Not Even Close to Midnight, or Day 114 in Doha

So we can ignore that weird middle part of my day... that part where I took a 4-hour nap, ran errands and had a group meeting.

That just leaves the beginning and the end.

The day dawned early. Too early. I was the opposite of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when I got up at 7:30am. (Blurry-eyed and un-bushy-tailed?) Abdalla and I were going to check out the post office, which I've been curious about since I got here, before heading to the Turkish Embassy for a visa.

There is only one post office in Qatar, from what I've been told (though I have seen other ones in strip malls...). Everyone has their own PO box number, so you never actually put a street address on letters and packages going through the post to Qatar. Personally, it doesn't quite seem like there were enough post office boxes for every person in Qatar.

Architecturally, it resembles a pigeon roost, which is what the website says it is supposed to look like. Something about letters being like roosting pigeons or something. It just reminded me of the Pigeonhole Principle. I'm such a nerd.

In addition to a bunch of post office boxes, there was also a QNB branch (a bank), a few random windows to purchase stamps or exchange money, and a little food shop where we got breakfast. Carack and a spiced cheese roll...

The Embassy took no time at all (since we were told there was visa-on-arrival for both of us) and I was back home... for my nap.

Tonight was a wonderful CMU tradition.

The day before Reading Day (the day with no tests in the middle of finals week), the faculty and staff of the Pittsburgh CMU campus stay up until the ungodly hour of 9:00pm to cook omelets for the students during the annual "Almost Midnight Breakfast."

Rachelle, one of the CMU alums who currently works here in Qatar, has advocated for this event, and I loved it. At CMU-P, it is held in one of the largest spaces on campus, and I don't really know who is making my omelet (if I even decide to get an omelet with the huge lines). Here, I knew every faculty and staff member, at least by face if not by name. In addition, I could wander among all the different groups of people, since I knew most of them too.

It's the little things, such as attending an event for two hours and feeling like it breezed by.

Also, just to clarify, 9:00pm is not "almost midnight." Not if you've ever had a project due at midnight...

Food for Thought, or Day 105 in Doha

After the desert safari yesterday, today's half of the conference was a bit more chill. The "Undergraduate Conference in Information Systems" concluded today with student presentations, poster presentations, and three speakers.

The two speakers that I made it to were a least fascinating and at most applicable.

I learned what SCADA systems are and how vulnerable they are to attack! The presenter went on to mention a few incidents of vengeful employees using their knowledge to compromise the sewage system. There goes the water supply...

The other talk was about consulting. Not best practices, but instead the "Three R's" that the present had picked up as the most important pieces: requirements, revenue, and relationships.

Varun and I got to chat over lunch and dinner about the conference, and about their hopes for its future. There were students from Bahrain and from Qatar University... but not that many from CMU. They'll have to work on that piece for next year...

Speaking of lunch, there was this delicious buffet with some great chocolate mousse that got mixed with cookies ("biscuits") and resurrected for dinner. Delicious free food...

And yesterday was the realization I had that I've gained weight since I've been here. I was trying on shorts that I brought from home, and haven't worn since I've gotten here (not quite appropriate). Well, they were always a bit tight... but I think two desserts a day and no walking has done them in.

So of course, at 10pm when it was snacktime, we go to Baskin-Robbins for some cotton candy ice cream for Sidra. I had the resistance to say no to that...

But had a "baby" shwarma instead. Fewer calories?... Maybe I should just start working out a bit more.

Guys in Dresses, or Day 103 in Doha

Happy International Day, everyone!

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.)

Bloggers Unite!, or Day 99 in Doha

Are you ready to get meta? I'm blogging about how I talked about blogging this noon with a group of other like-minded people.

I guess its official. I'm a blogger. The real question is will I be able to (or want to!) wean myself off it once this semester is over?

I feel that my life in Pittsburgh (or Seattle, for that matter) is much more of a personal thing than my life here in Qatar. It is about connecting with people I've known for quite a while and having adventures based on my interactions with them.

Here, it is about having adventures that are so completely different from what I would do back in the U.S. And these adventures seem note-worthy because they are so different (or surprisingly similar)!

