I survived!

Well I survived my first experience driving in Doha yesterday as part of what Rachel likes to call my "Qatari day" which consists of driving around, shopping, and eating! Driving isn't as bad as I was fearing, but I can see how it can be worse than the US. All it takes is being aggressively defensive as I like to say. The only complicated part is that there are very very few signs telling you what road you are on. They also use mostly roundabouts for cross streets. There are even roundabouts with lights to help smooth out traffic, although they only work up to a certain volume of traffic. There are also some steep fines for violating some traffic laws. Running a red light, which includes turning right on red, and making illegal U-turns will cost you 6000 Qatari Ryial (QR) which is over $1600!!!

We've had a lazy first weekend here in Doha. We got up late which was our first time being able to sleep in past 6am due to it getting bright here about 4:15am! We have pretty much moved in, although there is some rearranging and some furniture we need to really get moved in here. I still haven't taken any real pictures as we just cleaned up, but that's my plan for tomorrow. Tonight we're going to our first real party, which just so happens to be at the US Embassy! It looks like it'll be a good time, hanging out in the Marine House where it will be sort of like a BBQ. We're excited as we haven't met many people outside of Education city yet and this looks like it will be a good opportunity. I'll post tomorrow about our experiences at the Embassy and also post the pictures from around our apartment!