Now thats what I call Qatar 23..I'll be gone til November

Dear all,

its the end of November almost and i have again reached my aim of 9 blogs a month, which doesnt sound much but its pretty hard to fit in when ur working 48 hours minimum a week plus i spent a third of the month in the UK!

Well ull all be shocked to know I have a flat-mate, now its not out of choice, but the company has been increasing the number of people here near expentionaly and ALL THE HOTELS in Doha have been taken over by the goverment, therefore noone can rent any rooms which means we need to move everyone who has been staying in hotels and put them in flats. I dont know how long my current situation will last as i dont really like living with someone anemroe, i mean i like having my own space. Its not that hes a knob or anything, hes quite nice a guy its just like i said i need my own time. Though i picked the bigger bedroom, i have taken over mosf ot the living.dinning and kitchen rooms but i wont go as far as to be the flatmate from hell to make sure he moves, as firstly hes a nice guy and secondly I dont wanna get a reputation for being a knob, and though some of you think its jus a matter of time till my company think that aneway... im not ready for them to know yet!!

I watched the Man Utd vs Chelsea game the other night in a dirty shisha place, it was like i was watching the game with Drogba's family, except half of em were supporting Utd...
The game it self was a great game to watch and i miss watchin games especially utd games as they attack with such great verocity especially if there losing, its on the edge of ur seat kinda stuff!

Today i have a big meeting, the first one i held on my own, its going to be a semi live/semi telephone conference call as some of the particpants are not able to come. Im nevous as hell but at the same time I cant wait, its the kinda of thing i been looking forward to doing,and hopefully i will do well, I have my supervisor/mentor with me, so i know he will be da to help me, but sometimes though its really comforting to know I have someone da who can help when im stuck its sometimes better to find out for urself if u can swim, or if ur going to sink. I guess its like with a baby(i know some of the jokers out da will go thats cuz u r a baby, hah hah hah..NOT) when u dont know when there ready for things, thats why u mother them and over-mother them as in this case, my company has vested lots of money in me, and i know it wud not make sense to c me fail, and like that a mother will have vested lots of love in me, and therefore emotionaly wud not make sense if i failed, well sometimes (and i know its a lot easier saying it when ur not the parents/employer) u just have to let me c how good people are... Or at least how well they can cope. Same goes for relationships, like i said in the previous entry, my family obviously want the best for me, however they in this case cant keep mothering me, I wud never grow or become wise if there were limitations to my life learning, I need to find out for myself if Shamina and I will be as good together as I imagine, we might be we might not be, but whats imperitive is I find out for myself, and i hope I carry this same values when im a parent, but i dont know if I will, because I know when I care for someone I become more involved and protected of them to the extent its over-bearing....

Well thats enuff self-reflection i can take for today I best prepare for my meeting but hope you all have a great day and take care of yourselves...

Asif

ps. whilst spelling November i just about it odd the spelling, like really odd, how the mb is next to each other without a vowel, i know its a mute point just found it a odd way to spell the word! (i know the troubling world of a dysleix but man it looks strange to me!)

Now thats what I call Qatar 22: Shamina Update

Dear all,

Now i know the last2 entries have been a rather grim affair, however im in better spirits today!

im jus checking my fantasy football teams online,i had a good start so far but the weekend is only jus beginging!

So my life at the moment, has taken many turns, sometimes one which sees my future become clearer and others which dash my dreams and hopes and makes the future i want even further away, i think from what im saying u may gather im talking about me and Shamina. Well i havent updated anyone for a while on what is going on there at the moment, well things personally are great never been stronger however things between myself,my family and her are as distant as ever, and im getting really impatient(thus the last 2 depressive blogs) its weird, i jus saw OC season 4 eppiosde 1, and i wont ruin it for those who havent seen it and plan to, but i feel like one of the characters who is confused and has their girlfriend thousands of miles away(ok u guessed it im talking about the legend know as Seth Cohen...and u wont hear me saying Legend and Cohen in the same sentance that often!) well like our friend Seth, im undecided of what to do with the relationship I have, however unlike seth the problem is not with each other but with our parents.

