no, i'm not talking about michael jackson. though the fact that he is hanging out in neighboring bahrain, wearing an abaya & walking around with veiled children is mildly disturbing and confirms once again that no good can come from pushing a child into pop-stardom at age 5, the nightmare of which i speak is a little closer to home.....
by the way, happy new year! i hope 2006 is treating you very well thus far. 2005 closed out wonderfully for me - my sister sadie's wedding was beautiful and fabulously fun, my trip back to the US was wonderful, even if whirlwinded, and I started off 2006 with a trip to cairo - which is truly an amazing & alive city..... if back in 2005 you had asked me what would make returning to doha unbearable for me, i probably would have said if somehow it turned into saudi, if the traffic got any worse, or if they cut off even more foreign-based lifelines, like foreign music on the radio.... strangely enough, i have come back to qatar to find that all of the above have eerily come to pass...
doha is over-run by saudis and other halijis (people from the gulf) at the moment. estimates have ranged from 100,000 - 300,000 re: the number of saudis currently in doha. and when i say over-run i mean it. this is not a big city. the influx started with a trickle and has become a deluge, and it is anticipated to get even worse now that the weekend is here.... i knew something was up my first day back in doha when i walked into the mall to find a veritable riot outside the qatar national bank branch in city centre (the biggest mall). masses of robed men, pushing, shoving, shouting. security guards trying to maintain some sort of line. animated debates and wild gestures and flinging of headdresses.... i slinked by and made it to the grocery store, quite pleased with myself for realizing that there must be some new stock being offered on the doha securities market. (whenever there is a new IPO, scenes like this happen at every registration site.) but i knew that it would only be for a few days, then the qatari bidding period would end and the market would be opened up to us mere mortals not blessed enough to be born qatari and the storm would die down.... what i didn't know was that this wasn't an IPO for just any stock, and that it wasn't just going to be offered to qataris at a special rate. it turns out that a powerful new islamic bank is in the midst of the grandest IPO since google here in doha. it's a purely islamic bank, which is huge, will operate across the region, and has structured the offering such that after qataris, all GCC nationals get an early shot specially priced shares. [GCC = gulf cooperation council, the regional organization of the gulf states] however, everyone needs to register for their shares in person. so doha has become the hottest spot in the region as halijis from everywhere flock to get their piece of this historic action... the saudis are by far the largest group - many just driving over the border. as i said, i've heard estimates from 100,000 - 300,000 (which was apparently the gulf times figure), so i'll be safe and say there are 200,000 saudis in sweet little doha at the moment. plus people from the rest of the gulf. the city is absolutely swamped.
traffic is abysmal. there are more SUVs with terrible drivers everywhere. and of course there are all sorts of bizarre new construction projects going on making matters worse. i swear i will never understand why the roads here are always under construction for no apparent reason. what happens is one day there's a road, the next it's simply closed off. or part of it is. or there's a diversion..... the roundabout closest to my house is under construction at the moment. a large sign was a erected that says "deep excavation" and the workers appear to be digging a pit where the sidewalk and one corner of the roundabout once were. those signs always baffle me. deep excavation for what? oil? no, that's not in this region. artifacts? no. dinosaurs? no. traffic is so bad at the moment that my commute to work this morning, a simple trip of approximately 3 miles which usually takes no more than 5 minutes, took me 1 hour and 45 minutes.... i'm not kidding. it was during this commute that i realized i was living in nightmare on istqilal street. [istiglal = independence btw] after reaching the rainbow roundabout [site of ambiguous "deep excavation" project # 23] and seeing it was totally bottlenecked, i cleverly turned off to take a little shortcut i know.... only to discover that the next roundabout - the qatar sports club roundabout - was a war zone. the qatar sports club was one of the registration sites for the IPO, so there were cars parked everywhere - on the street, sidewalk, grass, hanging in the trees, and about 10,000 saudi men milling around, and about 10,000 more impatiently trying to get to the roundabout and driving poorly. this was on istqilal street. where, to make matters worse, i saw a dead puppy. (i'm not even kidding. looked like a yellow lab. (the exxon mobile compound is there & a lot of other foreigners live in that area so it was probably from one of those homes. the locals don't keep dogs.)) after sitting in traffic for some time, mourning the puppy, i reached the roundabout only to have it be closed by the police because there had been an accident. no surprise there. i forlornly watched the two would-be shareholders rant at each other as i turned the only way i could - the wrong way - and kept going. at the next roundabout, i decided to give up on this whole area of town and go the long way round via t.v. roundabout (so named because the al-jeezera tower is there). however, this was a terrible mistake because i sat in traffic for about 45 minutes just trying to reach the roundabout. this is when the third part of this perfect storm of misery got to me - the radio.
when i first came back to doha, all the radio stations were only playing prayers all the time, 24 / 7. this was because an important sheikh in the UAE had just died. he was vice premier of the UAE & president of dubai or something along those lines. apparently, the whole region went into mourning, including the radio.. however, when the mourning ended and regular radio resumed, the one radio station i liked, a dance and R&B station from dubai (where else?), didn't resurface. apparently it has been blocked.... this is a big tragedy. i found it extremely gratifying and a source of quiet joy to be able to drive around doha listening to gwen stefani or madonna or whatever other scandalous and cheesy songs they played. now, i am forced to listen to local radio, which aside from the occasional gem of a call-in show (when i can understand it), is basically terrible. all broadcasts must be interrupted at prayer times for the call to prayer. this is very often followed with a hypnotic chorus of two voices, a man and a woman, repeating after each other melodiously, extolling listeners to "read the quran, read the quran, read the quran, read the quran, read the quran" for some time. that was what i was listening to when stuck in my car in a sea of saudis stuck in their cars, saddened by a dead puppy and late for work. after the 'read the quran' bit, some stations also do what i think of as the 'paradise rhapsody.' it starts with the sounds of a bunch of tweeting birds and rushing water. then the water (presumably a river or a stream) just quiets down, and your just left with tweeting. the whole segment lasts a good 3 - 5 minutes (which is a lot of tweeting). i'm not really sure what that is about. my theory is that maybe it's the sounds of paradise... ? anyway, the "tweet, tweet, tweet" just added to the nightmarishness.... i've since decided that the birds in my paradise will not have high-pitched tweets, and will in fact be a jazz band. ;-)
but enough on that. being back has not been all bad. (though i am laying low until this IPO insanity is over) i have become closer with one remarkable qatari woman and have learned more about qatari married life and qatari society through her. it all continues to intrigue me, perhaps because it is so hard to know and understand. it is, quite literally, so covered. her friendship is definitely a growing joy in the new year.... otherwise, life is quiet. classes don't start again until february, so i have a lot more time to stare at the sand and ponder the sky. [there was crazy weather earlier this week actually - apparently caused by violent sandstorms in the north - the whole city was basically just covered in sand. even the air looked sand-coloured. truly bizarre.]
and that's about the shape of things with me... i hope this finds you well, whatever sky you're pondering.
Friday, May 8, 2009
doha round 1
so, as this doha round draws to a close, i think i'm coming out standing. 'tis the season for reflection and all....
i really can't believe how quickly these first four months have flown by. but i suppose that's life - you settle into rhythms and they just beat away as you go about your days and ways....
it was almost sad to finish exams at the university amid the uncommon and unlikely little community we have created in the classroom.... class was always quite an amusing little scene. kim kabir (big kim - the crazy, older north korean spy) continued to be a source of wonder. and pascal, a frenchman of north african descent, former paratrooper in the army, recent convert to islam and rather fanatic about it and somewhat scary even before paris was burning (white thube, shaved head but long wild beard, spot on his forehead from praying so much, fiery eyes, booming voice, lots of animosity towards america & the west), took to showing up once a week, if that, and the professors didn't say anything. (i actually rather like pascal & am not afraid of him; he even looks me in the eye now.) farid, from benin, who tried to convert me to islam on day one, continued to be aloof. mohammed sar, from senegal and a sweetheart, continued to be a ray of sunshine and is always called upon to run errands for the professors or reach high things because he is so tall. the little filipinos were rather quiet, but occasionally very funny. abdullah the american-white-guy-muslim-convert-who-dresses-in-"islam the active line"-and-conspicuously-fingers-his-prayer-beads-during-class continued to play that part perfectly. patrick, a master's student from georgetown, continued to be a friend and a good source of news and insights from the boys dorm. oh, and violeta, the woman from kosovo, had her baby - a girl. professor abdullah, who is from mauritania and is absolutely fabulous, continued to wear the same suit for a week straight, while professor mahmoud continued to think that we don't understand something because we are not listening, not because we don't know the vocabulary..... it has been an interesting three hours each day.
the cast of characters at the office and my time there has also been interesting.... our secretary, miriam, is a tiny, tiny filipino woman who looks like she cannot be older than 12, is very shy, and calls the managing partner "sir alaa," which i find very odd. zuhair, originally from gaza, is the "guy around the office" and just kind of does it all - answers the phone, types arabic documents, sends faxes, organizes things, and reads the newspapers. he and i get along well and he is actually very thoughtful and has interesting ideas on things. he came into my office the other day when there weren't many others around to talk about politics in the arab world. he told me how there was a huge difference between "democracy" and "freedom of expression / freedom of viewpoint" - which doesn't exist in the arab world.... something you hear talked about a lot, but very rarely from someone like zuhair. (he told me not to tell anyone he said it of course.) then there's mr. abdulati, a jolly round egyptian who wears vests with his suits and is always engrossed deep in research - in books, he doesn't have a computer in his office and i don't think ever uses one. mr. khalifa bin rassid, the qatari partner and "head" of the firm, sits regally in his office smoking, drinking coffee, reading the papers, and entertaining friends. i don't think he does any work, but it's his firm, and as a qatari that's his contribution (you need a qatari partner with majority, if not total, ownership to have a local law firm). emad is a round-faced, friendly young egyptian, who tries to look serious but doesn't quite succeed. hatim is the skinniest man i have ever seen and makes an art of studiously ignoring me and coming and going as he pleases. alaa, a palestinian-jordanian, is the managing partner and who i work with. he's snobby but kind, exists on cigarettes and coffee, at least while at the office, and keeps the whole firm afloat. finally, ismail, the indian tea-boy / driver, is always about, usually kicking it with miriam and zuhair at the front of the office if he's not busy. the arab law bureau is a curious little place, but enjoyable....
