Survival

It made its foreboding presence known by upping the humidity index to the "unbearable" level. The experience of stepping outside is equivalent to walking into a very hot steam bath...especially since your sunnies fog up immediately.

Ramadan is quickly approaching which means all the restaurants and shops will be closed until sundown, the entire country will be DRY (alcohol-free), and you cannot eat or drink in public (during the daytime) for an ENTIRE month (approximately August 10th-September 10th).

We made our last-minute-stockup run to the Qatar Distribution Center (the only place to buy alcohol in the entire country) this past weekend and basically panic purchased an excessive amount of booze for fear that we may run out. Which is funny because the future hubs and I hardly drink. We are typically 1-2 beers or glasses of wine a week type people. But with the prospect of it being unavailable and restricted, all of a sudden we figured ourselves to be a 1-2 beers/glasses of wine twice a day type couple!

With the onset of Ramadan we have also gone into panic mode with our social calendar.  Suddenly, it seems imperative to have every weekend overbooked with events and gatherings. In our normal life, we plan in advance occasionally and mostly play it by ear. We like to keep our options open and let our moods dictate what we do. It works for us. But not this month. This month we have gone out of our way to book brunches, dinner parties, villa parties, possible boating adventures, cycling rides, etc. I am getting exhausted just thinking about it, but heaven forbid we have a free moment and wind up with nothing to do because everything is closed.

We have been eating out in excess, too; trying to fill our meals with food from all of our favorite places before they close up.  It feels like we are acting as if these places are closing FOREVER.  The hardships experienced during Ramadan have been so hyped up and drilled into our heads since we arrived last October that we seem to be preparing for Armageddon rather than a holy month!

But hey, it's all a matter of survival, folks.