Yesterdy I mentioned Mike, the Coptic Egyptian guy i work and live with, well i was talking to him bout Shamina, and he understoof the whole class thing and say it happens in Egypt too, we both also understood its a parents perogrative to wan da best for their kid. However there comes a point when u must let ur child make their own mistakes/choices, depending on how u c it, no marriage is a gurantted success but the chances to succed are surely better when the two parties want it to happen, i dont know what is going to happen with me and Shamina, but im sick of the stalemate that currently exists and sooner rather than later me and my family will have to decide just how the future will work....something that though im looking forwad to being with Shamina, im not looking forward to the confortation that is going to happen! to find out the answers but i think its all about building my character and standing for what I belive in.

Aneway i best go as I have work tomrw morning, but take care of yourselves!

Asif

Now thats what I call Qatar 21: The death of a Tree...

alright guys,
how goes things?
im at a internet cafe, sweatin my balls off...(sorry for the crudeness) but pissin me off, i jus been in a really pissy mood recently as i got back, getting home sick, as i had such a amazing time in the UK and now im back in Doha and i got shit loads of work and there seems2b no escape...well at least til december 28th when i go back to the UK!

I been hanging out with a egyptian-american guy called Mike alot, he works with me and lives in my building. He is actually called Mike and not like a abbreaited muslim name, this is cuz hes cristian egypitan, and to be precise cripto (or something like that) orthodox, which is he was tellin me is something like a acient form of the othordox faith, its intresting certainly to learn about other faiths, and the differences within the faiths. I still dont understand the differences between protestants and caltholics very well, i know it has something to do with
Henry the 8th and his wives, or somethign along those lines, btu jus puzzles me how something that has nothing to do with God manage to split a relgion, i may have the complete other end of the stick but i jus dont know! Like the difference between Sunnis and Shias, again though im Muslim i dont have a CLEAR understanding over the differences, yet a lone the differences within sunnis and shias which is also quite a big thing. I know that Shias belived someone else shud succed the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) after he died and sunnis someone else. I know to some people they maybe surprised at my lack of knowledge on this issues, considering how important I hold relgion to myself, however the way I see it these differences, sunni/shia, catholic/protestant/orthodox all primarily still follow the same faith and in the end of the day the same principles and with that being said, i feel there all the same! However one cud say then if u take that belief then u cud say Judiasim/Islam/Christanity all the same as they all belive in the same primary principles, and i would have to say I agree, the differences are suble, im not saying there not important, but in essence there all from the same tree just difference branches, they intersect each other at points however they all go in different directions, and that is what were seeing at the moment in the world, the faiths are being torn apart, dividied and broken, not only against each branch but within those branches the same twigs are competing, its a shame becausing using the Annalogy if they worked together the tree wud be alot stronger and more beautiful and powerful because of it, but instead the tree will start to die, and lose itself and decompose....

how morbid of me?well like i said im in a funny mood at the moment! lol lets hope for a nice blog tomorw!
--

Now thats what I call Qatar 20: Pissed OFF

im so pissed off at the moment, my internet was down yesterday at work, ALL DAY so i wrote up 1 and a half blogs, then when i come in today the blogs are wiped out! fcukin computers, seriously, its prob because yesterday i was bitchin in my blog abuot computers and how reliant we all are on the dam things!!

well aneway onwards and upwards....
well today is thursday (my friday as its the day before the weekend) im so tired i cant wait to sleep! though tonight im playing football after work den there is a leaving party for a guy on my project who is going to albania....ummmm who the hell wud wanna go da? saying that who wud want to go to bangladesh, (where my mum is born and bread) its a shame, as i dont know about albania i will go with the trend and say its a shit hole and the people from there are scum....lol, no not really i jus personally havent found any nice albanians, jus like pimps and drug dealers around soho thats all, so is my judgements from their country skewed unfairirly? probably, however what else do we have to go on?

The reason im saying this is because often the case with myself i see myself as a example of many things, like a muslim, a english guy, a male, a bengali, a northerner, etc and the reason i do, is that if someone i meet has for whatever reason never met one of them, then i am a representative for that type or person, or a combination of those, like most people would have met a male, however not many people say in Qatar have met a bengali/british guy before so therefore im the first point of contact they have wit that genre type of person, so thats why i can be judgemental but also considerate, as i dont want people to think bad of anything that i may represent...

Im still pissed about the AWESOME blogs i wrote yesterday and its time to go home now its da thursday feeling! aneway wil maybe blog later tonight, but im still PISSED OFF!

