It was Ramadan of 2012 when I set foot in Doha and it was excruciatingly hot as it was summer. The heat was unbearable to the point that even throwing trash in the bin outdoor and spending 5 minutes outside our flat was way beyond imaginable.
Working in the Middle East was really an experience of a lifetime in terms of dealing people from all walks of life. Different perspectives on how to observe the culture of the country especially when it was their holy month so to speak.
Like I mentioned, Ramadan time was a real practice of self-discipline as the tradition of not eating in public even inside the shopping center was prohibited from 6 a.m to 6 p.m henceforth I remembered we went to City Center and it was around three in the afternoon that I was really craving for food, went to look for a small pizza house, ordered at least one slice, grab a bite to suffice my craving.
Trying to hide so as not to be seen eating in public?
I was literally enjoying my food when one guy came to my side, very relaxed trying to whisper something....
"please respect the culture of the country, we all want a bite of pizza you know!"
I felt like a kindergarten scolded by my teacher who wished to elope just right there and then! Boredom strike me the most for the whole month of August and it was as if like my time was just so dull and unproductive. The whole motivational videos I had watched served to no avail and I kept on contemplating what am I doing in the desert?
How on this green earth am I able to work productively if deep inside I just want to go back home?
Did I make a mistake when I decided to work overseas?
I asked myself these unworthy questions only to find out that the answers were found online… (wink on this moment thinking how I met my ex-boyfriend now my husband on that site).
Online dating was never my cup of tea as I had been so sceptical about these whole online stuffs.
I had been reading about how online dating could be very unethical and even risky but perhaps curiosity hit me that I went through the site, double, triple checked the reviews of some members not to mention a friend also recommended the integrity of the site as she found her fiancé there.
Nevertheless, out of nothing to do on that weekend I momentarily went ahead and just trying to see how it worked though. And oh by the way guys it was free at that time!
Well I came across his profile, checking through it and I knew from the beginning he is not my kind-of-virtual-friend-to-spend-time-with. Description per se, I’m not engrossed with his profile pic?
Why?
Simply because he doesn’t know how to smile. Okay guys, while browsing others pic mostly it’s very tempting to send them messages and to start a conversation as façade of the snaps was just so great!
Well pictures can be very deceiving especially when you were just connected virtually.
He sent a simple,
“Hi, Hello, how are you?” statement and my usual replied,
“great and what about you? How’s life?”
Then we started talking life in general. Truth of the matter was unexpected as I was having good time talking to him basically because we talked about real life events and for a record it was political by nature. How was that eh?
It was time to log off and I just told him I need to run errands. I remembered before disconnecting he asked for my number and without hesitation since we were both in Doha, I had given him my personal mobile number and my Skype id.
He requested before logging off whether we can see each other on cam at least to wave good bye. It was a plain friendly cam-to-cam encounter and I just told him I can’t stay long. We were seeing each other on cam via Skype hearing each other’s voices and to my surprised he called me on my mobile at the same time.
I answered his call pondering,
“Why are you calling me? I can see you on Skype right now?” clueless of his gesture.
His answered just blew me away. It was a simple phone call yet an extra effort from his end. It's the effort that counts after all, right?
“Well, it’s better to hear your voice on the phone. It’s more personal.”
So I have two questions for you guys:
1. Do you think online dating could lead to marriage?
2. Would you risk taking a chance on love online? Why or why not?
This video was taken during our holiday as we chill around Souq Waquif Area. Our kind of dating mode in an Arabian Peninsula!
Both images used are: Photos by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
The rest of the images used on this post are mine.
Lead Image edited via Canva
Badges earned by the author and property of Uptrennd University edited via PicsArt
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Nice article