Journaling on estrip is easy and free. sign up here

Ladycroft's Journal

ladycroft
My Podcast Link

03/14/2008 11:29 #43663

from the north: part 3
Category: photos

image
we found a wandering camel and my aunt's friend carries camel biscuits in the car for this very reason

image
made our way toward the very tip of the country and finally met the sea again

image
we were off road 90% of the time

image
I thought it was interesting to find a mancala game carved into the rocks

image
it was wicked windy and i ended up looking like i went skiing at the end of the day with all the windburn

image
we found more ruins, or should i say "the archaeology"
don't worry, we did not "inerfere" with it

image
different view
part of it reminded me of greece

image
small lookout post

image
the stairs...i love spiral stairs

image
view at the top

image
between this and the beautiful water, i almost felt like i was in the caribbean

image
i think this is the oldest standing house in qatar

image
paul - 03/17/08 18:14
I love the texture of the tower.
jenks - 03/15/08 01:56
wow nice pix. :)
metalpeter - 03/14/08 17:38
They Make Camel Biscuits that seems so random that you got to see the camel. One question where you able to go into the sea at all?
dcoffee - 03/14/08 13:14
The camel is awesome. and Mancala! I did that on a walgreens sidewalk once, didn't carve the holes, just used the stones from their garden.
joshua - 03/14/08 12:00
The English on that sign reminds me of the poor grammar I constantly correct at work.

03/12/2008 14:24 #43635

from the north: part 2
Category: photos
It's starting to warm up here. We're hitting around 90 most days. It's not hot, at least compared to 130 it's not. The evenings are fucking amazing! It won't be much longer that I can keep my windows open and enjoy 'fresh' air. I'll try to send some warmth and sunshine your way b-lo. Now onto more photos from the north of Qatar.


image
whenever I travel I always wonder about random articles of clothing I find in the street, or up in a tree - in this case, what's the story behind a single sandal in the middle of nowhere?

image
I really mean the middle of nowhere!

image
where we found camel bones

image
and got a flat tire! (that's why you never go adventuring alone, even with a healthy spare)

image
we came upon a place that might have been part of a war

image
it was riddled with bullet holes

image
and graffiti

image
we also found what looks like a natural rock in the middle of the desert

image
but is a place for a man to hide out

stay tuned for more next time!
mike - 03/14/08 14:07
i wonder if the camel bones and mystery sandal are related? an all out fight to the death between a wild camel and a lone traveler perhaps?
mrdeadlier - 03/12/08 15:19
I want one of those rocks for my yard! It would be a trip using it to scare little kids on Halloween.

03/11/2008 03:38 #43615

from the north: part 1
Category: photos
image
top of a lookout tower

image
staircase of the tower

image
remnants of the wall that surrounded the neighborhood

image
the homes are built using rocks, then they just smooth it over with a cement like mixture; i guess this house has returned to the earth

image
view from a window

image
this reminds me of mexican pueblos

image
this area used to be under water, the ground is made of millions of tiny sea shells!
metalpeter - 03/11/08 17:04
Thanks for sharing and telling us those are shells I wouldn't have been able to tell that.
fellyconnelly - 03/11/08 08:49
i always love getting your photos from around the world... thanks for sharing!

03/04/2008 14:24 #43552

creepy dude in the grocery store
Category: potpourri
I had to run to the market this morning for a few programming things. Suddenly this older (maybe 50) Qatari man approaches me and says, "Mademoiselle, mumble, mumble, mumble". I look around to see if he is in fact directing the comment at me, which he is because the only other person in the isle was a man. So being the polite, although partially deaf, person that I am I say, "Pardon me?" He again mumbles something which sounds like Arabic. So I try my best to say in Arabic, that I in fact do not really speak it. So he mumbles again and holds this box of custard in my face. I'm thinking MAYBE he's trying to ask me a cooking question? It's my nature to want to help people. So I attempt to communicate and ask what he needs help with. Then he starts saying, "Friend, friend, friend".

Okay then. Um....I'm just going to excuse myself from your presence and you have a really great day. So I mosey on my way, trying to finish my list as quickly as possible because I have more important things to be doing that grocery shopping for programs at this point. Well, 30 seconds later my little friend turns the corner and rolls his cart right over to me. "Friend, friend....you, me, friend, friend". I admit I was probably looking at him like he was an asylum escapee. Then he makes a telephone gesture and says, "mobile, you, friend, friend" and winks at me. At this point I realized this dude was trying to pick me up! EWE!

