In 2006 I moved to Qatar and things are not what many people in North America would expect - it is not like how the Middle East is portrayed in the media. I'm also a fan of skepticism and science so wondered how this works here in Qatar. Since I'm here for a while I figured I'd use the time to get to know this country better and with this blog you can learn along with me. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - So what posts have been popular recently . . .
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Another Qatari Wedding
A few days before Christmas I received an invitation to the wedding of a business associate. While I can read Arabic I had a tough time deciphering the invitation because of the fancy calligraphy, I was trying to figure out where the wedding was but couldn't do it (yes, I'm still taking Arabic lessons and probably will for a long time). A Qatari colleague of mine helped me out and gave me directions to where the wedding tent would be.
So on the appointed evening I went to the wedding tent.
As you can see these tents are huge (side note: there doesn't appear to be many people in the tent because I took this picture when dinner was being served so everyone was in the dining tent, in truth hundreds of men attended the wedding)
So when I arrived I followed standard procedure: I followed the carpet to the far side of the tent (the carpet is in the above photo, the long red one that crosses the tent) where the groom and his father were greeting guests. They were easy to spot as they were the only men wearing black bishts. After shaking hands with the groom's father I shook hands with the groom and gave my congratulations, stopped for a few pictures with the groom, then moved on to mingle with the guests and enjoy tea and other drinks being handed out by waiters.
This time the singers and musicians were stationed in the large carpeted area outside the tent. I hung out there to watch them for a while. Occasionally a few guests would do some sword dancing. The groom and his father spent all their time greeting the guests who were arriving, or chatting with relatives.
I arrived what I thought was fairly late, 8:15 pm, as I had been at a friend’s dinner party earlier. In Qatar this is not a big deal, the point of attending a man's wedding is to congratulate him and his family and give your regards. No gifts, no ceremony, and if you are not close to the groom (close friends, relatives) you can even leave after giving your regards. Close friends and relatives should stick around for most of the wedding as a matter of politeness but others are under no obligation to stay for the whole event.
I figured I had missed the dinner, which didn't bother me as I was full. Well imagine my surprise when around 8:45 pm they announced dinner. There was a buffet of appetizers and desserts but the main course was already on the guest’s tables -- whole roast lamb on a platter of rice and lentils, one for each table. In traditional fashion, there was no cutlery, you roll up your right sleeve and eat with your hand (ONLY your right hand, never touch food with your left hand). I'm not great at tearing off chunks of meat and rolling it with rice using just one hand but the Qatari gentlemen who were sitting at the table would sometimes tear off pieces of meat and give it to me, which made things easier. I didn't eat a lot because I was still full from the dinner party earlier but I felt that it would be rude if I didn't eat some food -- a lot of effort must go into preparing whole roast lambs for hundreds of guests. I chatted a bit with the other gentleman at the table, practicing my still-limited Arabic, but I still struggled a lot to follow the conversation.
After eating you go to a small room at the side of the tent were about a dozen portable sinks were set up so that guests could wash their hands after the meal.
As I left the dining tent I saw a couple of dozen men, mostly South and Central Asian, waiting patiently by the door. These men were not guests, I assume they happened to be nearby and saw the wedding tent so entered in the hopes of getting a meal. Unlike a Western wedding reception there is nothing wrong with this at all, as far as I know a Qatari man's wedding is open to all men. The etiquette seems to be that once the guests have finished eating these men can enter and partake of the remaining food -- and believe me there was plenty of food left. I've attended two weddings that were held in wedding tents and this occurred both times (the other weddings I attended were in hotels where this doesn’t occur).
I hung around for a while after dinner to watch the singers and eventually the groom and his father did some sword dancing. I did not have a chance to ask the groom whether posting photos of him would be okay so I’m only going to post photos that keeps his identity hidden. Keep an eye out for a Qatari in a white thobe wearing a black bisht, as opposed to Qataris who are wearing black thobes.
I've also posted some video of the festivities, including sword dancing.
