This weekend, I signed up for the "Undergraduate Conference for Information Systems." The main reason? Because today they took us on a desert safari.
I believe the term more widely used around here is "dune-bashing."
There were about two dozen of us in eight Land Rovers, driven by guys who would do this on the weekend anyway. Our drive, Mahmoud, was probably enjoying getting his car full of girls (and Abdalla) to cheer as we bounced around in the sand. After a little under an hour's drive to the Mesaieed area, all of the drivers got out, deflated their tires, and after that... no roads, just sand.
And, like always, the most thrilling part was coming up to the crest of a dune and only seeing sky in the windshield, until slowly it pivots down until all you can see is sand.
I didn't hurt that as soon as we started the real fun, he put on current pop music with some great pounding bass as a soundtrack. We spent a good hour trundling around, stopping every so often to take pictures on the top of this or that dune, or overlooking the Saudi Arabia border (that's as close as I'm going to get to a country that's not very easy to enter as a tourist... a female one at that).
After the amazing dune-bashing session, we stopped at a camp alongside the Arabian Sea for our late lunch. They pulled out a volleyball, which we tossed around for quite a while. (It was clear that the drivers were way more practiced than the students). Then there was a bit of wading (my pants are still damp), a bit of posing with a camel (which stepped toward Allan every chance it got) before the call to dinner. I had smelt the meat being grilled for a while, so it was easy to sit around, dig into the pita (that no one around here calls pita, they just call it bread) and dips and hotdogs and kabobs, and chat with the others around.
The way back had a few little hills and bumps, but the most fascinating part was seeing the amount of people around. As it was getting dark, we went down a dune to a flat area, where there was a Cruiser drifting with another dozen parked toward it, watching; right next to it, a steep hill that a half a dozen Land Cruisers were waiting to race up and coast (slide) down. There were little 4x4s and dune motorcycles and buggies doing their thing too.
Not to mention the vehicle every twenty meters along the beach having a family cook-out. I'm convinced that the half of Qatar that doesn't go picnic on the Corniche on Fridays after prayers goes to Sealine.
I got in the spirit by wearing "traditional" Pittsburgh clothing - a fleece, a hat, a scarf, and gloves... not many people noticed, in the sea of beautiful, multicolored traditional dress. The great part is, people weren't necessarily even wearing their own country's!
KayKay in Singaporean and Urmila in Indian garb (I think).
Varun, his Desi self.
The Student Affairs staff (in random travel wear)
Tessa in something I'm assuming is from Brunei.
My beautiful Sudanese girls!
Boys from the subcontinent (and Shaza still looking gorgeous). (Note Allen's wrap! Knees!)
Arash in eastern Iranian wear (because apparently they differ... and I'm not sure if I got the east versus west thing right; it actually might be western Iran).
Samreen in her pantsuit (and I'm wearing pant I got in India)!
Mathew just wore a dress shirt (boring) but Shahriar (front left) got in the spirit with his Bangladeshi clothes.
Jimmy wore something from a Middle Eastern country... can't remember which one, but he didn't have anything from Kenya to wear.
Some of my favorite traditional costumes, though, were the ones where the guys were allowed to wear shorter skirts than I am! Besides just wandering around and taking pictures with people (and eating food), there was the International Day show that Fatima and Maria put together. Being on "Arabic Standard time", it was scheduled to start at 5:30. At 8:00pm, the first act (Mridula doing an awesome traditional Indian dance) was just finishing up.
There were other Indian dances, a Dominican song (sung by Melissa, our study abroad coordinator), an African dance, a Bangladeshi anthem, an English poem, a presentation about Azerbaijan, an impromptu salsa/latin dance session, more dabkeh, an Iranian dance (that was also performed at Coffeehouse), and I'm sure there are other performance I'm forgetting.
What I won't forget, though, it how people reacted to those performances. For a few of the dances, instead of just sitting and watching, people from the crowd stood up and joined in! The final dance, an encore performance of the "Desi Dancers", turned into a giant jumping mob. It was a bunch of fun.