i wonder if i will miss these daily routines.... at this point i doubt it because i am very much ready for a break, but i realize that i have certainly been blessed with the opportunity to have some unique experiences, with some unique characters, here.
speaking of experiences, without a doubt the biggest change in my daily life here has been driving. i drive everywhere everyday. it's the only way to get around. but it's also its own peculiar form of madness..... driving here requires an interesting mix of being at once very cautious and rather aggressive. everyone drives like maniacs and it doesn't help that half the city is under construction all the time, so roads are constantly being closed and re-routed, and there is a system of round-abouts without any traffic lights, lanes, or even rules, and that the city just cannot handle the flow of cars on the roads. learning your way around is also a bit tricky because everyone uses the round-abouts as landmarks for giving directions, but often they have nicknames or are named after things that are no longer there. "crazy roundabout" for example is now no longer a roundabout at all, but a traffic signal. and "stinky roundabout" - officially named soudan roundabout - is so nicknamed because it supposedly smells, but that's hard to know when the windows are closed. "cholesterol roundabout" is also no longer a roundabout, but identifiable because there is a large collection of fast-food joints at that intersection.... you get the idea. i think i've become a pretty decent driver, though i can't imagine being in a land where each roundabout is not a free-for-all battle, and people actually yield before merging on to roads, rather than swinging blindly into traffic, or where angry arab men in huge land cruisers and hummers don't come tailgating up behind you, flashing their brights at you so you'll move lanes and they can continue to roar along at 50 kilometers per hour over the speed limit.... aih. there has been a recent initiative in the region to warn against reckless driving as a "health crisis" because deaths from auto accidents are so numerous it's an epidemic - the 2nd leading cause of death in the gulf apparently....
but i've braved the driving fight, and again, am still standing.... and stepping out of this ring for spell....
i leave shortly for a glorious sojourn oceans from here.... i'll be joining my family to celebrate my sister sadie's wedding in the bahamas (which is very wonderfulexciting!!!), heading to miami for new year's, then will be in DC & NYC in the beginning of january. if you are in either of those locales - mark your calendars! i'll be in DC from jan. 2 - 10, with a trip up to NYC the weekend of jan. 6 - 8. i'll have my ba's mobile, so you can reach me at 703.395.6495..... i would love to see you!
i'll be back with more adventures in the next doha round after the new year..... meanwhile, i hope that all is merry and bright and that this finds you and yours in splendid spirits.
i really can't believe how quickly these first four months have flown by. but i suppose that's life - you settle into rhythms and they just beat away as you go about your days and ways....
it was almost sad to finish exams at the university amid the uncommon and unlikely little community we have created in the classroom.... class was always quite an amusing little scene. kim kabir (big kim - the crazy, older north korean spy) continued to be a source of wonder. and pascal, a frenchman of north african descent, former paratrooper in the army, recent convert to islam and rather fanatic about it and somewhat scary even before paris was burning (white thube, shaved head but long wild beard, spot on his forehead from praying so much, fiery eyes, booming voice, lots of animosity towards america & the west), took to showing up once a week, if that, and the professors didn't say anything. (i actually rather like pascal & am not afraid of him; he even looks me in the eye now.) farid, from benin, who tried to convert me to islam on day one, continued to be aloof. mohammed sar, from senegal and a sweetheart, continued to be a ray of sunshine and is always called upon to run errands for the professors or reach high things because he is so tall. the little filipinos were rather quiet, but occasionally very funny. abdullah the american-white-guy-muslim-convert-who-dresses-in-"islam the active line"-and-conspicuously-fingers-his-prayer-beads-during-class continued to play that part perfectly. patrick, a master's student from georgetown, continued to be a friend and a good source of news and insights from the boys dorm. oh, and violeta, the woman from kosovo, had her baby - a girl. professor abdullah, who is from mauritania and is absolutely fabulous, continued to wear the same suit for a week straight, while professor mahmoud continued to think that we don't understand something because we are not listening, not because we don't know the vocabulary..... it has been an interesting three hours each day.
the cast of characters at the office and my time there has also been interesting.... our secretary, miriam, is a tiny, tiny filipino woman who looks like she cannot be older than 12, is very shy, and calls the managing partner "sir alaa," which i find very odd. zuhair, originally from gaza, is the "guy around the office" and just kind of does it all - answers the phone, types arabic documents, sends faxes, organizes things, and reads the newspapers. he and i get along well and he is actually very thoughtful and has interesting ideas on things. he came into my office the other day when there weren't many others around to talk about politics in the arab world. he told me how there was a huge difference between "democracy" and "freedom of expression / freedom of viewpoint" - which doesn't exist in the arab world.... something you hear talked about a lot, but very rarely from someone like zuhair. (he told me not to tell anyone he said it of course.) then there's mr. abdulati, a jolly round egyptian who wears vests with his suits and is always engrossed deep in research - in books, he doesn't have a computer in his office and i don't think ever uses one. mr. khalifa bin rassid, the qatari partner and "head" of the firm, sits regally in his office smoking, drinking coffee, reading the papers, and entertaining friends. i don't think he does any work, but it's his firm, and as a qatari that's his contribution (you need a qatari partner with majority, if not total, ownership to have a local law firm). emad is a round-faced, friendly young egyptian, who tries to look serious but doesn't quite succeed. hatim is the skinniest man i have ever seen and makes an art of studiously ignoring me and coming and going as he pleases. alaa, a palestinian-jordanian, is the managing partner and who i work with. he's snobby but kind, exists on cigarettes and coffee, at least while at the office, and keeps the whole firm afloat. finally, ismail, the indian tea-boy / driver, is always about, usually kicking it with miriam and zuhair at the front of the office if he's not busy. the arab law bureau is a curious little place, but enjoyable....
i wonder if i will miss these daily routines.... at this point i doubt it because i am very much ready for a break, but i realize that i have certainly been blessed with the opportunity to have some unique experiences, with some unique characters, here.
speaking of experiences, without a doubt the biggest change in my daily life here has been driving. i drive everywhere everyday. it's the only way to get around. but it's also its own peculiar form of madness..... driving here requires an interesting mix of being at once very cautious and rather aggressive. everyone drives like maniacs and it doesn't help that half the city is under construction all the time, so roads are constantly being closed and re-routed, and there is a system of round-abouts without any traffic lights, lanes, or even rules, and that the city just cannot handle the flow of cars on the roads. learning your way around is also a bit tricky because everyone uses the round-abouts as landmarks for giving directions, but often they have nicknames or are named after things that are no longer there. "crazy roundabout" for example is now no longer a roundabout at all, but a traffic signal. and "stinky roundabout" - officially named soudan roundabout - is so nicknamed because it supposedly smells, but that's hard to know when the windows are closed. "cholesterol roundabout" is also no longer a roundabout, but identifiable because there is a large collection of fast-food joints at that intersection.... you get the idea. i think i've become a pretty decent driver, though i can't imagine being in a land where each roundabout is not a free-for-all battle, and people actually yield before merging on to roads, rather than swinging blindly into traffic, or where angry arab men in huge land cruisers and hummers don't come tailgating up behind you, flashing their brights at you so you'll move lanes and they can continue to roar along at 50 kilometers per hour over the speed limit.... aih. there has been a recent initiative in the region to warn against reckless driving as a "health crisis" because deaths from auto accidents are so numerous it's an epidemic - the 2nd leading cause of death in the gulf apparently....
but i've braved the driving fight, and again, am still standing.... and stepping out of this ring for spell....
i leave shortly for a glorious sojourn oceans from here.... i'll be joining my family to celebrate my sister sadie's wedding in the bahamas (which is very wonderfulexciting!!!), heading to miami for new year's, then will be in DC & NYC in the beginning of january. if you are in either of those locales - mark your calendars! i'll be in DC from jan. 2 - 10, with a trip up to NYC the weekend of jan. 6 - 8. i'll have my ba's mobile, so you can reach me at 703.395.6495..... i would love to see you!
i'll be back with more adventures in the next doha round after the new year..... meanwhile, i hope that all is merry and bright and that this finds you and yours in splendid spirits.
"at least it's not saudi"
this phrase has to be the most common refrain of my life's music here in doha. when i hear it coming, an almost warmth comes over me in the way that happens when you're meeting an old friend or about to eat a favourite desert.... but i get to greet this familiar refrain all the time here. you hear it from everyone - locals, foreigners of all flavours - westerners, south asians, non-qatari arabs, even casual visitors (including wes clark who i happened to meet the other night at a cigar event organized by a sheikh i know)..... the causal visitor encounters aside, there's almost a ritual to it among those of us who call these sands home and it goes something like this:
doha resident A - "did you hear about the couple that was arrested for kissing in city center last week?" [city center is a big mall and a major hang-out spot] "i read about it in the gulf times." [the gulf times is an insulting excuse of a newspaper that you only read when you've been here too long or have msn as your homepage due to lack of imagination]
doha resident B - "hmmmph. were they qatari?!?"
A - "no, foreigners."
doha resident C - "were they arab?!?"
