Well, I did get up and make crepes, and those were delicious. Daedri and Abdalla and I baked out in the morning sun (it was probably 90F or mid-30sC) while eating them with Nutella and bananas, strawberry jam, or baked apples.
I put on my sunscreen, and the two of them (with their dark skin) just laughed.
Brent and Zane came a little after, so we made Brent finish up the crepes, and we were off to find the camel race track at Al Shahiniyah.
(I probably shouldn't have said right as we were leaving that I wasn't sure this was the right race track...)
It was less than 15 minutes away, and when we got there, we saw random groups of camels milling around. Abdalla pulled over to ask some guys about the races and... they were cancelled. The heat was too much for this early in spring, apparently, so they were pushed to Monday or Friday, or some other day.
We still managed to get yelled at for driving too close to the camels that were practising on the track.
Abdalla proposed going to Dukhan, which is on the west side of Qatar. I was against it at first (we all had work to do), but when we heard that we were already halfway there, it was a go!
So my original goal was taken from me, but I got to check another item off my bucket list! Daedri said that it was hitting two birds with one stone, but I fully intend on coming back for a real camel race.
During the roadtrip (which only took about 45 minutes to get from EC to Dukhan), we played the Qatar version of the roadtrip game "Cows." The original goal is to count the most cows on your side of the car, trying to beat the other side. If there is a cemetery on your side of the road, all your cows "die" and you start back at zero. The Qatar version uses camels and mosques.
There was a gorgeous beach; it was just hazy enough that there was no way to tell where the sky met the sea. We waded up to our rolled-up-pants-legs, picking shells and skipping stones. I put on more sunscreen, and Abdalla just shook his head. The blue water was cool (so of course, Abdalla made some geeky joke about convection) and the sand was smooth. I wish we could have stayed longer (and were more prepared) but I'm so glad I got that refreshment in.
And now I have a hankering for a roadtrip to the north.
It's award season (for Hollywood at least), so I'd like to thank a few of my friends, who I am "making famous" by putting in this blog post.
First, I'd like to thank Utshav and Salman; the former for inviting me out to play some ultimate frisbee today, and the latter for being on the winning team with me.
Next, I would like to thank the group of CMU TAs who informed me of a delicious place called Maya. In no particular order (actually, from left to right), I'd like to thank Samreen, Tessa, Swapnil, and Rishav, my CS superstars. Maya is a restaurant of completely chocolate dishes. After I ordered a chocolate fondue as my "meal", the waitress asked if I wanted any "dessert." The others ordered everything from hot chocolate to crepes filled with bananas and - you guessed it - chocolate.
Next comes the A-to-Z duo of Abdalla and Zaid. They deserve a Grammy for their work on QF Radio (which I haven't actually heard yet...) and for their leadership around their respective universities. While the rest of us were sitting lethargically in a chocolate coma, these two went to pick up Krispy Kreme donuts to sell as a fund-raiser for Haiti. Here you see them standing by a vat of chocolate.
The last two people I want to thank today are the dazzle team that are part of my rap group. On the right you see "sprinKILLZ", who has skillz with the reelz. On the left you seen my G (who's name I actually forgot... I'll fill it in later) who drops Qs like they're on fire. You might also see the fact that each of us has three dozen donuts on our laps. It was one delicious-smelling, beat-busting ride home from Landmark Mall.
The follow few paragraphs are a pensive departure from my normal posts. But don't worry, I'll tell you about my day in a minute.
So this blogging thing has been really interesting to do, since I originally started it as a way for me to remember everything and my parents to make sure I still had a pulse. (What they don't know is that a crazy, blog-writing robot took over my body weeks ago...)
Then came the fact that quite a few of the exchangestudents have blogs; though they aren't always based on their experiences here, they are certainly being influenced by them.
Then, today, while I was searching for a place to watch the Superbowl (at 1:30am), I came across some blogs of Education City staff members, which was kind of weird, since one is my boss. Shows that this "blogosphere" is big enough for the all of us, I suppose.
