New taxis are to hit the roads

This type of news make me hopeful that life will be improving in Doha .300 more taxis are coming in July and 200 more after that . In the coming years new taxi companies are coming with sophisticated devices to detect their cars in the city and send them to the places where customers need them .Let's hope that all of those promised new services will be working for all of us .

Sunset in Doha

Sunset in June in Doha 

Murakami Ego exhibition in Doha 2012

Murakami Ego - exhibition ended yesterday . These pictures were taken in the lobby of the exhibition hall .Kawai textile daisies are covering balls .And you could admire the artists inflated Ego .Inside the exhibition hall we were not allowed to take pictures .There were a lots of paintings where cute cartoon figures were mixed with symbols of death .Both came in large numbers as they were copy pasted and they were flooding our eyes and souls like it floods us in everyday life from tv and other media .Like he was to feature the optical pollution of our era . There was a tent
like a circus tent . Inside the movie theater .Two of his cartoons were shown . The main message of the story was that the manure ( poop) is very important.In the first story it resulted in huge watermelons ... in the second story the city eater robotic monster - which could not be destroyed by the army - went into zen mood then passed stool which was stinking first then it changed into gold and spiritual material .This idea reminds me to Friedensreich Hundertwasser the Austrian artist who had said that the human body fluids are one of the biggest treasure on this planet .
The exhibition was provocative /inspiring /funny /depressing ...I wonder if any millionaire bought his armchair covered with cute daisies . It was   around 200  thousand rial !

Entalek Fuwairit kayaking tour

drumming in the desert ...

Have you ever wished drumming in the desert ? Kayaking in the moonlight ?Snorkeling on the reefs ? Now with entalek it is all possible . 300 rial/person - the last event of the season .I wish all these but Iearned about the existence of this organization too late .We used to paddle in Hungary kayak/kenu as a hobby ... we missed it here in Qatar and we are happy that it is possible now .They say that it is so much cooler outside the city .
I miss very much the chance to escape from the city in the summer .It is just too much here ...and the villages are non-existent here -so is the village tourism .So if you wish to go back to the nature in Qatar then it is a nice chance to join this group .

Reliable teacher to leave our kids with

After that 13 kids-all the kids- died in Villaggio  creche/day care center in a slow spreading fire where it would have been so easy to escape if if if.... I do not want to repeat myself ....
The teachers did not recognize the danger  in time / plus there was a stupid one who told them that the fire was put out .... then  they remained there "it was just a small fire" for 15 minutes when already it was too late to come out .
It was not like the Mexico nursery fire in 2009 that the burning roof fell on the sleeping kids ....where there was a fire exit just closed and they did not find the key ....there was no other exit here ...but the children died not by the fire but by the smoke ...
So I am thinking so much about the importance of the teachers problem solving abilities .Here the anglosaxon expats prefer the maids/babysitters from Phillippines "because they have so much more mind than the other Asians" I think this bias comes simply from the fact that they are both Christians and they would hate to admit about a Muslim teacher/maid/babysitter that she is good .Or they are just simply afraid of them .
We can see that this general views on nations/religions does not lead to any good .We should judge everyone according to the content of his/her character  not by the nationality....But how can we do so ? I am coming from a small town . Everybody knows the teachers -easy to ask about her/him . Here people just come and go and this is a city. And even during school year teachers are changed -many times without any explanation /even without informing the parents .So how can we find the right teacher who would save our kids in case that anything unexpected ? How can we find the right teacher who would be able to decide what to do ? I find it nearly impossible .
We can check the building fire safety devices  but no more we can see . We can decide to homeschool our kids or just let them go to  their school and hope that they would come home safe and sound .

No cartoons on MBC3 - mourning the Saudi crown prince

My kids wanted to watch MBC3  yesterday . They were annoyed to see that there  are no cartoons at all . The Crown prince of Saudi Arabia died - there are programs commemorating him .( we have always thought  that MBC3 is coming from Dubai )
Seeing their  annoyed faces I remembered  that it was the same in Hungary some twenty years ago when  Hungary's prime minister died suddenly . He was not popular  for  everyone - so many parents were upset when the usual Sunday afternoon cartoon was stopped in the middle of the story and sad music came for an hour without any explanation .At least they should have warned the parents that not to expect cartoons  that day at all .

I am sometimes really surprised  on how much people love the rulers of their country . Once I was  working as a tour guide  with a  group of Belgian tourists .I eventually mentioned them that their king died that morning . I was very sure that they had already heard about it . Unfortunately they learnt it from me .They became deeply saddened /some of them even cried . The cheerful trip was over  everybody -  with no exception went into terribly sad mood .Like they lost a close friend or family member .