A - "i don't know, the paper didn't say."
B - "you know, i've seen a lot of secretive hand-holding in city center these days... including qataris!" (triumphant grin over this nugget of insight)
C - "yes, but that's not kissing.... though i still can't believe they were arrested."
A - "well, ... at least it's not saudi!"
A,B,C and anyone else around all exchange meaningful glances at this point. At least one person mumbles "allhamdulila" [thanks to allah / praise to allah], no matter what religion or nationality he is (everyone's speech here is peppered with "inshallah" and "allhamdulila" and "mashallah" no matter where they are from). most likely at least one of the others repeats "allhamdulila" as they all nod meaningfully. then if you're lucky, somebody will bust out with some really great "Saudi is the source of all evil / hell on earth" story. and sure, maybe Saudi Arabia is the source of all evil [may allah smite me now for saying that (well, if allah "smites" that is; to my knowledge the quran is silent on that matter)], but the longer i am here the more I realize that Qatar is just a hop, skip, and jump away from Saudi, and the more i see the inherent contradictions and aberrations that inevitably exist in a society bowed under a form of islam that can be at best described as "conservative," the more that refrain seems hollow.
the lastest and most spirited rounds of "at least it's not saudi" i heard were in response to my telling people that i am now required to wear the abaya when on campus at qatar university. and i am now wearing the abaya on campus each day (hop), and i have a hijab, but am not required to cover my head (skip) or wear the face-covering yashmek (jump). this new requirement was forced upon me because (male) qatari students had complained to the administration that my presence was "offensive" because (1) i wore trousers and (2) the foreign female students occasionally purchased tea or snacks from the little cafeteria in the building where we take class and (3) they are extremely devout and this whole situation was intolerable. as i've explained, qatar university is entirely segregated by gender and in fact has "two campuses" (which are side-by-side and connected in a few points so professors and administrators and oddball students like us can pass from one side to the other). our arabic classes are mixed, and our classrooms are on the men's campus, and therein was the problem. after receiving these complaints, the foreign female students in our program were summoned to a meeting with the sheikha who is VP for student affairs and told we were barred from the cafeteria and needed to discuss dress code. of course the dress code discussion was all under the guise of our being young and beautiful (as if the problem was us, not the male students for whom it is totally acceptable to see foreign women as nothing more than sex objects, not even as people ... to put it in context, none of us had ever worn anything revealing even as much as an elbow, and i discreetly walk through the halls eyes downcast on my way to class to avoid being "offensive" ... none of us has ever actually sat in the little cafeteria, just purchased tea and gone back to class). furthermore, i was personally told in a round-about way that i needed to wear the abaya - "you will find the abaya very comfortable, and you will feel more comfortable wearing it; we are concerned with making you feel comfortable." ... i was not aware that i was uncomfortable in business blouses and trousers, and as for comfort - quick pop quiz: if you lived in the desert, would you want (a) to wear a loose, white, lightweight cotton nightshirt or (b) drown in a veritable swimmingpool of black rayon fabric that doesn't breath well? if you have two peas in your brain, you would chose (a) [my apologies to those who chose (b)]. ... i was fairly horrified about how the whole situation was handled, we all were. we also took the opportunity to raise some questions about facilities for female students, and while listening to the disappointing answers, all that was running through my head was "separate but equal is inherently unequal." ... but there is only so much challenging the culture that i can do, and i'm here on a Fulbright, meant to be an ambassador of goodwill and all that. (i did say the word "vagina" in talking about "the vagina monologues" while at dinner with two girlfriends last week, one of whom is a member of the royal family - now that was scandalous...) so i try to remain a beacon of tolerance and understanding, i am here after all to learn, even as i am told that my presence is offensive to men holier than i am simply because i am a woman and then hear these same men whistle at me as i walk by in my abaya on my way to class..... this thanksgiving i was able to give thanks for coming from a society that does not treat women as less than full citizens, or see them only as sexual objects or creatures here to do the bidding of their husbands. and of course i am speaking in generalities, but one specific i am sure of is that gender dynamics here are totally, totally bizarre... and so i wear the abaya every day now. but at least i am able to move freely in public without being escorted by a male family member, to show my head, to drive, and sit freely in the "family" section of restaurants or cafes on my own.... at least it's not saudi! (allhamdulila)
another note or two on gender dynamics while i'm on the subject -
first, i have realized how very common it is for men here to have more than one wife. call it naivete, but i somehow just thought it was more the exception than the rule in modern, progressive qatar. but that is not the case. 2 - 3 wives is the norm. 4 is a little greedy. and 1 means you've got a talker! (a woman who speaks up) ... or maybe, just maybe a man who sees polygamy as problematic for the family unit ... i know i should not have been so surprised. after all, it was only in the last few years that a law was passed saying women had to be 16 to be married. and polygamy is legal. and this is still a society where showing one's ankles is enough to cause weeks of malicious gossip and, as the ABC conversation demonstrates (which is a true story - happened two weeks ago), public displays of affection can have serious consequences, and where men dominate absolutely... but i suppose i just somehow thought that the practice was less prevalent than it is. but i was wearing my liberal blonde blinders and just didn't see reality.
second, i have also recently learned, through my sources of enlightenment in the boys dorm(which is about 250 - 300 men, mostly non-qatari arabs, the africans, the kims, etc., plus two americans who have great senses of humor and keep me up on the news), that homosexuality is widespread and accepted among men in the gulf. as they explained it to me, it's really not all that surprising - you segregate the genders enough and it's bound to happen. apparently some of the students - especially those who were raised in saudi (!!) had never seen anything beyond the round of a woman's face before coming to doha (and they still don't see much on campus, rest assured).... these same students and others explained how sexual activity was very common between men in saudi, and all across the gulf, including qatar (and, in fact, including the qatar university men's dorm). (though not in other areas of the arab world where the genders freely mingle and ankles and wrists are shown with reckless abandon each day.) apparently partaking in such activity is not considered "gay" provided you are the one being pleasured, not doing the pleasuring..... this is all quietly tolerated of course because homosexual activity is illegal and un-islamic and would lead to arrest and probably more serious repercussions than heterosexual smooching..... even in dubai, the arab world's amsterdam, where all things sinful and free are tolerated, there is no tolerance of homosexuality. recently, a gay wedding at a dubai night club was broken up by the police and resulted in arrests, deportations, and a strong message that this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated in the emirates.
all of this of course makes you wonder which parts of these societies are ideal / progressive / muslim? in doha, there's a black market for whiskey and a black market for rice. the whiskey market is for rich local men who need to hide the purchase, drink the whole bottle in one go so as not to be caught with it, and then driver their land cruisers into sand-dunes. the rice market is for the impoverished south asian workers who are the infrastructure of this place but are paid appalling wages - of which they send as much as they can back to their families - and don't have enough to afford rice from the stores.... a foreign woman in business trousers is offensive to one's purity, but getting a quick blow-job from a muslim man doesn't make you gay..... perhaps the best image for all of this is something i came across while wandering around bleary-eyed in the dubai airport at some ungodly hour of the morning. to keep myself awake, i was flipping through every magazine i could find. in this flipping frenzy, i picked up "Esquire" - the men's magazine - and was amused to discover that all photos that had nipples peeping through sheer material (which seemed to be a theme in this issue) had been covered over with black magic marker. it reminded me of when our family bought a book in china - one of the "day in the life" photography books - where a picture of political posters relating to tiananmen were carefully crossed out in black magic marker. clearly, while calls for a representative government are revolutionary in china, the sight of nipples is unsettling in the UAE. ... but, at least it's not saudi - where the sight of nipples would probably lead to rioting religious police and stonings....
oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy....
i think living here has given me a lot to be thankful for this season... and taught me to be thankful for so many intangibles i never even noticed.... and allhamdulila for that!
i hope this finds you all in fine, free spirits.
doha resident A - "did you hear about the couple that was arrested for kissing in city center last week?" [city center is a big mall and a major hang-out spot] "i read about it in the gulf times." [the gulf times is an insulting excuse of a newspaper that you only read when you've been here too long or have msn as your homepage due to lack of imagination]
doha resident B - "hmmmph. were they qatari?!?"
A - "no, foreigners."
doha resident C - "were they arab?!?"
A - "i don't know, the paper didn't say."
B - "you know, i've seen a lot of secretive hand-holding in city center these days... including qataris!" (triumphant grin over this nugget of insight)
C - "yes, but that's not kissing.... though i still can't believe they were arrested."
A - "well, ... at least it's not saudi!"
