I have to tell you, this movie is fantastic! If you haven't seen it, get your booty to the video store and watch it.

While watching it I realized just how much I've changed in the last 8 months and how much perspective I'm getting on life in the Middle East.

I understood a lot of the Arabic which was cool. A lot of it was filmed in Abu Dabi so you can really get a good idea of what it looks like here in Qatar. The roadways are the same (well the major roadways that is).

Oh, and Jason Bateman's character does an outstanding job of freaking out about how they drive. Seriously, you MUST watch it. Watch how they fly through the roundabouts. Yes, I know they claim it's 'military procedure' in the movie, but that's REALLY how they drive here.

The part about the prince in his palace, totally accurate. Falcons are a big deal here. The guys are wearing the traditional thobe which the men here wear. The only difference is that Saudi's wear the red and white checked gudthra and the Qataris wear solid white.

Ok, just go watch the movie!

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


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


we were off road 90% of the time


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


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


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


different view
part of it reminded me of greece


small lookout post


the stairs...i love spiral stairs


view at the top


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


i think this is the oldest standing house in qatar

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.



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?


I really mean the middle of nowhere!


where we found camel bones


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


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


it was riddled with bullet holes


and graffiti


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


but is a place for a man to hide out

stay tuned for more next time!

top of a lookout tower


staircase of the tower


remnants of the wall that surrounded the neighborhood


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


view from a window


this reminds me of mexican pueblos


this area used to be under water, the ground is made of millions of tiny sea shells!

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.