As if that wasn't enough for a day, Abdalla gave me a ride to Ezadin Towers (yet another fancy hotel!) where Kelsey was throwing Ziad a surprise party! We weren't there for the actual surprising, but we were there for the cake.
When the cake was getting lit, the manager was having a hard time lighting them... so another guy with a lighter came up and started helping him. Then another guy. There were eventually half a dozen people gathered around these 20 candles trying to get them lit! We sang "Happy Birthday" in English and Arabic, then he blew out the candles.
Then, the photo shoot started. Ziad was wearing a striped shirt, as were another two or three guys at the party. So after the group picture, all of them jumped in together... someone yelled "Arab picture", and all of a sudden the photo shoot got "racist."
They didn't leave anyone out... there was the Africans, the East Asians, those from the subcontinent, the Khaleejes, the "white people"... Just goes to show how diverse this place is!
After the final photos, a few of us ended up at the souq, enjoying some karak and sheesha. They kept flipping channels on the TV we could see, but on every channel, Fred knew exactly what was going on. And I think Ziad (the birthday boy) had a good time.
If it looks like I'm blowing away... I am! It was super windy and actually sprinkled a bit. (The waiters broke one of the large umbrellas trying to take it down, and some of the sheesha stands - that weren't being used thankfully - got knocked over.)
I am so happy and content right now... aren't those joyful words to hear? (They are definitely good to say.)
It started with me getting up and talking to my parents, and then one of my good friends back in Pittsburgh later in the day. I gain so much strength from talking to people I trust, it's amazing...
So tonight, at 6:00pm, there were three events happening simultaneously. However, with the aid of my magic time travel companion, Abdalla, I was able to attend every single one.
The first was the Resident Hall Council's Sports on the Spine. Frisbees, balls, and a giant, blow-up screen with some sports video game in it littered the Spine. I tossed a single frisbee to Shaza before heading to the match.
Next we had the Carnegie Mellon Students versus Faculty football match. Remember, we are in Qatar, so "football" means "soccer." Varun and Zaid were asked by a professor to be the announcers; Zaid said about one thing while I was in hearing range. Maybe they were scraping the bottom of the barrel? I mean, if they were going alphabetically, that's quite a lot of "no"s before the could strong-arm those two into doing it...
They were in a death-grip 0-0 when we left the event to go the VCU-Q's Palestinian Night.
Besides the dabkeh (dance) performance and buffet of Arabic food, there was a speaker from an Arabic nature organization. With Abdalla sitting next to me, he translated a few bits from her speech in Arabic to English, bits that were very anti-Israel and pro-Palestine. When she then gave the speech in English, the speech was only about the olive tree planting they are doing to help displaced farmers, leaving out all the juicy stuff. Talk about a selective audience.
My final joy/activity for the night: going to the David Guetta concert.
I can't do a good job now of explaining what happened or how fun it was, so that'll just have to wait for tomorrow. (I'm also just a bit tired...)
Yes, having a wonderful, wonderful full night of sleep with no classes helped... (not only did I get 9 hours during the night, but I took a one hour nap as well)... but it would have been a good Thursday however it came.
For my Service Design class, I had to do some research on what people want in their libraries. I grabbed a bunch of random pictures off the internet, of chairs, desks, bookshelves, and computers as well as some of a DDR machine, a coffee maker, a hammock, and a soccer goal. Then I had a few people (Swapnil being one) arrange them for me. I got some good results, and some interesting layouts. Swapnil had an interesting idea of putting the
That was enough work for the day. There was a DSO get-together on the Green Spine, with some blindfold game that Shaza led and Varun owned. Free pizza, and I was off to see Sabrina!