A,B,C and anyone else around all exchange meaningful glances at this point. At least one person mumbles "allhamdulila" [thanks to allah / praise to allah], no matter what religion or nationality he is (everyone's speech here is peppered with "inshallah" and "allhamdulila" and "mashallah" no matter where they are from). most likely at least one of the others repeats "allhamdulila" as they all nod meaningfully. then if you're lucky, somebody will bust out with some really great "Saudi is the source of all evil / hell on earth" story. and sure, maybe Saudi Arabia is the source of all evil [may allah smite me now for saying that (well, if allah "smites" that is; to my knowledge the quran is silent on that matter)], but the longer i am here the more I realize that Qatar is just a hop, skip, and jump away from Saudi, and the more i see the inherent contradictions and aberrations that inevitably exist in a society bowed under a form of islam that can be at best described as "conservative," the more that refrain seems hollow.
the lastest and most spirited rounds of "at least it's not saudi" i heard were in response to my telling people that i am now required to wear the abaya when on campus at qatar university. and i am now wearing the abaya on campus each day (hop), and i have a hijab, but am not required to cover my head (skip) or wear the face-covering yashmek (jump). this new requirement was forced upon me because (male) qatari students had complained to the administration that my presence was "offensive" because (1) i wore trousers and (2) the foreign female students occasionally purchased tea or snacks from the little cafeteria in the building where we take class and (3) they are extremely devout and this whole situation was intolerable. as i've explained, qatar university is entirely segregated by gender and in fact has "two campuses" (which are side-by-side and connected in a few points so professors and administrators and oddball students like us can pass from one side to the other). our arabic classes are mixed, and our classrooms are on the men's campus, and therein was the problem. after receiving these complaints, the foreign female students in our program were summoned to a meeting with the sheikha who is VP for student affairs and told we were barred from the cafeteria and needed to discuss dress code. of course the dress code discussion was all under the guise of our being young and beautiful (as if the problem was us, not the male students for whom it is totally acceptable to see foreign women as nothing more than sex objects, not even as people ... to put it in context, none of us had ever worn anything revealing even as much as an elbow, and i discreetly walk through the halls eyes downcast on my way to class to avoid being "offensive" ... none of us has ever actually sat in the little cafeteria, just purchased tea and gone back to class). furthermore, i was personally told in a round-about way that i needed to wear the abaya - "you will find the abaya very comfortable, and you will feel more comfortable wearing it; we are concerned with making you feel comfortable." ... i was not aware that i was uncomfortable in business blouses and trousers, and as for comfort - quick pop quiz: if you lived in the desert, would you want (a) to wear a loose, white, lightweight cotton nightshirt or (b) drown in a veritable swimmingpool of black rayon fabric that doesn't breath well? if you have two peas in your brain, you would chose (a) [my apologies to those who chose (b)]. ... i was fairly horrified about how the whole situation was handled, we all were. we also took the opportunity to raise some questions about facilities for female students, and while listening to the disappointing answers, all that was running through my head was "separate but equal is inherently unequal." ... but there is only so much challenging the culture that i can do, and i'm here on a Fulbright, meant to be an ambassador of goodwill and all that. (i did say the word "vagina" in talking about "the vagina monologues" while at dinner with two girlfriends last week, one of whom is a member of the royal family - now that was scandalous...) so i try to remain a beacon of tolerance and understanding, i am here after all to learn, even as i am told that my presence is offensive to men holier than i am simply because i am a woman and then hear these same men whistle at me as i walk by in my abaya on my way to class..... this thanksgiving i was able to give thanks for coming from a society that does not treat women as less than full citizens, or see them only as sexual objects or creatures here to do the bidding of their husbands. and of course i am speaking in generalities, but one specific i am sure of is that gender dynamics here are totally, totally bizarre... and so i wear the abaya every day now. but at least i am able to move freely in public without being escorted by a male family member, to show my head, to drive, and sit freely in the "family" section of restaurants or cafes on my own.... at least it's not saudi! (allhamdulila)
another note or two on gender dynamics while i'm on the subject -
first, i have realized how very common it is for men here to have more than one wife. call it naivete, but i somehow just thought it was more the exception than the rule in modern, progressive qatar. but that is not the case. 2 - 3 wives is the norm. 4 is a little greedy. and 1 means you've got a talker! (a woman who speaks up) ... or maybe, just maybe a man who sees polygamy as problematic for the family unit ... i know i should not have been so surprised. after all, it was only in the last few years that a law was passed saying women had to be 16 to be married. and polygamy is legal. and this is still a society where showing one's ankles is enough to cause weeks of malicious gossip and, as the ABC conversation demonstrates (which is a true story - happened two weeks ago), public displays of affection can have serious consequences, and where men dominate absolutely... but i suppose i just somehow thought that the practice was less prevalent than it is. but i was wearing my liberal blonde blinders and just didn't see reality.
second, i have also recently learned, through my sources of enlightenment in the boys dorm(which is about 250 - 300 men, mostly non-qatari arabs, the africans, the kims, etc., plus two americans who have great senses of humor and keep me up on the news), that homosexuality is widespread and accepted among men in the gulf. as they explained it to me, it's really not all that surprising - you segregate the genders enough and it's bound to happen. apparently some of the students - especially those who were raised in saudi (!!) had never seen anything beyond the round of a woman's face before coming to doha (and they still don't see much on campus, rest assured).... these same students and others explained how sexual activity was very common between men in saudi, and all across the gulf, including qatar (and, in fact, including the qatar university men's dorm). (though not in other areas of the arab world where the genders freely mingle and ankles and wrists are shown with reckless abandon each day.) apparently partaking in such activity is not considered "gay" provided you are the one being pleasured, not doing the pleasuring..... this is all quietly tolerated of course because homosexual activity is illegal and un-islamic and would lead to arrest and probably more serious repercussions than heterosexual smooching..... even in dubai, the arab world's amsterdam, where all things sinful and free are tolerated, there is no tolerance of homosexuality. recently, a gay wedding at a dubai night club was broken up by the police and resulted in arrests, deportations, and a strong message that this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated in the emirates.
all of this of course makes you wonder which parts of these societies are ideal / progressive / muslim? in doha, there's a black market for whiskey and a black market for rice. the whiskey market is for rich local men who need to hide the purchase, drink the whole bottle in one go so as not to be caught with it, and then driver their land cruisers into sand-dunes. the rice market is for the impoverished south asian workers who are the infrastructure of this place but are paid appalling wages - of which they send as much as they can back to their families - and don't have enough to afford rice from the stores.... a foreign woman in business trousers is offensive to one's purity, but getting a quick blow-job from a muslim man doesn't make you gay..... perhaps the best image for all of this is something i came across while wandering around bleary-eyed in the dubai airport at some ungodly hour of the morning. to keep myself awake, i was flipping through every magazine i could find. in this flipping frenzy, i picked up "Esquire" - the men's magazine - and was amused to discover that all photos that had nipples peeping through sheer material (which seemed to be a theme in this issue) had been covered over with black magic marker. it reminded me of when our family bought a book in china - one of the "day in the life" photography books - where a picture of political posters relating to tiananmen were carefully crossed out in black magic marker. clearly, while calls for a representative government are revolutionary in china, the sight of nipples is unsettling in the UAE. ... but, at least it's not saudi - where the sight of nipples would probably lead to rioting religious police and stonings....
oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy....
i think living here has given me a lot to be thankful for this season... and taught me to be thankful for so many intangibles i never even noticed.... and allhamdulila for that!
i hope this finds you all in fine, free spirits.
oh what a life....
yes, the subject should be sung to the tune of "oh what a night".... and wednesday night was quite a night, as was thursday actually, but i owe an update on more than that i realize - having popped into paris for some enchanted evenings, endured the end of ramadan, spent a week in intoxicating istanbul, made friends with the founders of al-jazeera children's channel, had a special opps guy move in next door, and seen a grand entrance for the emir & the sheikha all since my last email..... with all that going on, i thought "oh what a life" would better suit.....
and what a life it is.....
ramadan is history - much to everyone's relief. especially the "tea-boys" at offices and the snack bar staff at the university, who had to spend the month reporting to work every day but forbidden to brew any tea, pour any coffee or even stock the shelves with chicken sandwiches, falafel and kitkats (the QU mens campus small cafe cuisine).... instead they just had to sit looking forlornly at the empty chairs and empty tables, where the students could eat no more..... a american friend who works at the qatari foreign ministry who was doing the whole keep-the-waterbottle-and-hide-sips-behind-the-desk trick told me that one day she ran out of water & asked the tea-boy to refill her bottle and he brought it back to her wrapped in newspaper, eyes darting furtively about, obviously pained. she didn't ask him again after that. i did manage a weekend in paris mid-ramadan which was blissful - autumn leaves, rain, wine, cheese, walking everywhere.
there was a national holiday for eid, at the end of ramadan, and i went to istanbul for a week with a friend.... it was just wonderful. istanbul is really an amazing and intoxicating city.... just full of intrigue & history & beauty & quirks & character. we had a great time. (though it made me realize how much i have become accustomed to the desert climate! ... the weather is beautiful now - a great time for a visit if anyone is so inclined) i returned from istanbul recharged and ready to dive back into life in doha....
i gave two talks this week. the first was about the experience of international students on a panel at a US embassy event on studying at American universities. the whole event was in arabic, so it was quite a challenge, but fun. the second was at a local international school - doha college - and was a presentation for 17-19 year olds - basically about life / the fulbright / making the most of their experiences.... i structured my talk around the idea that i was where they were - graduating from an international school - ten years ago.... it was actually a lot of fun - the kids were great and their teacher has told me since that they got a lot out of it.... i was swarmed with questions at the end about college and law and all sorts of things. though the first question i got when i finished my little speech was quite interesting - a young abeya-clad lass informed me that she did not wish to ask a question, but wanted to correct me - i had made a mistake and said "israel" when i should have said "israeli-occupied palestine" .... i responded by telling her that, no, i had not made a mistake, reminding her that israel is a nation recognized by the international community with a seat in the united nations, and while i intended no disrespect to the palestinians and their plight, i made no mistake by referring to the state of israel. i also said i wasn't there to have a discussion of israeli-palestinian politics, but we could do so if necessary.... i of course should have anticipated that, but didn't.... i think it was all the more remarkable for me after rabin's memorial service the day before... the afternoon prior while walking on the treadmill as i flipped through news channels (i find going from al-jazeera / al-arabia to BBC / CNN is always interesting).... on BBC, i was able to watch president clinton's eloquent and moving eulogy for yitzhak rabin - broadcast live from the memorial service. the memorial / the anniversary of rabin's death was not even mentioned in the arab news. it was especially striking as i still remember rabin's funeral - and how tremendous and overwhelming it was that arab leaders travelled to jerusalem to pay their respects. at the memorial service there were no arabs present. and his death was not remembered in the arab world.... and here i was talking about how i was where they were ten years ago, and this girl's question after seeing the memorial service (and not seeing it anywhere in the arab press) reminded me of where the world was ten years ago..... and so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past....