Daddy is my hero - what about yours

It's Father's Day today in the US . I have always found  this day strange when I heard about it  in my childhood .As far as I know it is not celebrated in the Middle East ,either .But I found  this day to be a nice occasion for sharing my childhood stories with my readers .
Daddy is my hero - you can read here a real story of my childhood when a wonderful trip was turned into a nightmare and how my father  tried to help me and how much super power he had had suddenly  just to  know me safe and sound .

Please visit   my page if you want to read a nice true story about a young father and his little daughter . I am also interested in other people's story - so if you have one do not hesitate and share it with us on the page .  You can leave links leading to other great dad's stories as well at any time when you read this page .

rivers ,streams ,lakes in Doha

You might laugh when you read it .Qatar is a desert surrounded by the sea .You certainly will not see those rivers ,streams ,lakes on the surface .But I am very sure that beneath the desert there is a whole system of streams/rivers/lakes .
What makes me think so ? I am laic . I did not study geology but I was born in a town where the stones/ limestone is in abundance  and they are very similar to the ones in Qatar .In my hometown there's a lake right in the centre of the town and it gets the water from underground springs from the caves .
I have always thought that it must be true , then I heard from someone that  they found a wonderfully clean/ fast running stream in Doha while digging for a building's foundation .If there is stream then there must be some rivers and lakes .

Qatar Map Plate - souvenir idea

Qatar Map Plate by FlagAndMap
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Qatar continues to expand public investment funds in Europe. The Qatar Investment Authority recently purchased a prestigious shopping center in Paris's Champs Elysees for 500 million euros .



Le Figaro has learned that the 27 thousand square foot retail building was sold by Groupama to Qatari investors.

The Middle East investors are noticeably stronger in European expansion. In Budapest two five-star hotels were  bought by Arab investors: the Gresham Palace by investors from Oman, Le Meridient was taken by investors from from Dubai.

top Chef leaves Pearl

This issue is major embarrassment for both  I think . For the country  and for the chef . For the country which invited Gordon Ramsay   to open a restaurant at  Pearl district and  allowed him  to sell alcohol . Then  it withdrew this license on public pressure .

The chef  must be embarrassed as well  - he must admit that his  gourmet cuisine was not attractive enough to make profit .

 The people of Qatar must feel victorious . They might have the illusion that they dictate .
In fact this is the money that dictates .In fact they open new restaurants in a five star hotel .

I am coming from a non-drinking family . It is rather rare in Europe or in Hungary .My father imposed ban on alcohol for himself .In his youth he had some experience with being drunk with his friends . Then  one day he woke up and said "Human dignity and alcohol consumption can not go together - I choose rather my dignity "

I am very proud of my dad . First of all because he was not following the others like sheep .Then because he kept himself to his words . Finally because he never forbade us anything .
He just set a good example for us .

Funny Chef Dad T-shirt by chef_tshirts
Create your own custom picture shirts on zazzle.

funny story on French expats in Qatar

the following story was posted as fiction in a discussion forum in Qatar
but seeing the reactions even the author was shocked how much truth was in it

Mimi Le Blanc now eats alone at La Cigale and attends French arrogance classes at the French Embassy as her own means of interacting with fellow French nationals.


Dan Singh, part time salsa teacher and intrepid reporter for the Gulftenis Tribune investigated her strange case.


'It all started when I said to my husband, lets save some money and live without a maid. I can clean the house, get the kids dressed in the morning for onion classes and wash our clothes. At first its was great to have my house back to myself and feel satsified at doing a days work. Of course I had to give up wine drinking with the ladies at lunchtime and sneering at the Americans for being so uncultured but then the other French ladies found out what I had done. They said I was setting a bad example to their husbands and they might get the wrong idea. Plus they attacked me for my lack of compassionate saying that some poor Filipino family cannot afford crossiants for breakfast back in Vietnam or where ever they come from'


Dan in his research from that it is not unsual for the French to shun the locals and the other expatriates in whatever country they are posted, but it is unsual for them to shun one of their own, no matter how arrogant or even if they say they like British food. Dan caught up with some of her ex-friends;


Marie of Al French Villas said, 'et is shocking. My husband found out and now wants me to give up the maid, the house boy and the gardner. Who will I have left to shout at?'


Chantelle DeBoobies was even more enraged, 'why doesn't her husband just go and marry a Thai lady if he wants us to scrub floors. Do you know how much my nails cost? This lady is the biggest traitor to France since, well probably ever. I will never let her sample my cheese again'.


