Friends come and go all the time in Doha, but not a lot come back! So this week when a buddy that left the sandy dunes of Doha for the lush fields of Cork made her way back to Doha, for a holiday I was super excited. Not many people come to Doha on a…
It’s probably ingrained in us Irish and maybe even more-so that any other nationality, that we are prone to suffering from a small bit of negativity. We lean towards the down side. We highlight the pitfalls, point out the inefficiencies and harp on about the negative in like, any situation. We loved to go on about Christmas starting…
When you live abroad for a while, the newness wears off the new surroundings and regardless of how strange it seemed at first, it will feel familiar and ‘normal’ in time. When I first arrived in Qatar I was awed by just about everything, over time, the awe has waned and is replaced by acceptance.…
Wasn’t I surprised when my five year old came home from school with the question, ‘what half am I mom?’ I know I’m one half Irish, but what other half?’ Goes to show it takes more than a name with fada to instil identity. The question arose when in class they were discussing where they…
Ironically the arrival of a new life, makes you question your own. Where am I going? Where have I come from? How did I get here? Is there a way back!?! Having a baby is one of those monumental events that punctuates your life, you sit back and take note of your age and stage…
There’s a big difference between having a baby in Doha and having a baby at home surrounded by extended family, apart from being a fairly daunting task anyway, there’s a stark realisation that other than your husband you really have no-other interested party around to offer support. Of course friends are more than happy to…
We all want different things for our kids, me for example I want my kids to grow up with a real sense of Ireland and what it means to be Irish, my friend (also Irish) on the other hand, wants her kids to grow to have style and be stylish. I understand that, I get…
Having escaped back to Ireland for the most part of Ramadan back in July, I thought by not returning to Qatar until September that the heat of significant Muslim religious festivals would have cooled down. I was wrong, this week the display on the car still reads fifty degrees Celsius and the calendar tells us…
Last week I complained about the weather, my biggest issue was the rain, it was too wet to be outdoors and I my only options to entertain kids were indoor play areas and McDonalds. Sure, I waxed lyrical the first few weeks about the smell of the rain and the fresh air, but the novelty…
Spending summer away from Doha and slipping back into life in Ireland offers a perspective which is impossible to achieve without having the experience of living life in two very different countries. Every summer when I come back to Ireland I notice various changes, a nudge here, a dart there, many only obvious when being…
thereluctantemigrant 