…as the song goes – George Formby?
You guys are going to like this thread, but I have to tell you – I’ve got my asbestos leotards on!
…and it came to pass that I met a gentleman living in the same road as me, and we soon discovered our mutual affinity for a certain brown liquid, aka Brakspear’s Ordinary Bitter.
Unfortunately, said gentleman’s fortunes took a bit of a dip, and he ended up working overseas. But he comes back home twice a year, and I’m happy to put him up at my hovel whenever he needs to base himself in this area.
Right now, he’s working in Qatar, and I decided to invite myself for a visit there. I’m not expecting to *enjoy* Qatar as such – I assume it will have a petrochemical landscape, with those oil-donkey things cranking oil out, and I dare say I shall see some women in burquas, and of course I cannot take any alcohol into the country – how will I survive? LOL – I’ll come back to that in a moment. But I do believe in seeing the rest of the world, without necessarily liking it, if only for the enlightenment.
Interestingly, Qatar’s population is composed of 75% expats and only 25% of the people there are indigenous to Qatar. I’m told that some very British household names are out there – Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, and there are shopping malls, exotic seafood restaurants. Petrol or “gasoline” is 12p/litre – 70 US cents/gallon approx.
Many people think I’m nuts to go to the Middle East in the current climate – but you guys already know that! When I looked it up in my atlas, and saw the neighbouring countries, I had to swallow hard – gulp! But apparently it is very safe/peaceful. I’ll just have to make sure I dump the hip flask before arrival, and make sure I’m not carrying any newspapers with cartoons – LOL! Entry to Qatar requires a visa, and one of the questions I was asked was whether I had any visa stamps for Israel, as this might count against me. But – I’ve never been to Israel, so no problem there.
Apparently in the Middle East, you can smack your wife – apparently this is *normal*. But such a privilege would do me no good – no wife! Muhahahahaha, I thought I’d get that in before you bastages came down for the carrion!
:lol
Off to the doctor next week to see what jabs I’ll need to be safe – Hepatitis A is high on the list, but I think I’m still current.
Now back to the Alcohol situation, and you may well ask how I’m going to survive for 5 days in a country where alcohol is “banned”. Well, apparently it isn’t. If you’re an expat (not an indigenous Qatari) you can apply for an “alcohol licence”! You have to get some sort of letter from your employer, and you’re all set. Needless to say, my friend has this licence – and a cupboard well stocked with anything you care to name! No drinking & driving – zero tolerance on that, but what the hey – we’ll just get taxis, same as we do here.
Looking forward to it. OK guys, flame away…
