We just barely made our flight from Montreal to Doha.

Back Story- To enter Qatar, you need proof of leaving the country if you are entering on a visitors visa (Andrew was granted a working visa through his employers at the school, so he was all good to go) His school had reserved departing flights for the kids and I in September just to show immigration we planned on leaving. {This is called a visa run for anyone unfamiliar- it’s basically leaving the country and coming back in to get your passport stamped and another 30 day visiting visa} The school has NEVER had any issues with their employees using the plane reservation for their family however, the employees at the Montreal airport had a problem with the proof being just a reservation and not a confirmed ticket out of Doha. They told us if they were to send us and we showed the reservation to Immigration in Doha it wouldn’t be valid and Qatar immigration would fine The Montreal airport.

After 4 hours of talking to 3 different (rude) supervisors, our only option was to shamefully borrow my parents credit card to purchase 3 flexi flights (refundable tickets) to Muscat, Omran as proof that we were to “leave” Doha. They finally let us on. We were the first to arrive in Montreal and LAST to board the plane at 9:15pm. The plane took off at 9:30.

It was a pleasant 12 hour flight. 

I use the word pleasant because it was more spacious than I was expecting- lots of foot room and we had the row of 4 in the middle of the plane to ourselves so Andrew and I took the end aisle seats with the kids in between. The kids were great and one of them slept for most of the flight. Thank you childrens gravol, LOL. Oh- and the food was pretty decent, for airline food!

We arrived in Doha and were greeted by an airport employee with a sign for us as we got off the plane. She directed us to the immigration/customs room which was beautiful. We took advantage of the complimentary snacks, refreshments and WiFi while she gathered our bags. {Unfortunately I was unable to take photos with her or in this area of the airport}

After about 45 minutes of waiting, it was our turn to have our photo and fingerprints taken and hand over our passports.

THEY DID NOT EVEN ASK TO SEE OUR PROOF OF LEAVING THE COUNTRY. What a waste of time and stress in Montreal! (And yes, we cancelled the flexi flights the very next day!)

A colleague from the school met us after leaving immigration to help us get to the van where there was also a driver to bring us to our new temporary home- a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment in Bin Omran.

Since being here for 13 days, we’ve been able to get over our jet lag and start to get our bearings. The first few days were rough for Andrew and I, although I was the one who couldn’t sleep for a good 5 days. I would lay awake at night for hours trying everything to fall asleep. My body and mind were exhausted, I just couldn’t shake it. The kids slept 15 hours the first night and have adjusted really well which was the only thing I cared about. I was thankful it was easy for them.

We’ve visited Souq Wakif- the 200 year old outdoor market which was absolutely stunning and exciting even though I was taking it all in on only 2 hours of sleep. Next time we will go later in the day because the heat was insane. I’m actually looking forward to going again when we aren’t in a jetlag funk. 

Let’s talk about the heat!

Most days are around 38-42c degrees. (Although we’ve been told high 40’s-50 is the norm this time of year)  Then there’s the humidex… making it feel 10-15 degrees hotter. When the sun goes down, the humidity rises. It’s like nothing I’ve felt before. It is still an adjustment getting used to it but I will say I don’t hate it! We’ve been told October/November should cool down and be comparable to a beautiful hot Canadian Summer. We will be able to walk around more then and visit outdoor parks and explore. For now, we do small walks around the house and keep indoors in the AC. Thankfully Doha has many attractions indoors, so we will take advantage of that until we can visit the desert and ride on a Dhow on the ocean.

I could literally ramble for hours, so I will save it for another post.

Xo, Kerry-Lee

PS. I know its pretty ironic that I don’t have a single photo of us with all our luggage!