Last weekend I was invited to lunch by a Qatari colleague of mine. She and her family offered us a traditional lunch, which is served family style on the floor. It was such a great experience to go into their home and share this with them.


Here we are preparing to dig in!




The food was delicious. That orange looking thing in the right corner is actually the burned rice from the bottom of the pot. Apparently it is rude to not serve every bit of what was prepared in the kitchen.




Dessert was a type of cheesecake served with Qatari coffee. It looks like tea, tasted like bland green tea, but having the two together balanced each other well.




After that we were served actual tea. You can get fancy sugar cubes here. Different colours or even some with other flavors mixed in, like mint or cinnammon.




Once we finished with the meal they brought in an "aoud". It's a special type of incense. It is used to cleanse you after the meal. It smells nice but burned my eyeballs.




After we are cleansed, it's time for perfume! Yah. It's something you can't miss when you're walking around an Arab country, they looooove their perfume.

• I had a dream I slapped someone in the face in the middle of a party. I didn't realize just how satisfying this drama move could be.

• Enjoy the photos. I really wish you could be here to experience them live.

driving around town


on the corniche, view of downtown


electricity street (in the old part of town) name so because it was the first street to get electricity in doha


sunset on campus...i really must head out for more desert sunsets


i told you about the gondola rides at villagio mall


carey look what i found at the grocery!


dinner at a lebanese joint in the old souq


down by the old souq

• I'm getting a massage tomorrow.

• I can't wait for above mentioned massage.

• I can't wait because I'm in tremendous pain, as a result of my worn out mattress.

• I inquired and they are going to buy me a new mattress :)

• I'm watching Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run)

• It makes me miss my fun coloured hair badly.

• All this talk of hair lately makes me miss Lilho.

• I'm going to buy plants at the plant souq this weekend.

• I'm going to buy paint and supplies to start painting my apartment as well.

• I think I'm going to paint the following quote on one of my walls: "Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds" - Albert Einstein.

• I think Theecarey will understand what I mean with that quote.

I live with my hair. It clings to my scalp with relentless force. I twirl my fingers through it every single day, I tie it up off my hot neck every single day, I SEE it every single day. However, it still managed to surprise me when I saw my profile. My hair is getting long! Remember when you first met me?




2 years and about 25 haircuts later.....

I took this morning's quiet street time as an opportunity to practice driving. Friday is the Muslim holy day so everyone is at mosque. It's usually when you see all the expats buying groceries so as to avoid the mobs. I'm proud to say I only got a 'little' lost for a 'little' while. I should probably give myself more credit that than sounds like. I mean it is difficult to navigate streets (with no names) that don't exactly match the maps available to you.

My journey included locating my aunt and uncle's villa (successfully) and then making my way to the Villagio Mall to get some groceries. One day I'll take pics inside the mall but it's hard with so many people around. The ceiling is painted to look like a soft blue sky dotted with clouds. They also have a pool river that you can take gondola rides in, which is weird but fun.



One of the many crazy roundabout signs



This road makes me think it's some kind of alien landing strip.



Lexington Co-op goes international :)



Date trees are everywhere! They stick to your shoes too.



The 'Doha Nights' series continues...