  a few chairs if you wish to eat there but basically it is a take-away place .

After all this pleasant look the staff is not very professional . Their menu is coming with selected fish from the Mediterranean / from Local fish  market  with rice and salad .  They forgot the salad twice out of three orders . How unprofessional they are !Once they  started to  fight with each other over how to cut a fish . It happened in front of my husband who understood very well their Egyptian dialect .

After all - the menu  meal was excellent . The fish came out tender and firm and with spices going very well with the fish and with the spicy brown rice and the green salad . It tastes   good  like a home-style Egyptian dish  though I must admit I do not know well  the Egyptian cuisine .

I can suggest this place if you are bored with the usual  copy-cat restaurants in Doha . It is affordable and healthy .  When taking the meal -  double check the paper bags  to see that nothing is missing .

Summary : Interior design/decoration    five stars
                  the Food quality                   five stars
                  service                                  two stars

 You can visit their facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harbor-Fish-Market/439124816143138?sk=info

Post by Harbor Fish Market.

Post by Harbor Fish Market.

Indian actress , Shobana will perform in Doha May 23

Event : Shobana Musical  Show with Dance (The music is in Hindi and the dialogues in English)
when    :May 23
Where   :  Regency Hall ( near Mall roundabout )

 I read it here  unfortunately I found no more details

Will water be exported to Qatar or Not

 I read an article  in the Gulf  Times that  huge ice   blocks might be  exported from Chile to Qatar  as a new resource of drinking water . After that I read another article denying it . Chile will sell water in bulk but no ice blocks .
Chile  itself is suffering from water shortage and the news that the " rich countries" will  buy up their freshwater supply  has caused a public outcry  recently .

water abstraction no2 business card template by almawad
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Numbers in Qatar - 7000

7,000 is the number of the researchers that Qatar needs to  carry out  its prestigious plans by 2030

 said  Faisal M Alsuwaidi, president of Research and Development at Qatar Foundation yesterday.
He added " “We need to adopt many efforts such as  changing the attitude, changing rules and many more  to attract scientists to relocate to Qatar. We also need to develop a different mindset to attract these scientists.”

What a rare instance of self-cirticism in Qatar !
  Just some days after an excellent professional / a Nepali teacher was bullied out of the country  !

Dorje Grunung is Free

Qatar  Academy's jailed teacher  was set free and returned home to Nepal .His ordeal was told in a previous post . According to many and me too he had not done anything wrong . Some students  simply does not understand English well enough but it seems that they are powerful enough to send a teacher to jail .The real losers in this story  are the children  who are losing  teachers of high profile .

Gift Idea from Qatar - Middle east sunrise note book

middle east sunrise note book by almawad
Shop for Middle east Notebooks online at Zazzle.com

It is a poetic city scape in the middle eastern city of Doha ,Qatar . You can see a palm tree in the front with the rising sun - and in the distance you can see the city .Original photo by Alma Wad .It is applied as a reflection on this notebook -as a mirage . You can change the word if you like . It was taken in 2006 early morning going to work . Qatar had different look at that time and it is nice to look back .

Let the Sun Help your Immun System

When  you hear  about the new virus attacks - the new cases of death - instead of panicking  schedule  your daily activities in a way  that you spend half an hour in the morning and in the afternoon in the sun . There is no better  way  to strengthen  your immune system than that .Hiding from the sun is as big mistake as  exposing ourselves to it   for too long .

Double check the cars and buses - NO ONE IS LEFT THERE

It is almost three years that a lovely four year old was forgotten on the school bus in the scorching heat of Doha May - and got baked alive .Remembering Sarah Gazdhar  is  very important .  Are the best people  employed as school bus drivers nowadays ? Selected ones with big experience and trained for this special jobs ? Unfortunately not . Somewhere I read that local authorities  found schools where the drivers did not even have legal status in this country . Runaway  workers who  take up a job for a short time and satisfied with little money .We as parents have little  say /knowledge about that . It is very important to teach your child to  take care of each other .For nobody should be left behind because some adults are lazy to do a one-minute-job to check the bus .God save us all from such terrible event !

