Very stupid questions relating to temperatures in the Middle East

[robino]

We are moving to Qatar in 6 weeks. I have never been to the Middle East. DH went out six weeks ago and is my man on the ground, so to speak, but he's not proving very adept at getting answers to my thousands of questions!

Can anyone take pity on me?

Bedding. What sort of bedding do use? Am just speaking to shipping companies but have no idea what, if any of it, to take. The DDs are 5, 3 and 1.

Clothing. Am I right in thinking that even though it doesn't get " England cold" in the winter we will need winter clothes because the temperature drop from summer will be considerable?

I probably have several other stupid questions to ask but I shall start with these.

Hi.

We're in Oman, so may be slightly different temp wise to Qatar, but will try to help. We have a duvet and sheet on our bed, dh uses the sheet, but I find I get knotted up in it and feel hotter than I do with a loose duvet that doesn't stick to you. DDs 10 and 5 each have a double bed (common for children here) and have a fleece blanket and sheet.

Our day and nightime temps don't vary that much. We have fleece jackets that we use for camping, going up in the mountains, but haven't needed anything more. The shops here all stock the same winter clothes ranges you would find in the Uk, so you can buy cool weather gear if you need to.

hth and good luck for the move.

Thanks hermit. I think I shall get rid of the duvets then and replace if needed. It's just so hard to picture what we'll need!

Not a silly question at all. I asked the same one (on a different board) before we moved to Doha.

Most houses have A/C and it runs 24/7 from around this time of the year until late autumn. We used duvets year round. Actually, more so in the hot weather than in the cooler weather. The positioning of our bed and a /c units meant that the a/c blew on my face almost all night.

Most of the time I wore short sleeves during the day, even in the winter, but the morning school run could get quite chilly and sitting outside in the evening often required a cover of some sort. I acquired quite a lot of shawls during our stay there. The malls also get very cold and the cinemas can be almost arctic. We always wore jackets and DD used to take a blanket to cover up during the film.

Just a note about bed sizes. They are completely different to UK sizes and so is the bed linen. If you take duvets from the UK make sure you have enough covers to last your stay. If you buy over there you may not be able to get the right cover sizes in the UK.

HTH

Louise

Good point about the cinemas and malls, Louise. Before reading that I was about to post about being out in the ME (Oman) for nearly 3 years and never remotely needing a jumper. But then I remembered how cold my dds have been in cinemas and the cold aisles of supermarkets. Nothing serious, just an extra layer.

I think Oman (Muscat in particular) maybe subtley different in it's climate to Qatar. Do you have a school sorted for any of your children. If so, they should be able to provide you with loads of advice built up over years of ex-pats coming in.

So, maybe don't ditch the duvets but go light on the winter clothing! Keep these gems coming ladies, it's the sort of stuff I need.

In the process of trying to sort schools. DD1 will be due to start Year 1 in September and DD2 would start reception. As a result it's proving tricky; DH got the job offer long after applications opened!

In fact, while I have your attention I can ask more clothes related questions! So, from what I have read I believe I will generally need to take the "sightseeing in a Catholic church" approach to clothing, what will I need to do about the DDs? They're 5, nearly 4 and 1. Do they just wear anything? Or will they need to be a bit more covered up?

Our DDs are 10 and 6. We have generally covered them up on beaches or if out and about all day to protect from the sun. From a modesty point of view, it seems the local girls start to cover up as they approach puberty, so we take our lead from them. So am starting to get a little more concious of what the 10yo wears if we are going to a mall, or less western area.

My DH has managed to offend quite a few times in the shopping malls, he insists on wearing a pair of knee length shorts. Nothing is said to him, but I am normally trailing behind with the 6 year old, so get to see all the discussion and pointing once he has gone by!

Agree with the advice re arctic cinemas, we take blankets.

The bedding mostly available here is a sort of thin rubbishy duvet with the bed linen attached, so you wash the whole thing. The duvets with separate covers we have in the UK are far better IMHO. If you are bringing your beds from home then I strongly recommend you bring your bedding from home as well. The mattresses are ever so slightly different sizes. Some of the 'western' shops (like Debenhams) sell European sized bedlinen but it doesn't quite fit the Qatar sized beds!

