Wahad, Ifnain, and Thahlathah, or Day 16 in Doha

So I have this good friend whose trilingual (which is very impressive), and I've begun asking him what different things are in Arabic. I'll let you know how that works out, since the first three letters and first three numbers are almost more than I can handle. (What kind of language has the 'one' have more than one syllable? Though 'two' has two, and 'three' has three... I haven't gotten to four yet, but I would hope that that doesn't continue for too long.)

Speaking of words, today I watched the Human Writes Project performing in the majlis of CMU-Q. Their performance of "Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets" was a chronological word wonder telling of these three hip-hop-inspired men and their passion for compassion. They are multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-national, but they gave a message of hope and peace and human need. Their question-and-answer session went quite a long time... you could tell they were poets because they would answer the questions in lengthy cadence.

Also, surprisingly, I ran into Sara, a classmate from Pittsburgh. I was talking to some others, then recognized her when they pointed her out as the MC for the evening. They were incredulous, because around here she goes to Georgetown, so there is no reason for her to be in Pittsburgh.

But in Pittsburgh she was. After a few years there, she decided to do something radically different (where she could learn Arabic, too!) and ended up in Qatar. I knew I knew her!

After the performance, Abdallah (who has a car, so I keep him around) and I went adventuring to a park in Aspire Zone. If my memory from the tour a nearly two weeks ago serves me well, the Aspire Zone was built for the Asian Games in 2006. We went to a very extensive park, with the only hill for miles (and it was probably man-made).

Very prominent in the Aspire Zone is the, I believe it's called, the Aspire Tower. This is where the flame of the Asian Games was, and it is one of the tallest landmarks outside of Doha central.

The amount of guards around has become less of a sticking point for me since I've been here, especially since I've realized that they are just doing their job. Which, sadly, doesn't including taking pictures of people in front of water features. So we had to do it ourselves. Sans flash, the water looked beautiful. With flash, my glaring white face is much more prominent. So, combine them in your head, and it'll be a great picture.

A final mention about the park was that while we were there, our timing was impeccable. We were never on a lawn when the sprinklers started to go off; we were taking pictures by the water, and it turned off right as we left; after we climbed the hill, the lights along the pond turned on. The sprinkler by the car even went off right before we left so I could wash the grit out of my sandals. It was a good night, but after my not-so-complete night of sleep last night, it'll be nice to lay down and get some good rest.