“While we are new to Qatar, we are not new to the uncertainty and spontaneity of expat life. Qatar is our third expat assignment and the fourth country we’ve moved to in four years. COVID played a large role in our tumultuous timeline, sending my husband to Qatar at the end of Summer 2020. Only, my son and I could not join him until just recently.

We found out we were expecting our second child two weeks after my husband moved away and spent the next 6 months separated. While it was trying, what I can say about the expat community is that they quickly become your home away from home. In just a couple of weeks of moving to Qatar, I was venturing out on social dates with multiple neighbors and making future plans with moms all around Doha. I even befriended one of my neighbors via Facebook before ever moving here. She was kind enough to reach out to me, through our compound community page and let me know we have boys of the same age.

That is to say there is a fast-forming kinship that is quick to welcome and guide you, with a pay-it-forward attitude. We all know what it’s like to be the newcomers, so you are extra thankful for the people who take the time to share what they know and support you as you navigate new waters. Expat Facebook Groups are gold for recommending anything from doctors to schools to restaurants, as are pages like this.

While it’s still painful to be separated from family and friends back home, being a part of a diverse, nurturing community is its own reward. We may currently be newbies to the area, but we’re enthusiastically taking in sights and experiences that prepare us to pay our knowledge forward to other expats.”

-Lyndsay & James (USA)