on a more uplifting note, on wednesday i was privileged to be able to attend the "reach out to asia" inaugural charity gala dinner. qatar has started a campaign to raise money for asia. it was initially established to aid the tsunami victims, but will now go to earthquake victims and include a variety of forms of aid programs. the gala dinner will be held every year for ten years, and the intention of the program is to provide long-term comprehensive aid for recovery from the recent disasters and infrastructure building for the future. the event was quite an affair - hosted by the emir, the sheikha and the heir apparent, everyone who is everyone in the region was there (or so i was told), as well as number of other VIP guests and celebrities. held at the ritz-carlton, it was all glam and snaziness - a lavish (dry) dinner (nothing like lobster and lamb with pineapple juice), a charity auction, entertainment, and people-spotting. i'm not quite up to speed on who's who of the gulf, but a friend would point out people to me, always in tones of hushed reverence and awe: so-and-so owns the largest shopping mall in kuwait, mr. so-and-so brought toys'r'us to the region, that's richard branston, etc. the whole evening was quite a scene, an obviously for a good cause, but there are two experiences i just have to share -
first, the charity auction. it was conducted by a fellow from sotheby's and in the candle-lit hall, glow sticks were used as bidding-wands, which was quite an interesting effect. The items being auctioned were all outrageously lavish - a cartier pearl-and-diamond necklace & earring set, VIP tickets to the world cup finals, private race-car lessons, an exclusive apartment in 'the pearl' - "the arabian riveria' being developed here in qatar, hermes luggage, a guitar signed by all sorts of famous musicians, etc. Most bidding began at around US$200,000.... then would just climb & climb... it was almost surreal to hear the sums of money being called out. what was even more surreal was the showmanship involved, as gulf businessmen out-did each other again and again. the show really began when the gentleman who had purchased the apartment for US$900,000 donated it back to the auction to be auctioned again. he then bought it again for $900,000.... and donated it back again. this happened four times! and not to be outdone, the gentleman who had purchased the cartier jewelery for US$1 million donated it back to the auction & purchased it again (for $1,100,000).... and so you get the idea. the auction had even been structured to include a time at the end where people could just raise their glow-sticks and call out their donations, but clearly these boys couldn't wait until the end.... it was just unreal. the auction raised US$10.5 million that night. the sothoeby's fellow said that was 10 million more than he'd ever seen raised at a charity auction..... allhamdulila - thanks to allah.
second, the closing act of the night - bryan adams (yes, he's still around & still singing, but doing a lot of charity work too.. who knew?)... prior to his performance a young iraqi boy was playing a traditional instrument the name of which escapes me at the moment (much nicer than the erhu anyway for you china peeps). bryan called him back on stage to improvise with him while he played.... it was really surprisingly neat. he stayed and played throughout his performance. of course there was a request for everyone's favorite bryan adams tune - "everything i do" (think middle school summer nights when the movie "robin hood" came out and twelve-year old girls were requesting this song on radio stations across the world and swooning with their teddy-bears).... so it began, and the room got teary, and the iraqi boy played, and the glow-sticks left over from the charity auction were raised and waived back & forth, and the owner of the largest mall in kuwait looked affectionately at one of his wives, and the white-gloved filipino staff women standing in the corners grasped hands or intertwined arms and swayed, singing along - "i would fight for you, i would lie for you" - all the way to the rousing end. and there was unity and goodwill and peace on earth for a moment. it was quite a scene.
the following night i again found myself at the same affair as the emir & the sheikha as i went to an event launching ASPIRE - the academy for sports excellence - an absolutely amazing project - it's a sports academy / boarding school, absolutely state-of-the art & in fact including the world's largest indoor sports dome designed to train the athletes of tomorrow. the ASPIRE students are not just from qatar & the gulf region, but all over the world, with the government providing scholarships for those otherwise unable to attend.... this is the first year, with only 132 students, but the goal is 1,000 students by 2010 and they have already recruited a number of top instructors / coaches in various sports. it is truly an incredible place, and an incredible idea..... it is also just wonderful to see this nation invest in its youth, with projects like this and "education city" (where the US universities with campuses here are located and a number of other projects are based)... the opening was of course grand - involving a private show developed with cirque du soleil and appearances by all sorts of sports superstars, including mark spitz, nadia comenci (who has had an amazing boob job - more than compensating for the fact that she was never allowed to hit puberty on her own), ed moses, pele & maradona just to name a few..... it was amazing. though of course, even though ASPIRE is meant to be for both girls & boys, the girls were not at all featured in or mentioned during the program, which was really well done & centered around the students, and only got a cameo appearance at the end - veiled of course even though i doubt any of them are old enough to really be required to do so.... and so we beat on....
otherwise, it's chopping wood & carrying water. i realize how much i am still learning here. even simple things like trying to understand the complexity of greetings and their meanings - among the basic greetings you see among men (greeting other men of course) there is: bumping noses three times, grasping hands / shoulders and standing cheek-to-cheek as greetings are mumbled & allah praised, three cheek-to-cheek air-kisses, grasping your companion's head & bringing his forehead to your own, a handshake, a man-hug, and a few others or variations / combinations of the above. apparently different greetings have to do with the nature of the relationship, status, and even tribe / family.... luckily i don't have to worry about that much, but it's very interesting to observe....
and speaking of interesting, i fear i may be rambling on so will spare you.... inshallah this finds you all very well.
three nose bumps,
mattie
and what a life it is.....
ramadan is history - much to everyone's relief. especially the "tea-boys" at offices and the snack bar staff at the university, who had to spend the month reporting to work every day but forbidden to brew any tea, pour any coffee or even stock the shelves with chicken sandwiches, falafel and kitkats (the QU mens campus small cafe cuisine).... instead they just had to sit looking forlornly at the empty chairs and empty tables, where the students could eat no more..... a american friend who works at the qatari foreign ministry who was doing the whole keep-the-waterbottle-and-hide-sips-behind-the-desk trick told me that one day she ran out of water & asked the tea-boy to refill her bottle and he brought it back to her wrapped in newspaper, eyes darting furtively about, obviously pained. she didn't ask him again after that. i did manage a weekend in paris mid-ramadan which was blissful - autumn leaves, rain, wine, cheese, walking everywhere.
there was a national holiday for eid, at the end of ramadan, and i went to istanbul for a week with a friend.... it was just wonderful. istanbul is really an amazing and intoxicating city.... just full of intrigue & history & beauty & quirks & character. we had a great time. (though it made me realize how much i have become accustomed to the desert climate! ... the weather is beautiful now - a great time for a visit if anyone is so inclined) i returned from istanbul recharged and ready to dive back into life in doha....
i gave two talks this week. the first was about the experience of international students on a panel at a US embassy event on studying at American universities. the whole event was in arabic, so it was quite a challenge, but fun. the second was at a local international school - doha college - and was a presentation for 17-19 year olds - basically about life / the fulbright / making the most of their experiences.... i structured my talk around the idea that i was where they were - graduating from an international school - ten years ago.... it was actually a lot of fun - the kids were great and their teacher has told me since that they got a lot out of it.... i was swarmed with questions at the end about college and law and all sorts of things. though the first question i got when i finished my little speech was quite interesting - a young abeya-clad lass informed me that she did not wish to ask a question, but wanted to correct me - i had made a mistake and said "israel" when i should have said "israeli-occupied palestine" .... i responded by telling her that, no, i had not made a mistake, reminding her that israel is a nation recognized by the international community with a seat in the united nations, and while i intended no disrespect to the palestinians and their plight, i made no mistake by referring to the state of israel. i also said i wasn't there to have a discussion of israeli-palestinian politics, but we could do so if necessary.... i of course should have anticipated that, but didn't.... i think it was all the more remarkable for me after rabin's memorial service the day before... the afternoon prior while walking on the treadmill as i flipped through news channels (i find going from al-jazeera / al-arabia to BBC / CNN is always interesting).... on BBC, i was able to watch president clinton's eloquent and moving eulogy for yitzhak rabin - broadcast live from the memorial service. the memorial / the anniversary of rabin's death was not even mentioned in the arab news. it was especially striking as i still remember rabin's funeral - and how tremendous and overwhelming it was that arab leaders travelled to jerusalem to pay their respects. at the memorial service there were no arabs present. and his death was not remembered in the arab world.... and here i was talking about how i was where they were ten years ago, and this girl's question after seeing the memorial service (and not seeing it anywhere in the arab press) reminded me of where the world was ten years ago..... and so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past....
