Modern Architecture of Doha

So it's no secret - Qatar has little to offer in terms of natural beauty. I don't intend to offend. It has some pretty coastline if you are daring enough to drive through sand dunes. But inland it's just sand - and not even the red, rippled sand one imagines of Arabia, more like the ordinary, pale and dusty variety. They have, however, a vision of setting themselves up as a modern city with lots to offer the business tourist (at least on this they are realistic). At least for those of us who find ourselves here, we can appreciate the efforts they have made with modern archictecture. Here are a few of my favourites.

Dhow Cruise

Today we went on a Dhow Cruise along the Corniche. The Dhows are the old fishing and pearling boats of Qatar and one of the few historic and authentic remnants of life in Doha, before it won the lottery. The girls have been waiting for months for grandparents to arrive so they could go on it. This was followed by our favourite Turkey Central -shish tawook for a picnic dinner on the green grass.

Feast

This region know how to feast! It seems nearly everything revolves around food. I had already had glimpses of Arab hospitality from my students in the past.




Check out the size of these pots for sale at Souq Waqif. I now know why the local supermarket sells everything in such bulk quantitites. Of course some of the families here with 4 wives and children are quite large.

Burkini

Here are a few of the swimming suits for display at the surf shop at our local mall. A woman would still be considered quite daring for wearing this in public. They are popular with teenagers though who are sometimes allowed more freedom. Perhaps this is why most women prefer to sit by the pool in their black abayas and merely watch.

The Arabian/ Persian Gulf

With family and friends we visited a beach resort. Of course, it is against the law here to only wear bathers in public, so the only place you are allowed is at private and crowded hotel beaches (usually for a high fee!). We had a great time together though and particularly enjoyed the swimming in the sea where the salt level is so high it makes you very bouyant and it is usually exceptionally warm. We were fortunate on this day to find the resort empty - perhaps everyone else had read the weather forcast. We had chatted over lunch with our family visiting from Melbourne and friends visiting from Kentucky that we never need to pay attention to the weather here as it is always fine and sunny (although now in November the weather is pleasantly and notably warm). We were all a little surprised when in an instant the sky turned charcoal and we couldn't see far in front of us because of the sand storm. Unfortunately, we were all too frantically packing up to indulge in photography. It was a slow drive home in the sand storm and a slow drive through traffic in Doha as people clumsily adapted to the wet roads. The first rainfall since April. It depends on which side of the Gulf you are on what it is named - Iran obviously prefers the Persian Gulf whereas on this side it is referred to as the Arabian Gulf! I have been reprimanded for calling it the formentioned.

Camel Rides on the Beach

This week we went with family and friends to the beach in the south of Qatar. After an hour's drive through the desert with little scenery other than sand dunes and some chemical processing plants, we finally reached our oasis. We enjoyed watching our friends enjoying Camel Rides. Perhaps the grunting, growling and frothing at the mouth of the camels was a little too disconcerting for them. My little ones preferred to observe and were far more interested in the Arabian horses.

Our Neighbours

Here are some of our neighbours in our compound. We are an ethnically diverse bunch with South Africans, Italians and French to our left and Indians and Egyptians to our right. Almost half the compound is Lebanese. I only discovered all this recently as everyone hibernates with the heat and front doors are barely opened. With the cooler weather which has been gifted upon us recently we have discovered many children living amongst us. Now the girls spend much of the afternoon outside playing - most of the conversation is in Arabic but our girls don't seem to mind and they either just listen and watch or jump and play along beside the chilren. A and I feel a little guilty as we mostly leave the girls to play without the close supervision which we would be compelled upon in Melbourne with the comfort that the nanny to child ratio is usually very high. In the photos are a few of the little children being cared for by the maids.