Don't See That Everyday

I never thought I'd be happy to be back in my hotel room, but after the long night last night I'm quite looking forward to turning in a bit early. Porsche (remember that's a nickname) took me out for a cultural tour de force of Doha. I was absolutely blown away by how many small hole in the wall shops were local legends. Our first stop was the souq area - where small lean to shops hold everything from clothing to rugs to pottery to luggage. Amidst the shops are scattered little cafes and tea stalls where people sit outside and enjoy their dinners... it was a blast to have someone who spoke English and Arabic along for the ride so he could order for me, barter for me, (maybe even make fun of me!), and then tell me what was going on. For those who've ever had a translator it's quite an interesting experience.

After we picked up some awesome spiced tea at a small tea stall for the equivalent of $0.30, we headed to the shops and I did some suivenur shopping... well I mainly scoped out the various options and plan on heading back this weekend to actually purchase the goods slated for import to the USA!

For dinner, which we sat down for at 9:00pm - nearly my bedtime - we found a Local Legendary Lebanese place that was second only to the Indian restaurant next to the tennis club. Lebanese food is a bit of an enigma to me, I typically stick to the kebabs and hummus, both of which are much better than the same I've ordered in the states. We also had a spiced hummus that many Texans would appreciate. Top off the meal with some amazing home made bread, fresh orange/guava juice, and yes SHISHA. My first experience was pleasant, although the flavor was a bit overwhelming after smoking traditional English blended tobacco, apple mint seems a bit feminine albeit tasty... when in Doha do as the Qataris do. And were they ever smoking; the restaurant probably sat 60 inside and nearly everyone had a shisha pipe. Total cost for a 45 minute smoke that still had another 30 minutes left accordingly to Porsche was $8. Food and tobacco are both extremely affordable. By far it's the most Arabic restaurant I've eaten at, and the customers are almost exclusively Qataris - so you know it's a good place. We left the restaurant around 11:00pm and people were still sitting down to eat! Porsche said that's pretty common for people to eat late, go to work around 7:00 leave around 2:00, take a nap, and then head out all over again. He was actually surprised to discover that we expats are expected to work 7:00 to 6:00 - as if it was illegal, I wish!

So I have a few other friendly destinations now on my map of Doha, and I'm starting to learn the streets and general areas of town. It really is like driving in circles to go straight - quite confusing road layout - and as previously mentioned you do a much better job going by landmarks like statues or buildings than you do with actual street names. The last week I've been challenging myself to not use the map - and haven't had a repeat of the Hyundai experience yet. It'll be interesting to see how my driving tendencies have changed when I get back to Houston and start driving my truck like I have been my 111 horsepower Renault!

Qatariest Experience of the Day: I actually returned to some of the shops today after work to do some more scouting and on the way back I had to navigate 2 of the busiest intersections in town and managed to see:
* a van smashed into a light poll - probably a few seconds before I drove by, no one looked injured but the van was totalled
* an absolutely beautiful Ferrari like nothing I've seen before - very long and low to the ground. I looked it up - apparently it's the 599 in brilliant white (picture above)
* a Honda civic flash it's lights and pass a new Corvette Z06 on the shoulder! Only in Doha. Not that I'm surprised... not sure who would buy a Z06 when you could go buy a Viper... or matching Charger and Grand Cherokee SRT-8's.

Movie Quote of the Day: "I feel the need - the need for speed"

Clives Comment: “If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.”

Another Much Anticipated Album Scheduled for 2007: Stereophonics - "Pull the Pin"