1) Our duplex (it's foggy b/c of the humidity when I brought the camera outside) 2) Our street - look at the variety!
3)a bedouin's camels - about 2 minutes from our home(does it look hot out?)
4) our dining room
4) our dining room
5) our living room
6)Neighbor's Majliss (area outside of home for men to hang out and smoke shisha and drink tea. This one has A/C)
7)a compound nearby for one family (probably quite extended)
8) the ladies have their own area of the bank away from men!
As we have gotten more settled we feel like we have been “Qatar-ized”. Curt is now using his horn when he drives to help teach people. For instance, we had a quick meal at McDonald’s (we hardly ever eat American fast food – really!) and when we were trying to pull out of our parking space there was a Qatari woman who was fully veiled who had parked her car right behind us as she waited for someone in the restaurant. Now keep in mind, our car was LITERALLY directly in front of the front door of the place. Curt waited for a little while and then had to use his horn to let her know he wanted to back out. So she kindly pulled up. Just enough for us to back out, not an inch more. Keep in mind, there are literally dozens of cars trying to drive this two lane road in the parking lot – that she is parked in. So after Curt pulls out, he then lays on the horn. He just wanted to indicate that she was in a ROAD and there were easily 10 parking spots available for her to PARK. And he stayed on the horn until she not only moved, but parked in a spot. I almost died laughing.
Now, since most of you know Curt, you also know this is somewhat out of character for him. Qatar is a place all to its own when it comes to driving. I have had people in the right-hand lane, cut me off when I am turning left – and actually move in front of me. Or cut on the inside of us when we are in a roundabout so that they can just get in front of us. In some ways this driving is more standard than if they were being courteous. We bought a Resident’s Guide to Qatar and in it they use terms to describe the driving as “deplorable” and “horrendous” and they are so right.
Where Qatari suck in driving, they make up for in food. We were hosted by a Qatari colleague for lunch last weekend at her home. We ate traditional style (on the floor) and her mother (and their cooks) served a feast. We had lamb that was out of this world, shrimp and potatoes, lentils, rice and noodles, etc. And then we had dessert, coffee, tea, etc. We also tried their Oud – it’s a strong incense-like thing that you are supposed to waft toward yourself and women will put it under their shayla (the head scarf with an abaya – the long black dress) and men would put it under their thobe (the long white shirt dress). We ate until we were sick and then ate some more. She also showed the women pictures of her wedding (since she wasn’t covered the men couldn’t see them), honeymoon, etc. It feels like being invited into a secret club as a woman.
Now, since most of you know Curt, you also know this is somewhat out of character for him. Qatar is a place all to its own when it comes to driving. I have had people in the right-hand lane, cut me off when I am turning left – and actually move in front of me. Or cut on the inside of us when we are in a roundabout so that they can just get in front of us. In some ways this driving is more standard than if they were being courteous. We bought a Resident’s Guide to Qatar and in it they use terms to describe the driving as “deplorable” and “horrendous” and they are so right.
Where Qatari suck in driving, they make up for in food. We were hosted by a Qatari colleague for lunch last weekend at her home. We ate traditional style (on the floor) and her mother (and their cooks) served a feast. We had lamb that was out of this world, shrimp and potatoes, lentils, rice and noodles, etc. And then we had dessert, coffee, tea, etc. We also tried their Oud – it’s a strong incense-like thing that you are supposed to waft toward yourself and women will put it under their shayla (the head scarf with an abaya – the long black dress) and men would put it under their thobe (the long white shirt dress). We ate until we were sick and then ate some more. She also showed the women pictures of her wedding (since she wasn’t covered the men couldn’t see them), honeymoon, etc. It feels like being invited into a secret club as a woman.
1)the spread, 2)more food, 3)keep it coming, 4)Curt getting the Oud under his pits, 5)Lindsay going for the Oud gusto!