My Sabrina has been holed up in EC for days working, and having tests and homeworks and being a second-year engineering student. So some Haagen-Daaz and juice with her and Abdalla was a great break from EC for all of us. I got off-campus just because the first time in a while. (I went off-campus yesterday to the Reach Out To Asia English learning classes I have to do every week, but that hardly counts.) Tonight was a super lucky night, too. There was clearly something going on at the ceremonial court, since the traffic police were out and loud Arabic music was playing.
I dare Abdalla to go see it, and we got it, very easily. We had to get searched (which meant that these very kinda Qatari women were plucking my phone out of my pocket, then putting it back in with a pat and a smile). Then, we sat, got served some juice, and watched what Abdalla translated at "A New Dawn" (the program was all in Arabic).
It was amazing. There was at least a 60-person cast (I think closer to 70), which dancers and singers, amazing costumes, glittery lights... just awesome. It was also that random thing I saw rehearsing a few days ago.
We came in "close" to the end. It was 8:30 when we got there, and it had been going on since at least 7, probably earlier. We left at 9:40. With the longer productions, it is amazing how show etiquette changes. There were people leaving and coming, having brief conversations on their cellphones, getting served juice, and in general being much different that the typical musical-going crowd in America.
The script was something about the fight between the native Tunisians and the occupying Italians, with the wrap-up being the Tunisian anthem. (There's one way to guarantee a standing ovation.)
The music was loud enough to drown out pretty much everything, except Abdalla's translations, which is the only way I knew anything. We were just talking earlier in the day about how he feels bad talking in another language around me... well, being able to understand and tell me what's going on in another language makes up for it.
And yes, that is a woman who popped out of an oyster shell. Very "Little Mermaid." And just over-the-top like the whole production. That woman is one of the ones who represented "the new dawn" of the title.
The night ended with a chill viewing of "7 Pounds" (which is quite good) and an actual blogpost (as you can see)! I'm so happy to be back and happy again.
I've decided that the ECQC people (*cough* Varun *cough*) owe me a t-shirt for my kind and thoughtful lending of my laptop for displaying the slideshow during the event today.
Someone get on that.
I was sitting doing nothing (well, actually laying down, thinking about napping, but not actually able to) when I get a call from Varun. I had taken my computer to him yesterday about not being able to access the internet, and it was a stupid proxy problem that I should have been able to find myself. Anyway, he noticed it was a Toshiba, with an S-Video socket, and so asked me to lend it to him. I said yes, and that I'd be at uni in less than 30 minutes.
I hop in the shower, and by the time I get out, I have a missed call. I called back, and it was two of the ECQC crew, waiting outside the dorms to get the laptop! I dressed and hurried it downstairs, then ran into Daedri on the way up. We had a chat about our spring breaks as she had some of my cookies. Meanwhile, I got to be laptop-less for an hour before ECQC, which forced me to find people to hang out with. Shaza and Amal and a few others were in the library courtyard, so I chatted with them until Sidra and Abdalla and Maria and Fatima came up, so we could all sit together during the show. These event are just big EC reunions; they bring together all the colleges and you get to catch up with all sorts of people. Did I mention that Zaid was the emcee? And Varun was the head of it all... such an amazing job he did! Not only was every institution in EC represented by a team, but there were sponsors so the production value was very high. The winning team (which was Cornell by the way) got flat screens! Each of the three people on the team! The questions were pretty good, though some were very hard and some were less so. One of my favorites was showing a clip of this Youtube video and asking for the singer of the original song or the instrument the kid was playing on.
The correct answer is, of course, Jason Mraz or the ukulele. I think the team that didn't answer it correctly was a little too focused on the artist, because I would think they would've gotten ukulele. (That is also one of my favorite videos, for the record.)
ECQC lasted 3.5 hours (which is a bit long... that is one major criticism I had. Though part of it might have been because my computer crashed, so by proxy, my fault. But hey, they were running Windows!) After, there was a buffet, and I said my goodbyes to the IMPAQT group. There is a chance I will see them tomorrow (since they've wanted to see my dorm room to compare it to Pittsburgh) but I'm thinking they will have enough wrap-up stuff to keep them busy.
