Al Fardan

                              A stand alone in a compound 

Axel and I were determined to move into a home near Axel's work.  Traffic in Doha is a beast and I didn't want the little time that Axel had in Qatar spent in a car.  An hour is precious for our family when you consider he is gone 4 days out of the week. 

After looking at a number of homes we came up with nothing.  The perfect place (or at least seemed to be perfect) was fully occupied and we were running out of ideas.  On the way home from work one day a Real Estate agent brought Axel to an Al Fardan compound.  The Al Fardan compounds have an excellent reputation.  I wasn't too sure about compound idea.  It just seemed too close for comfort. 

 

Before the agent brought Axel to the compound he had this really strong feeling that this was going to be the place.  The minute he walked in he knew that the house would accommodate our family just fine.   It was where we needed to be, no denying it.  I had no idea why, but it was the place. 

I went to church on Sunday to tell people we were moving into the Al Fardan complex only to find out that we have 3 LDS neighbours!  All our children are close in age and we are all either across the street or right beside each other.   In fact, a Muslim family down the road said, 'We can't believe that there are more Mormon families on this street than Muslims!'  It was then followed with, '...which is great because we share a lot of the same beliefs and moral standards.'   It has become our little Utah in Doha.

So far, it has been surreal living here.  If you close your eyes and ignore the daily prayers on the loud speakers from the mosque, you can easily pretend you are in some American suburb. In fact, we were here for only a week and we were invited to a October Conference dinner while the broadcast was on TV.  Our kids play outside with their friends every evening and our doorbell is always ringing.  It has been such a stark difference to what we experienced in Nepal.  They both have pluses and minuses, but I think this is what our family needed for this time. 

Here are some visuals of the house.  The pictures are of the main floor.  I will send others as we get our stuff and after my weekly maid cleans the rooms. 

 

The Office

Downstairs bathroom

Kitchen

 

Living Room 

Dining Room

I know this is the right place for us now and I also know it won't be long before we are packing this place up to head off to another country.  I desperately miss my life in Nepal, but for now, this will work just fine.