Adios

Asif

Now thats what I call Qatar 19: Raining Edition

Dear all,

its a fine day2day in the glorious state of Qatar, as it is the first time in God knows went, it has rained!! the thing is with the desert, when its cold its COLD and when its hot its HOT...at the moment with les than 2 weeks to the Asia games, its pouring down, so we will c how it all goes down!

Im going to try to write alot over the next few days as i have had emails wondering why i am not writing, so i will update alot more over the next 2 weeks, and iA write at least another 5 in the next 10 days! so enjoy those pearls....(of wisdom of course!) and i will not review my trip all in one but spread it over the next few days!

Well well... i jus spent my first trip back to the UK, it was so good, i really missed it, however what i think made it so good was the fact that there was a limited time on it, so i knew i had to do so much in that amount of time. If i didn't have a return date, and i suddenly was told on Saturday that I had to return i highly doubt i would have a good time, it also makes the time that u have together with ur friends, family and loved ones more special. For those who have seen the SAW films, i think it plays a little on this philosophy of time is special, as when you know you have a limited amount of time u shud do something with it, again the film PhoneBooth plays to this line of thinking, and i strongly agree, in the way that most people jus coast their lives, neither loathing it nor enjoying it but jus getting by, when u have some structure and some passion then life and the choices u make in it mean alot more...
I think this is partly why holidays are so popular, as u have a limited time away, and though u may love to get away from home, if u were to live where u go on holiday it would be seldom that people would actually enjoy it more to where they currently stay.. as people aren't dissatisfied with their surrounding but rather their own lives but just don't realise it and look to blame everything else!

The plane journey was good and i love the fact im halfway to becoming a silver member of Qatar airways, it has to be one of the best airmiles programes in the world, and i think whenever i travel east of Russia i will always travel Qatar, as though i hate stop-overs, its a very good airline, offering v.good prices on long-haul, and very good facilities, for those who haven't experienced it i would strongly recommend u do, and something else i loved bout last night/this morning flight, was that it was empty, i jus took whichever seat i wanted, i moved around the plane, and jus loved it, as i hate planes where its so busy its claustrophobic... also randomly i met a guy whom went to my old school who works in Bahrain, which was quite cool.

Anyway i best go but take care and hopefully all hear from u again v.soon iA

Now thats what I call Qatar 18..training edition

Hey guys,

how are you all on this fine evening?

Im at the training centre at the moment, its ok, its very intresting
but very tiring!

I had a hectic time since i arrived in the UK, i arrived an hour late
in Manchester, then spent the evening at home, getting settled, the
following day i went around Manchester with my family, and was so nice
to spend time up north, sample cheshire water and air, and was so
sweet jus being up north!!

Saturday morning was busy as I went to Macclesfield bright and
early(9am!) to get the train down to london, first class of course!
then I went and dumped by stuff at a 41 Clarence Gate Garddens, and
then ran to liverpool st for some awesome paintballing, where i got
nailed but also did some nailing on others, and overall my team
destroyed the other!

After that I ran to oxford st2do some light shoppin,however turned
out2be quite heavy shoppin! but oh wel, i ended up buying quite a few
games and LOADS of DVDS!

I came to the decision2day that I wont bother renting a car wen I go
back to Qatar,at least not for nowi, its really expensive, and i have
had so many problems with it, it jus makes sense to get lifts for the
next month! Ill be in england aneway after that for another 10 years!!

so then met up with the B93 gang on saturday night for a wild nightof
risk that ended prematurely for some...Fern!

Sunday was a bright adn early start, 9am for footy, had a solid 6 a
side game, was a good laugh! and was intresting game i didnt play that
well myself, havent played on grass for over 6 months or so, however
hopefully playing again this sunday so shud be a intresting experience
and made me realise jus how much i miss london, and my friends in
london!

