Living in Doha (Qatar), by Lydia López Ruiz

You never know what the future may hold but, for me and my family, living in Doha has been a really exciting, awesome and unique experience so far.

As you know, Doha is the capital city of Qatar, a country in the Arabian Peninsula, mostly surrounded by the Persian Gulf. For a long time Qatar´s economy was based on fishing, pearl diving and camel breeding until the discovery of oil and gas in the twentieth century. Nowadays Qatar has the world’s third largest natural gas reserves and has become the world´s richest country per capita. So imagine the standard of living in Doha. Here you can see the best cars in the world: Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls Royce, Breitling…only to mention a few of them. Young people like to drive these cars very fast. However, this is becoming very dangerous as it is causing a lot of  road accidents.

Spaniards living in Doha say there is not much to do here, but I don´t really think so. Doha hosts the best cultural events and is also the home for the most recognisable sports world championships. Qatar Motorcycle Grand Prix , for example, is held here every year.

Although almost every ancient construction has been demolished, there are still some old forts and ruins you can visit, as well as a series of world-class museums that house some of the world’s finest art collections: the Museum of Islamic Art, the Mathaf and the Qatar National Museum, which have been designed by worldwide famous architects. Moreover, if you want to go shopping, Qatar’s traditional local markets, known as souqs, are fantastic, particularly Souq Waqif. Bargaining is essential when you buy there.

 The Pearl is a very quiet place to live in.  It´s the only place in Doha where you can have a walk and be outdoors. But if you want to have a fascinating experience, you should take a desert safari that will let you admire the beautiful landscape of sand dunes where the Inland Sea meets the desert. An amazing sight not to miss!

But there is no doubt that the most impressive thing that you see when you arrive in Doha is its skyline, West Bay; even more if you arrive at night. This is a symbol of identity. It seems you are in an American city. In fact, almost everything in Doha is made in the American way. You have the best malls, restaurants, hotels, shops, jeweller´s, cars, everything in a large scale.

In spite of some disadvantages like the extreme heat and the traffic jams, I consider Doha has more positive than negative things and for me it is being a really constructive experience: my daughter has to speak English all the time, she has friends from Qatar and many other countries around the world, which has allowed her to know other ways of thinking. I have had the opportunity of learning some Arabic (only a little spoken Arabic) and of meeting people from different nationalities. I have made new friends as well, some of them very good friends. And the best of all is that all the family have been together. This is essential, it is the most important thing.

See you  soon!