A jailed teacher and the misunderstood English sentence

I was very sad when I read the story of the Nepali teacher of Qatar Academy who was jailed over allegations that he had insulted Islam .  This man is described as a highly intelligent and tolerant person who would never be stupid to insult any religion .He had warned some of his pupils bullying him  not  to stereotype anyone  as it can be hurtful   -  as hurtful and stupid as it would be from him  to say  that every Arab is a terrorist .

The pupil must have had a problem to understand the  Conditional sentence in English and took it as an affirmative  one. This misunderstanding was enough to jail a teacher .


It is  sad . Not only from the point of view of the  Dorje Gurung and his co-workers  but from the point of view  of the children . They are going to lose a lots of wonderful teachers who do not wish to work anymore here .Qatar spends a lots money on bringing here highly trained and experienced professionals but it seems that  they can not keep them for long  for similar reasons . As one of my child went to an international school I know that teacher bullying is not something unusual here .So I respect very much those who are ready to work here as teachers . Telling the truth  -coming from a family with generations of teacher - having more than ten years teaching experience - I am very much scared from the idea of having to teach here .

I am always saddened when I remember the case of the Taek Wan Doe  master whose classes my teenage daughter had attended . She was a highly trained  and lovely  trainer for girls only classes . Most of the girls were Qatari and nice cheerful ones . Everything went well until one girl got minor injury while practicing the fighting  - then she was shouting with this coach terribly  - when it was not her fault at all .It was very humiliating . Then soon after the trainer "had to go home to Korea urgently" and never returned to Qatar . According to my knowledge  there has not been  "Girls only taek wan doe classes "  in Qatar ever since . A lots of girls must have given it up  .

Karwa taxi booking service is worse and worse

Last week I  did not have access to  our family's car -so I was forced to book a Karwa taxi twice . I had to go with my kids to a shopping center where there is no taxi station at all .I needed a car both times to come home .The first time the taxi that I booked came 15 minutes later than it should have .So the next time I booked it  for an early time . It came then 40 minutes after the booking time . At the same time one of my child suddenly became sick in the shopping center. There are no seats at all inside for the customers .We were forced to sit outside in the stuffy air with a child who was already so weak . Daddy is in the other side of the city . I felt miserable .I called five times the taxi center .Every time they said " Madame your car is there in the parking " when it was nowhere . Then when he came forty minutes later he said " Sorry -but the traffic jam was too bad " I know the traffic jam is not something new in Qatar .How it comes that they do not calculate it when arranging the booking? Half year ago the booked taxis used to be there 10 minutes before the booking .Now  they are too much late . Forty minutes would have been enough for us to walk home .
Another time I had to go to our embassy .
The limousine service of Karwa also astonished me . The car was nice and came with five minutes delay only -well it was not in the peak hours .But even the call center lady warned me  "madam , you have to know the location "  - I knew the location and told exact address but they meant that I should have guided the driver from street to street .In the past they used to send experienced drivers  with their limo service who knew the city well .After all it is 50 rial per hour and one expects more than from a usual cab .
I have no idea how the strangers in this city can get from one place to the other in this city when the drivers do not know the place .
For those who do not know . A decade ago Qatar had a well working taxi system which was established as the private business of every driver . They  rented the car from a Qatari company and were interested to work well as the money they made was theirs . They knew very well the city .Though booking did not exist at all and they were wearing traditional Asian clothes . Now many of those drivers  went illegal  . I warn ladies never take those cars . You may never know who is inside .  Even I read it shocked that some legally working drivers locked lady passengers and asking for more money at night . It is something that had been unimaginable here so far .

Numbers in Qatar - 80

 Eighty is the number of pedestrians killed on the roads of Qatar per year . It is very clear that the country should be more pedestrian friendly . They should build bridges or underground  paths for pedestrians at the major junctions / at the places where most accident happens .
It is not something new . At the Hamad Hospital - Lulu  every year 5 -6 or  more people die when walking accross  the  road . Still nothing  has been done to prevent those accidents .

Heavy rains and feeling like home

The other day it was raining in Doha heavily .It felt like I was home back in Europe .I was sitting at a library room's privileged fast computer and was designing neckties .There was a glass wall separating me from the play room .I saw my kids playing happily when I looked at them . " That would be the perfect place for work  - I thought "  then we returned  home in the evening  .My computer works at snail pace . " nothing is perfect  -said the fox"