Never?!!

Shelley joined Lisa for her biweekly pedicure and manicure. Aljean and Ching were completely shocked to hear that Shelley had never had a pedicure! Pedicures are very popular in this dry warm climate where sandals are worn every day. The pedicure serves to remove the calloused skin from going barefoot in the house, never wearing socks, and having sand rub at your heels all day long. The polish just makes wearing open-toed shoes more fun!

Guess who's coming to town?

Today Shelley and Lisa ran a few errands and stopped at the new Ezdan Mall. It was a (very) "soft" opening on April 15 -- that means that only a handful of stores were ready to open on Opening Day. It looks like a  great new Mall and will have some fabulous stores and restaurants when it opens -- including Tim Horton's !! The Canadians in town are very excited!

Camels!

It seems like a cliche but the desert and camels go together. So a trip to the desert should include camels and Shelley was not disappointed. We drove west of town for 10 minutes to the camel race track. On the way we passed these camels, probably going to the same place.

There was no race while we were there but the camels were being exercised on the track. We stopped to watch as dozens of camels crossed the road in front of us. There were big and little camels and some had the robot racing equipment attached to their backs. Camel racing is a popular past time here. The camels race on a sand track with a robot jockey. The owner drives in a Landcruiser (on a paved track parallel to the camels) and works the remote control for the robot. Participating in a race is very exciting -- watching from the bleachers is much less exciting.

Souq shopping

Yesterday Shelley and Lisa went to the Souq Waqif early in the morning before the heat and crowds became unbearable. It was a cool and quiet stroll through the many shops with its variety of goods for sale. Shelley was intrigued by the very large stainless pots for cooking Indian food and the little men pushing wheelbarrows to carry people's shopping.

She loved the smell of spices wafting throughout the corridors and we had a great time visiting one Arabic "sweets" shop. We sampled delicious baklava and bought some handmade fig newtons. The figs were melt-in-your-mouth delicious and the pastry was wrapped in small crescents. So good!

Katara

Today we took Shelley to Katara for a walk around the "cultural village" in Doha. The area has been created as a place for temporary art exhibits (30 buildings of them!), restaurants, a beach, and music/ theater productions. The amphitheatre has amazing acoustics for drama and music. We visited an outdoor Art Show today -- 100 local artists. We also visited an exhibit of Arab Women in Sports and a "Designed To Win" exhibit about sports and technology. Shelley did well in the 40 degree heat.

Lisa also took the time to give Shelley a demo of how to use the toilet. The ones at Katara are a very nice version of the traditional "long drop" -- they even flush! Qatar has many different styles of public toilets to accommodate tourists from a variety of countries. There are toilets to sit on or to stand on, bidets and douchettes for washing, water for flushing and garbage cans when there is no water.........

grocery stores

Going to the grocery store can sometimes be exciting! In a new country a grocery store is a look into the culture, family habits, economy, marketing. Today we went to Lulu Express and Shelley had some fun! She is holding a large bucket of plain yogurt. Yogurt is a staple here for the Arabic meals so it is always available and in large quantities. Being a dietitian, Shelley was interested in the packaging and labeling, the products available, and where the products come from.

out and about

Today Shelley and Lisa did a  little shopping. We started at the Bombay Silk Company. Lots of great silk but not what we were looking for. Then we went to Villaggio Mall for window-shopping. Shelley tried on a lot of dresses and Lisa bought another new purse!

Special Arrival

Tonight we had a special arrival in Qatar! Lisa's sister, Shelley, came from Nova Scotia to escape the cooler temperatures and snow flurries. We are all looking forward to a two week adventure in Doha. The boys were also pretty excited about the arrival of the Easter bunny -- a rare item in the Middle East. Shelley survived her 12 hour flight with no problem although she is looking a little tired. We have promised to give her a bit of time to adjust to the change in time zones, before we start getting busy with sight-seeing.

Films and Food

Last night we attended the annual Film Festival, co-sponsored by Qatar Academy and Northwestern University. It is always a fun night of getting dressed up, hanging out with friends, and viewing short films. We went with Lisa's co-worker Laureen, and Max and Simon's friends, Arnav and Nicholas.

The films are created by students at QA and judged by the Film Studies Department at Northwestern. The festival is an opportunity for students to tell a story of significance and to learn about documenting the story in film. There were 76 entries this year and at the gala dinner we viewed 9 of these. The topics included dog rescue shelters in Doha, a Sri Lankan school, the Palestine life,  fishing in Ecuador, albinism, car safety in Doha, smoking, child labour in Pakistan.

the boys at our table

The event was held at the St Regis Hotel and, of course, the meal was fabulous. You may recall that we had suits made for Max and Simon last year. With a bit of leg lengthening they were able to wear the same suits last night -- but don't look too closely at Max's shirt which won't button at the top! He also couldn't button the jacket without looking like the Hulk bulging out the back.

Muppy Healing

One month ago our cat Muppy had her leg amputated after getting caught in the neighbour's car. It was a shock to all of us but we have all adjusted well to the change. Muppy is moving a little slower now but gets around just fine. Her habits have changed a bit and we don't mind that she has become more mellow.  She is doing very well and still enjoys some play fighting with Simon.

Short Snappers!

Our blog is in a state of delinquency. So sorry to those that want to read more about our life here in Doha. To make amends we have a plan to post a series of "short snappers" -- maybe daily posts for the next week that have some detail about our activities.

Max and Simon both play basketball for two teams: Qatar Academy school (Max on Junior Varsity and Simon on Under-14) and Qatar Foundation Sports Club. The school team practices through the week and the Club team practices on the weekend.

Today the boys received new uniforms for their Club team. (You may recognize the QF logo because it is also featured on the Barcelona Football Club jersey.)