New Parking Souq Al Waqif
When I moved to Doha, in 2003, I did a panorama shot of the Doha skyline from the-spit-where-the-Bandar-restaurants-used-to-be. Unfortunately, I wasn’t into digital yet, so all I have is prints from film. In 2003, parking at the airport was free. I was told Doha meant sleepy, and then, it seemed pretty sleepy, even with the Iraqi invasion about to take place.
The Souq al Waqif was off limits to the military, a dark and dangerous place. I don’t believe it was dangerous for the same reasons they thought it was dangerous – the authorities thought that because it was a very traditional shopping area, incidents could happen. The real danger was from the uneven walking areas, with unexpected pits here and there or slick spots, or changes of elevation.
The last night I was recently down at the Souq al Waqif for dinner, I saw a small bus load of people arrive from the military base (the haircuts, duh) and it just made me grin. The Souq al Waqif is still a traditional place – and it is also a place that welcomes tourists, and welcomes expats. I am so thankful it is no longer, evidently, off-limits.
But oh, the parking. They have marked spaces. No, I am not so traditional that I insist on chaotic parking, marked spaces are fine. The marked spaces are fine, that is, when they give drivers enough space to park and to pull out. The new marked spaces at the Souq al Waqif are too small, and the driving lane between them has to weave between the Yukons on the left, the Denalis on the right and the delivery truck in front who just hit the Hummer trying to back out.
I am not exaggerating. Traffic was snarled for a half an hour while the police tried to sort out not one – but two accidents in the time I was trying to find a parking spot. On what felt like the hottest day of the year, you can imagine, it wasn’t even prime time at the Souq al Waqif. I can imagine the nights are a nightmare.
This is what I saw for half an hour while we didn’t move, except for people on the left who kept trying to edge in front of me:
But – where else but at the Souk al Waqif while you are stuck in a parking lot jam will you see a man cross in front of you with a pigeon in a cage?
And while the official temperature may have been 43°C or 44°C, this is what my gauge said:
Whoever designed the parking at Souq al Waqif should have to park there every day until it gets fixed.
Qatar Government Schools to Open September 27
Government schools to reopen on September 27
Web posted at: 8/6/2009 2:31:6
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Qatar is to witness its usual post-summer hustle and bustle from the end of next month as the numerically sizeable government and Independent schools open for a fresh academic year on September 27, a little less than a week after Eid Al Fitr.
The Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, yesterday announced the schedule for both the morning and evening government educational institutions for the new academic year.
Being the Secretary-General of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), the regulatory body for Independent Schools, the minister also declared the schedule of the Independent Schools for the entire year (2009-10).
The administrative staff of these schools is required to report for duty on September 13, during the holy month of Ramadan.
The first semester examinations of schools from the elementary to the preparatory level are to be held from January 31 next year, while high school students will sit for their exams from January 21.
The winter vacation of these schools will start on February 14 and end a fortnight later, while their annual exams are to be held by June-end 2010.
The schools will reopen after the summer break on September 21, 2010.
China Trusts Prostitutes More than Chinese Politicians
LLLOOOLLLL, thank you, BBC News for livening up the deadly August news scene:
China ‘trusts prostitutes more’
China’s prostitutes are better-trusted than its politicians and scientists, according to an online survey published by Insight China magazine.
The survey found that 7.9% of respondents considered sex workers to be trustworthy, placing them third behind farmers and religious workers.
“A list like this is at the same time surprising and embarrassing,” said an editorial in the state-run China Daily.
Politicians were far down the list, closer to scientists and teachers.
Insight China polled 3,376 Chinese citizens in June and July this year.
“The sex workers’ unexpected prominence on this list of honour… is indeed unusual,” said the China Daily editorial.
“At least [the scientists and officials] have not slid into the least credible category which consists of real estate developers, secretaries, agents, entertainers and directors,” the editorial said.
Soldiers came in fourth place.
I can’t help but wonder how the same survey would result in other countries?
Google Earth Updates Doha Imagery
Every now and then I think “wasta” is a good thing. (Wasta is connection, wasta is knowing someone who can help you out. It can be good when you need a favor. It can be bad when it gets you out of a situation for which you are responsible.) I have wasta with Google Earth. When I moved to Kuwait, I complained that my area was all blurry and within a week – WOW. High resolution.
I got word this morning from my connection, Earthling, that new imagery for Doha is up and any blurriness is being cleaned up. Thank you, Earthling! You have no idea – Doha really doesn’t have street addresses that you can figure out, so Google Earth helps me get to where I need to go.
If you are not a GoogleEarth user – yet – I urge you to download and give it a try. It’s free, and it is awesome.