When the air con is on all night (we are just reaching that stage now) then you need proper bedding.

Same with plugs - they have the same plug sockets/voltage as UK so you can bring all your appliances and gadgets from home, no problem, but anything you buy here will come with 2 pin plugs so you end up with adapters everywhere.

I left behind most of my coats and thick jumpers but I was quite surprised at how cold it can be early in the morning and late at night, and I admit I did walk my dogs wearing a fleece a few times around December-February. You won't need the same level of winter gear that you used in the UK, but you will still need light jackets and cardigans, and at least one warm, all-purpose coat.

Whereabouts are you going to be living in Doha?

The children can wear what they like. So can you, to be honest, although it is sensible to exercise a bit of restraint, depending on where you are. In most of the modern malls and hotels, and at the school gate etc., you can dress just as you would at home. People are much more tolerant and wordly than you have probably read. Although personally I always carry a big scarf and/or a long sleeved shirt or cardigan in my car as sometimes you can find yourself in a much more traditional and conservative environment quite by chance, (for example many of the back street souqs) and it can make you feel a bit vulnerable if you are being stared at, and it's not nice to have people think you ae being disrespectful. they are unlikely to say or do anything, but you might get the odd cat's bum face, or eye roll from a local if you push your luck. but around the very western areas and compounds you see women in tiny shorts, strappy tops etc, no problem.

I would always recommend dressing very modestly (no knees, no bare shoulders, no cleavage) if you are going into any official or government building, such as immigration or the driving licence centre. They will even send men out for wearing shorts!

Hilly - DH has short term rental of an apartment on Al Matar Street so we'll be there top start with but he's looking into other accommodation (in theory - I may need to start sending grumpy and strident emails to him shortly).

If you can possibly hold out on committing to a house until you know where the DCs will be going to school you can save yourself a hellish school run. But it rarely works out like that. Especially as you will be arriving right at the end of the school year - I hope you manage to get something sorted before they break up for the summer, then you can get on with finding a house.

hermit I think they may be a little bit more conservative in Oman, as I got a few funny looks and sniggers when I was on holiday there once, and wore a clingy, quite low cut t-shirt. I'd been to Abu Dhabi and Dubai and had never experienced any problems, so I thought it would be ok, and I was wrong.

I was expecting Qatar to be similar to Oman in terms of conservative attitudes to dress, but really I find them pretty tolerant and unfazed, on the whole.

Sorry Hilly, I'm in disagreement with you on the dress thing. In my experience (and only of a brief holiday) Oman is a lot less conservative in their attidutes to dress than Qatar. Much more conservative than Dubai though. I've been in Qatar 5 years now and attitudes of the establishment and population to dress go up and down but it has never been acceptable to dress as you would do without thinking in the UK.

Interesting though Hester - DH wears shorts all the time in Qatar and I've never noticed comments (and sometimes has his knees on show). I'm wondering if attidudes to male dress are more conservative in Oman.

OP - you don't need to worry about what your children wear until they're approaching puberty (so a long way off) except from protection from the sun etc. No one cares if a little girl is wearing a mini-skirt. You should be warned that people have a different approach to what clothing is required in what weather. I've been told off for letting my children out in shorts (because they'll be cold) when it's 27 degrees out.

Unless you're quite a conservative dresser, you certainly run the risk of offending someone if you dress 'as you would do at home' when out and about. School gate will be fine (although you have to get to the school gate and I wouldn't want to be stuck by the side of a road after an accident in a strappy top and short skirt).

I completely disagree with Hilly in respect of the malls. Most have warnings outside that you should respect local culture, which means no short skirts and no sleeveless tops. Whether or not you chose to ignore that is your choice but it is considered inappropriate, particularly in Ramadan.

