Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Karabaa in Transition

This post is for my friends not here, friends who often accompanied me on trips to Karabaa and all the funky magical shops we would find there. I dropped off the towels at the Mumtaz Tailor to be embroidered, English on one end, Arabic on the other, and while the devastation is no longer so gut-wrenchingly stunning as it was – I guess I am becoming desensitized – I can also see changes.

A lot of the rubble has been carted away. So it makes me wonder, is this what The Pearl is being built on? Is rubble from the old Suq al Waqif and these old buildings along Musherib and Karabaa going to the sea to become reclaimed land? If so, isn’t this going to boggle the minds of archaeologists a couple thousand years from now who are going to find all this stuff jumbled together and try to figure it out?

Yes, yes, it’s true, my mind does wander into trivial areas . . .

From the old parking lot, looking towards Karabaa where the honey man used to be:

00KarabaaParkingTowardStreet

To help you know what you are looking at – remember the sign that shows people how to park? It’s still standing – so far šŸ™‚

00KarabaaPerspective1

I wanted you to be able to see just how high the pile of rubble is:

00KarabaaPerspectiveRubble

All the rubble that was The Garden is now gone, as if it never was:

00WhereGardenRubbleWas

OK, now, in the midst of all this noise and demolition, the rubble and the trucks and bulldozers, there is this oasis of serenity. I often see old men sitting outside on those old fashioned built-in-plaster seating areas, or on the bench. Inside, it looks like it might even be a home for old indigents, but sort of palatial, very green, and well kept up. Is there anyone who can tell me what this is?

00KarabaaUntouched

00KarabaaOldGuys

October 12, 2009 - Posted by | Adventure, Beauty, Building, Community, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Friends & Friendship, Living Conditions, Photos, Qatar

3 Comments »

  1. Very melancholy post. 😦

    Aafke.Art's avatar Comment by Aafke | October 12, 2009 | Reply

  2. It’s an old palace; those sitting outside are likely to be retainers, I’d guess guards and gardeners.

    JL's avatar Comment by JL | October 13, 2009 | Reply

  3. LLOOLL, thank you JL! Do you have it photographed on any of your pages? It’s well maintained, but I never see anyone there except for very old men, mostly, and a very relaxed and sedentary guard.

    intlxpatr's avatar Comment by intlxpatr | October 13, 2009 | Reply


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