Weekend in Doha
Hi!
Doha Skyline from Souq Wakif, and Aladdin's signature photo "Hello"
I feel compelled to write you - I've been working on a post (publishing soon) - I wanted to say "heyyyy".
I sat Friday in the warm evening breeze by the bay at my favorite park with two of my favorite people here. As we shared quips from articles we read during the week, my phone went 'ding' with an update from a teacher blog I follow.
The teacher is from Philadelphia, moved abroad with her husband and two boys who are with her sometimes and sometimes back in the states. She lives and teaches in Doha.
I found her blog in 2018 as I gathered information about relocating here.
She mostly writes about travel, insider tips on International Teaching, and Qatar peculiarities. She must have been having a bad day and needing to vent because her negative post was about how expensive everything is here - from weekly groceries (600qar), to manicures (500qar), to weekend activities (775qar), to a coffee in a park (90qar).
1 Qatari Riyal (qar) = 0.27 US (twenty-seven cents)
I laughed, thinking of the day I had and how I hadn't spent more than 300qar.
Excluding two special purchases, I hadn't spent more than 150qar - which is the equivalent of about 40 bucks.
My weekly grocery order, not more than 225qar, on a "going out" weekend about 600qar - I don't spend nearly what she says about life here. How? Not sure.
Here's Friday:
I woke earlier than expected (not usual).
Texted the movie club to meet for lunch at Souq Wakif. Ethnic restaurants, authentic cuisine, relaxed atmosphere, perfect weather, a lazy day. Layali Al Qahira - Egyptian Cuisine - Aladdin and The Genie are regulars there and their Arabic is greatly appreciated navigating the menu. Abu and Rajah (Aladdin's Monkey and Jasmine's Tiger) were working so just the 3 of us met.
As I sat with Aladdin and The Genie, an order of Babaghanouj, this puff bread that steams your face when you pull it open, and Misage'aa (eggplant, ground beef, tomato sauce) the balloon vendor walked by and I was instantly transported back to Epcot Center.
I loved Epcot because it was like being in those countries for real. Each pavilion staffed by college interns from that location, describing food, how the colors of the tiles came to be, names of trees Disney imported for the pavilion, how people drink their coffee -
all the things a resident would proudly share with you.
Morocco, always my favorite pavilion, the food, colors, fabrics, architecture - all of it. Turns out, I've always been into Middle Eastern/African Culture and Arabia.
I sipped mint tea because I was actually at Layali to do that. Not a corporate ideal of what the place and time might be, but the actual place. Not a westernized version of the time - but the actual time.
Actual colors. Actual fabrics. Actual architecture. Actual thing.
Tiles at a kiosk in Souq Wakif
My bill - 70qar, about 19 bucks, and I was so full I didn't eat the rest of the day. We walked to the honey festival and The Genie kept laughing at the Qatari companies, "Where in country are the apiaries? Where are the bees? I've never seen one and the flowers are landscaping..."
Honey: Arabic - عسل (asal : say ah-sahl)
The boys traded Arabic with vendors and conversed themselves in Arabic. We walked the advertised "150 booths from 37 countries". I stepped off pretend Epcot and onto the real "World Showcase". If I can't travel to Iran or Kyrgyzstan right now, I can talk to people from there and taste their honey - from a flower known to grow only in Kyrgyzstan and producing two types of honey. One bitter and difficult on the palate and one sweet and soothing - ironically similar to two experiences I've had.
Alpine White Honey and the sweeter/smoother of the two Kyrgyzstan flowers
Sun setting over Souq Wakif - and the sun is really that big and lovely
We walked to the other side of the souq, past Fanar, through the thousands of Indian and Nepalese laborers gathering along the corniche by dhow boat parties in this perfect weather. Colors, fabrics, music, scents of food, happy conversations - like a Bourdain documentary piece.
Can you tell who is Aladdin and who is The Genie?
Pre-sunset Fanar Cultural Center, moon in the sky
We walked MIA park (Museum of Islamic Art) and a craft fair. Vendors with purses, jewelry, food, and hand crafts. We walked the promenade to my absolute favorite place to sit for a beverage. MIA Park hosts two small cafe areas with unique seating and a quiet atmosphere.
Behind the cafe sits an artificial hill with no lights, nicknamed "lovers hill", where people sit very close and hold hands with their sweetheart in the dark. PDAs are officially frowned upon here. Something simple as holding hands will get you a scowl from authority figures.
MIA Promenade, out to the "7" Sculpture by Richard Serra - 7 Steel plates, 80 feet high,
the largest of his works, it celebrates the scientific and spiritual importance
of the number 7 in Arabic culture
Dhow boats resting in the harbor under my favorite lavender sky
We sat at the cafe.
Instrumental Maroon 5 from the speakers.
Just existing.
June Cafe and MIA Park Coffee Shop just at sunset
West Bay, offices and apartment buildings, across the bay
I love to listen to the words of wisdom from The Genie and the banter it creates with Aladdin. Their laughs are infectious and uplifting and make the day all that much better. The lights from West Bay and City Center buildings twinkle, reflected in the bay, like the far reaching cosmos of a Carl Sagan photo.
A quiet evening walk back, Netflix, and pizza.
Say hello to my Aladdin. He's quite tall, but he's also quite handsome.
More about him in a little bit... :D
Not to judge that blogger, but I'm reminded that life is what you make of it. Either in Qatar or on your own longitude - life can be whatever you wish it to be. If you want to spend 2.65x the grocery bill for imported western products, go ahead and have that westernized experience. (I did it twice, in October and January, when I was really homesick.) If you'd like to learn a few Arabic words and participate in the culture of where you've opted to live and work, go ahead and have that experience too. I'm surviving by not spending $22.75 on imported Old El Paso Taco Kits at Monoprix (Insert Whole Foods jokes). The $2.20 bag of Qatari Nacho Chips in a bowl with ground beef, fresh lettuce, tomato, and ground chili pepper spice shakers are the equivalent for me at a savings of 90%.
Not to cast stones on her experience, but my pedicure is 100qar, my coffee between 10 and 25qar, and out for a really good cocktail night is not more than 400qar. My employer-sponsored housing is in an equally nice neighborhood (she said she lives in employer sponsored housing in that West Bay view from the cafe - which is like New York 5th Avenue - and she compared it to "project housing").
Her blog post about traveling to Italy, which I've also done, at about half her expenditure and twice the excitement, also focused on money.
The Genie said I should write to her, ask to meet her, and compare notes. I said I'd just rather write you you all and remind you to "fact check".
Whatever you decide to do, just do it.
Own your experience.
Make it yours.
Just don't complain about it.
Tell the truth.
February Weekend in Doha:
Layali Lunch with friends : 70qar
Entrance to Honey Festival and Tasting : free
Kyrgyzstan Honey (optional) : 150qar
MIA Park bizarre : Free
Corniche Walk : Free
June Cafe : 10qar
Pizza Delivery (2 meals): 55 qar
Eternal Friendship : also free
Total weekend including honey plus a second meal : 285qar = $78.30
Actual Cost : Priceless
I'm taking my Riyal Savings and going on an exotic island adventure with Aladdin next week south of the Equator. James would approve.
In fact, I think he has a hand in all of it.
I'll be sure to send you photos.
Slainte.
She walks in beauty,
like the night
of cloudless climes
and starry skies.
~ Lord Byron
Have you seen the woman's face in the MIA building? The top is named "The Eyes of Doha" - as it represents a woman covered in a burka
where all we can see are her eyes.