Personally, I wouldn't go out in public (except for a night out in a bar) with my knees or shoulders on show. It's possible/likely that no one will say anything. No one would say anything if I bared my muffintop and flabby tummy to all and sundry in the UK. Doubt I'd be getting a lot of respect though.

Going back to the OP. I use duvets all year round but the beds are big here. My kids don't own coats and my son has one jumper.

To be brutal, you're not going to get places in the more popular schools for this coming September. Go on the waitlist for next September / part way through the year. Miracles do happen but there are an awful lot of parents ahead of you also hoping for that miracle. You have to apply (or you'll never get in) but DESS/Doha College/Park House are not going to happen for September. Sherborne might for your older one but I'm hearing they're pretty full now too.

There are perfectly good schools that your children can go to whilst on the waiting list for one of the 'in schools'. ACS for example is a new American school with good teachers and facilities which has places mainly because it's new. The Newton schools seems to be acceptable as holding schools for a year or so.

Unless you're quite a conservative dresser, you certainly run the risk of offending someone if you dress 'as you would do at home' when out and about. School gate will be fine (although you have to get to the school gate and I wouldn't want to be stuck by the side of a road after an accident in a strappy top and short skirt).

Yes, I think that is what i was trying to say really Bedu. You can dress as you would at home, but only in certain places and under certain circumstances - it's very much a trial and error thing which you have to test out in degrees. Having said that, I am not a one for short skirts and vest tops etc., anyway.

The car accident scenario is why I always make sure I have something modest with me in the car at all times!

Maybe I am wrong about Oman, although my personal experience was based on one holiday also.

You might be in luck with Compass (which is an excellent school) as it is reasonably new and so still under-subscribed at the upper end and has just opened a new campus at the lower end. It's pricier than many though, which puts a few people off but everyone I know whose children go there rate it very highly.

So was mine Hilly :)

Obviously at cross purposes on the dress code. I just always get quite shocked at how little people in the UK seem to wear (clearly Qatar's gotten to me) and could see the OP thinking it was ok to wander around Landmark in hotpants!

Meant to suggest Compass. Prices don't really match the facilities but it will probably have space because of that. I've heard mixed reports but some very positive ones.

Was it you whose DH was going to be working near the airport area? There is a brand new compound called Y Village just opened in recent months so lots of vacancies. My friend has just signed a lease there and I looked around it with her. It's at the far end of Al Waab, out past the zoo, going towards the industrial area. It's a bit far flung for my liking, but it is the 'right side' of Doha for the airport, the compound facilities are stunning, and the houses are very nice indeed, with decent sized outdoor spaces that come clse to what you could call a garden, unlike the 10 foot deep 'prison exercise yard' that I have.

No idea what your budget is but my friend bargained the man down and got her house for 16.5 QR a month, which is excellent value for money given the size and quality of it. Some of the compounds are in better locations, but they are looking old and tired, or (in the case of mine) a just are not terribly well managed.

I was going to mention clothes but it seems as though the other ladies have more or less covered (no pun intended) the subject. I always had a shawl in the car, also for the accident potential. Always worse shirts with sleeves and on the odd ocassion when I found myself with a shirt that was too low cut I have been known to pop in to somewhere like Accesorize to pick up something to cover up with.

DD was 5 when we arrived and although she was allowed to wear what she wanted within the confines of the compound I always made sure she wore suitable clothing outside. I didn't like her wearing strappy tops though she did wear suitably long shorts, not the daisy duke type. You will see local girls wearing strappy clothes but there are so many signs around regarding suitable clothing that I opted to stick with those rules rather than run the risk of being tutted at. I vividly remember one occasion when I'd been sailing and was on my way to pick up DD from school. I decided to go in to Landmark on the way for a coffee and forgot that I was wearing shorts. Once I realised I felt very uncomfortable. I have no idea whether anyone else was bothered at all but my own perception was that I was not wearing something suitable for the mall therefore I felt uncomfortable. Of course, not everyone cares. You'll see plenty of ladies during the day dressed in attire that would be better suited to night clubs or looking like ladies of the night.