However, since I've been blogging out here, I think I've picked up a Doha contingent to my audience: namely, the people that I hang out with who want to know what I think of them. When I sit down to write before I go to bed, I'm always thinking of them.
Resume normal blogging:
It's "EC for Haiti" week! I was sitting at the table, and someone (who I will assume is a professor) came up, letting me know that he just Twittered the fact that I was there. He also told me about his experiences with the a different emergency response NGO. Very nice guy, but the Twitter intro was a bit much.
(Speaking of Twitter, don't use it much, but here's mine if you want it.)
The day resumed its normalcy with a free lunch and talk about mobile networking, classes (and getting droopy-eyed in them) and some homework. Though I did get another lovely chance to catch up with my good friend Rosie, who's in Singapore for the semester! And maybe, just maybe, we'll meet each other halfway in Mumbai for Spring Break!
It was studying CMU-style after my afternoon snack and Community Service Learning group meeting. Which means that I did my homework, Rishav talked to anyone that would listen, Samreen was off somewhere grading, Aysha was procrastinating going home, and Shahriar was waiting for me to catch up to him. Oh, and we ordered food.
Now, I had soda today for the first time in a few months, and therefore the first time in Doha. Jessica was telling me when she got her first can of Sprite around here, she got frustrated because it wouldn't open correctly! So here is a tutorial for the Middle Eastern pop can:
Grasp by the tab.
Pull upwards!
Voila! And weird-looking but open can of the Pepsi we all know and love.
After such a challenging meal, I was rewarded with an ice cream outing. In my first week here, the weather was beautiful (as it still is), and I was just dying for ice cream. However, it is hard to ship scoop-able ice cream, which makes it quite the luxury item around here. All the Coldstones, Haagen Daaz's, Baskin-Robbins, and TCBYs were selling ice cream... for nearly $5 a scoop. I was heartbroken that I wouldn't be able to enjoy any sort of tasty treat regularly.
Well, if you'll remember back to the end of that first week, and the first day that I met Abdalla, I found the joy of 1 riyal ($.30) soft serve from, where else, McDonald's. Three weeks of classes later, I'm already forming traditions and bonds that, Insha'Allah, will last all semester. Besides, who can say no to a late night trip to get ice cream with a guy like that?
Sometimes, I think part of the reason that I blog daily is so that everyday I have an excuse for my need to do more than just homework. Because over three-quarters of today was sitting at my laptop, reading the code and beginning to write a IRC server for my networking class.
The part that I want you to hear about, though, was the Doha Trade Expo. I saw this advertised a bit online and on signs around, and everywhere it was advertised, it went on until "Saturday, Jan. 24." I have no idea of Saturday, Jan 23rd (today) was the last day or not, but the amount of people there was very cool. We got there at 8:30pm and parked in the dusty lot that stretched for hundreds of meters on all sides of this boxy building, which was covered in cars.
Culturally-sensitive me realized after I snapped my first picture that being surrounded by covered women and men does not make a photogenic place.
So Daedri and Brent and Abdalla and I wandered that stalls; we tried some dates, felt some "pashmina" scarves, got talked at by Asian guys on microphones marketing the "Japan Magic Mop" and the "Magic Bullet Blender," played with toy guns, touched sparkly earrings, and got pushed and shoved by many other, more eager shoppers than we were. My favorite stalls were those selling spices like thyme that, not only would make your food taste delicious, but "keep you going all night" and "enlarge" everything important. They also sold wonderful beauty treatments, such as the "Virgin Soap 2000." I was sorely tempted to buy.
We spent an hour or so wandering the floor for that special treasure, but only Daedri bought anything.
I know I was looking forward to our dinner... shwarma.
My new favorite food greeted me like an old friend... or that might have been the other car full of CMU people that we met up with there. Here, more than at main campus, friend groups transcend years and majors. Tessa and Rishav are my TAs for two classes, but I'm Tessa's TA for one. However, once you get out your shwarma and sit in the majlis, it doesn't much matter who is whose what anymore. All that matters is trying not to get the delicious garlic-yogurt sauce on your pants.
No, I'm not trying to teach you Arabic in this post (though I did increase my vocabulary today to include directions). We'll get to the title later.