on a more uplifting note, on wednesday i was privileged to be able to attend the "reach out to asia" inaugural charity gala dinner. qatar has started a campaign to raise money for asia. it was initially established to aid the tsunami victims, but will now go to earthquake victims and include a variety of forms of aid programs. the gala dinner will be held every year for ten years, and the intention of the program is to provide long-term comprehensive aid for recovery from the recent disasters and infrastructure building for the future. the event was quite an affair - hosted by the emir, the sheikha and the heir apparent, everyone who is everyone in the region was there (or so i was told), as well as number of other VIP guests and celebrities. held at the ritz-carlton, it was all glam and snaziness - a lavish (dry) dinner (nothing like lobster and lamb with pineapple juice), a charity auction, entertainment, and people-spotting. i'm not quite up to speed on who's who of the gulf, but a friend would point out people to me, always in tones of hushed reverence and awe: so-and-so owns the largest shopping mall in kuwait, mr. so-and-so brought toys'r'us to the region, that's richard branston, etc. the whole evening was quite a scene, an obviously for a good cause, but there are two experiences i just have to share -
first, the charity auction. it was conducted by a fellow from sotheby's and in the candle-lit hall, glow sticks were used as bidding-wands, which was quite an interesting effect. The items being auctioned were all outrageously lavish - a cartier pearl-and-diamond necklace & earring set, VIP tickets to the world cup finals, private race-car lessons, an exclusive apartment in 'the pearl' - "the arabian riveria' being developed here in qatar, hermes luggage, a guitar signed by all sorts of famous musicians, etc. Most bidding began at around US$200,000.... then would just climb & climb... it was almost surreal to hear the sums of money being called out. what was even more surreal was the showmanship involved, as gulf businessmen out-did each other again and again. the show really began when the gentleman who had purchased the apartment for US$900,000 donated it back to the auction to be auctioned again. he then bought it again for $900,000.... and donated it back again. this happened four times! and not to be outdone, the gentleman who had purchased the cartier jewelery for US$1 million donated it back to the auction & purchased it again (for $1,100,000).... and so you get the idea. the auction had even been structured to include a time at the end where people could just raise their glow-sticks and call out their donations, but clearly these boys couldn't wait until the end.... it was just unreal. the auction raised US$10.5 million that night. the sothoeby's fellow said that was 10 million more than he'd ever seen raised at a charity auction..... allhamdulila - thanks to allah.
second, the closing act of the night - bryan adams (yes, he's still around & still singing, but doing a lot of charity work too.. who knew?)... prior to his performance a young iraqi boy was playing a traditional instrument the name of which escapes me at the moment (much nicer than the erhu anyway for you china peeps). bryan called him back on stage to improvise with him while he played.... it was really surprisingly neat. he stayed and played throughout his performance. of course there was a request for everyone's favorite bryan adams tune - "everything i do" (think middle school summer nights when the movie "robin hood" came out and twelve-year old girls were requesting this song on radio stations across the world and swooning with their teddy-bears).... so it began, and the room got teary, and the iraqi boy played, and the glow-sticks left over from the charity auction were raised and waived back & forth, and the owner of the largest mall in kuwait looked affectionately at one of his wives, and the white-gloved filipino staff women standing in the corners grasped hands or intertwined arms and swayed, singing along - "i would fight for you, i would lie for you" - all the way to the rousing end. and there was unity and goodwill and peace on earth for a moment. it was quite a scene.
the following night i again found myself at the same affair as the emir & the sheikha as i went to an event launching ASPIRE - the academy for sports excellence - an absolutely amazing project - it's a sports academy / boarding school, absolutely state-of-the art & in fact including the world's largest indoor sports dome designed to train the athletes of tomorrow. the ASPIRE students are not just from qatar & the gulf region, but all over the world, with the government providing scholarships for those otherwise unable to attend.... this is the first year, with only 132 students, but the goal is 1,000 students by 2010 and they have already recruited a number of top instructors / coaches in various sports. it is truly an incredible place, and an incredible idea..... it is also just wonderful to see this nation invest in its youth, with projects like this and "education city" (where the US universities with campuses here are located and a number of other projects are based)... the opening was of course grand - involving a private show developed with cirque du soleil and appearances by all sorts of sports superstars, including mark spitz, nadia comenci (who has had an amazing boob job - more than compensating for the fact that she was never allowed to hit puberty on her own), ed moses, pele & maradona just to name a few..... it was amazing. though of course, even though ASPIRE is meant to be for both girls & boys, the girls were not at all featured in or mentioned during the program, which was really well done & centered around the students, and only got a cameo appearance at the end - veiled of course even though i doubt any of them are old enough to really be required to do so.... and so we beat on....
otherwise, it's chopping wood & carrying water. i realize how much i am still learning here. even simple things like trying to understand the complexity of greetings and their meanings - among the basic greetings you see among men (greeting other men of course) there is: bumping noses three times, grasping hands / shoulders and standing cheek-to-cheek as greetings are mumbled & allah praised, three cheek-to-cheek air-kisses, grasping your companion's head & bringing his forehead to your own, a handshake, a man-hug, and a few others or variations / combinations of the above. apparently different greetings have to do with the nature of the relationship, status, and even tribe / family.... luckily i don't have to worry about that much, but it's very interesting to observe....
and speaking of interesting, i fear i may be rambling on so will spare you.... inshallah this finds you all very well.
three nose bumps,
mattie
"the complete"
so in this land where porn is banned, public displays of affection are illegal, sexuality is suppressed, and the women are entirely covered, quiet, and subdued as shadows, if the vaginas could talk, they would probably write a musical....
this i can report after a trip to the beauty salon in preparation for my weekend in paris. as we all know, a romantic weekend rendezvous with one's lover in the city of love certainly calls for a little tidying up, so i went in to have my eyebrows shaped, my toes prettied, my fingernails french manicured (in honour of the occasion) and to endure hot wax being poured over tender skin so my public hair can be more thoroughly removed. now the fact that waxing even developed as a culturally acceptable practice is a bit odd if you think about it... how did anyone ever, ever get the idea in the first place?!?! what a sicko. and my heart goes out to whoever the brave waxing pioneer women were who experimented with temperature and strength of the yanking of the paper to rip out the hair and all the other subtle unspeakables involved. anonymous sisters they shall remain, but they did us all a great service....
but i digress. i was sent to a salon & a woman - lakshmi - recommended by a friend. as she got down to business and we made the usual small talk [how odd is it by the way that we attempt to carry on meaningless, polite banter with someone who is erstwhile pouring hot wax over our genitalia?!? terribly awkward], she asked what i wanted. i mumbled something about just tidy up, when lakshmi interrupted, saying, in a singsong indian accent "do you want the complete, madam?" i looked confused. "ahhhh," she sighed, shaking her head, "you do not know the complete; many of you english, they do not know the complete when they come. but all the qataris they do the complete. all the locals do the complete. and then after they know, the english they do the complete too and they like it." i asked for clarification that the complete really meant, well, the complete. she assured me it did. and she also let me know that many of the qataris not only did the complete, but would come in for full body waxes - everywhere. which i found a horrific notion. lakshmi said it was very tiring for her.
never one to forgo a cultural experience, after some hesitation, i told lakshmi to go for it, that i wanted the complete. i lay back and braced myself. she paused and asked whether i was married, wand of hot wax poised above me. i decided now was not the time to upset the lady, so i said i was engaged. she said, "oh, so you will be married" and this seemed to satisfy her. then she began.
the complete was, well, it was complete. very thorough. very, very painful. i never imagined that in my lifetime another woman would be in those places, especially not one armed with medieval torture tools, but ooh, the things we do for beauty..... [to be born woman is to know - although they do not talk of it at school - that we must labour to be beautiful ... but who knew the qataris had it on the brazilians in this dept?]
i survived, managed to collect my dignity and my tender bits and drive directly to a ramadan tent reception at the US ambassador's house, where i sipped tea and smiled nicely. as with most mixed events, the qatari men generally do not bring their wives to such things, so the crowd was heavily masculine and the women tended to be foreigners, so the vaginas in the room would have had the typical vagina conversation if they could talk..... however, i couldn't help but wonder then, and in certain moments since, what sort of chaos and cacophony of sounds would be uttered by a room full of qatari completes.....
excessive information indicative of excessive affection,
mattie
this i can report after a trip to the beauty salon in preparation for my weekend in paris. as we all know, a romantic weekend rendezvous with one's lover in the city of love certainly calls for a little tidying up, so i went in to have my eyebrows shaped, my toes prettied, my fingernails french manicured (in honour of the occasion) and to endure hot wax being poured over tender skin so my public hair can be more thoroughly removed. now the fact that waxing even developed as a culturally acceptable practice is a bit odd if you think about it... how did anyone ever, ever get the idea in the first place?!?! what a sicko. and my heart goes out to whoever the brave waxing pioneer women were who experimented with temperature and strength of the yanking of the paper to rip out the hair and all the other subtle unspeakables involved. anonymous sisters they shall remain, but they did us all a great service....
but i digress. i was sent to a salon & a woman - lakshmi - recommended by a friend. as she got down to business and we made the usual small talk [how odd is it by the way that we attempt to carry on meaningless, polite banter with someone who is erstwhile pouring hot wax over our genitalia?!? terribly awkward], she asked what i wanted. i mumbled something about just tidy up, when lakshmi interrupted, saying, in a singsong indian accent "do you want the complete, madam?" i looked confused. "ahhhh," she sighed, shaking her head, "you do not know the complete; many of you english, they do not know the complete when they come. but all the qataris they do the complete. all the locals do the complete. and then after they know, the english they do the complete too and they like it." i asked for clarification that the complete really meant, well, the complete. she assured me it did. and she also let me know that many of the qataris not only did the complete, but would come in for full body waxes - everywhere. which i found a horrific notion. lakshmi said it was very tiring for her.
never one to forgo a cultural experience, after some hesitation, i told lakshmi to go for it, that i wanted the complete. i lay back and braced myself. she paused and asked whether i was married, wand of hot wax poised above me. i decided now was not the time to upset the lady, so i said i was engaged. she said, "oh, so you will be married" and this seemed to satisfy her. then she began.
the complete was, well, it was complete. very thorough. very, very painful. i never imagined that in my lifetime another woman would be in those places, especially not one armed with medieval torture tools, but ooh, the things we do for beauty..... [to be born woman is to know - although they do not talk of it at school - that we must labour to be beautiful ... but who knew the qataris had it on the brazilians in this dept?]