It is good to go out in Qatar, and its such a intresting experience
but these trips makes u wonder what is it al for, however i dont want
to delve too much into my precious pearls today, so i will leave it
for now, take care and will write another one soon

Asif

Now thats what I call Qatar 17- @Doha International Airport

Dear All,

I write this from the whole that is currently doha international airport, to be honest its not tat bad, its quite nice however its tiny, and for a country about to host the asia games(u thinking what da hell is that?) so was i not long ago,howver turns out its the 2nd biggest even in the world after the olympic games(not surprising as the event does have China and India (ie half the world population) and so with such a large and complex event, u wud assume that everything woutl be ready however as its Asia, u shud never expect anything on time. The main stadium that is expected to host the opening cermony (tickets cost almost about 80 quid which though isnt extorniate is still massively overpriced for local prices) is not even completed! the roads throughout Doha are not made...its jus unbelievable how poorly planned everything is, i mean they have employed thousands of people and got staff who have worked on the olympic and commenwealth games in the past so there is certainly no lack of experience in arranging it, however what it comes down to is the money men who jus have no idea what there doing, they spend millions on roads each year, laying down a surface then uprooting the road because they didnt put a pipe in and then re-doing the road and this happens over and over again all throughout the city, but its not jus Qatar the whole gulf has this problem and it jus comes down to extremly poor planning, though i ahve to say things are getting beta and i will miss this place as i leave!

I cant wait however to be back to western civilasation, its been almost 2 months, im so excited by being with my family and seeing Shamina, i cant wait! I have pretty much planned every minute for while im back, as u realise when u work time is very precious and when uget time off u have to try all u can to use it! Training shud be k, but not amazin, and will feel annoyed about being in the same city as Shamina but not being able to see her!

Well lets get to some brief world affairs, Democrats as expected wiped da floor with Republicans, but like i said in my last post, i wont be holding my breath with regards to them changing their policies abroad. I mean i would love it, but jus dont c it happening, i been told i seem rather negative in terms o world affairs, but i jus feel the world is full of complexities and faults and therefore ther e will always be dissatisfactions and people who are jus constantly pissed at the world, im kinda one of those people im afraid to say, i mean i do love life, at a personal level, but in a worldy level i jus see pain,suffering,hurt, violence and very little love and peace in the world right now, and its sad, for me the only way to not let it consume you is to not hate, or dwell and for myself the belief of God helps majorly as I always belive that in the end people will get what they deserve be it now of in the after life, and i think alot of non-relgious people say this is why they think people belive in God, for this sense of comfort. And to a certain extent i think its true, it does allow people to live their life without become too consumed with the world around them, and when they see injustice and are powerless to stop it, they believe God will handel it, its a very conforting feeling, it would intreast me to know how agnostics or athesists feel towards wordly injustices...

I been reading alot about Turkey and its role in the EU and Middle East, i dont know that much about the history, I mean the whole Ottamen Empire thing, my history knowledge is poor, however im learning alot more, and I have the natural instinct to side with Muslims, however from what I ahve read, the Turkey goverment and the Turkish army are a repressive regime, whom just want to appease the EU. I dont think from what I have read that turkish people have the same feelings, however because of the strenght of the army, they have little choice in the mata and its sad, i mean the army and the goverment is meant to represent the people (think of Thailand, the Army there i felt did a good job in the coup, and had the peoples intrests at heart) however the turkish army from what I have been reading have Turkey's historical honour as their primary concern, i mean whatever Atturk(the founder of modern Turkey, an ex-army general) says, they still belive shud be the case today, and is not a reflection of the people of Turkey. I have met alot of Turks in England and when i was in Saudia Arabia(much to my surprise, as the majority of turks i met in london, arent relgious) however the ones in Saudi were extremly nice and devout muslims, and it pleased me to know that country hadnt become so secularised that its peoples behaviours changed. They obviously identified themselves as turks, however they told me that there are plenty o relious people in turkey it is just that the ones in power see themselves have a duty to secularism, (ie the army). However reading recently there are elections coming up, and if the prime minsiter becomes president, it would be intresting, as one of the biggest controversys at the monent is the headscarf ban in public intituations, and the priime minsters wife wears a headscarf, so it would be intresting to see what happens there... I am becoming more and more intrested in turkey and im very intreseed to see what happens with it in the following few months so expect more views on Turkey...


Well i have written a fair amount and will end on this.....

Zidane is in Bangladesh at the moment, and is being given the respect he deserves by my people, im so proud that he has visited and people think so wot, but for me, its a very big thing and a proud thing, that people like him and the world media are taking more of a intrest in Bangladesh and not for shitty reasons like famine, flooding or violence

aneway take care and have a good day iA i will

Asif

Now thats what I call Qatar 16: Saddam the Democrat...