Singers at the wedding
The groom sword dancing with guests
By 10:00 most of the guests had left so I left as well. The groom and his father will continue on to the bride’s wedding reception to pick up the bride.
If you would like to know what happens at a Qatari woman’s wedding a fellow Qatari blogger, Just Kooki, has a four-part post about her experience at a lady's wedding. It's definitely worth a read.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Hunting with Falcons!
Yesterday I received a call from my Qatari friend Ali who asked if I wanted to go to the desert with him and his friends to do some falconry. My answer was something along the lines of, "Heck yeah!”. I've never been hunting with falcons before.
Falconry is a very popular sport in Qatar, and many Qataris own falcons that they use for hunting either here or abroad (apparently North Africa and Iraq are popular destinations for hunting). There are a number of stores that sell falcons and falconry equipment, and I even know of two different veterinary clinics in Doha dedicated to falcons. Falcons are very expensive to purchase and maintain, so owners take great care of them. It was great that I was going to see some falconry in action.
First, we drove out of the city. Ali let me drive his Land Cruiser.
We laughed that this may have confused people -- seeing a Westerner driving a Land Cruiser with a Qatari as a passenger. (Inside joke, if you lived in Qatar you would understand).
Then we went to the desert up north to meet Ali’s friends (and their falcons).
Transporting a falcon is pretty straightforward, just put it in the car.
Training a falcon
Falcons need to be trained. A technique they were using was to tie both the falcon and a pigeon on a long string, that way the falcon could practice attacking pigeons without the pigeon being able to fly too far away.
Hunting
Once trained you no longer need the string, but you still need to provide a falcon with lots of practice so it can become a good hunter, which is what we were mostly doing today.
First, you need a trained falcon (duh).
Then you hook the falcon up with a transmitter so you can find it in case it flies too far away
Then you need some prey.
You take the pigeon at least 50m away from the falcon, release it, then release the falcon to go after it. Then jump in the Land Cruiser and drive after them because depending on how long it takes the falcon to catch the pigeon they might fly for kilometers.
Et voila!
Once the falcon catches the pigeon, its owner immediately assists, using his hands or a knife to remove some of the feathers and bones (many captive-raised falcons don't realize they shouldn't be eating the feathers, which are a choking hazard).
Once the falcon starts eating it's easy for the owner to pick it back up onto his hand (as long as he's holding some meat)
Now for another falcon to practice. This time I got to handle the dinner.
The pigeon was really giving the falcon or run for its money, constantly weaving around and staying low to the ground. Suddenly a second falcon appeared out of nowhere and attacked the pigeon! It belonged to another group of Qataris who were training falcons further down the desert. Both falcons pounced on the pigeon as it went to the ground. The owners of the falcons immediately rushed in to separate them before the falcons hurt each other.
One of the Qataris took a couple of nasty scratches to his hand separating the falcons but he was more concerned about his falcon getting hurt. The falcon appeared to be okay and happily ate its pigeon. Even so, its owner planned to take it to the clinic tomorrow to make sure.
Not much left of that pigeon!
After a couple more hunts it got dark so people got out some cushions from their trucks and we lit a fire, sitting around chatting while drinking coffee and karak.
All in all a really cool day. I hope to go again sometime.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Celebrations at Souq Waqif (Arab dancing)
Thanks to the Arab Games there were a number of events around the city. In Souq Waqif they had set up three stages at various locations for acts from the various Arab countries to perform on. While I was there yesterday I was able to capture some video from each of the performances.
First up: video of Palestinian dancers
Dance 1
Dance 2
Dance 3
Then there was a group of Saudi singers and drummers. The song is structured such that the lead sings a part then the singers on the side respond.
Saudi singers
I guess the music was pretty good because soon a few Qataris were dancing.
Saudi singers 2
Finally, here are some dancers from Oman. Now how different the Omanis are from the Saudis
Omani dancers
And unlike Saudis the Omani women take part in the dances as well, with elaborate costumes.
Omanis 2
Enjoy.