(Earthling, can you call it work when you love what you do and where you work so much?) 😉
The Fingerprint Factory
Drama Drama Drama. It used to be the last dreaded event before getting your residence. You had to have fingerprints taken and it was in this big mob-scene, huge mobs of people and hot hot hot, no air, and the ink was HORRIBLE, and even if you brought your own soap and washed right away, you still had ink under your fingernails for days. It was a hellish experience.
Today was the day. It started with drama – when I got to where I was supposed to be at 10:10, the receptionist told me I was supposed to be there at 9:30, I had missed my appointment. I was really sure my husband had told me my appointment was at 10:30, so I waited while she called, and it was one of those experiences where she was NOT happy being wrong, and I got to sit out in the not-air-conditioned hall to wait for my group to go.
When my group got to the fingerprint place, there was no mob. There WAS more drama. There was only a very nice be-thobed gentleman who said that the fingerprint computer was broken. It was broken yesterday, and they got it working again this morning until 9 o’clock, but now it is broken. I asked “how long until it is fixed?” but it was one of those insh’allah things, no one knows how long it will take to get the system up again. We would have to come back tomorrow.
And then, just as we were walking out the gate back to the van, he called to us “Come back! Come back!” The fingerprint machine was working again.
Inside, it was orderly and air conditioned. Take a number, take a seat. Wait your turn. Very cool, watching people’s fingerprints, handprints, etc show up in huge prints. If there was any blur, the machine showed red – like a red thumb – and it had to be done over again.
For some reason, I had to have several done over again. I don’t know if it was me, or if the machine was just finicky. All I know is that the system was up long enough for me to get my fingerprints taken, and there was NO mess. None. Wooo HOOOO.
I still have my old Qateri driving licence. I am praying – please keep me in your prayers – that they will just renew it and I won’t have to take a road test on the roads of Qatar. Although – after driving in Kuwait – I can drive anywhere. 😀
Shopping Rush Begins as Ramadan Nears
“What happened??” AdventureMan asks me on the phone from a nearby roundabout. “All of a sudden, it is traffic madness!”
I laughed.
The day before, Saturday, a day off coupled with a dust storm – the roads were empty, I found “rock star parking” at the Souq al Waqif, and breezed around town doing my errands in record time.
“I think it has to do with Ramadan coming,” I said. Ramadan will start on or about August 20, and the beginning of the month is payday for many people. My best guess is that a lot of people are beginning to prepare now.
Sure enough, today’s Peninsula is saying the same thing:
Ramadan shopping rush begins
Web posted at: 8/3/2009 2:54:31
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
People crowd at Souq Waqif for buying provisions and other things yesterday. ABDUL BASIT
DOHA: Despite the spiralling prices of basic commodities as the Ramadan season nears sales in shops selling essential food items are brisk as people prepare for the coming Holy Month, The Peninsula has learnt.
The long strip of shops in Souq Waqif selling spices, pulses and rice were yesterday abuzz with shoppers filling their shopping bags with basic food items in anticipation for the 30-day fasting period.
“Definitely there had been an increase in some food items specially spices and pulses,” said Mohammad Robel, one of the shopkeepers in the traditional souq.
Robel said price increase between 30 to 40 percent was recently witnessed, though he claimed the rise in prices varies from one company supplier to another.
“The company determines the increase in prices but fluctuation in the price rise from one company to another is not that significant,” he maintained.
Cardamom, which is popularly used here as spice for sweet dishes and traditional flavouring for coffee and tea, is currently priced at QR380 per five kilos.
“Previously five kilos of cardamom was QR290,” Robel said.
In the same way price of beans has increased from QR96 to QR115 per five kilos. A 20-kilo sack of staple food Indian basmati rice costs QR150.
Rice, beans, curry, sugar and salt are among the items in great demand these days and prices of these and other items are expected to increase further with just less than three weeks before Ramadan commences.
For those of you who don’t know what Ramadan is, it is the holy month celebrated by Moslems as the time during which the Qu’ran was related to the Prophet Mohammad. The rules are strictly enforced in Qatar – no eating, drinking, smoking or physical contact with the opposite sex from dawn to sunset. There are heavy fines – even prison time – for violators.
Non-Moslem women and men are being reminded to wear modest clothing that does not reveal the shape of your body, to avoid distracting those focused on religious thoughts.
Although a period of fasting, it is also a time of feasting, as the fast is broken when the sun goes down, and every night for the lunar month of Ramadan, special dishes are served, and parties are held. It is a month of religious contemplation, and also a month of religious celebration.