Dear All,

I been busy getting ready for London I cant wait! jus a couple of day away, and I been organising football on sunday morning at 9am! yeh i know nice and early but what beta way2 start ur day of rest than gettup at the crack of dawn!

Man utd are Flying at the moment, i cant belive it, iA it will continue, though i dont know, as the Man utd of recent seasons has sowed seeds of doubt in my mind, if it was the teams of 90's i would have said the title is wrapped up,however I cant say that, cuz I still think it can go to any of the top 4 teams of last year.

Its an eventful week at the moment in terms of current affairs, yesterday Sadam Hussain was found guilty and has been sentanced to death by hanging, now I feel death penelty is fine in certain circumstances, where it can be proven without any doubt that the person is guilty and in this case i think it was clear. I also think its a very good deterent and though crime still occurs where it happens(China, USA , Saudi Arabia) im sure lots of people do get 2nd thoughts about their actions if it means their life will end. However some people will not get detered from crime, and will go at it no matter what the cost is, and those people cannnot expect anythign less than what they desrve. I think it was a disgrace however that the decision is 2 days before the US elections, it was like perfect timing for Bush to show his new Iraq is working, and it seemed to me to be completelty worked, in that way so that they could use it for an extra couple of those swing votes!


Tommorrow is the USA mid-term elections, its a big day not jus for the USA but for the wider-world especially the middle-east, because if Bushs party loses the Senate and the House of Represenatatives then the policys with the goverment will change fairly dramaticly well at least that is what the commentors are saying however i dont really see this happening as though i am not saying all americans are the same, far from it, majority of the americans i have come face-to-face with have been some of the nicest people i have ever met, and would not wish to taint them with the same brush as I do with the goverment of their country. The republicans/democrats there is not so much difference between the two of them, both consist of neo-cons/hawks, there is no range in the political spectrum, which is sad for the country that is supposed to be the face of demoracy, they only offer 'two types of sauces' as apposed to the UK where we do we have vast and wide-ranging spectrum, from the Green Party, Scottish National Party to the more credible 3, Lib Dem, Conservative and Labour, and despite in recent times of a mixing of policy by the the latter 2 they all still generally appeal to their target audiance. The same cant be said in the USA which is seeing ridicilous levels of money being spent on the 'swing voters' damn Swingers.....always causing trouble! Well i cant wait to see what happens not jus tommorrow but over the next few months and see what changes does occur, but my thinking right now is no matter the result not much will change and the exisiting policies will remain...


Aneway I best go but take care of yourselves and hopefully I can send one more whilst in the State of Qatar!

Now thats what I call Qatar 15 - Pasha

Laddettes and Lads..

Hope this email finds u in good health....its the first of November today and my first blog of the month, obviously!

Today has been a little less busier at work, but still busy, im jus counting down the days til UK, its a week tomorw that will reach the great shores of the British isles.

Been thinking of what to do for my bday if anything, im thinking of going to a a nice morrocan restuarant in Gloucster Rd, i been before with Shamina and its really nice, something different and they have really nice shisha, so this blog isnt so much an update or 'Pearls of Wisdom' as people like Baqer had hoped but rather a invivtation to come and enjoy the splendour of mine and Shaminas bday, it will be a afternoon occasion for obvious reasons, such as it being a sunday (12th) people will be working the next day, and i have training!

My sister is in the guardian today so u can check her and her husband out in G2 in the Guardian, they have a special on Muslims, but who doesnt these days, were so in, its unbelieveable!

Maybe pre 9/11 a decent percentage of the world i felt was ignorant to the fact Islam existed and now i would guess a very small percentage of the world knows nothing about Islam! Its not necceasry a good thing, and certainly its often negatively portrayed by muslims and non-muslims, however its jus intrestying how much in the limelight it is these days....I imagine its similar to Jews in Europe after the war, as many people may not have known about them, but after the War they became much more recognised, though that could be a shit comparison, im jus trying to implicit it often takes something tragic for the world to take notice, and thats the shame of the world we live and always have and always will focus on the negativety aspects of society....i can write much more on this topic but i have to leave now, and pray and then go home and take my sister and nephew out as they only have a few days.

I hope Baqer and my other readers who long for my pearls of wisdom are happy as they got a lil dose!

take care of yourselves

Asif