I think the part for me that boggles my mind has to do with male affection in relationships. Now remember, Qatar is a country where if they heard you were homosexual, they would likely deport you if you were an expat, or they could give you lashes and jail time if you were a native. And at the same time, men wear effectively a long white dress(the thobe) with a white headdress called a guthra. Many of the men fold the sides of the guthra over and it hangs down their back. Some men leave the sides down and constantly push them out of their face, much like a woman would her long hair. This effeminate gesture (from my perspective) is some what magnified by the fact that men will often hold hands with close friends as they are walking together. It is a common sight – we even saw two teenage boys who were ice skating in the mall together holding hands. So while being gay is absolutely haram (bad, sinful) in their culture and faith, physical affection between males is a common occurrence. Added to this is the fact that any public affection between men and women, even if they are married , is frowned upon. In the time I have been here I have seen exactly 2 Qatari couples (male/female) holding hands, and they were definitely married. In that same amount of time, I have seen dozens of men holding hands. This is something I just can’t quite wrap my brain around.
For you student affairs geeks (and those who remember what it was like to be a freshman in college) there are a few stories to show that students are the same everywhere and students here are very different than any I have worked with. During International Student Orientation I had an afternoon where I ran some ice breakers with the students. I had them get into different pairs and answer questions out of the “Book of Questions”. One of the questions I asked them to consider was “Would you eat a bowl of live crickets for $40,000USD?” Now, as a poor college student, this is one I would have had to consider – paying two years of my tuition for eating something other people see as a delicacy? I think I would have seriously considered it. After about 10 seconds one boy standing in a small group near me says “We’re done. There is nothing to even talk about with this one.” I said “Well, some people seem to have something to talk about.” The boy says to me “There are people here who are BILLIONAIRES. We would never even consider this.” He was so matter of fact, not even seeming stuck up, just sort of letting me know I didn’t quite know my audience. I was stunned. It had never occurred to me that we would have people with that kind of wealth in the group. Some things you can’t prepare for I guess. At the same time, I recently met with a student who isn’t sure he will be able to pay for his spring housing fees.
Now, for those of you looking to hear the stupid stuff college students do, we have our fair share of that too. During the same orientation there was a cooking competition between the students. I was going from apartment to apartment to make sure they weren’t burning the joint down when a freshman boy came up to me. He says “What happens if you eat raw fish?” I told him that lots of people ate sushi, but that was usually a different cut of fish. He then says “What about eating raw shrimp?” I asked him if he ate a raw shrimp and rather sheepishly he says, “Yeah. Is there anything I can eat to make me less sick?” He was also quick to tell me that it didn’t taste all that bad. Freshmen boys – it seems it translates easily just about everywhere . . .
For you student affairs geeks (and those who remember what it was like to be a freshman in college) there are a few stories to show that students are the same everywhere and students here are very different than any I have worked with. During International Student Orientation I had an afternoon where I ran some ice breakers with the students. I had them get into different pairs and answer questions out of the “Book of Questions”. One of the questions I asked them to consider was “Would you eat a bowl of live crickets for $40,000USD?” Now, as a poor college student, this is one I would have had to consider – paying two years of my tuition for eating something other people see as a delicacy? I think I would have seriously considered it. After about 10 seconds one boy standing in a small group near me says “We’re done. There is nothing to even talk about with this one.” I said “Well, some people seem to have something to talk about.” The boy says to me “There are people here who are BILLIONAIRES. We would never even consider this.” He was so matter of fact, not even seeming stuck up, just sort of letting me know I didn’t quite know my audience. I was stunned. It had never occurred to me that we would have people with that kind of wealth in the group. Some things you can’t prepare for I guess. At the same time, I recently met with a student who isn’t sure he will be able to pay for his spring housing fees.
Now, for those of you looking to hear the stupid stuff college students do, we have our fair share of that too. During the same orientation there was a cooking competition between the students. I was going from apartment to apartment to make sure they weren’t burning the joint down when a freshman boy came up to me. He says “What happens if you eat raw fish?” I told him that lots of people ate sushi, but that was usually a different cut of fish. He then says “What about eating raw shrimp?” I asked him if he ate a raw shrimp and rather sheepishly he says, “Yeah. Is there anything I can eat to make me less sick?” He was also quick to tell me that it didn’t taste all that bad. Freshmen boys – it seems it translates easily just about everywhere . . .