After talking with them, I'm very, very glad that I came here for an entire semester. A week is just not enough!
Today dawned a funny yellow-ish cloud cover, probably left over from the fog last night. My day was very productive, bouncing from class to class, grading papers and coding. I guess that's why it hasn't sunk in that I'm leaving for Dubai in just a few hours.
I think it is also the fact that Dubai doesn't really seem like another country. The UAE is, but I'm thinking that I'll enjoy being a tourist again for a bit. I've lost that sense of wonder (and freedom and time-less-ness) around here. However, the days are still spinning by so fast!
People keep teasing me that I'm starting Spring Break a week early (since it begins on the 26th for me). But speaking of Spring Break, I'll have lots of adventures to tell you from the distant, wild country of India! While I was working (and wandering around) at uni today (yes, I'm using that word "uni"), I saw a whole production set up on the majlis. While I didn't get to stick around for more than a few minutes of the talk (and a few bites of the food), the speaker, Patrick Awuah. I'm not going to be able to do him justice, but the little that I caught was him talking about how the roots of problems come from apathetic leadership. His goal, then, was to groom young people into leaders that would make a difference. I'm sure Shaza and Maria and Fatima could tell you (since they are all lined up and attentive in the picture).
I tried to get ahead on my work for next week, since I'm leaving at 05:30 tomorrow and getting back at 07:30 on Sunday (just in time for classes). That leaves not very much time that I want to be doing work during the weekend. And I have I mentioned it still hasn't sunk in yet?
After a productive evening (so good to be saying that!) Abdalla and I splurged on TWO riyal DIPPED ice cream cones. Big spenders, I know, but I'm not going to be around in this currency for a full weekend... Instead I'll be using UAE dirhams. And, according to Google, 1 Qatar riyal is 1.00942492 UAE dirhams. So a one-dirham ice cream cone? Forget about it.
While I was around in my building, Daedri came up to say hi (and have a snack). I walked in on her this evening getting her hair extensions, so seeing the final product was pretty cool. And, a little bit more culture in my life, since I've never seen anyone get extensions put it. Six hours to get them braided in? That's a lot of patience! Daedri looks much different... but we're already enjoying playing with them.
I'm off to Dubai shortly! I'll have some internet, so still be posting (Insha'Allah) but it is traveling, so I can never guarantee anything!
It was one of those spectacular Thursday where I didn't have any classes, and was very, very glad about it.
After my huge Networks project was due last night, I was happy to take a break from coding and focus on myself for a bit... sleep in, work out, and be my social self.
The ECPB was holding an ECPB event (Education City Programming Board; Education City Pre-Break), because apparently Spring Break is coming up... in two weeks!
These events around here are so much different than the same would be in Pittsburgh. For one, they attract the same amount of people, which, comparing the campus sizes, is a bit amusing. For two, the planning parties are much more trusting, putting out frisbees and sports balls. For three... well, I suppose people mingle a lot, but at events at CMU, half the fun is showing up with people you know and leaving with an entirely different group of friends, so I suppose that is similar.
I was a gorgeous day (like most days), so I spent half an hour hitting around a volleyball with the likes of Shazia, Amal, Nijat, and other CMU folk. While mingling, I got to see a few of my Cornellian, Northwestern, A&M, and VCU friends (I know, I'm missing Georgetown...)
There were some football (soccer) matches going on, as well as a Guitar Hero event, but I decided to meet some new people and went out with Daedri and her church friends.
One friend picked Daedri, Elizabeth and myself up at EC, then we started the night by heading to Villagio with some intent of going Go-Karting. We started by going to dinner at Thai Chi (a Thai and Chinese restaurant... get it?) as a final guy friend joined us.
After a delicious dinner, we were back to trying to figure out what to do. The idea to go to a movie was prevalent in everyone's head, but none of us really wanted to spend the money for something we weren't interested in. After much, much brainstorming, we decided to first visit "Gondolia", the fun center in the mall, to see if we could find something to do.
