Arrival of our Sea Shipment and some lazy nights at home

Eric and I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our sea shipment but a little unsure if he would be able to take a day off to help me put everything in it's place. So, we were really happy to hear that the arrival of the shipment would arrive while my parents were in town. We learned the hard way in France that the movers are actually supposed to take everything out of the boxes for you and bring the boxes with them. In our much smaller (1,000 sq. ft) apartment, in Paris, we had a total of 28 boxes that we had to carry down to be collected a week later by the moving company.

Here in Qatar, we were relieved when our shipment arrived promptly and not smelly! Our sea-shipment that arrived in Paris had the most awful stench it was unbearable. Part of the reason I didn't have them unpack anything was because I thought it was the men who smelled, not our stuff! Needless to say, we ended up complaining to the moving company and they paid for 400 euros worth of dry cleaning and a new air mattress.

So, the movers arrived at our villa in the afternoon on a Thursday. They brought in all 64 (!) boxes, and unpacked it all. It was a relief to have them bring it in and take it all out of the boxes and get rid of the loads of paper they use to pack it and the boxes... however, then you have just a bunch of stuff everywhere! It was really nice to have some extra hands to help us out.

The sea shipment contains all of our belongings that the movers packed up in France. We received our airshipment about 3 weeks after we moved. The airshipment is supposed to contain the items we just can't live without. The rest of the shipment-our sea shipment contains the rest of our belongings.

It's really too bad you can't get a real feel for how many boxes we actually had as they separated them throughout the villa. We were a little worried about the amount of boxes but the movers reassurred us that it was not a lot especially compared to a lot of others...but I'm not convinced. We still have a full room that needs to be sorted through. We definitely have a lot of things that we no longer use (all our winter clothes) but we can't throw out, and also things we defintiely do no need.

I think the kitchen was the most difficult room to organize.

More organizing

Relaxing in the new setup

We bought a teak table about a month and a half ago but it didn't have a finish on it. It gets so dusty here that my dad suggested putting a coat or two of varnish on it...as if he doesn't have enough to do at home! But, here he is, happily at work.

Eric sweeping the deck, getting it ready for our updated table :)

The final result! It looks great!

My dad was so excited he was able to find these jumbo shrimp here.

Enjoying the fruits of his labor....pre-varnish

Eric is so impressed by the size of these shrimp!

My mom being silly.

If you know my dad, you know that these photos show his personality to a T.

My dad, being silly, and playing the violin for us :)

Dune Bashing-Round two!

We were so excited about our 1st dune bashing experience that we figured my parents just had to try it out on their visit here. At first they weren't so keen on the idea but we made the argument that you can't make a trip to Qatar without seeing the desert!..and in Doha, well, there's not much desert. My dad does think the city is in need of grass in the empty areas that have yet to be developed. We agree! The thing about Doha is that it is basically all under construction. They began approximately 10 years ago and it has just boomed even in the last few years. While we're not sure how long we'll be here, we're so excited to be in a city that is in it's development stage. We are also really excited to come back to visit in 10 to 15 years to see how much it has grown.

Our adventure begins....

While we were waiting for the groups to arrive, we ran over to a Grocery Store nearby. My dad is like a kid in a candy shop as long as food is involved. He so proudly picked out a "chicken sausage puff" but I think in this photo my mom just told my dad he shouldn't eat it.

The group and our trusty vehicle for the day. My dad is still confused about his "Chicken Sausage Puff". We seriously cracked up every time he mentioned it.

This is hopefully the motto for the day!!! I hope the rest of the drivers in Doha read this and apply it because their driving is NUTS!!!

We spotted a Dune Buggy on the way out to the desert-this looks like fun minus the sand and dust getting all over you!

As per usual, we stopped when we reached "SeaLine" Resort and while the drivers deflated our tires and got the vehicles ready, we spotted some "show" camels.

And my mom got to ride one for the first time.... :)

The actual ride is usually pretty enjoyable..as you can see, she's happy.

Getting off (and on) the camel is usually the trickiest part. The drop down pretty quicky and the angle is large. It almost takes you by surprise.

