Somewhere in the world, decals on the sides of cars are back in, and that somewhere is Doha. Our townhouse (sorry, villa!) complex is about a block (if there was a defined or discernible block actually there) behind a long row of about a dozen or more carwashes. They are interspersed with car accessory shops with exotic names like "Gulf Falcon" or obtuse ones like "Fast Car," as well as Puncturies, which are actually tire shops; no one has bothered to tell them it makes it sound as if they'll provide tire puncturing services. A couple juice stalls, the Popular Cafe, Al Zoof Cafe (like that one) and a couple "saloons" - they meant salons - and Hot Bread Bakery (talk about good marketing) round out this row.
Every night, but even more so on Thursday and Friday nights, this row is literally almost impossible to navigate, as Qataris in blinding white silk thobes (traditional robes, sometimes with diamond encrusted cufflinks) and headress sit on $2 plastic chairs and chew the fat while Philipino, Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistanis wash the desert and construction dust off their Land Cruisers. Yes, there are a few Hummers and BMWs, Mercedes, etc., but the Toyota Land Cruiser (or TLC) holds pride of place in the hearts of Qataris determined to run over curbs to catch the turn they should've been looking for but weren't because they were texting or talking on their mobile phones. Of course there is a slip road but the "driveway" for every single car wash consists of construction rubble and dust, which seems to defeat the purpose. But if you've got the money and time, and Qataris have both, you can spend every or every other night pimping out your TLC.
I have to admit, though, it does add a lot of life and local color to our 'hood.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
There's got to be a better way.
(Note: fortunately, I did not witness this Ahmed and Abbas incident, but had it related to me by a neighbor Dan)
Among the myriad of building issues (I'm starting to wonder if I'm just in a Middle Eastern "reality" show, where someone f4#@*s with various household appliances, etc. in order to create good television entertainment) is our front door glass, which is only glued to a wooden crossframe on one side of the wooden door - you can already see where this is going. Well, at some point, Dan's new bride Melissa goes to close the door behind her and the glass breaks and a shard cuts her hand. A few hours and several stiches later, she's resting comfortably, and in a week or so, as good as new.
Meanwhile, in order to remove the rest of the glass, Ahmed and Abbas, in this order of operations:
1) both get hammers
2) open the door
3) stand on either side of said door
4) proceed to pound the glass with their hammers
5) spend the next fifteen minutes
a) dodging the glass the other has knocked in the general direction of his face
b) yelling at each other regarding the aforementioned glass
After a two week search, someone manages to find glass to replace the glass Ahmed and Abbas so handily removed. Of course, the glass still doesn't have the wooden frame on both side to stop this from happening again. Apparently the producers might want to fall back on that skit again later this season.
Among the myriad of building issues (I'm starting to wonder if I'm just in a Middle Eastern "reality" show, where someone f4#@*s with various household appliances, etc. in order to create good television entertainment) is our front door glass, which is only glued to a wooden crossframe on one side of the wooden door - you can already see where this is going. Well, at some point, Dan's new bride Melissa goes to close the door behind her and the glass breaks and a shard cuts her hand. A few hours and several stiches later, she's resting comfortably, and in a week or so, as good as new.
Meanwhile, in order to remove the rest of the glass, Ahmed and Abbas, in this order of operations:
1) both get hammers
2) open the door
3) stand on either side of said door
4) proceed to pound the glass with their hammers
5) spend the next fifteen minutes
a) dodging the glass the other has knocked in the general direction of his face
b) yelling at each other regarding the aforementioned glass
After a two week search, someone manages to find glass to replace the glass Ahmed and Abbas so handily removed. Of course, the glass still doesn't have the wooden frame on both side to stop this from happening again. Apparently the producers might want to fall back on that skit again later this season.
Obamania abroad
It's quite interesting to see the effect that Barack Hussein is having here; it seems like most of the security folks, retail clerks, etc. smile at us a little more since the election outcome. Michelle even had a Bangladeshi janitor give her a thumbs up and "Obama!" cheer when she left work Tuesday night. The Syrian guy at the sweet shop (who, as it turns out, is spending the next two years in Qatar to avoid his service in the Syrian Army and sent back the required remittance so that he can actually return and not have a jail cell waiting for him) reached over the counter and shook my hand and said "Obama good." The Turkish barber said "Bush bad blood." Our Syrian Arabic teacher said he liked Obama but would have preferred Hillary "beautiful, strong." I won't even touch that one.
This is all regardless of the fact that Obama will simply do some things that any US President will, and will support Israel (in general), send more troops into Afghanistan, etc. People here know the difference between a government and a people. We've travelled in Egypt and Jordan where people gave us a thumbs up every time we said we were American, saying "Al Ahsen Nas," meaning "The Best People." (As an aside, we didn't test the theory, but I always wondered if we told them we were from Bosnia-Herzegovna they would have responded similarly). I think people just didn't think we'd use as blunt an instrument so readily in our war on terror, but they cut us, personally, some slack.
But at least for a while, they can look up to the United States as the classless meritocracy we've always aspired to be. And regardless of your political affiliations, a 65% turnout and a mixed race president being voted in by a mainly white nation could happen nowhere else I can think of, and it's something of which every McCain and every Obama voter should be proud. That janitor and that barber and baker realize that and appreciate it. In many ways, more than we ever can.
This is all regardless of the fact that Obama will simply do some things that any US President will, and will support Israel (in general), send more troops into Afghanistan, etc. People here know the difference between a government and a people. We've travelled in Egypt and Jordan where people gave us a thumbs up every time we said we were American, saying "Al Ahsen Nas," meaning "The Best People." (As an aside, we didn't test the theory, but I always wondered if we told them we were from Bosnia-Herzegovna they would have responded similarly). I think people just didn't think we'd use as blunt an instrument so readily in our war on terror, but they cut us, personally, some slack.
But at least for a while, they can look up to the United States as the classless meritocracy we've always aspired to be. And regardless of your political affiliations, a 65% turnout and a mixed race president being voted in by a mainly white nation could happen nowhere else I can think of, and it's something of which every McCain and every Obama voter should be proud. That janitor and that barber and baker realize that and appreciate it. In many ways, more than we ever can.
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