So, it's Saturday morning again. Roger's doing his zen practice and I'm sitting near an open window listening to a few birds singing and that's all. The feeling reminds me of the quiet of the farm in Glen Nevis.... ultra-soft breezes in a quiet world. Actually, except for the traffic on the roads and the obscene crowds at the malls, Doha is quiet. I am very relaxed here, even at school where I am very busy. But things move along there and when we leave we go out to a quiet world. Roger, who drives a lot, might not agree because every time we are on the roads we are close to having an accident. Yesterday, our friend Judy was sure that someone tried to force her off the road because she's a woman. I guess assumptions can't be proven though.
We're starting our "Coming Home" List. Is there anything that anyone wants us to bring....?
Today, we're going down to the Souq Waqif (the new old souq) to look for Christmas gifts. Strangely, they do have Christmas lights and decorations etc. They are very good at getting what the ex-pats want. Ex-pats make up 80% of the population here and want their things from home. We have learned where to go for British foods and American foods... I think Canadian foods are considered American. Sometimes our favorite cheese will be there and the next 3 times it will be no where. Sour cream seems to be a problem. This week we have lots of business to do... I have to get my driver's licence and we have to go to the Liquor Distribution outlet and Roger has to apply for his exit visa for Christmas. He is pretty good now at knowing how to get places. He found a shorter, more efficient way to get to Villagio (huge mall!). This mall has Starbucks and Virgin books (the only bookstore with English books) and very high-end stores from all over the world like Monsoon and Oasis as well as very very very expensive jewelry and home stores. There is a canal inside with gondolas and gondoliers, and a skating rink... and a croissant costs over 2 dollars. Another striking thing is the huge number of EXPENSIVE stores for children. These babies are cared for by maids as their parents shop... the maids wait patiently outside stores, go in and take the bags and follow them from store to store.We went to a talk at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) last Monday by an American from seattle named Chris Jordan. He's a photographer on a mission to expose the effects of 'consumerism' and waste in the states. He takes statistics like how many aluminum cans are thrown away every minute and creates a photograph that uses that many cans. They are huge canvasses with a sad message. He had been in Doha only a day and with intense passion he asked the Qatari people to reject this SUV consumerism... to take a different path than the USA. He said they still have time to do this. But he hasn't seen the malls... the SUVs on the roads, the clothes in the stores, the garbage on the beaches and on and on. We (who are also not experts) believe that it is too late for them. One of my students said his family has 30 Toyota Landcruisers and Ferraris and Mercedes and Cadillacs and 2 private jets and private yachts and 'farms' all over the world. His father has gone for surgery in Germany. Every time we go out to eat (which is what we do with others) we spend over $150. There are less expensive places and we do try to go there. Today at the Souq we'll eat at an Iraqi restaurant that will be delicious...the best hummus we've ever had with delicious Iraqi bread....huge grilled pitas (about 1 1/2 feet in diameter). There is also an Art Gallery that we want to visit...an exhibition of Syrian artists.
6 hours later....We're back from the Souq. It wasn't at all crowded and we had a great lunch at the Iraqi restaurant...for 4 of us it was about $70. That is a marked difference from the Four Seasons Hotel last weekend where lunch cost just Roger and me over $150.00 and all I had there was a club sandwich!!! We found a few little things to bring home... very Arabic things... but it closed at around 1 pm and won't open again until 4 or 5 pm. Then it will be very very crowded. Roger took us on an expedition out to the sea about 1/2 hour away. It was so very quiet out there. We saw some Qatari girls playing in the sea wearing their abayas. They were having more fun than any young people we have seen here.Today for some reason, we've been more aware of the quiet world we live in. We live out of the city and sometimes feel isolated from the real Doha but there is much construction going on...maybe there is nothing like hills to hold the sounds in... the desert just goes on and on. It's getting dark now and we are going to watch a movie... then 3 weeks to go and we'll be home. School starts again tomorrow... then we have exams next week, then parent interviews the week after that and then we fly home!!! Hurrah. xoxoxoxoxo
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