Now he's taking a break as he gave many camel rides.

Meanwhile Eric found a new friend (the camel)....and an old friend....

....none other than Hassan, our trusty driver from our first trip with Arabian Adventures. He wasn't driving today, he was patrolling the desert instead. He was happy to see us :)

Here we GOOOOOOO.......While Hassan was pretty gutsy, our driver this time impressed us with his driving skills too. We even went down one of the dunes backwards!!!

Break time!

Awww..my mom and Eric.

Trying to get some candids

This is for my dad...Pathfinder #1

It was a Pathfinder party!!

Seriously, this was nuts!

Inland Sea

Eric and my dad decided to make a mad dash to the top. By this point, it was getting pretty warm (95 - 100 degrees F). So, running on sand, with bare feet=not a good combination.

Break time!

This one is for you, JoAnn :)

Me and my one and only.

These are "Doha Tents"...at the Arabian Adventures headquarters. They brought us here at the end of the tour to have some refreshing beverages (soda and water) and to relax a bit.

They do have a pretty cool set up.

My mom trying the hookah/shisha.

All in all, my parents weren't too freaked out by the experience and are glad they were able to "bash the dunes" in Doha :)

Mom and Dad's Visit-The Arrival: 25 March 2010

We were overjoyed to hear my parents decided to come to visit. They planned the week perfectly being that they arrived on a Thursday night (the start to our weekend) and were here for two full weekends and when our sea-shipment arrived. We had great fun showing them around Doha, hanging at the beach, fixing up our house (my favorite thing to do) and just relaxing.

We arrived at the airport to pay for their entry visas so they were all set upon arrival. Once that was taken care of, we were informed the flight was delayed a bit. So, we drove to a neighboring grocery store called "LuLu Hypermarket"-in Arabic, LuLu means Pearl. We really have been meaning to check it out so we figured it was a perfect opportunity. We sure did make a mistake stopping here. It was 9:45pm on a Thursday night and this store was JAM PACKED with people!! Eric and I were shocked! People told us it gets crowded at night at the grocery stores, but this was ridiculous. We ended up stopping a coffee shop to grab a coffee and headed back to the airport.

My parents arrived shortly afterwards and were escorted by a service we hired recommended by friends to help expedite the immigration process. We were able to get right outside and into the car.

After the long flight, the first thing they wanted to do was EAT! My dad was so excited that there was a KFC here....yes, we actually stopped at KFC to get everyone (except me and my mom) some food. Even our driver, Thajudeen enjoyed some KFC :)

My dad enjoying a box of fried chicken...for those of you that know my dad, he NEVER eats like this...the funny thing is that when he first arrived in the states in from Italy, he told me he used to eat it a lot. It was his favorite. Of course, he's conscious about what he eats so he rarely indulges in something like this...but this is Doha, (KFC in Doha!?) and it's vacation!!

This was a real midnight snack.

Eric and I had planned to head to the beach club to work out in the morning. We were signed up for an 8:30am cycle class. My mom and dad were sure they'd be up by then and would be ready to sit on the beach while we cycled away....we woke up to this note:

We were laughing so hard...we did come back though...Unfortunately for my mom, Dunkin Donuts was closed :( Pretty cool that we even have it here, though!

A note on life in Doha: We are so amazed how Western certain things are in Doha. It's really quite amazing that we have so many American conveniences (eg. Betty Crocker, Skippy Peanut Butter, real Cheerios, etc plus many, many chains such as: Dunkin Donuts, Chilis, Applebees, Fudruckers and the list goes on and on). In a lot of ways Doha is much more Americanized than Europe.

We didn't bring our camera to the beach so hopefully my mom will give me some of her shots. After an enjoyable day at the beach, my dad decided he wanted to grill for dinner. So, he went out to the store to buy us a grill..Eric was so happy!

Check them out! They're grilling up a storm!

A quick shot before dinner...check out our cool tiki torches! And our flowers are really starting to grow :)

My mom getting her phone fix and our table pre-varnish. My dad varnished it this past week...it looks great! Photos to follow :)

Next stop coming soon: Dune Bashing with my parents!!!