Wow, we have never hated airports and planes more than right now. The four of us bonded as we waited for 7 hours in the Montreal airport, driving mini shopping carts around and sleeping in the airport to pass time (while Lisa watched some amazing Harry Potter). We represented Canada well as we sprinted through Heathrow airport, through wrong terminals and buses. This led to missing our connection flight and waiting on the floor in the middle of the airport for a Qatar airway representative. The result: a four hour long wait and more bonding, sleeping and four grumpy girls. The flight to Doha made up for this as we were on a 5 star airline with excellent service, great food, and comfortable chairs that could finally be slept in. After what felt two days of delays, airplanes, and disasters, we finally arrived in Doha with our luggage. It felt like a miracle.

We felt like celebrities when we found our driver. Once he finally found his white car in a sea of only white cars, he began loading the suitcases. After placing Taylor's suitcase in the trunk, he looked at us with despair as he saw four girls, 3 extra large suitcases, and 4 carry-on bags still standing beside him. By some work of Qatari magic, he fit another large suitcase in the back of his Corolla, and placed the other two suitcases riding shot-gun beside him. The four of us squished in the back seat and enjoyed the drive back to our apartment, in awe of all the beautiful buildings, palm trees, and tropical weather. Buda, our building security guard, kindly helped us with our luggage and showed us to our beautiful apartment. Although the blondes were confident that the Wifi was broken, Sharon used her Asian powers to turn on all electronics and set up our Wifi. The students at the University of Calgary Qatar campus filled our fridge with food and cheese and love and we felt at home on our first night.

We stayed awake until 4:00AM and slept until late the next morning. At noon, we met with our fantastic faculty adviser, Heather, and she gave us a quick outline of her expectations for the trip and what she had learned so far being in Doha. We found out some rough details about our placements and life in Qatar. Heather got us all very excited about the next few weeks. Next, she took us to the Souq Waqif (market) for some Falafel (AKA Fal Fal - Taylor) and heavenly Turkish coffee. We learned that Turkish coffee has a little surprise at the end. After lunch, we attended a tour of Katara and the Blue Mosque put on for free by the cultural centre. We wore abayas for the afternoon and learned about Islam. In Doha, there is a call to prayer and prayer five times per day broadcasted via speakers, radio, and TV throughout the country, starting at sunrise (As Lisa found out after staying up until 5:00AM due to jet lag on the second day). Men must pray in a mosque, while women have the option of praying in the home or mosque due to child care reasons. The blue mosque is located in Katara, which is a cultural community currently being built in Doha. The community project is only 30% completed with an amphitheater, a few restaurants, and cultural buildings on the coast looking out to the sea. We were shown the inside of the amphitheater, which is the place that the Al Thani family visits when they have guests in Qatar. It was hard to believe that this building is only 4.5 years old, built in 2009. The rest of the buildings will be constructed on man-made mountains (hills to us Canadians). The construction will be completed in 8 months. If only Calgary could finish construction that fast!

After the tour, we were taken back to the cultural centre for a free traditional supper with rice and lamb. It was more food than any of us could eat! After dinner we asked some more questions and then went back to the Souq Waqif market while we waited for our driver to take us to get groceries. Much to Lisa's dismay, our instructor took us to the Falcon market, which consisted of about 8 blocks of birds of all shapes and sizes! There was also an adorable puppy and a few pets such as fish, turtles, hamsters, bunnies, and duckies. After we wandered around the Souq a while longer, the driver came to take us to the mall to get groceries.

Entering the busiest mall and grocery store on the weekend and trying to calculate how much food costs in Canadian dollars was a nightmare, especially when we were over-tired and jetlagged! The grocery store was similar to Superstore in Canada. We were impressed to find similar food and brands to what we could get in Canada, yet it was so much cheaper! After getting Nutella, we were right at home. Trying to catch a taxi on the way home was crazy. Some taxi drivers would not turn on their meters and did not understand where we lived and we met a few unsavory characters. Random strangers were coming up to us while we were each carrying 3-4 bags of groceries and offering to drive us home. Finally, a very nice cab driver saved us from the strangers and took us back to our home for a reasonable price (30 riyals, $8.50 Canadian). Although it is not the norm here, we tipped our cab driver because he saved us!

Once home, we ate some deliciously unhealthy snacks (Meaghan and Tay ate processed kraft cheese and jam sandwiches) and told Heather about our taxi disaster. Tay quickly unpacked her groceries consisting of diet coke, digestive cookies, and fries. Sharon bought enough noodles to feed a country, Lisa will be surviving on Nutella for the trip, and Meaghan discovered a new love for dates. We settled in for the night but couldn't sleep! We had a late night slumber party in the master bedroom with digestive cookies instead of sleeping (which Tay immediately regretted the next morning as it was her first day at the hospital).