On the Arabic front, my increased interest today stemmed from the boredom that happened after the car ride to get our fingerprints. I'm not a criminal; it is just the system in order to get a resident card for Qatar. It is a positive step, because that means that all the x-rays and blood tests went through. So I got to have a nice man caress my hand as he rolled my fingers across a glass plate. He couldn't pronounce my name, so I told him to call me "Corniche." He, like most people who hear that, laughed.
After that simple process (that you can see Edwin doing in the picture), we sat in the van for an hour. So I brushed up on my Arabic 1-3, then learned 4-7, then learned 'left,' 'right,' 'straight,' and kind of learned 'friend.'
I saw Afaf and met Min yesterday, who are two Cornell students. I convinced them to give me a tour of their building (since you can't get in without a Cornell-ian), so I finally got to see the building.
It has been called the least friendly and ugliest building on campus. I've heard it was designed to look like a hospital, so all the pre-med and med students can see where they'll be (hopefully) working in the future. I think the white gives it a lot of airiness and space, and the light comes down everywhere. CMU is much dimmer in comparison. The building is set up with two parallel hallways, and between them is a courtyard with four giant pods that hold lecture halls sprouting from the walls. One pod looks like an egg-UFO has landed; another, a 12-sided die that some giant gamer discarded because none of the sides were labeled.
Now comes the eating part of my day. I had packed lunch to eat while holding office hours, then there was this free pizza I found. In order to stay awake in my next two classes, I ate all three slices (instead of saving them for later, as was the intention). Then, after class, I went to a local dive for lunch, where I snacked on hummus and pita. Then, Daedri and I went to go see a movie showing, and I got more free pizza. Now, I feel like eating a salad after all that random junk.
But can I just comment on the local dive? The restaurant, called "Choice Restaurant," has a few tables and matching chairs and a very diverse but simple dish menu. There is Mexican, Chinese, Indian, or Arabic dishes, and they load up your plate. The place and the prices belie the fact that they cater to the workers of the area. Eating at a hole-in-the-wall makes this experience so much better than the Western-coated malls and sleek, modern downtown.
My busy day continued with a showing of "Five in the Afternoon", a Cannes winner done by an Iranian director from a well-known family, Samira Makhmalbaf. The movie was a bit long for its content, but it was supposed to be a slow-paced movie. It was also one of those symbolic, deep, less-entertaining-than-informing films. NU-Q Film Society were great hosts and led a little discussion afterward that showed a lot of feminist and Islamic ideas come out.
I was a bit insulted by one of the guys who continually tried to cast the high heels that the main character would wear as an item of "fashion." However, these shoes were put on at very specific times for the young woman, and I believe they show her independence and defiance more than her submission to mere "fashion."
Moving past that rant, the night was with a board game party with my favorite VCU exchange students. Brent was doing well at Carcassone, I learned that Zane has a blog and can do a kicking 'sorority squat' for pictures, and I found out that Daedri's idea of a 'crossword' does not often involve words. So, her wonderful creation, read as an interpretive poem:
The worst part of my day: the fact that TA training was smack dab in the middle of it.
The best part of my day: just about everything else.
As I was walking out from training, Tessa, Rishav, and Mishab were discussing plans for the evening. I heard "the Pearl" and perked up.
So plans were made: begin with a taste of delicious shwarma (my new favorite food, very similar to a gyro or a European kebab), then head over to the a man-made island oasis of riches and fashion. In addition to my fellow TAs, the VCU exchange students came with (but barely. We almost pulled away while Brent was running to get his card for his camera. And we had to pick up Daedri from a park by the Cornish, so finding her was a side adventure.)
But, somehow, some way, (with Brent's iPhone full of "embarrassing" music), we made across the water (via the land bridge) and found Mishab and Rishav, and the girls, and... the CMU architecture students? Yup, turns out the smart (CMU) people think alike. After a day of adventuring, they ended up at the Pearl as well, which made the group at least 25 people. It was like every person in Doha that I knew magically appeared at the same spot! (Not true, I know waaaay more than 25 people.)