Friday, December 23, 2011
2011 Arab Games
This month Doha hosted the Arab Games, and events similar to the Commonwealth games but for Arab countries (in this case 22 countries ranging from Mauritania to Iraq). The Games end today.
Because of the business trips I was on I missed more than half of the games which was unfortunate because I really enjoyed attending the Asian Games back in 2006. That left me this week to catch whatever I could after work. I went to three events:
1) Swimming
Monday night I went to the Hamad Aquatic Center in the Aspire Zone to watch some of the swimming.
I got there earlier than expected but soon the place filled up, which surprised me as I was not expecting a big crowd. Turns out that a lot of people in North Africa are fans of swimming.
First here are a couple of pictures of the start of a men’s and ladies’ race. Do you notice anything different?
Modest swimwear! Typically men wear Speedos in swimming competitions but here they're wearing much less revealing swimwear. Given that every competitor was wearing the same thing I'm pretty sure this was mandated by the Arab Games as the competition was being shown on television. How do I know? Because I had arrived a bit earlier and saw the warm-up – and most of the men wore Speedos during the warm-up, then changed to the other swimsuits for the competition.
One swimmer was very popular with the crowd, a Tunisian by the name Oussama Mellouli, and there were huge cheers whenever his name was mentioned. In fact a large group of Tunisians were jumping, singing and banging drums during races. I found out later that Mellouli is an Olympic gold medalist, one of only two that Tunisia has ever had, so I could see why he was popular.
So how did his first race go?
Mellouli didn't disappoint the crowd -- Gold for Tunisia!
So back into the pool for another event, and . . .
another Gold for Tunisia!
Over the course of the Arab Games Mr. Mellouli won, ready for this? 15 gold and 1 silver! Yes, fifteen. The silver was in the team event so suffice to say he won every time he was in the pool for an individual event. Unreal.
Overall people loved the swimming and would mob to take photos of medalists.
Next I went to see Karate at the Qatar Sports Club. It had a mixture of bouts, both men and ladies. Surprisingly I found the ladies bouts more aggressive and entertaining.
Despite the right hook to the face the lady with the headscarf went on to win the bout and claim Gold.
Finally I went to see the handball final between Qatar and Egypt, in the Aspire Zone.
I was out of luck as I'd arrived too late, the venue was full and the police weren't letting anyone else in (no I didn't have a ticket there were no tickets being sold. Events were free to enter, so first come-first serve).
Unfortunately that was all I got to see. I wish more of the events had been in the evening since I couldn't see many of them because I was working.
In the end Egypt easily had the most medals. Tunisia, helped significantly by Mellouli, was second. Morocco was third and Qatar was fourth. I think Qatar did very well given that such a small country, the training school at the Aspire Zone is starting to pay off.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
National Day
Okay lots of blogging to catch up on. December 18 is National Day in Qatar, celebrating when the Al-Thani family became the rulers of Qatar in (I think) 1877. They always start National Day with a big military parade on the Corniche and I promised myself that this time I would go down to the Corniche and see it live.
So naturally I slept in, waking up around 7:45 and the parade starts at 8:30. I quickly showered and grabbed a bite to eat before walking down the Corniche. All the streets around my apartment building, including empty lots, were jammed with cars and hundreds of people were walking towards the Corniche as well. By the time I got there this is what I saw:
*sigh* that's what I get for being late. You need to get there early to get seats (or even a view).
Thankfully in the nearby park they set up a big screen so that people could watch it. Of course this meant that I was essentially watching it on TV, which I could've done at home. Anyway at least I was in a festive atmosphere with everyone wearing Qatar gear and waving flags.
Afterward I wandered over to Souq Waqif for coffee and a snack. All the restaurants and cafés were crowded, thanks to thousands of people having the same idea I did, but I managed to find a table at my favorite Lebanese café (Saida).
Later I went to see some Arab Games events at the Aspire Zone. (I'll discuss that in my next blog post.)
After that I went to a nearby park just to see what they had set up for people to celebrate National Day, before going to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was already night so things were winding down.