We walked in a fairly nondescript entrance, and my senses were attacked. There was bright lights, large and loud crowds, rides and games, and a little bit of chaos everywhere. Due to all of this madness, it took a long time for us to find a ride that we all agreed upon, find out where to buy tickets, find out where it actually was, and then convince the only guy in the group that, no, bumper cars is NOT just for little kids. (He was scared that his friends would see him on the ride, but when other guys started talking to us in line, we convinced him that we needed "protection," and he came along.)
So after the bumper cars, we wandered back to where we had found the Go-Karts, to see what prices were like. They were a bit too expensive for our tastes, so we settled on bowling (which was actually the Plan B that we had come up with back at the restaurant). Now, Daedri, Elizabeth, and I were all wearing sandals, but we assumed we could get socks at the bowling alley. Which was true. The socks were just really cheap and sketchy, but they were selling them for the outrageous price of 10 riyals ($2.70)!
So we decided to take a short side trip to another store in the mall to get better/cheaper socks. We found 3 pair for 20 riyals (so not saving much) but I won't feel bad actually keeping these.
Anyway, I bowled a just-fine game, possibly beating everyone else (though the scores didn't stay up on the screen long enough at the end to verify it. We were also wearing super styling shoes, which probably helped my score too.
Abdalla met me at Villagio (the mall), and we ended up eating shwarma and going to bandar. Bet you never would've guessed that would be the end of my day! I'm already getting into these ruts.
Though I must say, today it sunk in that I've been in Qatar for 40 days... and looking at it through one lens, I feel like I've been here forever: I know the city, met a lot of people, and have done quite a bit. Looking at it another way, however, I feel like I haven't been here much time at all, in the grand scheme of things. For better or for worse (almost definitely for the better), I'm here for another three months!
Warning: today was not very exciting, so I'm going to spice it up with nerdy things. Sound like a plan?
This morning, bright and early, there were these two tomcats (as I found out later) that had cornered a lady-cat in a tree and were head-butting underneath it. (Ask Jessica for pictures, if you desire.) All I remember is thinking, "That's why they call it 'caterwauling'" as I rolled over and went back to sleep.
I finished my TA training! Not like it was very hard, but there were a few ethical questions that I hadn't thought of before. If you are a teaching assistant for a friend, who calls you up to ask a question, then we were supposed to think if all of the students in the class have the same luxury. If not, that is not treating all students fairly. I hadn't thought of that situation in that way before.
Jessica had mentioned yesterday during training (since she is going to be a writing tutor), that she was looking for a chance to make crepes. I was on board! So today, a few of us girls got together at her place for the delicious French delight.
Have I mentioned recently that I hate the lack of co-ed dorms? I don't even need my living room co-ed. I just want a kitchen to cook for people in! I met Layal, Jessica's roommate, for the first time today. She lives in Bahrain and tells stories, usually involving her and usually involving her clumsiness, that she just bubbles over in explaining. A reinforcing reminder that laughing at yourself is a good and healthy thing. The crepes were delicious, and Jessica did an awesome job making them. There was much flipping and... well, just a lot of really cool flipping, actually.
And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for... where I show you what my first homework assignment is for "Formal Languages, Automata, and Computability" ("FLAC" for short).
We are creating automata, which are basically these flow charts that determine whether or not a "string" is accepted in a "language" (where a string is a series of character, and a language is just a bunch of rules).
So, in the spirit of this homework assignment, I made you all an automata that only accepts the language containing "Corinne" and "Cornish." Here it is, in all its glory, as I return to its cousins (which are much more interesting to make). A final outing for the evening: a drive to bandar, to get shwarma and Moroccan tea and see West Bay all lit up. Those are some of my favorite things in Doha, all wrapped up in one.
