Egg-frying weather

So just how hot is it in Doha now? Well, this morning, on my way home from kendo practice (explanation to follow shortly), I decided to call into City Center to get some croissants before the market closed. (In Qatar, supermarkets are open Friday morning from roughly 8 until roughly 11.30, but then close for an hour or two for Friday Mosque, then open back up)

I purchased a package of croissants and a carton of orange juice. As I could see the price would come to 50 dirhams, and I wanted to avoid the fight with the checker over 50 dirhams, I put a chocolate bar in my order that had a price of 2.50 (so to make even riyals...).

I walked through City Center and across the street to my car. I put my bag in the car and drove home, a 5-minute drive. All in all, the chocolate was in the air for maybe 10, 15 minutes at the very most.

I came in my apartment and the chocolate had already partially melted.

How's that for warm?

My computer thermometer, which measures the temperature at the airport, says 35C. My car thermometer, when I left kendo, said 38C, but then dropped to 37C. Even when I drove to kendo this morning at 9 am, it was already 34C.

So, yes, I'd say winter is over. It has been for over a month now.

Another comparison:
3 weeks ago, when I went diving, the bottom temperature was 18C. Last weekend, it had already risen to 21C, and I'm sure when I go tomorrow it will be 21 or 22C. Which makes me happy, as I'll probably be able to stop wearing a wetsuit in a month or 6 weeks' time.

Regarding kendo:
I found someone in Doha who has studied kendo, and today we got together and practiced. As he is a beginning student (we are all beginners, though, in a long-run sense), and has been away from kendo for some time, we did some basics. We plan to try to get together at least once a week to practice.

I'm also going to join another dive club, in Al Khor (40 km or so from Doha... a fast drive north up the high speed roads). It's super cheap and gives me more options for diving.

So I'm rapidly filling my social schedule. I don't know if I'll have time to go to work anymore...

Sunday: kendo
Monday (once a month): Al Khor scuba club or work; Monday morning iaido
Tuesday: Doha scuba club
Wednesday: work evening; morning iaido if there is time
Thursday: get together with friends
Friday: kendo or diving or the desert
Saturday: diving or the desert

And people say there is nothing to do in Doha...

Qatarshire Amusements

The Qatari government has been automating services recently, where you can do quite a few things online. Where this becomes important is traffic violations. If you try to exit Qatar, and you have any outstanding traffic tickets, you can't leave the country until you've paid your fines. I think they've set up a kiosk at the airport so you can comply, but I've not seen it before.

So today we were talking about traffic tickets, and I decided, on a whim, to check my plate.

It's interesting how the Arabic and English don't translate right. According to the English translation, I had:


But the Arabic reads as:


I asked my colleague Robeen to tell me if the Arabic and English match up, and sure enough they don't. The Arabic reads as a simple speeding fine, not as a dangerous vehicle overloading.

Flexibility and a sense of humor are key assets to have in Qatarshire.

Gulf Times Strikes Again

As I've said before, reading the newspaper is a daily adventure. Some days are duller than others, but then days like this last Thursday come around.

Highlights from Thursday's Gulf Times:

1. Flowers-- apparently stopping traffic on a busy street to hand out flowers isn't a hazard. Nor is the admiring smells/looks of the drivers while careening down the street at 80 km/hr (mobile in other hand optional).

On a side note, I wonder how many Land Cruisers jumped the flower queue so they could get first dibs.


2. Mother's Day is celebrated in March in the GCC (so it's similar to the UK). These came from a supermarket circular. Buying boxes of laundry soap in honor of Mother's Day (are they presents from Tide or presents intended for dear old Mum?) definitely sets one up for the Silent Treatment. To think that I've been purchasing things like books, food cards, and wine for my mom all these years...

If laundry soap isn't the Present of Choice, the circular also had other products on offer, including various cleaning supplies, shampoo, diapers, and other select feminine products.

Research Programme

QF spells out focus areas of its research programme Published: Monday, 10 March, 2008, 01:32 AM Doha Time