The advertising slogan on the posters was "I'd Like to Buy That." We were trying to think of the psychology behind it (possibly jealousy? "Hey, no, I wanted to buy that.") but then gave up and just started posing in front of the them.
As glitzy as the Pearl is, it is less than half constructed, and the row of stores is completely in accessible to students (Giorgio Armani across from Emporio Armani... we thought they were competing brothers, but, sadly, they are just Giorgio and more Giorgio. Maybe a healthy rivalry would have brought down the prices.
After losing then finding Brent and Zane, we trundled back to campus.
But wait, there's more! We agreed that it was a day for doing... so time for another item on the Bucket List: the sunrise at "bandar." "Bandar" (and I'm probably not spelling that right), is this park outcropping by the Islamic Arts museum. On the jetty is a Moroccan tea shop (where a large is just about right if you are trying to stay up all night) which was just barely open when we got there at 3:30am or so to start our watch.
But, at the brisk hour of 0600, the glimmer of pinks fighting against the blue began their surge, and, with a salty sea breeze, some bird calls, and the hum of a city about to wake up, we were on our way back to campus to do what college students do best... sleep.
I went to the biggest mall in Qatar today. I haven't been able to find any proof of that fact, but it is said that this 5-story monstrosity tops all the others.
An ice skating rink, a Toyota dealership, and a Carrefour (a Wal-mart-like everything store), and I'd believe it.
So we called a taxi and I, for the first time, didn't feel like I was getting ripped off! Mostly because I made him turn on the meter. This confidence in how to do things is nice. We got there, had lunch with the group of ten of us exchange students (who fit in two taxis...), then split up to do miscellaneous tasks of the shopping variety. Daedri and I have similar price cut-offs (and did I mention she's in doing a major in fashion design?), so shopping with her made it easy to pass the time.
Yeah, today hasn't been very adventureful. After the trip back from the mall (even easier, because we just had to hail a cab instead of calling for one), the exchange students were meeting at the cafeteria in LAS to do something for dinner.
Some people, actually most, weren't hungry, so the original plan of ordering out was ditched in favor of me making pasta for a group. I puttered in the kitchen with Daedri then served the piping hot pasta (macaroni and shells) on my best china (plastic storage containers) on gold serving platters (some plastic trays I found in one of my cabinets). It was delicious, and, according to the archies, by feeding Sam (who has been sick) and making him feel better I am also feeding his delightful condescending attitude.
Apparently, though, while I put the dishes back upstairs, Gabby and Sophie came out with cake (their addition to the smorgasbord). Disappointing, but it wasn't frosted, so I can forgive them. We went on a quick Education City (EC) tour, and then ended up back in the CMU-Q Student Affairs lounge for an hour-long discussion about resident life, Campus Life (the Qatar Foundation's unifying effort for all the campuses), and cultural information. Some good information (such as how to take out the trash) and some repeated. But A for effort. Good discoveries I made though: the Texas A&M kids have a travel stipend. Have I found follow adventurers?
Bad discoveries (or more like realizations): Classes start tomorrow.
Good realization: I get to make more friends!
Bad realization: Daedri has pictures of the mall, but I need to get them from her. Then, you too will be able to witness the glory of capitalism in the Middle East!
My, I'm just working through that bucket list like there is no tomorrow! I mean, the lack of classes and enthusiasm of other exchange students might also be helping...
I mentioned to Shaza yesterday that I wanted to walk the cornish, and, in her great friendship and initiative, called a cab for us to take. But then two became three, then four, then six... and fate smiled on us and sent us another cab from the heavens. (It was actually dropping someone else off at the dorm, so perfectly timed for us to steal it.)
The day, like all days I've experienced here, was beautiful. The air wasn't as crisp as it could have been (a bit of smog/dust on the horizon) but I am never going to complain.
Now, the taxis all think that we are tourists (and we are for a bit), but they are taking every chance to stretch out our pockets a little further. The cabdriver turned off the meter sometime during our trip, and just charged us a fare at the end that was about 10 riyals ($3) more than we should have had to pay, but we accepted it.
