Monday, August 23, 2010, 1:20 pm

Marhaba!

Glad you're still tuning in!  If you would like to share this blog with others that may be interested, please do, as I may have missed some people on my original email.  And remember, you can always sign up to be a Follower (and join my one and only - thanks, Kim!) - I believe Followers are notified when I make an entry, so you don't have to check to see if I've posted.

I completed the final step in the RP process this morning, which was getting fingerprinted at the Forensics office.  Nick joined me, as children over 12 have to be fingerprinted as well.  One couple in our group brought their 12-year-old son, too, who coincidentally is Nick's classmate and one of his first new friends, Nathan.  Once again, there were separate areas for women and men, so the boys had to go with Nathan's dad.  The boys were quite impressed with the process - no ink, but a pretty sophisticated scanner which they use to scan each finger individually, as well as the palm of the hand.

It should now only be a matter of days until I get my RP, and then I can get my Qatari driver's licence.  After being a passenger for a few weeks, I'm looking forward to being able to get around on my own...but that will mean that I have to GET AROUND ON MY OWN!  I've never quite seen drivers like this anywhere, and the roundabouts don't help!  Ben told us this morning that one of his teachers has been here for two weeks and has already been in one accident.  I'm not eager to break her record.

I've included two new pictures:  one is of Cholesterol Corner (check out the sign on the Applebee's building) and a closer pic of the McDonald's sign with Arabic writing.  Still recognizable the world over!

Dan and I made a shopping trip (sans kids) on Friday, to the MegaMart.  Bit of a misnomer, as it was decidedly Mini when compared to the other stores we've been to.  However, as we were promised, it did carry quite a few North American brands (Bounce sheets - yay!).  We also found real Cheerios; most stores carry two different-looking boxes of the same brand.  Both will have English writing, but only one will have Arabic written right on the box, too.  The latter is the one that is made here (or some country nearby); the other is actually from North America.  You can also tell by the price - we paid 36QR for the box of Cheerios (about 15CAD)!  Dan claims it was worth it.

And FYI, Ben remembered that the last boy in his class is from Syria.  Quite a diverse group of kids!

Salaam!