The new French President has denied rumours that Mimi Le Blanc will be stripped of her citizenship but did indicate that she will be re-educated on return to France.

Read more: http://www.qatarliving.com/node/3077454#ixzz1xUHbiHjY

World Philatelic Exhibition in Doha

I have just got the information right from the Hungarian Philatelic Museum that Hungary will exhibit postage stamps in September in Doha .

From 21 September to 26 September in Doha Exhibition Center .The aim of such exhibitions is to promote stamp collecting and philately , to maintain friendly relations and friendship among all peoples. . to establish and maintain close relations with the philatelic trade and postal administrations. ,to promote philatelic exhibitions by granting Patronage and Auspices .

Famous Paintings in Qatar

The Scream by Edvard Munch Post Card by Ladiebug
color postcard printing by zazzle.com

At the Sotheby's May auction The Scream by Munch was sold at record price-the nearly $ 120 million which was paid by an anonymous bidder.Already in April there was a rumor at various economic news portals that the Qatari ruler's family is going to bid for this artwork by Munch - the only one which was privately owned from the iconic series .The base of the rumor was that Paul Cezanne's painting was bought by the Qatari ruler's family the year before :

The Cardplayers Postcard by ImmortalArtwork
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Art Newspaper understands, in 2007, Ileana Sonnabend collection was bought by Qatar . It was a collection of $ 400 million, including Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol's works . Advisory representatives of the family are renowned professionals such as Christie's former president, Edward J. Dolma.

still I am Sad

It happens that I can sleep at night . After the Villaggio fire I could not .I was too much upset to be able to do so .Or when I did fell asleep then I saw always the same nightmare ; I am in a public place with my kids  ...  then we lose each other ...and I am desperately crying out their names . And I can hear the fainted noise of their laughs but there are huge walls between us. The huge walls are frightening - I know that I can not reach them and I feel awfully alone . I wake up  and I am sweating and happy to see my kids near me . But the depressing feeling is still in me and makes my days sad .Then I  think of the families of the victims and about the silence that they must bear after loosing their little ones .The sounds of  the cheerful life of the toddlers /preschoolers /juniors who perished in the smoke .They had been noisy kids as all of us were a day -and now it is only silence .Two sets of families lost 3 kids . A toddler who did not want to go that day to the creche lost 3 siblings  those who did go .How much  burden  he has to carry all his life !The memory of three siblings who died .And all of us -we must carry this burden now all our life .

We still suffer very much by the terrible death of those children . With my friends we discuss it all the time .One of my friend says from NZ " I wish we could set back the clock - and go back in the time and make everything for this would not happen "

Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate.

- Charlotte Gray

 

I

I know a mum who was just heading to the Villaggio to leave her kid at the nursery ... She was supposed to be there at the time of the fire but somehow everything went so slow that morning .Finally she was late -the police did not let her enter the mall .Since then  the simple thought that they arrive on time gives her chills .


 I read this here :

 We live one block from Villaggio. So this hit me and my wife very hard, like a sucker punch in the solar plexus hard. My wife mentioned that her friend told me that until you have kids of your own, you don’t understand this kind of emotional impact when something like this happens. Now I do.

A mother from Abu Dhabi wrote .


I try to not imagine the children as the smoke gets thicker and they can not reach for their no cell phones to let mommy know they are suffocating and gasping for air.
I try not to think about the sounds and the screams, but I hear them all so loud, the screams and the sounds.

Things that I still do not understand

Yesterday I was reading the account of a fireman on the nursery tragedy . He claimed that nobody survived . "Mohsen, who described Shahboun as "a leader to us", said that all of the children in the nursery had died - "five in the ambulance, three at the hospital and the rest right at the spot."

Question one : how many kids were there in the nursery ? 

 initially they were talking about 20 kids out of them 13 died .. so it is for me now a total confusion

Question two : How the teachers did not call the firefighters to ask for help and describing their location when they were able to call to the Philippines ?

Question three : How nobody felt necessary to warn the nursery about the fire ...at least by phone

Question four : what was the staircase made of that it collapsed in the fire ? Was not it concrete?

Question five :How nobody felt the urge of informing the firefighters about the existence of a nursery ?


