First week in Qatar

Hi All my Peeps in the USA,

First of all, I have to say, enjoy the USA!! It is the very best country in the world. Yes, it has problems but we have amazing freedom and access to anything we want. Also, there is no censorship, which is not the case where I am.

I have been here almost a week. It was a rough week. The jet lag was intense. Changing from night to day and day to night is a process. They had food for me in my apt but it wasn't what I was used to so I was hungry. And as we know, a hungry woman is never a happy woman. So I think it was the 3rd night I prayed and told the heavens above that I needed some support. The next night I was invited to dinner that was delicious! The next night after that I was invited to a food festival. That was also delicious. My prayers were answered. And then the next night I was invited to go for a massage and it was awesome. Heaven kicked in and made everything better. Thank you God.

My apt is 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and 1 kitchen and 1 living/dining room and a little laundry room. The bed was super hard so someone gave me a mattress topper like memory foam and it is better now. The A/C constantly runs so it has been hard on my body. They say that when the A/C runs all the time it sucks the moisture out of you. I never heard that but I started drinking more water. I keep getting headaches which I guess is a mix of the A/C, the new everything and leftover jet lag. Hopefully they will disappear soon. All the floor is tile with an occasional rug. I have noticed that they don't do a lot of trash here so I had 1 trashcan when I got here. It's in the kitchen. 

I have a list of  stuff to buy that will make life feel more like home. I went to the corniche. http://www.onlineqatar.com/attractions/doha-corniche.aspx  Here is a link about the corniche. It was so lovely. Everything is very clean. There is no trash or stuff that makes an area look undesirable. The sky line is also beautiful. Joe Shumway, my Bishop and the doctor that recruited me to come here, told me that there are buildings that are really beautiful on the outside but they are uninhabited. This country has money galore, it is obvious by the architecture but it is a developing country so the streets are not the best yet. It is hard to use GPS. There aren't that many street names. People just know where stuff is. 

The people are friendly and polite. The traditional dress for men at work is that long white dress. They say that is like the men in our country wearing a suit. They are ironed perfectly and white as can be. I don't know who is doing their laundry but they get an A++. The women are covered up in black. I guess I will learn more about who covers up what because it varies from woman to woman. 

Work feels like I am back in corporate life. It is a big organization with many departments and many needs. The hospital is a women and children only huge hospital that is slated to open the first quarter of 2018. So now they have their outpatient clinics open but they deliver babies at a nearby hospital. It is a very very very medical model. I don't know why I always get mixed up with the craziness of turning pregnant women into sick people!! Always a challenge. I hope I can make a teeny tiny difference for these families...

The weather is getting hot for sure but the nights have been lovely. I guess we have the biggest pool in Doha. I haven't had time to go to it yet but maybe soon. 

Church is on Friday. That will be hard to get used to for sure. Saturday is like our Saturday and then Sunday I go back to work. You know all those baby statues that I showed you? Well, the people of Qatar apparently are offended by them so they may go away. Millions of dollars of statues...  We will see what happens I guess. I think they are cool.

I was asked to talk in church next week. So... I guess I am jumping right in. I guess it will be an Easter talk. This is where I spent the day. I was at my Bishop's house. It was conference for us today so people stayed at their homes. Can you find me?? They were celebrating the new temple that was announced in Nairobi. The spirit was strong there. I had a great time meeting more new people. Everyone here is away from family so I think it makes people more friendly to others. A lot of people work and just send their money home to their families. We are very blessed for sure. To be born into freedom and into prosperity is rare in this world.  Anyway- this was some stuff about my first week. I love everyone and miss everyone!!!