The experiences of an Argentine in Qatar: alcohol consumption, restrictions for the LGBT community and details ahead of the World Cup

The same spirit of adventure that led him to explore New Zealand, Australia and Denmark motivated Franco San Juan to embark on a pre-world championship experience in Qatar. The next World Cup will be held there and the doors were opened for him to work as a bartender, a profession he forged while thousands of kilometers from Argentina. He arrived a few weeks ago in Qatari territory and, seven months after the ball rolls between teams, he made the decision to leave. “I didn't come for the money here. I lack leisure, that's not what Qatar gives me”, he tells Infobae.

Franco is 29 years old, he was born in Perez, a town on the outskirts of Rosario. In 2016, when she had to pass three subjects to finish her radiology degree, she put away the books and put together her suitcase to try her luck with her partner in New Zealand. After two years there, he spent a semester in Australia before burning his savings on a trip to Southeast Asia, returning to Argentina to reorganize and fly to Denmark on a working holiday (visa that allows you to work and travel to your chosen country for a year).

“I went to New Zealand without knowing anything, I didn't even have a work visa. I went to see what was going on. English? Zero. My partner was a teacher and I always asked her to talk until I let go and learned talking to people. In a year he was fluent in the language”, is the introduction of a globetrotter who did everything to pay for his daily expenses and save a rest to be able to travel the world.

He started on a cucumber plantation, but he was also a dishwasher, cleaning (cleaning in restaurants in the early morning shift), fruit picker, gardener, car wash and even film actor: he was called up for Mission Impossible 6. “A girl in the city was recruiting talents and looking for brown people for the film. As they call me Negro, some friends sent my photo and called me to interview me. I was hired by a modeling agency that later sent my profile to make commercials, movies and things like that,” he describes his fleeting Hollywood step.

When it comes to reviewing the works and evaluating the pros and cons, plus the cost of living, he clarifies: “Outside it's not much use to be a lawyer or architect, it's better to be a chef, barista, work in hospitality or hospitality, which is what is most in demand. By doing whatever work you do, in these countries you are going to work hard, but you are going to save for sure.” Heavy labor consisted of high hourly loads (9 or 10 hours) with enormous physical efforts such as lifting bags of rubble and garbage or collecting fruits and vegetables in uncomfortable positions under the sun. His time in Oceania left a mark on his leg because of the 11 stitches he was given after a cut with a badge, evidence that the security conditions are not ideal either.

In Denmark he did so well as a bartender and barista that he deepened that career and ended up being a bar manager. The plan was to jump to Norway or Sweden, but in that place he was offered to act as a “sponsor” to acquire a work permit and work exclusively for an indefinite period. The pandemic disrupted all plans. There was a massive refusal of visas and ended up volunteering at a hostel in Zagreb, Croatia, with accommodation, one meal per day and chores attending the bar and cleaning the lodging. The coronavirus prevented his move to Sweden and returned him to Argentina, where he traveled throughout 2021 before applying for the job that arose in Qatar.

He passed seven stages of interviews (they started in August last year and ended in early 2022) and flew to Doha, where he found a world he didn't expect.

“It's luxury or nothing. Either you have money or you don't. Qatar is a new country, armed by foreigners. More than half are still under construction, so you can see a lot of dust and sand everywhere. In the center there are accumulated all the buildings that you see in photos, but when you leave there is another reality”, is the welcome postcard that you kept on arrival. Franco works in a 5-star hotel from 7 to 9 hours a day, six days a week. They give him meals, free transportation and accommodation (he lives in an apartment next to another Argentinean, two Indians, a Nepalese and a Filipino in double rooms with one bathroom each).

For his work he receives 1,600 riyals per month (about 440 dollars), a sum that is scarce to save compared to that of other countries: “On the street you can eat something for 60 riyals and in a restaurant you can spend 120 to 150. They sent me a pre-contract before I traveled, but I didn't know what the country was about. Neither the distances nor the conditions of the apartment we are in, which is comfortable. The transport works very well, the metro and Uber are cheap. The cost of living is expensive. Going to the mall, supermarket or anything that involves spending money, costs.”

Another thing that caught the attention of the Rosario who is a fan of Newell's is the diversity of nationalities in every corner of Qatar, contrasted with the few local people: “There is not a single Qatari in the hotel, we are 68 employees of different nationalities. The Qataris that you see are riding in high-end cars. I'm sure the lower class is the one that comes from outside. They told me that about 300 people died during the construction of the stadiums for the World Cup and none of them were local.”

The works to host international audiences who will travel from all over the world to witness the World Cup continue: “The stadiums are finished, but they are still building hotels and apartments. I'm sure they'll get to do everything because they're fast and they're working on it all the time.” However, they have shortcomings in some administrative matters: they have been working for almost two months and they have not yet given him the uniform, they are untidy for the distribution of tasks and slow for simple bureaucratic procedures.