Here is what it says at Islam101:
Ramadan -a month of obligatory daily fasting in Islam is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Daily fasts begin at dawn and end with sunset. Special nightly prayers called, Taraweeh prayers are held. The entire Quran is recited in these prayers in Mosques all around the world. This month provides an opportunity for Muslims to get closer to God. This is a month when a Muslim should try to:
See not what displeases Allah
Speak no evil
Hear no evil
Do no evil
Look to Allah with fear and hope
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become God-fearing.” (The Quran, 2:183)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. Whoever prays during the nights in Ramadan with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven. And he who passes Lailat al-Qadr in prayer with faith and seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven (Bukhari, Muslim).
Ramadan ends with a day long celebration known as Eidul-Fitr. Eidul-Fitr begins with a special morning prayer in grand Mosques and open grounds of towns and cities of the world. the prayer is attended by men, women and children with their new or best clothes. A special charity, known as Zakatul-Fitr is given out prior to the prayer. The rest of the day is spent in visiting relatives and friends, giving gifts to children and eating.
Happy Birthday, Mom
“You make me sound so OLD!” my Mother scolded me, when I wrote about how she was 85 years old and still living on her own. Mom keeps active. She can’t do all the things she really wants to do – travel, mostly – because she can’t manage a heavy bag or standing too long – but she keeps up her own place, fixes her own meals, goes out with friends, exercises, makes and keeps her own appointments. We should all be so fortunate, when we hit our 80’s.
(This is not my Mother’s birthday cake, but when I looked up cakes I found this on Kay’s Cakes.com and knew it was a cake my Mom would love, if she loved cake. Actually, she loves Lemon Meringue Pie, and that is what she really had at her birthday party.)
My younger sister has shown her a couple really nice places where she could have more assistance on a daily basis, beautiful places with activities and transportation for elders.
(I can already hear her wincing at using the word ‘elder’)
She doesn’t want to be surrounded by old people. She stays young by being as active as she wants to be.
She has signed up for a three-day mini university course at a nearby university, where they use the college facilities during the summer months to offer interesting mini classes. One of the four classes that she has signed up for is Early Islamic Spain. I’m impressed, Mom.
She keeps up with the news, sends me clippings, reads books we tell her are worth reading, and keeps up with her friends. She is good at managing her money, and researching her investments. She does better than most women half her age.
Happy Happy Birthday, Mom, and many more to come.
More Doha Museum of Islamic Arts Photos
I have been so blessed. Since I moved back to Doha, five sets of visitors have come – in a mere eight weeks. My most recent guests were the most fun kind – they loved everything I love, especially the Souq al Waqif and the Doha Museum of Islamic Art. Even though we had a dust storm their entire visit, we laughed and had a wonderful visit.
I got to re-visit my Iznic pieces, most of these centuries old:
And last, but not Iznik, a showstopper necklace that just knocks my socks off every time I see it.
Those large chunks of rock? Real emeralds, the size of pebbles. Real diamonds, the size of ice cubes. Real pearls, a little wobbly, some of them, but they add such gloss and character. What red blooded woman wouldn’t love this piece?
The Museum, on Saturday, had many groups – closely-dropped Americans from the military base, black abaya’d school girls, a grouup of one mixed – maybe a religious family group, visiting particular exhibits of religious interest – and the Museum welcomed so many visitors and absorbed them without us feeling the least bit crowded. . . well, maybe once when we watched a group of about 40 enter one very large elevator. We chose to take the next elevator, which we had entirely to ourselves.
It was never noisy – the water from the fountain tamps down the sound. Even the normally intrusive ringing of the security guard phones was stilled during the afternoon visit. Pity the Book of Secrets exhibit is now closed.
Every time I go to this museum, I am awed by the beauty, the expense, the spaciousness – and in amazement that this beautiful facility is a gift to the people – there is no charge for admission. I just really really wish they would put in a coffee shop!
It was another delightful day at the DMIA. 🙂
Doha Changes Update
Just after I mentioned the closing of the Q-Mart, I was at The Mall (yes, it was the first mall in Doha, and it is called The Mall, even on the maps) and saw this new sign on the place where the opening of the supermarket would be:
Spinney’s is what the place behind the Ramada that is now called The MegaMart used to be called. I would die of happiness if this were a MegaMart/ShopRite opening at The Mall. Yep. Prices are high. And they have just-the-right-thing-when-you-need-it. Wooo HOOOOO.
Recent Comments
ExpatAlien on What Country am I Living … intlxpatr on Yellowstone: Old Faithful to C… Michelle on Yellowstone: Old Faithful to C… Cathy on No Grown-Ups in Charge intlxpatr on Waiting for Snow Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 
