We are now a bit more independent! We decided to rent a car until we can get our RPs (residency
permits) and then buy a car. Steve's boss and his wife drove us to the car rental place. We did end up getting a little lost trying to find it. Well, we knew where we were, but the rental place wasn't there where google maps said it was supposed to be. But after two phone calls to the rental place we found out that they had moved just a few months ago. So we were in the right place for their old office. We did eventually find it and rented a Nissan Tiida. No, that's not misspelled. There really is two I's and it's pronounced here Teeda.
I made sure to pack our map and our phones so that we could find our way around since we decided to go shopping after we got a car. I had to drive because though Steve passed his driver's test, the office that printed the license was closed by the time the guys were done and so none of them got their license. But there's a rumor that some people's RPs are through and almost ready to hand out. So if that's the case with Steve, then we'll just wait to get the permanent license. But that meant that I had to drive in the crazy Doha traffic. And I'm here to tell you that we survived. Driving in the afternoon wasn't too bad and there were actual intersections with incredibly long lights around the car rental office, so that was nice (not the long lights, just the fact that there were lights). One thing about driving here is that there are very few left turns. Most of the time you have to go past where you want to go, make a u-turn (known in the official test as turning backwards) and then turn right into where ever you wanted to go. Kind of a pain, but sometimes is better than trying to turn left with a lot of traffic.
We went to a mall we hadn't gone to before to go to a home store to buy a book case. We haven't found any on the equivalent of Craigslist and there is no where to put books in the villa. That's almost all I have left to unpack, so a book case shot up to the top of the important things to buy list. We found one that will hopefully work with the furniture in here. Anyway, we headed out and almost got lost trying to get home. We saw two landmarks that we recognized: Aspire tower (I don't know anything about it other than that's what it's called and it's a tall building that stands on it's own), and the new hospital that they are building at the edge of Education City. It is huge and a good marker to know that you're about to enter Education City. I can get home if I can get to the roundabout the hospital is on. We made it home and after an early dinner we went out again to go grocery shopping. It's a good thing we ate early because the trip took much longer than I thought it would and we didn't get home until 8:30pm.
One issue I hadn't had to deal with in the afternoon was traffic. But we also almost really got lost trying to get to the mall, even though it's not that far from us. But roads are not well labeled here and sometimes it's a guessing game. After a few tense minutes we saw up ahead the distinct top of the mall (it's kinda of like the top of a castle.) Saturday evening traffic around Landmark mall where we had to make a stop was insane. Long lines of cars at a standstill on the main road and the parking lot was a mess. But we successfully maneuvered our narrow little car through the parking lot and on the road. Then we drove to LuLu Hypermarket, which is close to the mall. Shopping at LuLu Hypermarket was as bad as the traffic. There were so many people in the store, and they shopped like they drove. You have to be agressive, yet cautious. But we found some interesting things to try. I bought a sweet melon. It looks like an elongated cantaloupe, but the inside is the color of the inside of an apple. But it's soft and has seeds in the center like a cantaloupe and smells similar to one. The taste is juicy and sweet, but a little different than a cantaloupe. Next time we go we'll try something else.
It's probably a good thing that I was forced to drive first, otherwise I might have taken longer to get out on the roads, content with Steve driving.
permits) and then buy a car. Steve's boss and his wife drove us to the car rental place. We did end up getting a little lost trying to find it. Well, we knew where we were, but the rental place wasn't there where google maps said it was supposed to be. But after two phone calls to the rental place we found out that they had moved just a few months ago. So we were in the right place for their old office. We did eventually find it and rented a Nissan Tiida. No, that's not misspelled. There really is two I's and it's pronounced here Teeda.
I made sure to pack our map and our phones so that we could find our way around since we decided to go shopping after we got a car. I had to drive because though Steve passed his driver's test, the office that printed the license was closed by the time the guys were done and so none of them got their license. But there's a rumor that some people's RPs are through and almost ready to hand out. So if that's the case with Steve, then we'll just wait to get the permanent license. But that meant that I had to drive in the crazy Doha traffic. And I'm here to tell you that we survived. Driving in the afternoon wasn't too bad and there were actual intersections with incredibly long lights around the car rental office, so that was nice (not the long lights, just the fact that there were lights). One thing about driving here is that there are very few left turns. Most of the time you have to go past where you want to go, make a u-turn (known in the official test as turning backwards) and then turn right into where ever you wanted to go. Kind of a pain, but sometimes is better than trying to turn left with a lot of traffic.
We went to a mall we hadn't gone to before to go to a home store to buy a book case. We haven't found any on the equivalent of Craigslist and there is no where to put books in the villa. That's almost all I have left to unpack, so a book case shot up to the top of the important things to buy list. We found one that will hopefully work with the furniture in here. Anyway, we headed out and almost got lost trying to get home. We saw two landmarks that we recognized: Aspire tower (I don't know anything about it other than that's what it's called and it's a tall building that stands on it's own), and the new hospital that they are building at the edge of Education City. It is huge and a good marker to know that you're about to enter Education City. I can get home if I can get to the roundabout the hospital is on. We made it home and after an early dinner we went out again to go grocery shopping. It's a good thing we ate early because the trip took much longer than I thought it would and we didn't get home until 8:30pm.
One issue I hadn't had to deal with in the afternoon was traffic. But we also almost really got lost trying to get to the mall, even though it's not that far from us. But roads are not well labeled here and sometimes it's a guessing game. After a few tense minutes we saw up ahead the distinct top of the mall (it's kinda of like the top of a castle.) Saturday evening traffic around Landmark mall where we had to make a stop was insane. Long lines of cars at a standstill on the main road and the parking lot was a mess. But we successfully maneuvered our narrow little car through the parking lot and on the road. Then we drove to LuLu Hypermarket, which is close to the mall. Shopping at LuLu Hypermarket was as bad as the traffic. There were so many people in the store, and they shopped like they drove. You have to be agressive, yet cautious. But we found some interesting things to try. I bought a sweet melon. It looks like an elongated cantaloupe, but the inside is the color of the inside of an apple. But it's soft and has seeds in the center like a cantaloupe and smells similar to one. The taste is juicy and sweet, but a little different than a cantaloupe. Next time we go we'll try something else.
5 comments:
Congratulations! You're officially a Doha driver!
I will now stop complaining about Cambridge traffic (mostly...) :)
Wahooo! What an adventure! Glad to hear you survived your first venture onto the roads.
Congrats. Quite an achievement.
There were a LOT of those 'backward turns' in Michigan on major roads and they are odd at first, but it is so much better than trying to turn left into insane traffic.
So proud of you Rachel! Driving around in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar roads and unfamiliar people. Glad you didn't run over any camels!
I now have it on record that Rachel is content with my driving!
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