Landmarks

Well we are starting to learn the city a little better now. With all the roundabouts, unnamed streets, and supposed landmarks, Doha is starting to get more and more familiar. There is the Sports R/A, the Clock Towers, The Pearl, the TV R/A, the Post Office (pics later on this one), and many, many more. There are still many small intricacies that we do not know and still more that we will never know, but I am certain it will be fine.

One of these little things that I am learning about is the landmark issue. As we all know, landmarks are usually objects or places that stick out in our minds. When mapping, landmarks are used to create a common point of interest that everyone can see. In Doha, this is true to an extent. Sure, there are the major landmarks (most roundabouts, all Shopping Malls, etc.), but there are a few that are definitely personalized. That has proven to make getting around the city a little tricky, but it’s all part of the adventure.

Now, if you are following along in the blogs, we have been talking about everything that has happened to us thus far. We are not that different than most Canadians that come to Doha for work, but I think one big difference for us is that we will not be living in a “compound”. We are living in a community called Al Hilal West. It is a quiet place, other than the prayer announcement, that is riddled with inner city mansions, villas, and working class. There are a couple compounds we think, but can’t be sure. Our new house is much, much larger than what we are used to in Calgary and we are a little scared at how we are going to “fill the space”. I know this sounds silly, but we come from a house that is 1000sq feet to this one that is pushing 2700sq feet. That is a lot of space to fill.

I digress, but for a point. I had to tell you about our house, the community, and the other stuff to make my point about landmarks. You see our airfreight arrived yesterday at 2:00pm. This was very exciting for us, as the home feeling has arrived. Anyway, we gave the people at the custom brokers directions based on a map that didn’t even have our street name on it. Now for me, I am usually pretty good with directions and finding places, but I am pretty sure that when I used the map we gave the guys I circled our new house for about 45mins before I found it. The landmarks that were on the map had absolutely no meaning to me whatsoever, but now that I am getting to know the city a little better these places are becoming a little more common