A one day layover in the new "global crossroad" is definitely worth experiencing. Traveling from Africa to Asia, I seized the opportunity to explore a culture in between, an old accumulation of tradition and spirituality all sun-scorched under Earth's broiler. It is a strange city that rose from the absolute flattest of terrains, from the deadest looking soil, but the abundance of gas-guzzling road monsters and multiple, simultaneously-growing high-rises will reveal to even the dimmest mind that Doha is a power now and will still be after a million tomorrows.
As a young girl from Indiana, I was skittish about being in the Gulf zone without a mimicking costume or male companion. But, never fret, for as much as the media love to portray Muslims as villains, they know hospitality better than Paula Dean knows butter.
This may become your brain under the Middle Eastern sun. As a sleep deprived, dehydrated Midwesterner in the Middle East, it was too hot for me to conjure complete thoughts or sentences. These were my real time thoughts from Doha, Qatar.
"A far too classy condo complex cafe where Darjeeling tea sprang out from the tea bag collection, possibly foreshadowing a trip I definitely wanted and had to experience. A tall North African doorman, reminiscent of the "Green Mile" miracle worker, smiles at me in pajamas.
"Walking from one massive building past the rest on barren sidewalks, it's 8am, and the sun has catapulted into the hazy sky. A manicured park and an empty playground, I lie on the grass and become a spectacle to children and men alike. There are enough Westerners around to make me think I stick out for other reasons. I'm fully covered from chin to toe, but my clothes may be too clingy for ultimate modesty.
"The harbor is gorgeous, and the buildings fall into the ocean; but I feel like the sun is taking my life away from me. It only makes me angrier at the hundreds of men who stare and photograph without shame at my passing presence. I have had no water, and I sweat like death is stalking me. Roughly ten other women are out and about and never alone. I'm alone. I wonder what that implies in Doha.
"Big water bottles are mere cents, and a cross-eyed old man finally shows me the smiles I miss. I have to wipe my visage dry, and my sleeve comes back sopping.
"A coffee shop is no mirage as I follow a city arch's shadow across seven lanes of traffic to its air-conditioned wonders. Massive screens showing the TV programs I know and miss, and a man cranks the volume to accompany harmoniously the wall's waterfall. I sit with my bag off to receive the mighty wind, and it chills me back to life. I cannot move for hours, and my thumbs recount the story of my heated day to all with e-mails. I can think no more.
"To ask and to wander brings about what I needed and wanted to my stomach; whatever they say, so I shall have. And it sprawls the plate, a chicken on her bed, with veggies and spices to bear. I am drained and filled, and my heart beats in my stomach.
"I braved a new world in the Middle East I knew little truth about, and though all the men were watching intensely, never did I feel afraid. Our movies don't show the good people in civvies."
Recommended adventure tours from Doha, Qatar:
https://www.ub-cool.com/adventure/Qatar/Try-Scuba-Diving-in-the-Arabian-Gulf-Sea
https://www.ub-cool.com/adventure/Qatar/Full-day-desert-safari
https://www.ub-cool.com/adventure/Qatar/Half-day-desert-safari-and-camel-ride-
As a young girl from Indiana, I was skittish about being in the Gulf zone without a mimicking costume or male companion. But, never fret, for as much as the media love to portray Muslims as villains, they know hospitality better than Paula Dean knows butter.
This may become your brain under the Middle Eastern sun. As a sleep deprived, dehydrated Midwesterner in the Middle East, it was too hot for me to conjure complete thoughts or sentences. These were my real time thoughts from Doha, Qatar.
"A far too classy condo complex cafe where Darjeeling tea sprang out from the tea bag collection, possibly foreshadowing a trip I definitely wanted and had to experience. A tall North African doorman, reminiscent of the "Green Mile" miracle worker, smiles at me in pajamas.
"Walking from one massive building past the rest on barren sidewalks, it's 8am, and the sun has catapulted into the hazy sky. A manicured park and an empty playground, I lie on the grass and become a spectacle to children and men alike. There are enough Westerners around to make me think I stick out for other reasons. I'm fully covered from chin to toe, but my clothes may be too clingy for ultimate modesty.
"The harbor is gorgeous, and the buildings fall into the ocean; but I feel like the sun is taking my life away from me. It only makes me angrier at the hundreds of men who stare and photograph without shame at my passing presence. I have had no water, and I sweat like death is stalking me. Roughly ten other women are out and about and never alone. I'm alone. I wonder what that implies in Doha.
"Big water bottles are mere cents, and a cross-eyed old man finally shows me the smiles I miss. I have to wipe my visage dry, and my sleeve comes back sopping.
"A coffee shop is no mirage as I follow a city arch's shadow across seven lanes of traffic to its air-conditioned wonders. Massive screens showing the TV programs I know and miss, and a man cranks the volume to accompany harmoniously the wall's waterfall. I sit with my bag off to receive the mighty wind, and it chills me back to life. I cannot move for hours, and my thumbs recount the story of my heated day to all with e-mails. I can think no more.
"To ask and to wander brings about what I needed and wanted to my stomach; whatever they say, so I shall have. And it sprawls the plate, a chicken on her bed, with veggies and spices to bear. I am drained and filled, and my heart beats in my stomach.
"I braved a new world in the Middle East I knew little truth about, and though all the men were watching intensely, never did I feel afraid. Our movies don't show the good people in civvies."
Recommended adventure tours from Doha, Qatar:
https://www.ub-cool.com/adventure/Qatar/Try-Scuba-Diving-in-the-Arabian-Gulf-Sea
https://www.ub-cool.com/adventure/Qatar/Full-day-desert-safari
https://www.ub-cool.com/adventure/Qatar/Half-day-desert-safari-and-camel-ride-