whats the plot

yes, yes, i said a continent per day... but alas, i got busy and there is only so much time and so many continents... (i am not *really* visiting all the continents, i'd just like to think so :)) i am currently writing this from qatar. i was in uae earlier (both in sharjah (al-shariqa) and dubai). sharjah reminds me of egypt a lot except for the number of desis and the traffic laws/driving patterns. dubai on the other hand could very well be a city in the us. the cost of living there seems to be very expensive - the price that you pay in the us is the price you pay in dubai, despite the fact that 1 dollar is ~3.6 dirhams. some places are even more expensive - a cup of coffee at starbucks, for example, was 12 dirhams, or roughly $3.33.

qatar is similar to dubai - there's a *lot* of building and construction happening there. the building architecture in both qatar and dubai is quite amazing actually. some amazing looking buildings! anyway, so yeah, qatar is pretty cool too... very much like dubai (like a city in the us as well). cost of living is roughly the same as that in dubai, as a matter of fact, most places take the dubai dirhams as well as the qatar riyals. the exchange rate is almost 1:1, maybe one being 0.98 or 0.99 to the other.

one last interesting fact - getting into dubai, with a us passport, cost me nothing. getting into qatar, on the other hand, cost me around $27 for the visa.

surprisingly, it seems quite a bit more liberal than the us... but then again, i feel the same way when i go to the airport in germany or france. with respect to absurd security measures, the airport here only allows one carryon bag - unlike in the us where we can carry a carry on and a "personal item" - they said if you're a lady and have a purse, you have to put it in your bag or check it in... ludicrous.

was able to get internet access for $9 for a whole day here at the airport... not too bad for 24 hours of wireless access when you have to wait in the airport for several hours for your flight.

speaking of prices, cost of living must be insane in the uk - basically, 1 pound is like $2 or close enough to $2. so like the starbucks here in the airport costs the same as starbucks in the us, except that its really double the price because of the conversion factor. i guess though that the person who lives here would be making their salary in pounds so its kind of the same as when i go to egypt for example and things are the same price but in egyptian pounds, so i have a the conversion factor as an advantage (poor people who come from places like egypt to the uk!).

anyway... haha so now i can say i've updated my blog from 2 continents lets see if i can add to that number in the upcoming days...