i survived, managed to collect my dignity and my tender bits and drive directly to a ramadan tent reception at the US ambassador's house, where i sipped tea and smiled nicely. as with most mixed events, the qatari men generally do not bring their wives to such things, so the crowd was heavily masculine and the women tended to be foreigners, so the vaginas in the room would have had the typical vagina conversation if they could talk..... however, i couldn't help but wonder then, and in certain moments since, what sort of chaos and cacophony of sounds would be uttered by a room full of qatari completes.....
excessive information indicative of excessive affection,
mattie
perpetual august
so it has been at once a quiet and a booming week. work has been fairly busy, and i feel as though i have not been studying arabic as diligently as i would like. instead i find myself studying the sounds and rhythms of doha - or the various peoples somehow caught in this city.... and it does feel as though people are sort of caught in this place, which paints itself as the epicenter of the region, suspended here before they return to the storm of reality. for there is some sense of "amost" that permeates the air here, not so much with a scent exactly, but with a feeling... or perhaps i only say this because i feel as though i'm living in perpetual august. and being in perpetual august somehow brings all the associations of august as the "almost month" - the month on the edge of things, the calmhazyswinging days before some storm, the month before school and responsibility begins, the month after the fourth and the full-swing fanfare of july, the month before labor day weekend and changing fashions, the month without universal holidays, the month before summer ends and after her excitement tastes fresh, the month when watermelon gives way to peaches, and the month when even puppies calm down. it always feels like august here. and i find myself waiting for life to begin again, in the way one does in august, and sometimes have to remind myself that this IS my life, that i live here and that it is mid-october.....
as for sounds, this week i have noted: stray kittens fighting at dusk (they are always kittens, endless kittens (but i have yet to see a cat)), the subtle ranges of feeling in the call to prayer - sometimes almost melancholy, or urgent, or blissful, or joyous, or secretive (but this may be my imagination), choruses of invisible exotic birds in dense trees in a garden, the gentle lapping of the gulf at the beach, grunts of exertion from foreign ice hockey players on a too-small rink in the middle of a shopping mall and grunts of confusion from a diverse collection of observers.
ramadan has its own rhythms - and adds to the almost / waiting feeling in a way - the days are spent waiting for sundown and for life to begin... this is true even for those of us not fasting - though we wait for a few hours thereafter - nothing is open until 7:30 pm, so even simple errands - like grocery shopping - or offhand fancies - like a vanilla latte or an ice cream - must wait until evening..... but then once evening comes, everything is a circus! ... sometimes literally - on a recent evening trip to one of the most popular malls here, a friend and i wandered into "Circusland" - the food court & general amusement area for kids. i think i burst out laughing at the sight of the larger than life elephants supporting the colourful banner. [my friend was quick to point out that i needn’t worry (in case i had been), the elephants did not have sexual organs and she lead me underneath one to prove it "see? no balls!"] ... the real circus was of course braving the traffic outside the mall, which is like being caught in a poorly-lit parade of luxury beasts of burden (in the 4WD family, species SUV) pawing the ground, growling, and pushing along a narrow dirt path with a thin film of sand dust accumulated on your eyes.
monday night was a mid-ramadan holiday only celebrated in the gulf where children go door to door to get sweets and little presents.... sort of like halloween except the costumes are snazzy versions of traditional local dress.... the university arranged for the foreign students to observe sweet qatari children dressed in dazzling local garb go door to door in the "hertitage village" - a fake village - collecting sweets. it was quite a gathering - complete with an oversized tweety bird being mobbed by swarms of children, a man singing too loudly into a microphone, uncertain music, chanting, men sitting on carpets and eating nuts, and general tidings of candy and joy, candy and joy. it was a curious scene. i'm attaching a picture from said scene (a more general set of pics to follow sometime soon, i promise). the event gave us an opportunity for a partial class photo..... i am standing between ali (very sweet philippino who i almost didn't recognize at the heritage village - he usually wears a white thube gown, but was hanging tough that night) and lil' kim (one of the north koreans); kim kabir (big) is seated (the other north korean, mildly insane and definitely a spy), marouf (nigerian in white pointing) is bossing everyone around as usual; farrid (the fellow from benin who tried to convert me on day one) is behind kim kabir; second from the end (& in pink shoes) is mohammed from ghana [affectionately nicknamed 'the machete' because he's so intense] surrounded by a group of his "brothers" who seemed to multiply daily after his arrival and who all showed up in our class the day after this event (much to the surprise of the professor!) though i am not sure if they will all stay in our class.... i'll send a picture of the sweet children collecting sweets with a general upload, but i thought this one was more illustrative of my daily routine. ;-)
in other news, i had my first occasion to come in contact with the qatari censor recently. i was trying to open an amusing link sent by a friend, when i was denied. a screen appeared saying 'this site has been blocked' with a polite little note in english & arabic that read:
The webpage you are trying to access has been blocked by Internet Qatar as the content contains materials which are prohibited in the State of Qatar. If you feel this is an error then please email us at censor@qatar.net.qa or contact our Help Desk at 125.
Regards,
Internet Qatar
.... i loved how polite it is! ("regards") & at the qataris are so honest about it - the chinese would just throw up firewalls.... i also find it quite sweet that you can email the censor & make your case for seeing a particular site. [though a friend who works at q-tel tells me don't hold your breath if you email or call the help desk - it's no leisurely stroll along the corniche to get a response from the censor!]
i'm escaping the censor and the candy and joy this weekend and taking an ever so impractical but ever so enchanting long weekend in paris!!
tremendous pink sunset,
mattie
as for sounds, this week i have noted: stray kittens fighting at dusk (they are always kittens, endless kittens (but i have yet to see a cat)), the subtle ranges of feeling in the call to prayer - sometimes almost melancholy, or urgent, or blissful, or joyous, or secretive (but this may be my imagination), choruses of invisible exotic birds in dense trees in a garden, the gentle lapping of the gulf at the beach, grunts of exertion from foreign ice hockey players on a too-small rink in the middle of a shopping mall and grunts of confusion from a diverse collection of observers.
ramadan has its own rhythms - and adds to the almost / waiting feeling in a way - the days are spent waiting for sundown and for life to begin... this is true even for those of us not fasting - though we wait for a few hours thereafter - nothing is open until 7:30 pm, so even simple errands - like grocery shopping - or offhand fancies - like a vanilla latte or an ice cream - must wait until evening..... but then once evening comes, everything is a circus! ... sometimes literally - on a recent evening trip to one of the most popular malls here, a friend and i wandered into "Circusland" - the food court & general amusement area for kids. i think i burst out laughing at the sight of the larger than life elephants supporting the colourful banner. [my friend was quick to point out that i needn’t worry (in case i had been), the elephants did not have sexual organs and she lead me underneath one to prove it "see? no balls!"] ... the real circus was of course braving the traffic outside the mall, which is like being caught in a poorly-lit parade of luxury beasts of burden (in the 4WD family, species SUV) pawing the ground, growling, and pushing along a narrow dirt path with a thin film of sand dust accumulated on your eyes.
monday night was a mid-ramadan holiday only celebrated in the gulf where children go door to door to get sweets and little presents.... sort of like halloween except the costumes are snazzy versions of traditional local dress.... the university arranged for the foreign students to observe sweet qatari children dressed in dazzling local garb go door to door in the "hertitage village" - a fake village - collecting sweets. it was quite a gathering - complete with an oversized tweety bird being mobbed by swarms of children, a man singing too loudly into a microphone, uncertain music, chanting, men sitting on carpets and eating nuts, and general tidings of candy and joy, candy and joy. it was a curious scene. i'm attaching a picture from said scene (a more general set of pics to follow sometime soon, i promise). the event gave us an opportunity for a partial class photo..... i am standing between ali (very sweet philippino who i almost didn't recognize at the heritage village - he usually wears a white thube gown, but was hanging tough that night) and lil' kim (one of the north koreans); kim kabir (big) is seated (the other north korean, mildly insane and definitely a spy), marouf (nigerian in white pointing) is bossing everyone around as usual; farrid (the fellow from benin who tried to convert me on day one) is behind kim kabir; second from the end (& in pink shoes) is mohammed from ghana [affectionately nicknamed 'the machete' because he's so intense] surrounded by a group of his "brothers" who seemed to multiply daily after his arrival and who all showed up in our class the day after this event (much to the surprise of the professor!) though i am not sure if they will all stay in our class.... i'll send a picture of the sweet children collecting sweets with a general upload, but i thought this one was more illustrative of my daily routine. ;-)
in other news, i had my first occasion to come in contact with the qatari censor recently. i was trying to open an amusing link sent by a friend, when i was denied. a screen appeared saying 'this site has been blocked' with a polite little note in english & arabic that read:
The webpage you are trying to access has been blocked by Internet Qatar as the content contains materials which are prohibited in the State of Qatar. If you feel this is an error then please email us at censor@qatar.net.qa or contact our Help Desk at 125.