Unfortunately I was now far away from the Corniche so I missed the evening fireworks. Trying to get back home was a nightmare, traffic near the Corniche was generally gridlocked. Never want to go through that again. I'll know better for next time.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Christopher Hitchens
I was saddened to hear that Christopher Hitchens has passed away after a long bout with cancer. I've mentioned him a couple of times in this blog as I have attended a couple of his speeches and own one of his books. I even spoke with him briefly at a conference. He had a caustic wit and wasn't afraid to speak his mind but it is clear from his speeches and writings that he was a very intelligent man and when he spoke on a topic it was obvious he had researched it. His book and speeches attacking Mother Teresa are legendary. He was even called to the Vatican to present the arguments for why Mother Teresa should not be canonized, something that in the past would have been done internally by the advocatus diaboli (until Pope John Paul II abolished that office).
First impressions: at a conference in Las Vegas (The Amazing Meeting 3) as he was being introduced for his speech the speaker noticed that he was smoking onstage and, slightly surprised, he said, “. . . and clearly we’re not in California anymore.”, at which point Hitchens grabbed the mic and said, “This is Vegas, baby -- I'll do whatever the *@&%# I want!”. I knew right then that this was going to be a good speech, and it was.
We've lost a great intellectual and excellent writer.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Did I say I was in Switzerland ...
This last week-and-a-half has been a real whirlwind. I got back from Switzerland on Friday night, slept, woke up and did a couple of errands, then repacked and boarded a plane -- to attend a conference I was invited to be a speaker at in . . .
Oman!
I've said it once (actually twice) and I'll say it again – Oman is the nicest place in the Gulf and one of my favorite countries to visit. The scenery, the friendly people, the relaxed atmosphere, it is just a great place. I always recommend it to people and anyone I know who has gone there on vacation really liked it.
In the West a lot of bigots or people who are uninformed about Islam go on about how threatening Muslims are and how they're all out to get us or whatever. If only they could visit Oman -- maybe then they would see things differently.
Visit Oman if you get a chance. You won't regret it.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Away on business
I'm currently away on business but it’s nice to enjoy some cooler weather. Got to see the Christmas Market at Basel, Switzerland.
I’ll post again when I return.
I’ll post again when I return.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Musings on a New York Times article about Doha
A few days ago there was an article in the New York Times about Doha. Titled “Qatar’s Capital Glitters Like a World City, but Few Feel at Home” it explores how Doha is becoming a huge city with tons of skyscrapers and construction but seems to lack a real urban heart, and discusses the divide between Qataris and expatriates as the two circles do not interact with each other.
Read the article first, then I'll continue.
First, I'll point out a couple of things that were right and wrong in the article:
a) the picture that shows that there's not much pedestrian traffic is true -- for certain neighborhoods. The picture was taken in the neighborhood of West Bay, just outside of City Center Mall. I used to live in that neighborhood and if you recall one of the reasons why I moved out was because that neighborhood was “sterile”.
When people see West Bay for the first time from a distance, with its tall and glittering skyscrapers, people assume that's where it's at and it'll be a thriving neighborhood not unlike Manhattan or Chicago.
Unfortunately the realities of urban planning got in the way.
Public transit in Doha is poor and there is no Metro, which means everyone drives into work. West Bay is also primarily reclaimed land so it is challenging to dig multi-story underground parking lots under your building. Combine that with the fact that many of these buildings are 40+ stories and you have a real issue with parking, which necessitates surrounding the building with a parking lot. This creates what I call "skyscraper islands”, a skyscraper surrounded by a parking lot, which in turn is next to another parking lot attached to a skyscraper, and so on. This leaves no space for any kind of sidewalk-level shops or cafés, only parking lots are next to the sidewalk.
End result, an unexciting neighborhood.