He was probably mumbling in case any moral police were around.

joshua - 03/05/08 13:56
Sex and the City Sharia-style. If it weren't for the likely death threats this would make a great SNL sketch.
metalpeter - 03/04/08 18:47
Good luck trying to figure it out, but I'm guessing you are right (is it just me or do you have the luck of much older guys hitting on you). But maybe he wanted to give you what he had then when you liked it he would sell you more, who knows. It is allways possible that the market has really looney people like that right aid (yes I do shop there sometimes) not that I know many of them but sometimes there is some real whack job in there.
james - 03/04/08 14:39
You should do a Doha version of Sex and the City, minus the unrealistic life style and likely jail time.

03/09/2008 03:50 #43590

chinese massage
Category: potpourri
One of my co-workers and I are testing out various forms of massage to find what style and place we like best, with the best price of course. So we tried this Chinese massage at the 'Chinese Health Center'. I sign-in and then I'm taken to my room. My room happens to be directly off the office area. No hallway, just a door leading directly into the lobby and a second door leading to another room.
My masseuse speaks like 5 words of English. Four of which were, "Clothes you take off". I'm thinking, ok, where is the changing curtain, but there is none. Just drop trou there in the middle of the room with two doors leading to other clients that aren't locked. So I'm trying to maintain some level of modesty while magically changing while holding a towel up.

I jump on the rickety table and she begins with a nice gentle glide of her oily hands over my shoulders. I thought the oil smelled like baby powder and ass but with the amount of incense in that place, who knows. Not 2 minutes in someone comes barging in from the other room apparently asking for some oil or something. I'm like, "Helloooooooooo, client on the table for Pete's sake!" They get what they want and leave. I can hear the music from the other room but I don't get any of my own.

Then my masseuse starts hitting me ye old karate chop style. My poor face was getting squished down into the face hole so far I thought she might break my neck! She finally pauses and I think relief is in sight. Then she starts slapping me like sumo wrestler all across my shoulders and down my back! I was thinking, "Shit lady I only have one kidney could you try not to damage it". She stops and pinches my neck for what seems like 5 minutes, then moves down to my legs.

This is when the party really gets started. She begins violently rubbing my legs lengthwise. Thankfully with the oil she was only able to rub off one layer of skin and not 7. Next thing I know she starts shaking me. My entire body was being whipped side to side and I thought for sure I was going to slide right off the side and onto the floor.

Next my dear masseuse gets to my feet. She started punching them and grinding her knuckles into the soles. I had to interject for fear of passing out in pain because of my right foot. So she eased up and it actually felt nice until she cranked my ankle in a weird way. Ding-ding, time to flip over. I wondered if I could tolerate the abuse on my front side. It's much softer than the back and surely cannot tolerate the same abuse.

She starts with my face. Pinching it and squishing it, I almost yelped when she grabbed my eyebrows. It felt like she was trying to pull them right off my face. Had she been a little stronger she just might have. She's very gentle on my arms which contradicts everything she had done up to that point. Then she yanks the towel up and starts pushing on my guts! I began chanting in my mind, "Please don't karate chop me here". She didn't. She moved on to the legs again and began bending and twisting them in yoga like ways.

Lastly she yells at me to, "sit". I held the towel and sat up. I thought it was over and maybe she would give me a little privacy this time to get dressed. Nope. She jumps up on the table with me! I thought for sure that thing was going to crack the way it was groaning. She takes another towel and starts again with the violent rubbing. My chest is being heaved into my knees and I can feel the burn on my back. To wrap it all up she gives me a final beating.

metalpeter - 03/09/08 13:08
I have Heard of th Karate chops and heard that some stuff can be kinda rough but that sounds a little crazy. But I guess the question is how did you feal when it was over with and you left. I can admit I have never gone to any legit or legit with happy ending places or just brothels. I don't think I have ever been to a spa. I have heard of weird things with warming rocks so hopefully you next place works out better. I wonder if there are different kinds of Chinese Massage. Oh and luck guy and luck (e:imk2) also.
ajay - 03/09/08 12:27
But did you get a happy ending?


(e:imk2) : what else did you expect? ;-)
imk2 - 03/09/08 12:15
yeah, i had an experience with chinese massage in china, except that he was massaging my boobs and crotch.
paul - 03/09/08 12:11
But how did it feel afterwards?
soma - 03/09/08 07:55
Wow, Are you a closet masachist and didnt tell us? Did you at least feel relaxed or less tension after the work over and work out? No happy ending? No free egg roll w/ the combo?.. sheesh.. it sounds like you didnt enjoy. I do know that sometimes after deep pain or such one can feel a break thru unto the other side sometimes.. weather it me a barrier of physical spiritual emotional or otherwise boundary.. I do hope you got what you wished for that adventure..

Hope you are well

Namaste'
Curt-Soma