Abdelali Haoudi ... pursuit of excellence Staff Reporter THE research agenda of Qatar Foundation (QF) would focus on the themes of biomedicine and biotechnology, energy and environmental sciences, computational sciences, and nanotechnology, vice-president (research), Abdelali Haoudi said yesterday. “The long term vision envisages pursuit of cutting edge science in phase one, positioning Qatar as a major regional contributor of science in phase two, and becoming a magnet for innovative research and development companies in the third phase,” he explained. The official was speaking on ‘Research at QF,’ at the first international symposium on applied nanomedicine, which began yesterday. “Qatar’s commitment to research is 2.8% of the GDP, which would be approximately $1.5bn per year, as announced by HH the Emir earlier,” Haoudi recalled while referring to the strong foundation that the country has in this regard. Personalised medicine and biotechnology; nanoenergy, ecology and clean technology; computational sciences and data mining are among the research themes that would be pursued. “The biomedical research, to be initiated together with Sidra Medical and Research Center, would involve the setting up of the Qatar bio bank, and centres for research in molecular imaging, stem cell, molecular medicine, proteomic medicine, and genomic medicine,” he said. Programmes for better diagnosis and treatments from infectious agents, new personalised therapies and advanced healing methods, applying nanotechnology to human health, ageing and dementia research, protecting human exposure to harmful environmental conditions, and repair, replacement or regeneration of cells, tissues or organs are part of the spectrum. While research on preventive medicine is scheduled over the next five years, that on personalised medicine is over a 10-year period, and that on predictive medicine is scheduled beyond 10 years. The official pointed out that agencies such as the Supreme Education Council, General Secretariat for Developmental Planning, Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, Ministry of Energy and Industry, and Qatar Science and Technology Park are involved in the co-ordination of science and research activities at the national level. There is constant interaction with business and research organisations and governmental institutions. Institutions in Education City are an integral part of the mission. QF’s Qatar National Research Fund is promoting research initiatives over the past two years. “Qatar Foundation’s research strategies are intended to lead the incubation and co-ordination of research activities within Education City and place Qatar on the science and technology map,” Haoudi said. Contribution to the development of a critical mass of scientists is also part of QF’s research agenda, he added. The conference sessions are on ‘Nanomedicine and chronic diseases,’ and ‘Challenges and opportunities.’ Resource persons from Canadian Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Alberta (Canada), Brown University (US), Harvard University (US), and Canadian Institute for Health Research are among the speakers at the conference that is on today also.

Big News Day

Today two new developments were publicized in the Gulf Times which will greatly impact WCMC-Q. The research startup means that Delib will be moving in an entirely new direction. It's exciting, yet overwhelming.


Sidra clinical care facility set to open in November 2011

Published: Monday, 10 March, 2008, 01:32 AM Doha Time

Daniel Bergin ... providing world-class medical care

Staff Reporter
QATAR Foundation’s $7.9bn Sidra Medical and Research Center, intended to offer world-class clinical care, medical training and biomedical research, is set to open for patients in November 2011 upon commissioning of its first phase.
“There would be close to 400 beds, all in single rooms, in the state-of-the-art, all digital establishment focusing mainly on the health of women and children,” executive project director Daniel Bergin said yesterday.
He was giving a presentation at the opening session of the first international symposium on applied nanomedicine, a two-day event being hosted by Qatar Foundation at the Sheraton.
The vision for Sidra, part of the Education City, is to make it one of the top 20 medical centres in the world, the official said, while pointing out that it would also be the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q).
“The master contractor, OHL from Spain, is scheduled to hand over the clinic building towards the end of October 2010, followed by the initial handover of the main hospital building in February 2011,” Bergin said.
Sidra would also provide select medical and surgical services for men and women and function in a complementary and synergistic way to Qatar’s existing network of hospitals to avoid duplication of services.
“Sidra would function in close co-operation with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and would not have a trauma centre given the excellent facilities provided in this area by the latter,” he said.
WCMC-Q’s medical students would continue to train at HMC’s facilities even after the opening of Sidra in order to ensure exposure to a broad range of teaching cases.
In line with the plans to establish a biomedical research programme of world class standards and significance at Sidra, it is proposed to initiate ‘pre-Sidra’ research programmes at HMC prior to the opening of Sidra.
“Regionally specific diseases (such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity) are to be targeted and the national research agenda would be served through Sidra by focusing on pregnancy health, fertility, and developmental and preventive medicine,” Bergin said.
In addition, consideration is being given to the inclusion of adult medicine and surgery programmes.
“The five core facilities for clinical research comprise those pertaining to stem cell, bioinformatics, tissue management systems, genetic-genomic and proteomic, and functional and anatomic imaging,” the official said.
It is estimated that Sidra, by 2015, would handle as many as 9,300 deliveries per year, constituting 50% of the total child births in Qatar.
The major clinical service groups, catered by Sidra, would be obstetrics, gynaecology, paediatrics, medical, and surgical segments, Bergin said.
“Though there is a plan for a second phase of 170 beds, no definite timeframe has been set for the same,” he added.

Origami Outreach Program

Yesterday we had an all-staff meeting (in the fancy board room, with the Dr. Evil-style chairs but no lava pit, none the less), where our acquisitions assistant admonished us for having wanted to order 45 tablets of paper for 8 people. (Okay, so maybe we *did* get carried away a bit, and only should have requested 44).

My manager's remark to me: "I guess we'll have to put our origami outreach program on hold, then."