This is not true for many other parts of Doha. Go into the older areas of the city such as Bin Mahmoud, Najma or Musherib and it’s teeming with people. In fact, it’s teeming with too many people. Again everyone having a car and not enough parking is to blame, streets in these neighborhoods have real traffic problems and there are cars parked everywhere. For some reason urban planners did not force buildings to have adequate parking. I estimate that my apartment tower has 60 apartments but only 40 parking spaces, as does the other 6 to 10 apartment towers next to mine. That said I prefer it to West Bay, the neighborhood has soul. One of my colleagues remarked when he visited my apartment that he loved that he could see children playing in the street, something you would never see in West Bay. I guess the NYT reporter never made it to those neighborhoods.
b) Souq Waqif is mostly for tourists and Qataris don't go there much – wrong!
I live near the Souq now and I can tell you that there is always plenty of Qataris there. Maybe not on the main restaurant street, but you will see plenty of them in the small labyrinthine alleyways off the side of the street, the pet souq, and in the falcon souq at certain times of the year. It is true, as one Qatari said, it is not the ultimate social hub for Qataris, but you can't say that a majlis is either when referring to a city as a whole. A majlis is usually in someone's home, an important meeting place to be sure but it is not a common area of a city that people freely move in and out of. Every Westerner has a living room but we don't say that the social heart of the Western city is everyone's living room.
Lastly, I have posted in the past about challenges in meeting Qataris and I have to admit that all of the ones I know well I met through work or are firends of theirs. Part of the issue is that Qataris and Westerners don't share a lot of common interests. I love going to the ATP tennis tournament they hold here but most Qataris don't follow tennis. Qataris don't go to the Qatar Natural History Group either; don't attend Arabic lessons (duh!); and certainly don't hang out in bars or nightclubs (at least the vast majority don't), so part of the difficulty in meeting them is that you just don't have an opportunity to. It's not like you can just walk up to a Qatari in a mall and go "Hi, let's be friends". If you attend things or get involved in the events that Qataris do then chances are you'll meet them, just like you'd meet the locals anywhere else in the world.
It may surprise people to know that the odd time you do meet and chat with a Qatari (I chatted with a Qatari gentleman in a bar once, and with other Qataris at various business receptions or weddings) they are generally very kind and talkative, not at all evasive, quiet or closed. The same applies to the Bahrainis, Saudis, Kuwaitis, and Omanis I've met.
It is meeting them that can be a challenge, not (as the article implies) that they don't want to meet you.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Pork in Qatar – Update
Rumors are flying that some hotels are already selling pork, but I checked a couple of them out and found nothing.
With the decision to allow the QDC (Liquor store) to sell pork, I decided to ask a number of my Muslim colleagues what they thought about the change in policy from the Government. I spoke to five Qataris and an Egyptian and all of them were generally of the same view:
• They don't agree with allowing it (they are Muslim, what did you expect?) . . .
• . . . but none of them were deeply troubled or outraged by it. Many thought it was inevitable since Qatar allows alcohol as well.
• Some were concerned that this would lead to a slippery slope and it would soon be available in restaurants (I think it will happen as well)
• And generally they were disappointed as this may mean in the future that they will have to start scanning menus to see if there would be any pork in the dish. They like the fact that in Qatar they could go to a restaurant and be confident that any food they ordered was halal (acceptable for Muslims to eat). It is possible that may change.
Since Friday is the main religious day I'll take a look at the Friday paper and see if there are any opinions from the general population in regards to the pork issue. So far I do not think the Government has released anything official as to why they changed their policy stance, some of the Qataris doubt there will be any official statement released.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Pork is now available in Qatar!
While I was gone the Qatar Distribution Company (QDC), the only liquor store in Qatar, started selling pork!
When someone told me I didn't believe it. Rumours about pork being sold in Qatar have swirled ever since I arrived over five years ago so I ignored the rumours a month or so ago about the QDC getting it but it's true. Here's a link with a picture:
http://dohanews.co/post/13146717097
Wow, I never expected that to happen. Qatar has always been a bit more restrictive than its neighbors (except Saudi Arabia of course) and while completely banning alcohol would've made it problematic to attract a lot of Western ex-pats I would not consider pork to be a “deal-breaker” for an ex-pat to not go to Qatar. I assumed that’s why Qatar allowed alcohol but not pork. A quick Internet search did not find an official Government statement on why pork is now allowed.