Maybe, as we talked about during this discussion today, I'll have to grow into a different theme for a blog. This summer is going to be an experience in itself, working and researching with the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center and Carnegie Learning. Maybe I'll keep track of my interests in how people learn, or my discover of usability studies and products, or just my experiences as an intern.

The session today was called "Personal Branding and the Web", and it began with a comparison of blogging styles: my daily life blog, Waleed's thoughts and opinions blog, and Yassar's interesting pieces of the internet (in addition to his own thoughts and opinions blog). Then there was the talk about registering your own domain name, like Varun did.

Did I mention that we also talked about search engine optimization? Yeah, getting people to link to your website bumps it up in the search results.

Enough with the serious side of blogging... let's get on to the ARC appreciation dinner tonight!

Marjorie (also a blogger, so one last blog link) is leaving Qatar after her time here with her husband Justin. He has been studying and teaching; she has been a coordinator in the Academic Resource Center where I am a teaching assistant.

She has been a quiet inspiration for me in my time here. I always enjoy my conversations with her, though we've only known each other a short time. I just feel like we have similar ideas about some things.

Such as during the dinner tonight when the faculty sat at one table and the TAs sat at two others. We took the step to desegregate together, and I don't think I've ever had a better conversation about saving yourself from wild animals. And eating silver. (Don't do it. It turns you blue forever.)

Clever awards (with the Qatar version of ramen noodles, called Maggi as prizes) were handed out to many of the senior TAs, including Rishav, Varun, and Aamir.

As for the other TAs... we were just enjoying the food, like always. There weren't any chocolate desserts for Samreen, but I had my first dragonfruit tart. Not the sweetest of fruits, but in that little pie crust... a yummy end.

Skipping around EC, or Day 96 in Doha

Today. Was. Fantastic.

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...)

Food as Procrastination, or Day 91 in Doha

So one thing that I have been missing from my Doha experience is visiting the hotels! There is the W, the InterCon(tinental), the Sheraton, the Four Seasons... and more. And they are all luxurious and modern and expensive, I'm sure.

The other week when I went to the Four Seasons for a talk, and I got my first taste of the sumptuousness that I avoid when I go to bandar and Aspire Park.

There I heard about an "Express Lunch" served at the W's Spice Market, so I dragged Abdalla along (after he cleaned up a bit) so I could see inside another of the big hotels.

The three-course lunch was delicious, well-presented, and worth the money... well, except for the 35 riyal ($10) bottle of water. But the chili-onion short ribs, spring rolls, a bit of mango-topped salad, a bite of hammour (fish), and a scrumptious Vietnamese coffee and chocolate tart made for a great South Asian-inspired meal.

And I thought that was all the excitement I had in store, but then Abdalla decided to reciprocate, inviting me along to an event that he himself was tagging along to. The A/V Club at CMU-Q was going out for a pep dinner at Nando's, a famous chicken place around here.

I had had Nando's once before, but it was catered and not nearly as delicious as the pile of chicken wings our table got. Poor Zaid was neglected by the staff the whole night. His theory was waiters can only carry three bowls of soup, and somehow he is always the fourth at the table who gets forgotten. His food came last, and his drink took a while to get refilled.

However, thanks to Varun and the A/V Club, the rest of us had a delicious meal. The pile of wings was smeared with their signature peri-peri sauce, of a "medium" spiciness. My nose was running a bit by the end of it, and I drink half of the bottle of water, but I see now why people recommend it.

And with all this eating, my projects have been slow going... But one has to eat to live, am I right?

And by the way, I got shown this piece of "culture"... a great old Lebanese song. And the outfits? Priceless.

I Want, or Day 90 in Doha

How time flies! It's been a long time since I got here, and today I had a real discussion about things that are different here and in the US, especially linguistically.