Regards,
Internet Qatar
.... i loved how polite it is! ("regards") & at the qataris are so honest about it - the chinese would just throw up firewalls.... i also find it quite sweet that you can email the censor & make your case for seeing a particular site. [though a friend who works at q-tel tells me don't hold your breath if you email or call the help desk - it's no leisurely stroll along the corniche to get a response from the censor!]
i'm escaping the censor and the candy and joy this weekend and taking an ever so impractical but ever so enchanting long weekend in paris!!
tremendous pink sunset,
mattie
ramadan kareem
i eat through the bad parts of apples. i often wonder why – i do not need to eat through the bad parts, as i am blessed with apples in abundance and could pick around the bad spots or simply toss imperfect apples altogether..... i ponder if it is perhaps some sort of testament to our common humanity – i am fortunate enough to have many apples and have the luxury of choosing, but have shared sky with those who are not... or i wonder whether it is because my eating apples is reflective of living life – we persevere through the rough patches, despite the occasional impulse to throw it all in the bin and give up.... or i ask whether maybe it is just simply because i love apples – even with their imperfections and their overripe soft spots [and no, this is not just because i have read 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' or because i know they have little sugar and lots of fiber – i have legitimately always loved apples (unlike other foodstuffs which i have had to convince myself to enjoy, such as olives, which i began eating because i thought it was sophisticated and cultured, but now genuinely appreciate.... however, given that false pretence of a beginning, can my appreciation be genuine? i'm not sure)]... for whatever reason, i eat through the bad spots on apples.*
i drove straight into a bad spot the other night... i was leaving a rather lavish party at the four seasons, and as i excited the glitter of the four seasons gates, i saw a collection of indian construction workers, waiting in the dusk. exhausted and dirty in their dark-blue coveralls, some with their heads still wrapped in the scarves they use to block out the sun, they were gathered in a variety of postures - standing, leaning, sitting, some half-lying on the ground - all quietly waiting for the bus that would transport them to the rather desolate part of town where the workers live. the sight was jarring - it somehow reminded me of an old photograph in a book about slavery - it brought surprising tears to my eyes and i inadvertently started to slow as if to stop and offer them a ride. but i didn't and i couldn't - there were too many and it would not be prudent or particularly safe for me to do so.... but it reminded me of one of the uglier aspects of this society - this country is built on the blood, sweat, & tears of a completely ill-treated cohort of subcontinent peoples. or rather men - subcontinent men, most of whom have families at home they see once every two years. the workers live in a world apart - there is a vibrant subculture in doha and across the gulf - but i find the blatant racism and degradation difficult. [and of course not all of doha's residents from the indian subcontinent fall into the underclass that support the city - i had iftar (the meal breaking the ramadan fast each day) at a bangladeshi friend's home yesterday; her family has been here over 20 years and her father is an accomplished scholar and is about to publish a book on doha.] and maybe these types of hierarchies of race / class / gender / religion exist in more subtle tones everywhere, but the starkness of the divisions here can be shocking. many of the more prominent families have even outsourced prison time - most have an indian on standby such that if, for example, one of the family's daughters gets in a car accident which causes a death [a crime which generally leads to imprisonment], the standby will be called to the scene, claim he was the driver and caused the death and will serve the prison sentence - to be compensated very handsomely upon his release.... madness.
a more amusing sort of madness was reported in the gulf times the other day. apparently, the hospital has become the new hot spot for illicit encounters between the sexes. women will feign illnesses and their boyfriends will come to the hospital wearing abeyas - thereby breezing into the women's section - and the couples will rendezvous in amid the medicines and the monitors.... apparently this trend was discovered when one of the abeya-clad alpha males in question forgot to get an abeya long enough to cover his shoes and / or wear his heels and was stopped by a nurse.
there have definitely been some good spots of late - i had my first meal in a ramadan tent (though tent is an insult to the opulent splendour of these creations).... endless juices, and food, and shisha and music. there was even a sufi guy who did the twirling meditation like a whirling dervish. very impressive - he spun for a good ten minutes - no spotting and no stopping - and then just walked off the stage....
which is to say the month of ramadan spin has become reality..... the day before ramadan, a few of the africans in class were trying to push qurans on everyone - including me. marouf asked if i had a quran for ramadan [he & mohamed somehow had a shopping bag full]. i told him i wasn't muslim, to which he replied curtly, "i can see that," but proceeded to try to convince me i needed one nonetheless. it was a little unclear whether they were giving or selling the qurans - which were actually quite lovely - and so i just let it go.... it's an interesting time - kind of continuous holiday - work hours are shorter, classes are shorter. nights are longer - all the shops are closed all day and then open from 7:30 pm - 1:00 am. the locals sleep most of the day & live it up at night.... heaven help you if you're trying to drive during the half hour before iftar - it is absolute mayhem on the roads - especially because everyone is hungry and short-tempered and rushing to get to whatever iftar they are going to.... iftar is the beginning of a night of feasting, shopping, strolling, making merry. which i suppose is in order after enduring a day of fasting (or, more accurately, sleeping).... qatar is fairly strict in observing ramadan - it is technically illegal to eat, drink (even water), chew gum, smoke, etc. in public during daylight - even for foreigners and non-muslims. i am respectful and do not eat or drink in front of anyone, but i keep a bottle of water in my car for after class and have a drawer full of powerbars at the office and sneak a lunch in every day.... all in all, it's definitely a quieter time.
things at the office are not so quiet though. the american attorney who brought me onboard has left the firm (and left the country for a month) - and left in the middle of the winding up of a multi-billion dollar petrochemical byproducts deal that has somehow fallen into my lap... it's a little overwhelming to find myself as the Arab Law Bureau point person for this deal (we are local counsel for the sponsors) and it will be a hectic time between now & financial close - inshallah the end of the month. but there's nothing like learning by doing, eh?
and i guess that's about the texture of things here at the moment. good spots, a few bad ones, but generally a pleasantly crisp week.
*please note that this does not apply to any other fruits. i especially abhor bad spots on bananas. but i see no problem with that - as boutros-boutros said in reference to the united nations year on tolerance, "we cannot tolerate the intolerable."
i drove straight into a bad spot the other night... i was leaving a rather lavish party at the four seasons, and as i excited the glitter of the four seasons gates, i saw a collection of indian construction workers, waiting in the dusk. exhausted and dirty in their dark-blue coveralls, some with their heads still wrapped in the scarves they use to block out the sun, they were gathered in a variety of postures - standing, leaning, sitting, some half-lying on the ground - all quietly waiting for the bus that would transport them to the rather desolate part of town where the workers live. the sight was jarring - it somehow reminded me of an old photograph in a book about slavery - it brought surprising tears to my eyes and i inadvertently started to slow as if to stop and offer them a ride. but i didn't and i couldn't - there were too many and it would not be prudent or particularly safe for me to do so.... but it reminded me of one of the uglier aspects of this society - this country is built on the blood, sweat, & tears of a completely ill-treated cohort of subcontinent peoples. or rather men - subcontinent men, most of whom have families at home they see once every two years. the workers live in a world apart - there is a vibrant subculture in doha and across the gulf - but i find the blatant racism and degradation difficult. [and of course not all of doha's residents from the indian subcontinent fall into the underclass that support the city - i had iftar (the meal breaking the ramadan fast each day) at a bangladeshi friend's home yesterday; her family has been here over 20 years and her father is an accomplished scholar and is about to publish a book on doha.] and maybe these types of hierarchies of race / class / gender / religion exist in more subtle tones everywhere, but the starkness of the divisions here can be shocking. many of the more prominent families have even outsourced prison time - most have an indian on standby such that if, for example, one of the family's daughters gets in a car accident which causes a death [a crime which generally leads to imprisonment], the standby will be called to the scene, claim he was the driver and caused the death and will serve the prison sentence - to be compensated very handsomely upon his release.... madness.
a more amusing sort of madness was reported in the gulf times the other day. apparently, the hospital has become the new hot spot for illicit encounters between the sexes. women will feign illnesses and their boyfriends will come to the hospital wearing abeyas - thereby breezing into the women's section - and the couples will rendezvous in amid the medicines and the monitors.... apparently this trend was discovered when one of the abeya-clad alpha males in question forgot to get an abeya long enough to cover his shoes and / or wear his heels and was stopped by a nurse.
there have definitely been some good spots of late - i had my first meal in a ramadan tent (though tent is an insult to the opulent splendour of these creations).... endless juices, and food, and shisha and music. there was even a sufi guy who did the twirling meditation like a whirling dervish. very impressive - he spun for a good ten minutes - no spotting and no stopping - and then just walked off the stage....
which is to say the month of ramadan spin has become reality..... the day before ramadan, a few of the africans in class were trying to push qurans on everyone - including me. marouf asked if i had a quran for ramadan [he & mohamed somehow had a shopping bag full]. i told him i wasn't muslim, to which he replied curtly, "i can see that," but proceeded to try to convince me i needed one nonetheless. it was a little unclear whether they were giving or selling the qurans - which were actually quite lovely - and so i just let it go.... it's an interesting time - kind of continuous holiday - work hours are shorter, classes are shorter. nights are longer - all the shops are closed all day and then open from 7:30 pm - 1:00 am. the locals sleep most of the day & live it up at night.... heaven help you if you're trying to drive during the half hour before iftar - it is absolute mayhem on the roads - especially because everyone is hungry and short-tempered and rushing to get to whatever iftar they are going to.... iftar is the beginning of a night of feasting, shopping, strolling, making merry. which i suppose is in order after enduring a day of fasting (or, more accurately, sleeping).... qatar is fairly strict in observing ramadan - it is technically illegal to eat, drink (even water), chew gum, smoke, etc. in public during daylight - even for foreigners and non-muslims. i am respectful and do not eat or drink in front of anyone, but i keep a bottle of water in my car for after class and have a drawer full of powerbars at the office and sneak a lunch in every day.... all in all, it's definitely a quieter time.
things at the office are not so quiet though. the american attorney who brought me onboard has left the firm (and left the country for a month) - and left in the middle of the winding up of a multi-billion dollar petrochemical byproducts deal that has somehow fallen into my lap... it's a little overwhelming to find myself as the Arab Law Bureau point person for this deal (we are local counsel for the sponsors) and it will be a hectic time between now & financial close - inshallah the end of the month. but there's nothing like learning by doing, eh?
and i guess that's about the texture of things here at the moment. good spots, a few bad ones, but generally a pleasantly crisp week.
*please note that this does not apply to any other fruits. i especially abhor bad spots on bananas. but i see no problem with that - as boutros-boutros said in reference to the united nations year on tolerance, "we cannot tolerate the intolerable."
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