Qatar, The Country That Watched Me Grow Up

Growing up in Qatar shaped me in ways I only understood years later. It was not just a place I lived in, but a quiet witness to every version of myself: the hyperactive toddler, the shy pre-teen constantly buried in book and the slightly chaotic teenager testing her limits. Even now, when I think about childhood, I don’t just think about memories. I think about Doha’s skyline, the pools, desert roads, and the feeling of growing up alongside a country that was transforming just as quickly as I was.

The City That Grew With Me

Some of my earliest memories are tied to water. I learned how to swim almost at the same time I learned how to walk. Before I properly understood geography or culture, I already knew the feeling of jumping into pools under the summer heat, spending entire afternoons outside until the sky turned dark (which was pretty early). Qatar gave me a childhood lived outdoors: the sea, compounds full of bikes and stray cats, beaches, desert camping, and endless evenings where time somehow felt slower than it does now.

At the same time, the country itself was changing constantly. When my family first arrived, Doha looked nothing like it does today. I watched the city grow up with me. Every year there were more skyscrapers, brighter lights, bigger malls, more hotels, more people arriving from every corner of the world. Roads changed constantly, entire neighborhoods seemed to appear overnight, and the skyline became unrecognizable every few years. Growing up there felt like living inside movement itself. Nothing stayed still for very long.

One of the biggest gifts Qatar gave me was time. Unlike in France, school days ended early, and because of that my parents put me into almost every activity imaginable. I tried swimming, fencing, drums, marimba, music theory, basketball, gymnastics, classical dance, theatre, drawing, and countless other hobbies I’ve probably forgotten by now. Looking back, I realize how much this shaped me. It taught me not to fear being bad at something. Starting new things became normal to me. Being a beginner never felt embarrassing, it felt exciting. I think that’s why, even today, I constantly want to try new hobbies, explore new places, and throw myself into unfamiliar situations.

The Beauty of Elsewhere

Living in Qatar also meant growing up incredibly close to Asia while still staying connected to Europe through my family roots. Because of that, traveling became part of my life very early on. Weekend trips, holidays, airports, discovering new foods, hearing languages I didn’t understand, walking through unfamiliar streets ~ all of it became normal. I learned quickly that connection does not always depend on speaking the same language. Sometimes curiosity, openness, and a willingness to laugh at misunderstandings are enough.

Traveling so young gave me an openness I carry with me everywhere now. It gave me a deep respect for cultures, religions, nature, animals, and ways of living different from my own. It also gave me a very adventurous food palate. I grew up eating foods from all over the world because Qatar itself is such a cultural crossroads. In one day, you could hear five different languages, eat food from three continents, and meet people with completely different backgrounds and beliefs.

Lessons From Growing Up in Qatar

That environment shaped me more than I realized at the time. Qatar is a place where people constantly come and go. Friendships form quickly because everyone knows time is temporary. As a child and teenager, I met people from everywhere: Lebanon, India, the Philippines, France, South Africa, England, Egypt, the U.S., and so many more places. Growing up around so many cultures taught me how to adapt easily, how to communicate with different kinds of people, and how to stay curious instead of judgmental when faced with differences.

At times, living there also came with contradictions. I never fully felt local, yet Qatar still feels deeply tied to who I am. I existed somewhere in between: French, but shaped by the Middle East; European, but raised surrounded by Asian and Gulf cultures; familiar with the country, yet still slightly outside of it. For a long time I thought that feeling of in-between-ness was something negative, but now I see it differently. Growing up between cultures taught me flexibility, empathy, independence, and the ability to feel at home in unfamiliar places.

Qatar may not be where I was born, but it is the country that watched me grow up.