Doha Diaries

Ever thought of learning Arabic? It should come with a warning!

Lessons in Arabic become lessons for life (for me) - DebbieDerry If you are seeking guidance on learning Arabic, you have come to the wrong place. But if you’d like Lessons in Arabic, as in the wonderful novel Lessons in Chemistry, then perhaps I can be of assistance. You see, I failed my beginner’s Arabic test. Yes, failed. Plugged. Three weeks…

It was not an Eid break any of us anticipated in the Middle East ...

The great fake Eid escape - DebbieDerry “Leave your luggage and follow me. Now.” The authoritative instruction should have been warning enough. This was not going to be an Eid break like any other. I mean, we’d already had almost three weeks of emergency alarms, missiles and ongoing uncertainty in Qatar. What was I thinking? (And yo...

Life goes on ...

On the surface, it's business as usual, but underneath we're living with uncertainty, caught in the crossfire of a war that is not ours.

Adapting to a war (that’s not ours) in Qatar - DebbieDerry Life goes on. Life goes on regardless of incoming missiles and ongoing uncertainty in Qatar, one of the six Gulf countries caught in the crossfire of the US-Israel-Iran war. In my previous post, just four days into a growing conflict that is not ours, I related how scary and surreal…

It's a strange and scary world right now, especially for those living in the Middle East.

Here's a slice-of-life account of muddling through a war that is not ours.

Stay safe everyone.

Living in a war (that's not ours) in Qatar - DebbieDerry Surreal and scary. That’s as it is for me - and so, so many others - living in Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East right now as I share what day-to-day life is like presently. I do so in my personal capacity – as just one of the 3 million…

Let's talk tissues - simply because in Qatar, the humble tissue is everywhere.

But why? Why do boxes of tissues fill every public surface and people's homes?

And so here begins another lesson in cultural appreciation ...

Sniffing out cultural differences with tissues in Qatar - DebbieDerry Tissues. Yes, everyday soft, absorbent paper tissues. They are the stars of this Doha Diaries post for no better reason than their ubiquitous presence in the Middle East. In Qatar, they’re everywhere. Boxes of tissues adorn any available surface here – they are in homes, hotels, offices and shop...

Qatar may best be known for its wealth, rich natural gas reserves, iconic architecture, international diplomacy and hosting of the FIFA 2022 World Cup, but what of its ancient past?

The Al Jassasiya Rock Art site offers clues to the Qatar of yesteryear, but not all the answers ...

‘World cup’ of rock art mystery in Qatar - DebbieDerry From the mundane to the mysterious, Qatar’s leading rock art site, Al Jassasiya, gives you much to see and even more to mull over. Not least is that, at face value, with its stunning architecture, high-tech infrastructure and visionary focus, Qatar is a picture of modernity, when actually, it’s ...