Chello!, or Day 27 in Doha

I just finished Skyping with my family, and, would you believe it, they accused me of being too happy? "Get depressed or something."

Well, I must say if my days continue being as productive and fun as today was, there is very little chance of that.

I'll skip the boring part where I graded homeworks, did my homework, got free food, and went to a group meeting.

I'll jump instead to the part where I stuffed myself at a delicious Indian buffet called Caravan. And I suppose we can also talk about the fact that I was with an awesome group of new and old friends. Remember that day with two dinners? Sabrina, Utsav, Salman, and Abdalla were all there tonight, in addition to a few of the CDAs (RAs) around here. I hang out with the resident life crew wherever I go, it seems.

My exciting food choice of the day was... balls. That is a bit easier to say than gulab jamun. They were spheres of what I thought then was dough and honey, but I know now as cream and flour in a rose-water syrup. No wonder the name means something like "rose fruit."

A trip to Doha is never complete without a stop for tea and talk at bandar. It intrigues me the kind of people that hang out there at all hours... since I'm definitely one of them. Most of the group headed over there after dinner to chat.

While the group of us was shooting the breeze, someone (I think it was Salman) suggested a ride on a dhow. Now, these boats get lit up at night with strings of lights - much different than the tourist sightseeing cruise I took earlier.

Also different was the bargaining. We were very insistent that we wanted the boat for half an hour, and we wanted it for 10 riyals a person ($2.70). So all the guys in the group gather around the dock attendant and assail him in Hindi, Arabic, English, and Urdu. He takes it all, dishes it back, and then some. (Someone told me the language that he added, but I'm not sure what it was... something about him being Bangladeshi?) And we end up with a stunning cruise for 120 riyals (which was 13QR per person... but totally worth it).

The guy who was driving the boat was also our DJ; played Akon and Kanye, Daft Punk and Rihanna. And some interesting mix of dance and Arabic music that was entertaining. We started a Doha dance party in the middle of the bay.

That's right. A dance party. On a dhow. In Doha. I was... delighted!

Coming home, we stood around outside the dorms talking about cadavers and "that's what she said" jokes until the final call of homework and classes in the morning pulled us apart. But, until another day, as Salman would say, "good story"! (EDIT: Salman says "Cool story." I'm embarrassed that I got his catchphrase wrong.)