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Make that 742,885!
Jun. 17th, 2004 05:18 pmI guess I'm not quite as much a trailblazer as I thought. :-) According to today's Peninsula, the Qatari population has increased 42.3% since 1997, to 742,883. About 338,000 of these folks live in Doha, my soon-to-be home.
In other news, now that my schoolwork is definitively behind me and I have a job lined up in Qatar, I am focusing more of my attention on preparing to leave. This is the really stressful part. Last night I lay awake for two hours after turning off the light, with thoughts racing through my head: "We have to remember to close our local bank account!" "How do we get power-of-attorney paperwork together cheaply?" "I wonder if I can get an appointment for my first round of vaccinations before we leave to visit our parents?" and on and on and on. Sometimes, before a trip, I keep a pen & paper by my bed so when I wake up in the night panicking about travel details I can write down the concern and let go of it. I haven't even tried that this time, because there are a Hydra worth of travel details, and every time I take care of one, two more pop up to take its place.
I did at least manage to take care of one of those Hydra heads today: immunization. Turns out you don't need an appointment at all, so we went down to the county health department and got seriously injected. Polio and Hep A & B for both of us, with a side of Tetanus/Diptheria for me. Typhoid, too, but that one's an oral vaccine. I decided that it was a mistake to go in for my shots while wearing a tank top; I have four large Band-Aids all over my arms, and people were giving me strange looks on the way home. In fact, people on the bus stood up rather than take the seat next to me. I'm trying not to take it personally. :-)
While walking home from the bus stop I passed a woman walking a puppy -- ten and a half weeks, looked like a cross between a black lab and a bulldog. I suddenly remembered when Nikki was that age, and I took her in for her immunizations. She just adored the vet and loved the attention she got at the clinic, and didn't seem to mind the shots at all. "She may get a bit drowsy," the vet cautioned me. She ran out to the car and jumped in with all her characteristic Border collie energy. Halfway home, I heard a little thunk in the back seat; when I turned around she was out cold. Alarmed, I pulled over illegally to check for breathing and force her little eyes open. She blinked at me a few times, yawned, and fell back asleep.
I don't think all these shots are going to make me fall asleep, but the tetanus one sure does ache! I hope Nikki's didn't.
In other news, now that my schoolwork is definitively behind me and I have a job lined up in Qatar, I am focusing more of my attention on preparing to leave. This is the really stressful part. Last night I lay awake for two hours after turning off the light, with thoughts racing through my head: "We have to remember to close our local bank account!" "How do we get power-of-attorney paperwork together cheaply?" "I wonder if I can get an appointment for my first round of vaccinations before we leave to visit our parents?" and on and on and on. Sometimes, before a trip, I keep a pen & paper by my bed so when I wake up in the night panicking about travel details I can write down the concern and let go of it. I haven't even tried that this time, because there are a Hydra worth of travel details, and every time I take care of one, two more pop up to take its place.
I did at least manage to take care of one of those Hydra heads today: immunization. Turns out you don't need an appointment at all, so we went down to the county health department and got seriously injected. Polio and Hep A & B for both of us, with a side of Tetanus/Diptheria for me. Typhoid, too, but that one's an oral vaccine. I decided that it was a mistake to go in for my shots while wearing a tank top; I have four large Band-Aids all over my arms, and people were giving me strange looks on the way home. In fact, people on the bus stood up rather than take the seat next to me. I'm trying not to take it personally. :-)
While walking home from the bus stop I passed a woman walking a puppy -- ten and a half weeks, looked like a cross between a black lab and a bulldog. I suddenly remembered when Nikki was that age, and I took her in for her immunizations. She just adored the vet and loved the attention she got at the clinic, and didn't seem to mind the shots at all. "She may get a bit drowsy," the vet cautioned me. She ran out to the car and jumped in with all her characteristic Border collie energy. Halfway home, I heard a little thunk in the back seat; when I turned around she was out cold. Alarmed, I pulled over illegally to check for breathing and force her little eyes open. She blinked at me a few times, yawned, and fell back asleep.
I don't think all these shots are going to make me fall asleep, but the tetanus one sure does ache! I hope Nikki's didn't.