However, on the way back, some of the VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) students were "taken for a ride" by a guy with a car who probably wasn't even a cabdriver.
But enough of that nonsense and back to the beautiful scenery and wonderful weather we got to experience on the cornish.
We started on East Bay, by Souk Waqif ("the souk") and the Islamic Arts Museum. We began to walk and chat along the fairly well-used boardwalk. A few people were fishing, but what gladdened me the most was the number of families out. Zane and Brent were getting jealous of all the tricycles, scooters, plastic riding cars, balls, and miscellaneous toys that were being used all up and down the waterline. Each family had a picnic, with some lawn chairs even, and were content to sit and enjoy.
About halfway around the bay that Doha lies on, we reached a park. I know I was starving by this point, and I think that Afaf was too. We poked around to find many cultural arts stores closed (since it was Friday, the Muslim day of community prayer and rest) and a pool-like feature that wound around them.
We followed the hollers of children to find a polished cement "slide." I dared to go down, and, after trying to walk back up the polished surface, had renewed respect for the 7-year-old right next to me who was down then up again in a flash.
With my stomach still grumbling, I followed the paper cups of tea to the "Yes Cafeteria." Can you just imagine the questions they get? And I'm sure they can only answer "yes."
Well, we said "yes" to six Mega Hotdogs, some chips, and some french fries (the other kind of chips). They undercharged us, so all of our food was obtained for something like $10. And I know I was ready for the feast.
At this point, we were about halfway around the bay, and I had every intention of continuing to follow it to reach my goal (you remember, "Walk the Corniche", even though I spelled it wrong). Soon after we finished our meal and resumed walking, a man started advertising his dhow to sail us around the bay. 40 riyals per person, he said. We said no. 15 riyals per person.
Then I perked up. Because, as you are aware, "Ride a dhow" was on my list too. And for $5 a person?
But we still had more of the cornish to walk, so a final refusal.
10 riyals. Final price. I was hooked. $20 for all of us? But I was going to try to be clever one last time. I countered with 50 riyals for the 6 of us, but he wouldn't budge. Poor Brent, who I fear has a phobia of bartering, was slowly shying away from this whole encounter.
This refusal was actually well-fated, since we decided to walk to East Bay (by the skyscrapers), then have a dhow take us back to the souk area. Though we had to pay 17 a piece, it was worth it for me to not have to walk around the bend again. And, riding a dhow is crossed off my list too!
During our meander along the bay, we became showing off our "knowledge" of Arabic, which is really just the Arabic numerals learned from license plates. Arabic doesn't actually use the "Arabic numerals" that we are used to. Instead, it uses the Indian set. We were reciting off our knowledge until we realized that the only way we could describe some of them was using our own numbers. So,
Zero: a dot One: like our "1", a line Two: a backwards "7" Three: a backwards "7" with an extra bump Four: a backwards "3" Five: a "0" or circle Six: a "7" Seven: a "V" Eight: an upside-down "V", or "A" with the crossbar missing Nine: like our "9"! We had heard people planning on going to the souk at about 5 for dinner and wandering, so we were on the lookout for the Texas A&M people, and ran into some shortly. They kindly allowed us to add to their dinner party, and we ate at the glitziest, gaudiest restaurant I have ever laid eyes on. The Iranian (Persian) fare was ok, but it was the green chile peppers masuarading as green beans that stole the show (and taste buds from four of the males sitting at my table). They were crying tears of pain, and Daedri and I were crying tears of laughter.
Michael is the only one I really feel sorry for. He seriously thought it was a green bean, but spit it out only after it left a painful mark. Ziad, Brent, and David did it to themselves, each trying to outdo the other. When Sophie joined in... we were all in tears.
After wandering the souk and sitting and talking at a sheesha place, it was time for Shakir and I to pick up the last of the CMU crew from the airport. Jessica was in a lively mood, ready to get back to a city she loved last spring on her IMPAQT trip, and we packed her off to the dorms in a jiffy.
gh that there was no way to tell where the sky met the sea. We waded up to our rolled-up-pants-legs, picking shells and skipping stones.
