Qatar adventures
Well, I’m now officially stuck in Qatar. The first few days were pretty cool, but now I just want to get out of here. I’m waiting on Chair Force transportation and there was no flight today. I’m hoping to get on one tomorrow *fingers crossed*.
Since I’m here, just hanging out on this tiny little Army base with damned little to do, I’ll fill you in on all there is to know about Qatar. Here goes:
- Money - They seem to have alot of it in Qatar. I counted over 20 sky scrapers being built simultaneously in downtown Doha. Plus, lots of construction on the highways. Lots of big, beautiful homes. Of course, I also saw slums, but that’s part of nearly every large city.
- Driving - They drive like maniacs. On my two adventures out and about, I gave up counting the number of driving violations our Qatari drivers committed. Basically, driving laws are only a “guideline”.
- Security - No pictures of government buildings. If a citizen sees you taking pictures of government buildings, they can call the cops who will pull you over and take your camera away from you. Can you imagine that in the U.S.?
- Clothing - For the most part, Qatari mess dress like Westerners - with the occasional “man dress” and turban in evidence. I only saw a few native women (they must hide out), and all of them were wearing nearly full covering. It wasn’t like the pictures you see from Afghanistan - you know, the big tents they wear over their heads. The clothes the Qatari women were wearing were actually rather form-fitting, but still covered the head and face. Eyes and hands were still visible.
- Music - It was either Arabic pop music, or American gansta rap. They didn’t seem to play anything else but those two. White guy that I am, I actually preferred the Arabic pop music. Again, I had a very limited contact with real Qataris, so I’m sure there are plenty that listen to other forms of music.
Talking to the other service members here on R&R, there are many also here from Afghanistan, Kuwait and Djibouti (tiny country on the Red Sea). I’ve concluded that in some cases, my life is better at my base in Iraq than some places, and rather lousy compared to others (especially Kuwait). The guys in Qatar really have it made. They don’t even have to carry a weapon with them everywhere they go.
Well, as much as it sounds weird saying this, I am looking forward to getting back to Iraq. I’ve got work to get done back there, and since I’ve taken all the trips I can go on here, I’m mostly just bumming around now.
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