I have been in Qatar since June 30th. I guess it has been five weeks since I left the States.
You could say a lot has happened since I've gotten here and in some cases, not much has happened. Over the past two weekends I've gone to Abu Dhabi to meet our Project Director there and to Dubai to meet our project director on the Dubai Metro as well as finish a proposal due today in Qatar.
The trips gave me a chance to do two things. One, and most importantly is connecting with the local staff and understand their personalities and issues. Try to make that connection and help develop solutions to their problems.
The issues both have are finding the right staff willing to come to the region for the right price. I need to understand the barriers for those folks, whether it is an HR issue, salary, housing, etc. I know this is solvable, but I need to engage with them.
The second benefit of leaving Doha over the past two weekends is getting out of Doha for a day or two. Primarily, this is a small town with little to do outside of work - for me. If I'm here I'm working. By going to the other locations I can still work, but it is a diversion from the routine.
The biggest issue I need to solve (or at least mitigate) is how to make sure this assignment is as equally rewarding for my wife. Now that she has left her job to prepare for her move, the question of "What am I going to do when I get there?" comes up more and more every time we talk. I have directed her to the typical expat wives websites .
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