The Big Move

Well, we've moved out of our fabulous apartment and into a villa. It's been over a month now and it finally feels like home.

Al Jazeera 1 Compound, Villa 53 - Home Sweet Home

When people heard we'd decided to move, many assumed it was for more space, with the impending growth of our family. But it actually was not. We were very content in our 3 bedroom apartment. We would have had room for Bumpkin and a guest to live comfortably. The villa is actually too big for the two of us, with one living room, one bedroom one bathroom and one flight of stairs too many. :)

Two living rooms is one living room too many

Ok, so if not for the space, certainly we moved for the ammenities. The compound has a swimming pool, clubhouse for gatherings, small gym and parks with swings and slides. But even that - while very nice! - wasn't enough to encourage us to relocate. Our apartment building just got some gym equipment, we made the roof into a gathering place, and there's a pool we can use on campus.

Lovely pool a stone's throw from our front door

So then we must have moved for the location. Well, we actually miss our old neighbourhood. True, the compound is much closer to work - we've cut our daily commute down to 10 minutes from 30 - but it's farther from everything else. We can no longer walk to restaurants and stores or hail a cab on the street. There is a small convenience store on the compound, though, which stocks all the basics plus a bit more, and Darren has crossed the 4-lane highway on foot to get groceries at the nearby Lulu Hypermarket. But it's not the same.

The convenience store whose laundry service and constant supply of granola bars makes the lack of walkable shops bearable

Why, then, did we change accommodations? It was all about community. The college places its employees in villa or apartments based on family status. Couples with children live in the compounds, singles and couples without children live in the apartments. Darren and I decided it would be good for us to surounded ourselves with other parents and children - especially babies, and especially when I'm on maternity leave.

The decision wasn't easy, however. There was somthing about the Al Sadd (the name of our apartment building) crowd. With a few exceptions, we all arrived at the same time. We were new together - sharing information about where to find queen sized sheets that don't feel like sand paper, reporting on a fabulous restaurant we'd discovered on a walk, pitching in to make the rooftop a place worthy of hosting parties. I think the original compound people probably had that, too - but now we're new and they're not. They have a bond among themselves like the one we feel for our Al Sadd neighbours. That's not to say they're not welcoming and friendly; we just haven't become one of them yet.

Hopefully by the time Bumpkin arrives we'll have met and become friends with other people with young children. There are babies being born in Doha every day so ours shouldn't be in want for friends. But for now we are working on starting conversations with people on the work shuttle bus and are planning a small housewarming gathering during the Eid break. And continuing to settle into our new place.