When I was a Model UN student in my sophomore year of college, I remember learning that Doha, Qatar, was the site of the most recent Round Table Talks of the World Trade Organization. Because of the event’s significance and Doha’s geographical location in the center of the Middle East, I thought it would be an interesting place to see. Doha, however, never made it to the top of my travel list—until three months ago when I learned that my childhood (first grade to seventh grade) best friend is working in Doha.
Heidi and I met in first grade at Faith Community Christian School where she and I comprised half of our first grade class. One is forced to become friends with the few options available, but truly she and I were inseparable in many respects. A large portion of my childhood memories contains Heidi’s smiling face and vivacious curly hair. We were quite the pair, which is why I was devastated when she and her family moved from WI to MI in seventh grade. I traveled once to see her in MI right after she moved. (My dad dropped me off at the Manitowoc ferry, which I took all by myself across Lake MI, where her family picked me up on the other side. I always was adventurous!)
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| At Film City, which is literally a "fake" Arabian-style city that was made for an Arabic movie and left in the desert. |
After many years of silence, we reconnected in 2006 with the advent of Facebook, but we never managed to visit one another Stateside. Upon learning of her move to Doha in early February, I decided that I could not pass up the opportunity of seeing her and visiting a fascinating place like Doha. What surprises me most is the general ease with which we arranged the visit. How normal it seemed to me to reroute my return from Europe to Dakar, Senegal, through Doha and Dubai; however the historical event that was about to happen in my life was absolutely extraordinary. It is rare that one is able to re-establish former friendships, especially childhood relationships, and even rarer that a childhood friendship metamorphoses into an adult relationship.
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| Amazing architecture to be found in the Museum of Islamic Art |
I knew that Heidi and I would have many topics to discuss, and I was quite convinced that we would have a lot of fun together—based on her photos from Facebook—but what astonished me was the degree to which she and I possess a similar foundation in Christ and have a synonymous perception of the world and our lives. Literally, from the minute we hugged upon my arrival at the airport to the moment she dropped me off at the terminal at the end of our time together, we talked, pondered, mused, reflected, recounted and laughed about diverse subjects, charged with 12 years of material and garnished with our dreams and present adventurous lives.
As for Doha and Qatar, what can I say? Doha is a modern city chock full of malls, high rises, business people, construction and labor workers, extravagant hotels and large mosques. Heidi has a car, which she let me borrow a couple of the days so I could drive around Doha, navigating the crazy roundabouts and avoiding the very aggressive drivers. Gas only costs 90 cents a gallon, so I was unconcerned getting lost; however, I stayed inside Heidi’s lovely Gulf-side apartment much of the daytime to avoid the extremely high temperatures. I exited to see the Souq Waqif, a traditional-looking, although newly built, Middle Eastern bazaar; to walk to the post office, built to look like a pigeon cage, which was used in ancient times to house pigeons used for delivering news; to go to the Museum of Islamic Art, which contains Islamic art from 12 centuries obtained from Europe, the Middle East and Asia; and to walk the Corniche, which is the only pedestrian friendly area of Doha, paved and unhindered along the Gulf for walkers and runners.
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| This is called Lemon Mint, which is a juice of fresh lemon juice and mint leaves. It is really tasty! |
Once Heidi finished work in the evening, we generally made dinner at home before going out for a jaunt about town. We hit some great spots for hookah—a favorite pastime in Doha. We strolled a couple malls although quickly because neither one of us enjoys malls too much. We went to Katara, which is the cultural center of Doha with a lot of nice restaurants and walkways. One of the nights, we promenaded along the Pearl—an artificial island in the Gulf, which embodies the Qatari effort to subdue and dominate its natural surroundings in an effort to create a lavish new reality. Nothing more than a high-end strip mall and residential area, the Pearl offers its visitors the opportunity to shop, to dine and to live in excessive luxury. I have never before seen so many yachts sitting unused in one harbor.
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| Al-Jassassiya rock carvings: we hopped a fence and went exploring to find several of the 900 different glyphs. |
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| With the camels with found at Camel City behind the Camel Race Track of Al-Shahaniya |
Most thrilling were our two excursions into the desert: Al-Jassassiya rock carvings, Film City, Camel City and 4-wheeling on the dunes. Weekends occur on Fridays and Saturdays to accommodate both the Muslim holy day—Friday—and one Western weekend day for professional purposes. We looked at Google Maps to plan our route and the directions stated very vaguely and ominously, “Go west and turn left.” I would say that these indications pretty much summarize our experience. Thank God for Smart phone technology and ubiquitous telecommunication infrastructure because we were glued to Heidi’s iPhone as we tried to navigate down highways, small roads and desert paths. Qatar is a limestone peninsula, which you can see quite clearly in the landscape.
There is both the Arabian-style desert—sand and nothing but rolling hills of sand—and lowlands covered in rocks and sparsely dotted with desert plants that reprieve the eyes from monotonously staring at the desiccated landscape. All together, we construed a brilliant adventure where no Toyota Corolla ® has ever before been! Heidi and I traveled and lived marvelously together. I cannot wait to see where we will meet again; I trust that it will be sooner than 12 years!
When I was a Model UN student in my sophomore year of college, I remember learning that Doha, Qatar, was the site of the most recent Round Table Talks of the World Trade Organization. Because of the event’s significance and Doha’s geographical location in the center of the Middle East, I thought it would be an interesting place to see. Doha, however, never made it to the top of my travel list—until three months ago when I learned that my childhood (first grade to seventh grade) best friend is working in Doha.
As for Doha and Qatar, what can I say? Doha is a modern city chock full of malls, high rises, business people, construction and labor workers, extravagant hotels and large mosques. Heidi has a car, which she let me borrow a couple of the days so I could drive around Doha, navigating the crazy roundabouts and avoiding the very aggressive drivers. Gas only costs 90 cents a gallon, so I was unconcerned getting lost; however, I stayed inside Heidi’s lovely Gulf-side apartment much of the daytime to avoid the extremely high temperatures. I exited to see the Souq Waqif, a traditional-looking, although newly built, Middle Eastern bazaar; to walk to the post office, built to look like a pigeon cage, which was used in ancient times to house pigeons used for delivering news; to go to the Museum of Islamic Art, which contains Islamic art from 12 centuries obtained from Europe, the Middle East and Asia; and to walk the Corniche, which is the only pedestrian friendly area of Doha, paved and unhindered along the Gulf for walkers and runners.
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