UPDATE

How many kids were there in the nursery ? - it seems that 13
Why did they talk about 20 on the first day ? I think they did not want to admit the ugly truth that everybody died there . It seemed this way as they rescued some

  How the teachers did not call the firefighters to ask for help and describing their location when they were able to call to the Philippines ?
 According to co-workers who should have worked in afternoon shift that day they got call from the teachers in the morning complaining about mild smoke .They were told to call the security who told them the fire was under control. How the teachers did not think they should leave  after all? Nobody likes talking about this topic. They died I know - it is terrible  I know but from what we know  at the moment the teachers were not recognizing  that they should act quickly . 13 kids and four adults / it was not impossible to leave quickly.If every teacher  had picked up two kids 8 of them would have been out .And there were bigger kids as well who can follow orders and leave on their own . Later the teachers called that they can not leave they need help .Why the co-workers who got this call did not call the firefighters ?Why were the teachers texting and calling relatives instead of calling the firefighters ?This question is still very confusing I do not see it clearly .

  There was an article in which someone claims that  there was enough time to leave.After the first light smoke 15 minutes had gone until heavy smoke came and blocked their way .
How those teachers did not feel  without any fire safety training that having even light smoke in a kindergarten is not OK and they should leave as soon as possible ?

How nobody felt necessary to warn the nursery about the fire ...at least by phone    the investigation did not answer  this ....  this was not the first fire in Villaggio  the nursery was not a new  one ... the security just told them to stay where they were... was this call registered ?

 what was the staircase made of that it collapsed in the fire ? Was not it concrete?  - I heard that it was made of aluminum

 How nobody felt the urge of informing the firefighters about the existence of a nursery ? no answer on this  the parents could not reach the firefighters they were waiting outside while trying to inform the policemen outside about the kids in the nursery - but there was the language barrier

  and there are more questions  about the missing floor plan , about the security who claim they did not know about the children  though this was not the first fire in the mall

society of gold miners

I have never thought that Qatar is the land of the idealist .people come here to get rich and not to be a hero . I have known all that.Still I was shocked when I read  about the Villaggio fire .How little the security and other staff was caring about the customers .A man was trying some clothes in the Zara boutique when he came out - there was nobody . Everybody left the place and nobody cared about people in the changing room .As we learn more and more details on this terrible fire it is getting more and more painfully clear to me that the children  and their teachers were left alone in that ill-fated nursery .
It is clear now that the fire started at the Nike shoe shop then it spread to the Puma and the smoke from there flew up to the nursery . How much time was all that ? How much time until the staircase collapsed ? How much time was there to warn the teachers who might have not heard the fire bells at all . There was no one security man who  would run up and do this little thing which could  have saved the life of the little ones .Or a shop assistant who saw the fire or anybody else being aware of the existence of the nursery .
People come here to make money . There is no hope to get a  citizenship here for expats / plus we always hear that we can go away if we do not like something in the country .And as skilled and well experienced people rarely get the salary they would deserve this way a lots of them leave  the country for good .New ones are coming without skills and experience  and  by the time they  gain some they already  left the country .This is the land of the incompetent .Taxi drivers do not know the main sights of the city  and the security guards run away when they  notice the danger - the mall managers can not find the map of the building when it is about trying and saving the life of babies .

And about the firefighters who  died in the incident  - I am really disturbed by that . I had the feeling that they  were sent to the  death .. Did they have gas mask and oxygen ? Are firefighters obliged to go to the sure death ?

Why ? ..............

We have to wait a week until investigations tell us how the fire started and spread to the nursery killing by that 13 kids and 4 teachers and more people .

Until then still there are a lots of thoughts is worth reading :

it turns out that low-cost nurseries have strict rules about fire escape that  they have to follow
"Last year the nursery I work at was ordered to do the following
1. Install all the fire up-to-date equipment.
2. Build/install a fire escape
3. All the classes are to be held on the ground floor of the building.
4. A fully functional water sprinkling system.
5. Practice a fire drill as often as possible
This is a VERY low cost nursery but all this was done ASAP regardless of the cost.
Now how can a nursery as expensive as gympanzies have been running without all that, how and who approved them to operate…

Read more: http://www.qatarliving.com/node/3020224#ixzz1wGOuZIo2

 This nursery was rather expensive .Doha Mums Club was advertising and recommending it/ still  I was reading on their homepage  how safe it was ...:(   Since then they deleted the page ...From this every mum can learn that posh is not surely safe . And  how  little you can trust recommendation of that Club .

another thought about the fire :

"incident yesterday will open all parents and the whole community to more vigilant regarding places or structures where their children go and even the house we live. Awareness is the key word, not fear."

Read more: http://www.qatarliving.com/node/3020224#ixzz1wGT73gBA

"Required teacher trainings/education: Most of our teachers are CPR & First Aid certified and have a minimum of two years of college studies.  There is a Red Cross office downstairs in case of an emergency. "