Not that a traveler to Qatar will be able to buy it -- you need a license to enter the QDC. Maybe in the future it will be available in some hotels or restaurants but for now only an ex-pat with a liquor license can buy it.
Not that I'm going to be buying any -- pork isn't that big of a deal to me, I'm more of a beef person.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Back from Vacation
Okay I'm back, safe and sound.
The last week and a half was spent in Macedonia and Bulgaria and I couldn't find any Internet cafes so I couldn't update the blog. I had a great time, saw lots of cool things, and had a couple of unexpected events (like going to Kosovo) but nothing bad ever happened. All in all a really good trip.
I’m now sitting here in Qatar and it's raining! That's ironic because it didn't rain once during my vacation, three weeks and almost all of it sunny.
I'll post some pictures later but here's a few highlight pics:
Yep, I’m in Venice.
Split, Croatia
Coffee break on the Dalmati Coast, Croatia. This has got to be one of the best places a bus could stop for a break.
Ohrid, Macedonia
Communist-era sculptures have seen better days, Sofia, Bulgaria
The last week and a half was spent in Macedonia and Bulgaria and I couldn't find any Internet cafes so I couldn't update the blog. I had a great time, saw lots of cool things, and had a couple of unexpected events (like going to Kosovo) but nothing bad ever happened. All in all a really good trip.
I’m now sitting here in Qatar and it's raining! That's ironic because it didn't rain once during my vacation, three weeks and almost all of it sunny.
I'll post some pictures later but here's a few highlight pics:
Yep, I’m in Venice.
Split, Croatia
Coffee break on the Dalmati Coast, Croatia. This has got to be one of the best places a bus could stop for a break.
Ohrid, Macedonia
Communist-era sculptures have seen better days, Sofia, Bulgaria
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Vacation update
Currently in Slovenia, just about to go out for goulash. Onward to Croatia tomorrow. Computer here at the hotel won´t let me post pictures which is a shame.
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
On Vacation
Posting will be few and far between as I am on vacation for a few weeks. Was just in Sofia, currently in Bologna. Yep, there is a story as to how I wound up going from Bulgaria to Italy. I will get to that later. Loving the vacation, I will post again when I have the chance.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Science -- it's not scary to Muslims
I was so swamped with work and planning for an upcoming trip that I missed the third annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival, which is really a shame as I enjoyed the first two a lot. I will definitely go next time.
This morning I was looking through the paper and realized that the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) was being held here in Doha. It's a three day conference with some of the best educational minds in the world discussing ways to improve education. I have discussed the educational system in Qatar numerous times in the past on this blog and while it appears things are improving the country still has to undergo a lot of changes.
But that's not why I was posting. Thanks to media showing mostly Afghanistan, Iraq or Saudi Arabia to represent the Islamic world most Westerners assume that all Islamic countries are fundamentalist and somehow anti-science. I think in some cases Westerners are also projecting their own experiences with fundamentalist Christianity, assuming since many fundamentalist Christians attack things like evolution, or minimize scientific education to focus on religious study, that fundamentalist Muslims must be the same. Today in the paper there were two articles that highlights how in Qatar, an Islamic nation who are mostly from the Hanbali school of Islam (similar to Saudi Arabia), are not anti-science.
First, Qatar Foundation and Exxon Mobil have announced a new program to give more training in math and science to elementary school teachers. The project focuses on elementary school because, as one of the project developer said,
“It is important to train maths and science teachers. If we need good engineers, we should have good maths and science teachers,”
And another article mentioned that an episode of the Arab reality show “Stars of Science” would be on tonight. This is the third season of the reality show. Participants bring innovative science and engineering ideas and the show helps them develop it. I'm not sure if there's anything like it in North America.
So there you are, two newspaper articles about science in Qatar in one day. Just because the country is Muslim does not mean that it is anti-science.
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