What a ride it has been!

I arrived in Qatar August 30th, 2015 to start a new life with my new husband! It took me 3 years to adjust to a new husband, new country, new culture, finding new friends, finding a new job, creating a new home, adjusting to and learning my new job, finally getting my drivers license (Qatar is a Muslim state, meaning I needed my husband’s permission to drive! Michael had fun with that!!) and all-round just settling into a brand new life in an entirely different world than Canada!

The fourth year, my emotional roller coaster ride started to settle as I felt I hit my stride, my confidence, felt more sure of everything. Then, the expat deadline hit – it was time to leave because my husband’s contract was not renewed!

We had two weeks to leave Qatar. Our life in Qatar packed in a shipping container and headed for our final destination – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. But before we headed there – we traveled for two months.  Azerbaijan, India, Jordan and Maldives.  Our pets stayed with friends in Qatar as we traveled. After the Maldives, we headed back to Qatar for two nights and one full day to ready the pets for a transatlantic crossing, tie up any loose ends and have dinner at Festival City with friends.

We stayed with friends (thank you Glenn & Claudia!) on our old compound, Al Jazeera Compound 1.

Here are two compound cats we fed everyday.  Compound cats means feral cats who lived on our compound – much to the pleasure of some expats and displeasure of others.

We called this guy “Bent Ear” – he was about as war torn as could be! I think he fought every other male cat on the compound – twice!!!  

This pretty little one, I would have adopted but we had just adopted our second cat – Georgie – and now we were leaving…. 🙁

Paul – Landmark Mall

I enjoyed a cappuccino and a pistachio macaroon the French cafe, Paul – not available in Nova Scotia.

Doha Festival City

One of my favorite shops in Festival City! I can’t remember the name of the store right now – it was a furniture store! These signs are so fun!

Hamad International Airport

Then, there we were….checking in for our morning flight to Montreal! This was rough…leaving the pets knowing they would be in their crates for the next 16 hours.  Thankfully though, we were flying Qatar Airways – so I could relax knowing they would be well taken care of.  

A yummy treat while we waited to board!

Some sights at Hamad International Airport!

It was time to board our flight to Montreal!  This was it!!!  Goodbye Qatar!!

Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

14 hours later, we landed at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Canada!

The pets were okay!  

You might be wondering why we landed in Montreal rather than Halifax? Halifax was a connecting flight….but we weren’t ready for Halifax yet because we needed a home!

A home you ask???

Yes!  A home!

Michael and I’s Canadian adventure starts now!

S, 🇶🇦🇨🇦