the arrival

stepping out of the plane doors in doha the humidity hits you like a brick wall.... actually, a brick wall may be more subtle. and this was at 8:00 pm. i literally laughed aloud as i walked down the steps to the steaming ground. i have never known humidity until now. i perhaps should have taken a que from a young arab boy who ahead of me getting off the plane who stopped a few steps from the door, saying "time to breathe" & took several huge gulps of sweet air-conditioned airplane air (?) before disembarking.... but at least i wasn't the british woman who promptly fainted when she reached the bottom of the airplane stairs.... in any event, i've arrived in doha.

doha is definitely a unique place. feels a little bit like a sprawling suburbia in the desert - tulsa amid the sand-dunes with arabian style homes.... definitely already aware of what a sort of cross-roads, worlds-in-collision, layered society it is.... arrived to discover a large, empty arabic style home around the corner from a mosque with a room of my own. room 3. two indian men live there as caretakers. otherwise it's very quiet.... some amusing mishaps on my 1st night trying to get things sorted - sometimes multicultural communication is most amusing even when you're speaking the same language(ish)... they keep a kitten in the yard that i have named monte carlo - in honor of a recent fabulous time in monaco and also because i feel as though this whole adventure is such a gamble.... ;-)

ok, i'm already at work at the arab law bureau & have a conference call in a few so must sign off for now....

ma salama