It was my first day of classes, and, like most things around here, CMU-Q professors never know when enough is enough. So I got quite a few books today. (Granted, four of them are for classes I'm TAing.)
Now, to return to a previous conversation, I took a picture of a license plate for you all (with some of the numbers blocked out to keep privacy) so you can see how I learned my Arabic and Indian numbers. I felt very practiced when I went to the mall and could read the "7.%" signs that mean 60% off. Since it is so hot around her, they have these funny umbrellas for the cars to be under, too. Melissa (the exchange coordinator) was talking about how a few years back, there were only white cars on the road, which makes sense. Now, white is a majority, but there are quite a few people driving around these big, black 4WD, which I'm sure must be ovens in the summer. But I'll keep you updated.
Back to today, however, after be laden with books, then returning back to the dorm for lunch and to de-laden, I went back to get eight more books. In addition, I got to meet with the two professors who are co-teaching Technical Communication for Computer Scientists (TechComm) and work on the syllabus. Let me just say, little "sophamores", they wanted to add quizzes and have 12 hours of work a week, but I talked them down. I'm sure you will still complain though.
Now, today was also quite a day for life stories. One of my professors started off class with a list of significant years in her life, so I got to learn about her Uruguayan roots, her husband and toddler, and her doctorate in English.
The second story did not come out so straight-forwardly.
After classes were out, I found Shaza chatting at the cafe, so I then forced her to introduce me to everyone around her (though I don't remember anyone's name). I did re-meet the CMU-Q guy who deejayed for an SDC (Student Dormitory Council) event last year when he was at Pittsburgh.
Shaza and I sat at the bench-stair-thing (which has a name that starts with an "m" that I can't remember) and chatting with whoever would come our way, which included my suitemate, some other classmates, and Zaid.
One, Varun, was having difficulties with my name, as many people have been. A curse I've had since birth, but as strange as all these Arabic names are to me, my funny English/French one is tricky too. They pronounce the "e" at the end of words, so, in writing, they say "Corny" or "Courney." Then, when I pronounce it for them, they hear "Courtney" or "Coreen." Then, when they try to spell it, they get "Karin" and "Corin." So, Varun, in his simplification of many things, dubbed me "Cornish", like the waterfront on the bay in Doha. That is pronounced "core-neesh"... close enough.
Well, when all was said and done, Zaid and I ate pasta and read our respective textbooks while Shaza rode the mini-roller coasters at the mall. Let's not compare, ok?
Zaid and I, after a productive few hours (minus his 15-minute power nap), ended up meeting Shaza halfway down the stairs. And, for some reason, there we stayed, as I met a few Azerbaijans, a few other CMU students, and the jokes about name continued. It was only when I was on the phone with Abdalla (a friend of a friend), that calling me Cornish became an impetus to actually go to the cornish.
As we were headed out to his car, I asked Zaid for Abdalla's background, since I enjoy hearing the stories of how people ended up in Doha. "I like it better when he tells it" was his reply. And thus started my quest to find out about Abdalla. We drove to a tea stand by the Sheraton, and, in addition to the lovely view, I had a lot of fun with the very diverse group (though they enjoying picking on each other). We all got to talk about outrageous things in our lives, so of course I mentioned my ancestors on the Mayflower, my German heritage, and my mother who worked for the CIA. Of course, there were comments on the family and naming ("Maria? See, that is a name everybody knows. And Valerie? That sounds like Marjorie. And Valkyrie. Your parents must have just wanted to name every-other kid normally.")
Now, you are going to have to meet Abdalla to ask him yourself why he knows Uru, Arabic, and English, holds an Omani passport, and has two African parents. Why, he might even buy you some tea. (But only the first time. Don't push the Arabian hospitality, or next time, he might "forget" his wallet.)
And, of course, double-fisting a burger and a 1-riyal ($0.30) ice cream cone was the correct way to end the evening.
(Added bonus for those that lasted until the end. See many of my Qatar pictures here.)
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.
