Where does the rain water go when it rains in the desert?

Since most of the streets of Doha don't have storm drains, when it rains, the streets flood...causing traffic problems throughout the city.

The British are coming, the British are coming!

The Brits haven't been in control of the region since 1971, but you still see their influences in the language. This is a sign at the largest shopping mall in Doha. For all you non-Anglophiles, a "trolley" is what we would call a "shopping cart" in the US.

Question: Is there much construction in Doha, Qatar?

Answer: Just a little

News on Qatar in the Hoya, Georgetown's student newspaper

Some students from the main campus came to Qatar for the Model UN Conference (I was at Dunestock camping and partying, so I missed it. Awwwwwwww)

Anyway, here are four articles that tell you what it's like here from another perspective:

http://www.thehoya.com/news/031706/news2.cfm

http://www.thehoya.com/news/031706/news3.cfm

http://www.thehoya.com/news/032106/news5.cfm

http://www.thehoya.com/news/032406/news1.cfm

My favorite is news5 which is Part 3: Culture a Delicate Balancing Act in Doha

Also, check out the articles on Qatar at: http://www.hoyablogs.blogspot.com/

Some of my favorite quotes from these articles are:

"Keeping the school running — a school full of checked walls and Georgetown-blue rugs, one built essentially from scratch — has frustrated some staff, and burned others out. While six of seven faculty will be returning next year, at least three of the four student affairs staffers are leaving forever with mixed emotions." Some peole have quit, not me if the cash keeps rolling in.

"And although it’s not in Georgetown’s part of the building — it belongs to the Academic Bridge Program, which teaches English to Qatari high school graduates — that little poster only steps away from the library at SFS-Qatar may be symbolic of the deep challenges Georgetown faces in bringing Israeli and American Jews to a Middle Eastern campus."
They mention the library in this one.

"But there are 600,000 foreigners here — nearly two-thirds of whom are male and miss home terribly."
It's like a sausage factory here. All dudes on the edge of depression and overwork from 12 hour days, six to seven days a week.

'“In some ways it’s a lot like high school and lots of times it’s boring. I have managed OK but there are some people who just can’t handle it here,” says Chris Bobbitt (SFS ’05), who is studying for a year at Qatar University and works at SFS-Qatar.'
Yeah, people here drink like they are in high school.

And my all-time favorite quote from the articles:

"On a recent night in Palomas, the Intercontinental Hotel’s kinky Tex-Mex bar, young Qataris, hairy old expatriate men and trolling prostitutes in tight skirts throw back vodka shot after vodka shot."
The Shehrazad Bar at the Ramada Hotel, the bar we frequent, is way more seedier than the one at the Intercontinental Hotel. The Intercon one is tame compared to the bar we go to, which is within walking distance to my villa.

If you think their driving is bad wait until you see their parking PART 2

Oh, did you want to leave the parking garage???...The person in the white car parked here because he wanted to be the closest parker to the elevators (on the right side of the picture)...Too bad he blocked another driver from being able to get out of his parking space. The guy that is blocked in can't leave. He can't back up because there is a concrete wall behind him, he can't go right because a car is parked to his right, he can't go left because he is parked next to a a guardrail on his left, and he can't go forward because there is A CAR PARKED IN FRONT OF HIM!!!!

Park in between the lines or on the lines...he can't remember or doesn't care... also, another space next to the elevators...

Giraffes in Qatar

A Giraffe is a tall cylindrical beer dispenser with a tap, which is brought to your table. There is a battery powered light inside the base of the dispenser, so this mighty column of beer glows in the darkness of the bar. One giraffe = 9 pints

New Map of Doha

A new map of Doha has been printed and is for sale in bookstores and shops.

The satellite image is so detailed that you can make out my villa on the map.

Unfortunately, not all the labels are in the correct places on the map. The number "45" in the blue box refers to the Omani embassy which is about a half a block from where the number "45" in a blue box is on the map.

The American Hospital is not where the label points to but is about a half a block to the West.

With the way things are developing here, they will probably print another map in a few months.

Also, the green parts of the map are water, the yellow parts are city/desert/land.

Charlie Don't Surf

Qataris dancing at the front of the stage at Dunestock 2006

Does Rock and Roll and Islam mix?

DUNESTOCK 2006

Dunestock 2006...a concert in the desert sand dunes for and with Western expats. Think High School Battle of the Bands with teenagers and 50 year olds IN THE BANDS! Cover tunes from the 60s, 70s and 80s YEAH...how many times can your hear Freebird???...drunk underage male expats YEAH...

Desert Wind

How windy can it get in the desert???...enough to bend tent poles, concave a tent, and knock over furniture.