Did I say at the top that I wasn't going to cover clothes. Scrap that, seems as though all I have talked about.

Good luck finding school places, I know it is always a bit of a scrabble. Might be worth while taking the first thing that you can find and getting on as many waiting lists as possible.

Haha - yes Bedu I am already practising my cat's bum face for my first trip home in the summer. It's funny how what you think of as 'normal' and the 'right' way to do things can be skewed by living here for a while - I am going to find town centre Friday night drunkenness and loudness particularly hard to stomach.

For all that it can be frenetic and chaotic and a bit mad here, in some respects it is so much more civilised and calm than the UK.

So true that you become quickly acclimatised to more modest dress. I lived in Dubai (so hardly the most modest ME country) but when I moved on to Hong Kong I thought "My god. These people are almost naked"

All comments about clothes noted. I'm very relieved I don't have to worry about the DDs too much, I can hang on to the hand me downs!

DH has just told me he doesn't think we'll need duvets. This just adds another level to our annual duvet conflict, I shall be taking one for me and the DDs he can freeze!

hilly, yes, DH is the airport area one. I have mentioned your recommendation.

While I have people's attention... Is there anything you wish you had shipped over with you that you didn't? I know you can buy everything there and it's not going to be life or death but there were definitely things I wish I'd taken when I lived in France and Italy as a student and after.

We left behind loads of DVDs because I was paranoid about censorship. Our container never even got opened, (although periodically they do open a few and do spot checks) and when I got here I realised that unless it's out and out porn, or anti-islamic material, most film content goes unnoticed and all the same stuff is available in Virgin here!

If you like reading, buy a kindle and get it registered on Amazon in the UK. The choice of English language books is OK, but limited, and you can pay £15 for a paperback that would cost you £5 at home.

Bring a million blocks of decetn cheddar cheese with you. It's REALLY expensive here, and mostly pretty rubbish American stuff.

only just spotted this thread so a few thoughts if you haven;t shipped yet (based on my ongoing list of things to stock up on when I am back in the UK this summer!)

while you can get most things here things that are not "everyday" in the ME are less readily available and everything is more expensive than it's equivalent in the UK. So if you/ your kids have any specialist hobbies kit up before you come and if you're used to buying cheap basics of certain things in the UK, stock up before you come...

Eg I bought my DD a basic cotton strappy dress in H&M here--it worked out about £14 i couldn't resist looking up on the H&M uk website and it was £2.99, now while £12 is not going to break the bank it's a good example of the mark up . I can;t remember how much the mens pant were in M&S but I do know I had to bash my DH on the back to stop him choking when I told him!!

couple of things I haven;t found here:

favourite kids toiletries (esp if your kids have sensitive skin/allergies) For instance I wish I'd brought 4 lots of the vosene spray-in kids detangler. That said I'll also be stocking up on Aussie Miracle hair products for me as haven't found them here

if you're a baker bring vanilla pods (or smuggle vanilla essence) you can buy vanilla sugar here and you can buy vodka (once you have a licence) so if you bring vanilla pods you can make your own vanilla essence --have only found vanilla pods here once an they were v v expensive!

kids shoes are v expensive here and you don't get the fitting service you get in the UK so prob worth getting measured and getting new shoes just before you come (esp if you're going to need school shoes rather than being ble to exist in flip flops!)

def bring your hand me downs

good luck with the move

Thanks pixie! Still not shipped yet, still waiting on DH's company to get our flights even though we're supposed to be leaving in less than four weeks

Strangely have just done a stock up of cheapy summer clothes because the eldest has grown AGAIN (why do they do that?) and some of the hand me downs were past their best! Also popped to ikea yesterday and bought some expedit shelves (and a whole pile of other stuff) as I figured that even if we end up in furnished accommodation there won't be enough storage.

Shall put the detangler on my list and the vanilla pods. Might buy extra and sell them on the black market .

Was planning in a trip to Clarks for sandals in the next few weeks, i think their feet will just grow too much between then and whenever they start school if they ever do to bother with school shoes.