And so it begins...again

I'm back, this time for a while.

A lot has happened since I last seriously posted. I lost two jobs and a stack of weight.

Actually, in order, I was spectacularly fired from a job I loved. Found a great new job then became a victim of the recession Qatar didn't really have. In the interim I gained weight, then lost it again.

I've travelled more. I have heard mass given in Aramaic in Syria. I stood staring at Lenin's embalmed corpse in Moscow. I had champagne in a fishing cottage in Oman. Stood in a secret Masonic Temple in London. Watched the sun set over the Nile.

I've learned it's not what you know but who you can count on in your network. That people value quality and vision over anything else. That Qatar is a pretty cool place.

It's not been the easiest two years, let alone seven months but not to get all sentimental, I believe that everything I have done in my life led me to this point.

I have the people who surround me to thank for that.

In recent times I've met interesting and influential people; rich people; shallow people; wildly and compellingly intelligent people who changed the way I think about things.

I've met people who used me for my connections and knowledge.

And people who, I can't imagine not ever being in my life.

I almost gave up and headed home to safety and a constant bacon supply many times. But the people in my life dragged me off the couch, made me put on clean clothes and head out to face the world.

Now I have my own business, doing pretty much what I had been doing for the past 19 years of my life. Just not answering to an Editor, a boss or anyone but myself and my amazing, eclectic and sometimes demanding clients.

So anyway, that's what I have been up to since the last time I blogged.

How about you?

Miss Understood

I feel the tingling sensation of a budding "personality complex". FOr once it has nothing to do with my weight, my skin or the fact that my towels in my linen cupboard (yes I have a linen cupboard..don't you?) are not uniformly folded.

It has to do with my marital status.

When I first arrived in Doha there were some problems processesing my visa. HR would send my papers (including a photo where I am clearly wearing lipstick) but looking at my managerial designation, the Ministry officials clearly remained unconvinced I was a woman. And so, it was sent back pointing our the "gender error".

Being more family-oriented than the chavtastic party capital of Dubai, many people assume a woman of a certain age (ahem...) must clearly be with her husband. I encounter this on a small scale when attempting to squeeze appointments into my lunch break. I am forever haggling with receptionists.

"9am madam," they say firmly.

"No sorry can't do mornings, " I reply.

"10am?"

"I can't do mornings. 1pm til 3pm maximum."

"Hmmmm...oh do you have to pick up your children from school?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO I WORK...WORK FOR A LIVING!"

"So 2.30pm?"

"Yessssssss. Thankyou"

However, this being Doha setting the appointment does not necessarily ensure all will go according to plan.

Once, at a salon, I waited more than an hour to be seen. Then something bright and shiny distracted the stylist and I was left to wait another 30 minutes. At the end of my tether, I left, informing the owner of my decision. She replied that most of her clients had a "flexible schedule".

I politely informed said owner that while it would be lovely to be a "Lady of Leisure" dividing my time between coffee at Starbucks, lunch at Le Notre and scrapbooking classes on the compound, I indeed had to work for a living.

Don't get me wrong. I have a great life. having to defend and explain my personal choices is a small irritant and sometimes plain amusing.

A few weeks ago while in the changing rooms of my gym, a Qatari lady approached me and asked where I was from. I told her.

"You live in Doha or just visiting?"

"I live here...almost a year now!"

"With your husband?"

"No."

(sharp intake of breath) "You leave him at home!!!!?????"

"No."

"He's dead? Sorry sorry."

"No I am unmarried."

"Not married?"

"No...single."

With that...she patted my shoulder, smiled and said "Inshallah, enjoy!"