• "tc" or "take care" is a phrase used much more often around here than in the States
• "no problem", when said with a certain emphasis (no problem) is also much more common around here. I more often say "no worries" or "not a problem"... well, I used to.
• Many people are cutting off the modified noun when using transitive verbs. Basically, just leaving off an "it" or something. Common ones are "I want" instead of "I want to" and "I like" instead of "I like it."
• The definition of "meat" is different. It's meat versus chicken. Now, I know of red meat and white meat, and chicken is white meat. Here, chicken is not meat. You can get a chicken X or you can get a meat X... what the meat is, that is for the jury to decide.
• "proper" instead of "good" for describing things that fit in a situation. For example, I have proper walking shoes.
• I have told you about that word "yalla", meaning "come on." The only situation that I don't understand it in is when people say "yalla, bye" at the end of a conversation. I'm not sure a direct translation is actually what it means.
• Using "find" is something I've had to learn to understand. Especially in the first few weeks, everyone wanted to know "how do you find Qatar?" My tongue-in-cheek answer is that the pilot knows how to get there, but they are actually asking "how do you like Qatar?"

I'm going to have to keep up this documentation of the differences. I've started to just blend in with the crowd (at least, I think I am), so having activities or talks about the subject of culture and differences are getting a bit rarer. I'm going to have to make an effort to stick out more! People like Abdalla and Varun still like hearing my stories.

Random picture day, since today was a work session. It's last weekend; I'm in the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi, posing with some dolphin statue in the room where we think the 3-times-a-day rain shows happen. (I stole the picture from Michael after our trip, which is why it is a bit late in appearing here.)

I suppose in a country where it rarely rains, you have to show it to your kids!

A New Dawn, or Day 75 in Doha

Today was a great day!

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.

And Guess What!, or Day 69 in Doha

I figured today would be a boring day, so I spiced it up with a time-lapse video of me walking from uni. (In some ways, this could be considered weird that now a bunch of people might be able to figure out where I live... but the time-lapse is so quick, not sure you could figure it out. Not to mention the myriad of other ways to figure out where I live.)

I also spiced up today by being super-excited about not very exciting things...

So guess what! Here's the video!




And guess what! Varun got me my shirt!



And guess what! Khaled wrote me some code for our program!

And guess what! Daedri invited me out for some sheesha and tea and meeting new people!

And guess what! Abdalla took me to get supplies for crepes tomorrow (and we are going to the camel races, insha'allah)! Yum and fun.

My Laptop is Put to Work, or Day 68 in Doha

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!

Life, the Universe, and Everything, or Day 42 in Doha

Only a select few are going to understand the title for today, but I'm going to keep it anyway.

Besides obsessing over the number 42, today was Education City Family Day! As I've mentioned before, I love how of the campuses are interconnected, and so took full advantage of that.

First lunch and dessert were at Texas A&M (and catered by Sharq, a very fancy hotel in Doha), while saying hi to all the A&M exchange students, Abdalla, and Surahji. Second dessert was at CMU, while saying hi to a group of CS professors and all the Student Affairs staff. Snack time was out on the Green Spine, while saying hi to the student representatives at each university.

Since each school is pretty small, the likelihood of knowing someone whose picture is on some sort of advertising material increases. So my new favorite picture to take is the one where the person is posing with their own picture. (Remember Mathew?) I was taking a picture of Omer, and Abdalla one-upped him by finding two pictures of himself on advertising brochures.

Also out on the Green Spine were a group of Qatari musicians. They pulled in a few of the students and staff to dance some sort of slow line dance (similar to the sword dance, but without the weapons) while horns and drums were playing.



After the excitement (and deliciousness) of Family Day, I was asked by Varun to star in my own commercial! Well, my voice (and that of another guy) is going to be hear on the Qatar Foundation Radio advertising the Education City Quiz Challenge. (I remembered the website from the commercial.) We attempted some looseness with some improvisation, but let's just say it was funny listening to our gaffs right after we created them.

After the excitement (and silliness) of recording a commercial, I visited my CS buddies up in the Robotics Lab. They were just so full of life... or would have been, had they been a bit less stressed about the fact that the weekend was almost over.

A few hours of procrastinating later, I found myself in the apartment of the one and only Daedri. She is proud of her Jamaican heritage and made me some delicious jerk chicken to prove it. The chicken was a bit spicy, but so moist it just fell apart without a knife. Hats off to Daedri making (an almost midnight) dinner!

Then it was back to university, where I managed run into the exact same people that I saw this morning. In addition, I also checked out the architecture students' space. It looks pretty comfy for them being there 16 hours a day. They are even working their little "non-majors" pretty tough. It's a nice, warm, international feeling of always having work to do.

Just Call Me Cornish, or Day 7 in Doha

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.)