Going to the Mosque

Last Sunday instead of  going to church like many of you did, I went to the State Mosque of Qatar.  The QWA invited several women's groups to tour the mosque and mingle.

The adventure started with our confused driver, John kept saying the state mosque, you know the biggest one in the country that we drive past all the time.  After we gave him directions, we realized his confusion was not where the mosque was, but rather why I was going there.  We explained I was invited there.  Of course I entered through the ladies door, covered my head and took the elevator up to the second floor, the first floor and larger area is for men.  From the female area you can look down onto the men's area.  This mosque has beautiful wood carved panels and plaster work on the walls.  There is some decorative stained glass windows and huge brass chandeliers.  A mosque is nothing like a church, much more simple and of course no pews, just a wide open room in order to kneel and pray.  The real treat was we got to go up in the minaret (where the call to prayer comes from) and see great views of Doha.  This was a real treat to be invited and all who went where glad they did!

Laddies Prayer Room

Back to Doha with fanfare

As many of you know we fly using American Express points, which means we are always on different airlines and different routes.  This time we took United, a small plane from Detroit to Washington DC with a short layover then to Doha.  When we got the the gate in DC we realised this was United's inaugural flight to Doha, which meant cake for everyone!

We were in business class (yes Kate, I got champagne) so the seats were 2/4/2, except that our row of 4 was facing the tail of the plane (like on a bus) and the 4 behind us, but we couldn't see them because that is where the monitors were and the 2s were back to back, very strange.

We had to stop in Dubai and get off the plane, which meant going through security twice, then back to the gate, where they hand sandwiches for everyone.  There were plenty of United people on the plane for their first flight into Doha and we told one lady how stupid it was to have to get off the plane, wait 40 minutes then get back on.  Later she said they are working on fixing this problem.

I was the first passenger on the flight! I didn't get anything for it though.  When we landed in Doha, there were more people to greet us then were passengers on the plane.  In Doha you have to take a bus from the plane to the airport, with this flight we had the most plush buses I have ever seen and the plane was as close to the airport as possible, that was neat.  Now it's back to normal life here.

Interesting Dinners

This week I went out to dinner three nights in a row! I had three very different experiences. Tuesday was my book club and we went to an Indian restaurant. The ladies helped me pick a chicken dish that was not spicy, but the 1 samosa I had was.

Wednesday John and I went to the AWA dinner at a Latin restaurant where it was churrasco night where the meat waiters (passadores) go around the restaurant bringing all kinds of meats on skewers to the table and cut a piece for you right there. I had 1 piece of well done steak and of course chicken.

Thursday night we went out with our English friends to the New York Steakhouse at the Marriott. This time I went with the Vegetarian option just because it sounded so good. Pumpkin Butternut Squash Pot Pie, it was amazing! Then we had a sample of sorbet and the chocolate with chili nearly killed me, hottest thing I ate all week.

This morning, John went fishing and brought back fish for dinner. He caught Sherry Fish, don’t know what it is like, but we’ll give it a go.

Celery, Oryx, and Camels, Oh My

Today I went on an AWA trip to a greenhouse and a private zoo.

The first stop was a greenhouse that grows veggies and all kinds of plants. I got green beans, 2 heads of lettuce, a huge bunch of celery and 6 small cucumbers for about $6.50. That is a great price for here, plus everything is grown in Doha so it is fresh, they pick it and bring it right to the barn for you to pick up. Cheap and fresh are two things you don't get in the grocery store!

Then we went on to a private zoo. I have never been so close to the animals (see my pictures on facebook.) First we had tea and dates, then they gave us a tour. We got to drive golfcarts around the path where the Ostrich and Emus wander around freely. We also saw oryx, camels, zebras, donkeys and some animals I don't the name.

After the trip the car I was in went to the camel race track. There is a road that goes around the track and you can follow along when they race. As we were leaving we saw some camels coming in for practice. They don't have jockeys but robots on top that are remote controled. The robots, that look like monkeys, still wear numbers and different colored "shirts" like real jockeys.

Off to the Races

This weekend was full of races: a horse race and a car race, both a first for me!

Thursday we went to the Emir's Sword Race, it was also hat day. I got there at 12:30pm with a group of ladies from AWA and saw 7 horse races, the first race was only female jockeys. It was fun to watch the women with their hats for the contest, the winner got a silver and diamond watch. The race was run on grass, which I had never heard of. At the end of all the races, the Emir came out to present the awards, ironically his horse won the big race.

Then on Friday we went to the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, the first time in Qatar. First we went to see them practice, then we left for dinner and came back for the 8:50pm race. Unlike the horse race, it was not crowded and I got a good spot for pictures. Also unlike the horse race the weather had cooled off a lot, but both days were very dusty with low visability.

Look for pictures of both on facebook.

Back to the Pearl

Well, we made it back to Doha with no travel problems at all and it took 28 1/2 hours. Friday I spent most of my time unpacking and arranging things. Tonight John and I went for a walk around the Pearl. We noticed what has opened and what has closed since we were last here. There are 3 ice cream places and several new coffee spots. On our way back we stopped at the new grocery store to get a few things. They have a large amount of American products and a lot of everything for a small store, the veggies selection wasn't too good but what's new.

They stopped serving alcohol on the Pearl and since then 3 restaurants have closed. John asked one of the chefs and he said business is down 70%. We are hoping this gets over turned soon or a lot more places will probably close as it was very quite this evening.

Tomorrow John and Jim fly to Dubai and a busy week starts for me with AWA and book club!

Oktoberfest

Last night John and I along with new and old friends went to Oktoberfest at the InterContinental hotel here in Doha. It was the hottest ticket in town, luckily John is a VIP at the hotel since he was able to clean the exterior of the hotel after 6 years of neglect. It was a lot of fun with traditional German food, they flew in 1.5 tons of Sauerkraut and had my favorite, hot pretzels. Of course there was beer, it was served in the traditional German steins, large and small. It was held in a giant tent draped in white and blue fabric with long tables and benches, it did remind me a little bit of the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Dancing on the tables was prohibited, but standing on the benches was encouraged by the traditional German band which lead cheers, toasts and sing-a-longs. And yes they preformed the chicken dance. Oans, zwoa, gsuffa!