Time & Tide and all that.....

 

.....Goodness me is it nearly two weeks since I last wrote here? There is so much to see and do (and even occasionally go to work) that time just flies by. Is it really week eight already?

Mr & Mrs Tourist at Katara again!
Can't remember what for - something food related probably.

My initial "100mph, see everything, do everything, new boy in the candy store" enthusiasm is finally waning. My work/life balance has been re-calibrated firmly in the work arena as last weekend I worked both Friday and Saturday , and this coming weekend I'm working one day at home. I haven't worked at the weekend in about ten years and now two in a row; this will have to be redressed asap.

Buffet lunch provided for the weekend 'workers'

So the pace of work is picking up as the urgency to get things ready for the hospital opening increases. There is still no firm date for the handover but, as medical simulation will be used extensively for staff and systems orientation training (prior to any actual patients arriving), we need to be up-and-running well in advance of many other areas. To that end we have been given access to other simulation facilities in the area to trial training modules and produce supporting 'expert videos' teaching materials - hence the weekend working.

In between all this work there has, obviously, been plenty of fun stuff going on. In no particular order:

• Went to an open-air night time Jazz/Swing evening featuring excellent singers and band. The setting was fantastic as well 

  

  Not a brilliant photo but it gives you an idea
   

• St George's Day tea party - being from Wales I offered to make Welsh Cakes which was a bit brash as I've never made them before and didn't have much in the way of cooking equipment. But with a bit of improvisation - using tablespoons instead of weight ingredients and a frying pan for the griddle - they got made, and a few were even eaten!
• Got given, by someone whose contract is ending, a load of house plants. They'd seen photos of our garden in the UK and thought we might be the most capable of keeping them going. I was expecting a few small pots but they are very large structural plants that would have been quite expensive. They do look good though and will be put in pride of place in our new apartment.
• Received confirmation that we will be getting an apartment in Education City. It is only about ten minutes drive "Inshala" from where we will both work, and means that Cath won't have to endure the rush-hour madness of the Salwa Road and Doha Expressway.
• We had our Egyptian friends around last night to sample British food and decided against fish and chips or roast beef and Yorkshire puddings in favour of the number one staple British food - curry; Chicken Tikka Marsala to be exact and all the trimmings. Seemed to go down well especially as I didn't go overboard with the chilies. They brought us a fantastic pistachio cake as a gift; which was unexpected but very good of them. Their two-year old son, Salem, hada grand time redecorating the apartment; we'd forgotten that all reachables need to be at least four foot high!

Space Age cake!

Tonight we are out for another meal followed by a Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra concert playing Elgar's Enigma Variations. Then tomorrow I'm hopefully off fishing; as long as it doesn't get cancelled again and calling around to a mates, Simon, to try and sort his MP3 player and probably some beer!

"I know - it's a hard life, but somebody has to do it!" Bring on week nine; only four weeks until the end of my probationary period - Eek!