Less than a week ago I moved for work to Doha, Qatar. I was rather worried, I have to say. The reaction from my colleagues was mostly negative: affectionate, but negative. The reaction from my friends was mixed: some found it excellent, other congratulate me, others said they'll miss us (and me to them!)

My first impression of Doha, is that I do not have a first impression ;-) So far I've only picked small clues about how things will be. Probably many of them are wrong. I write them here to laugh about them later.

The first things is that it is ridiculously hot, 40 Celsius during most of the day, and everybody says this is just a small preview of what is about to come in the next months, where it will go to 50 Celsius and "you won't be able to stand in the sun for 5 minutes".

The cats hated to travel. They spent 12 hours in the cages, with 6 of them flying. When they were "delivered" to me, I found them alone next to the luggage belt. The good thing: they still had water in their dishes, meaning they were not moved so much. The cats were weird after the trip, they did not want to eat and were searching for Fabiola, but now they are easier, eating and wanting to go to the backyard. That, I will let them do it later on when they are more used to this place. For now, Panterita and Trufa are a big chunk of my social life.

I was assigned a house in a gated community where there are mostly people related to education/universities, many families with kids. The community has its own pool and gym. The house looks huge compared with what I've experienced in the last years: Rome (a studio of 16 sq m) and Barcelona (flats of 48 and 64 sq m).

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An infographic on the costs of the "war on drugs".

Created by Online Paralegal Programs. Click to zoom.

This week I am starting a new adventure in Doha, Qatar :-) I feel very sad about leaving Barcelona, so I started remembering some random things that happened to me during this time:

• I used an entire box of 500 staples.
• I was expelled from Spain with 15 days to leave the country ... thanks to a good lawyer and efforts by other people I was able to solve this.
• While naked I met some people I knew at the beach ... fortunately, in the water.
• I worked in a beautiful train station, in the best job I've had so far.
• I made many friends, and I had time to loose a few ones.
• I went to China, India, Germany, Poland, France, etc.
• I often went to work on a longboard.
• I was able to publish a lot and be very productive.
• I walked four hours a trail of one hour (lost).
• I went to the gym for the first time in my life, and I am still going.
• We went every year at least once to the Netherlands and once to Rome.
• I saw Italy loose some of its brightest people.
• I went from suffering by paper rejections to feel almost indifferent.
• I burned a mother board and I learned that yes, you can plug the power source the wrong way.
• I dropped a speaker on top of my corporate laptop after less than one month of having it, and I payed the mistake.
• I discovered an rsa token can not stand a 5-stories fall.
• I understood sangria is the way Spain punishes turists.
• I drank at least half a cubic meter of beer.
• I had liters of vermouth poured by Robert de Niro.
• I spent great afternoons in Part de la Ciutadella and found out the sun is a luxury.
• I arrived with 29 years and now I am 35.
• I bought for the first time lotion to avoid hair loss and found out how useless it is.
• We adopted three cats and saw one of them die.
• My grandfather died. My grandmother died. My brother in law died.
• I enjoyed having the baker, the guy at the minimarket and at the bar greet me.
• I was surprised when it started to happen at my branch in the bank.
• Colleagues proved me wrong often, but always respectfully.
• I did body pump and aerobics ... in the middle of the Rambla.
• I had dinner at Palau de la Musica.
• I had delicious calcots and artichokes.
• I got addicted to Pimientos del Padrón and Patatas Bravas.
• I removed kilos of tuna fish from green salads.
• I met tons of crazy cat ladies and found out it is marvelous to be married to one.
• I learned to speak much louder than what is comfortable for a Chilean.
• I felt very ashamed about how some Chileans treat Peruvians when I was treated as some Europeans treat Chileans.
• I went to Suede, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, Viva la Fete and Arctic Monkeys.
• I was addressed often in Arabic and people won't believe I was Chilean.
• I learnt Catalan watching Doraemon.

Of course there is lots, lots more than this. Paraphrasing Douglas Adams: "So Long Barcelona, and Thanks for All the Fish!" See you soon, friends! I hope to come back to enjoy this beautiful city and the wonderful people it attracts.

Absolutely based on my personal experience ;-)

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