“On the street, more World Cup decorations began to be seen and they already put a clock with the countdown, although people are not football players. The hotel was crazy when the draw was made, it was full. And it just so happened that it was just a day before Ramadan started,” he says. This Muslim rite invites practitioners not to eat, drink or smoke from the moment it rises until the sun sets every day for a month in order to “maintain the purity of the soul”. For this reason, many businesses close at this time and there is little movement in the streets. By law, Muslims work only 6 hours in this period, while non-Muslims should eat food and drink secretly out of respect for others.

They are really strict: “They don't let me drink mate on the street. On the first day of Ramadan I got on the bus to go to work with the mate and they all turned around to look at me. They attract your attention because it is an important issue for them.”

Entertainment is scarce for people and others. In general, people crowd in bars or shopping malls to escape the 35 degrees of heat that usually occurs even though it is not yet summer. “Here they don't drink much alcohol because of their religion and they do smoke a lot of shisha (a pipe with different flavors). They always get under the roof with air conditioning because the heat is unbearable. The other day I went for a walk on my day off, but I went back to the apartment because it was unsustainable,” says Franco, who is an amateur photographer and has not been able to practice his hobby since he arrived in Qatar: “To take urban and street images I need a license; every time I take a photo, a security comes up telling me that I can't to photograph”.

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, THE LGBT COMMUNITY AND TREATMENT FOR WOMEN

Unlike other countries such as Saudi Arabia, alcohol consumption is allowed in Qatar, although restricted. The offer appears in the bars of international hotels, bars and nightclubs. They don't let people drink it on the streets and to buy it in kiosks and supermarkets you need to carry a special license, to which only the wealthiest have access.

“There are things that aren't entirely explained or regulated thinking about what the World Cup is going to be like, for example, whether a foreigner can buy alcohol in a supermarket. Here you can drink as much as you want, but in certain places. There are clubs and bars with all kinds of music that sell alcohol and last until 2 or 3 in the morning. Everything closes quite early. It is very fashionable to go to the bar of a hotel that has a terrace. And they have shisha everywhere”, was the report on the subject of the Argentinian in Doha.

Regarding the LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), he shared what the local media reported in recent days: “The homosexual relationship is not accepted here. It is said that members of the community will be accepted during the World Cup, but they will ask that they not show affection or affection publicly or that they carry their flag because they will be taken away and they will probably suffer some kind of sanction.”

As in every World Cup event, the culture shock will be evident. And this time everything will be enhanced by the customs of the host country. Franco San Juan also referred to the place that women have in Qatari society and alleged machismo: “You see girls working with turbans and covers. To work in the hotel bar they recommended that women who only see their eyes and are accompanied by a man, try not to look at them because they will feel invaded and harassed. In addition, the man can also be offended. One day I was filming the panorama in a public place and a woman came up to tell me not to.”

On the beaches around the tourist centre of Doha, with crystal clear water and not so pure or white sand, it is common to see women cool off with their robes on, while most men stay in smaller cloths to get wet. “They are comfortable dressing the way they do because they have been raised that way. Men here are allowed to have more than one woman and decide everything. 'Come here, sit there, do this or that. ' You can see it on the street. It is rare to explain it, but you can see that there is a machismo that is present”, he added.

With the Qatari tourist guide under his arm and dozens of experiences lived since he stepped on Arab soil, the rosarino is surprised to say that he has already resigned from his job and has a return date for April 22. Apart from the fact that he misses playing football, going to the Newell's court, having a barbecue with friends or having a beer or wine without getting an eye out of his face, he listed other issues that invited him to stamp his passport again.

“The weather is not good (because of the excessive heat) and there is disorganization in the hotel, besides the fact that I love my job and I get along great with the people I am. We are very far from everything that can be done for the location. The beaches are 40 minutes away by metro, but working hours don't allow me to enjoy them. I go from the apartment to the hotel, I don't have a park to go for a walk or any leisure. I came for the experience and there is the World Cup, but I don't like it at all and I feel like I'm wasting my time. It's the first time it happens to me being in another country”, was his download via Zoom.

While waiting for the company that hired him to pay him the ticket back to Argentina as stipulated in the contract, he already has in mind the idea of settling in Rosario to collaborate in the family transport company. As many visas are until the age of 30, he began to let go of the plan of continuing to travel the world in working holiday mode, but he is clear that he will raise money to continue to know countries and cultures for pleasure and to vacation.

“If there were less left for the World Cup, I would stay. But if everything is disorganized in the low season, imagine what it will be like at the World Cup”, was the final reflection.

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