Censorship in Qatar

Here are some examples of recent publications to come through Qatar customs that have been censored using a black marker.

Bazaar cover of pregnant Britney Spears shown in Paris Match July 6-12, 2006 No. 2981

Photo of Kate Moss on story about Supermodels in American Vogue August 2006

Ad for Evian water in American Vogue August 2006

Image of Modigliani nude painted in 1917 in an article on the painter Amedeo Modigliani in The Guardian Weekly July 28-August 3, 2006 vol. 175, no. 6

Censoring art...

"Censorship is the tool of those who have the need to hide actualities from themselves and others. Their fear is only their inability to face what is real. Somewhere in their upbringing they were shielded against the total facts of our experience. They were only taught to look one way when many ways exist." Charles Bukowski, poet and novelist

Soccer

It was ONLY 97 degrees today. A cold snap in terms of the Arabian Peninsula in July. So a bunch of us went outside and played soccer, futbol for all the non-Americans, after work.

A little taste of the States in Qatar

For a taste of the States go to Ric's Kountry Kitchen, near the airport in Doha, Qatar.

I recommend The Lumberjack - Two Eggs, Two Pancakes, Two Beef Sausages, Two Pieces of French Toast, Breakfast Steak, and Hash Browns...Yumm!

Word verfication for posting comments to this site

I have set up the option to show word verfication for posting comments to this site. Now people leaving comments on my blog will be required to complete a word verification.

For example, a word verification will show up on the right hand side of the comment window. See example from Blogger help below. Sorry for the inconvenience but I believe that this will make for a better environment for real comments.

For more information on word verification from Blogger see:
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42520

My First Time Driving through the Dunes

Deflate the tires to 15 psi, buckle in, and get ready for a car ride that is a cross between a roller coaster and driving in ice and snow....that is what driving in the sand dunes of Qatar is like.

Spam in blogs

In checking my comments I have noticed an increase in the number of spam comments to some of my entries.

Please be aware that links in the comments can be spam in blogs (also called simply blog spam or comment spam) and is a form of spamdexing. It is done by automatically posting random comments which promote commercial services.

For example:

Anonymous said...
Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.»

The link ( » ) goes to http://car_insurance.mucho2.be/farm_bureau_car_insurance.html which brings up the cannot find server page anyways. What a waste.

First, anyone who knows me knows that I am not "nice." I hate nice. Nice is what you call a guy friend...ie. someone you treat as a brother or friend you would never have sex with...I've been that guy too many times...for those of you out there, you know who you are or may be you don't know who you are and you never got the hint. "If I wanted a friend who was a girl, I would join the Girl Scouts."

Second, I no longer own a car in the States. I wonder if this guy would like to insure my car in Qatar? Sir, where is the car? The Middle East...ah...I have to get back to you...but your link says that you will insure anyone...

"Maybe you need some more pictures." I put at least a picture a post. If you think you can do a better job then show me a site I can compare to mine, not a link to a car insurance company or a casino site.

You can tell it is spam if you go to a few comment fields and see that this comment is repeated several times in different posts. Who repeats the same dull comment over and over again??...a robot, that's who.

I can usually tell when a real human being has commented on my site and I hope you can too. Please don't click on comment links, because I don't want to give these guys the satisfaction and besides that would take you away from my site which is where you really want to be.

For information on Spam in blogs got to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_in_blogs. This link is true and works.

If this comment was from a real person then what is the deal?

Conan the Librarian

It all started when a bunch of us went to comedy night at The Laughter Factory at the Shehrazad Bar at the Ramada in Doha. The MC tried to get volunteers to come down and sit up in the front rows of seats by offering free beer to those who came forward. So John went, Mollie went, I went and Drew went down front. I will do pretty much anything for free beer.

So the four of us are sitting in the front row and the first comic comes on stage. He sees John sitting with his legs apart and makes a comment about the great greeting he received. He snarled at Mollie flirtaciously. He looked at me and called me Shrek and he said he was afraid I would come on stage and pummle him. I guess because I look big and intimidating.

Later on he asked what I did for a living. I told him "I worked in a library." He couldn't understand this. I am not a librarian, so I didn't say I was a librarian that would have been too easy. So he asked what I did and I explained and, of course, he couldn't find anything funny to say about what I do for a living. Once again afraid that he had insulted me he called me "Conan the Librarian" and moved on to another topic...

Al Qurain Martyrs Museum

The Al Qurain Martyrs Museum is the only major building in Kuwait left unrepaired after the Gulf War. The monument includes the remains of a house in the neighborhood of Al Qurain that was shredded by an Iraqi tank and machine gun fire in a battle against Kuwaiti men who tried to defend their neighborhood with automatic weapons. The tank prevailed, many of the Kuwaiti men were killed and the place they died became the Al Qurain Martyrs Museum to commemorate the Kuwaitis who resisted the Iraqi invasion.

Yo! Sushi

Conveyor Belt Sushi at the newly opened Yo! Sushi in Kuwait http://www.yosushi.com/.

"Each dish is placed on different colour-coded plates, indicating different prices, and all the empties are simply counted up at the end of the meal for the bill."

So we stacked the plates by color as high as they would go...

Kuwait traffic laws---They mean business!

Definitely obey the traffic signals in Kuwait...or else!

Cuttlefish-Chameleon of the Sea

The chromatophores and iridophores on the cuttlefish react to my camera flash in the aquarium at the Kuwait Science Center in Kuwait City.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish:
Cuttlefish are sometimes called the chameleon of the sea because of their remarkable ability to rapidly alter their skin colour at will. Their skin flashes a fast-changing pattern as communication to other cuttlefish and to camouflage them from predators. This color-changing function is produced by groups of red, yellow, brown, and black pigmented chromatophores above a layer of reflective iridophores and leucophores, with up to 200 of these specialized pigment cells per square millimeter. The pigmented chromatophores have a sac of pigment and a large membrane that is folded when retracted. There are 6-20 small muscle cells on the sides which can contract to squash the elastic sac into a disc against the skin. Yellow chromatophores (xanthophores) are closest to the surface of the skin, red and orange are below (erythrophores), and brown or black are just above the iridophore layer (melanophores). The iridophores reflect blue and green light. Iridophores are plates of chitin or protein, which can reflect the environment around a cuttlefish. They are responsible for the metallic blues, greens, golds, and silvers often seen on cuttlefish. All of these cells can be used in combinations. For example: orange would be produced by red and yellow chromatophores, while purple could be created by a red chromatophore and an iridophore. The cuttlefish could also use an iridophore and a yellow chromatophore to produce a brighter green.

Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage

Kuwait is a totally dry country because alcohol is forbidden in Islam, which means "beer" (if you want to call it that) is NON-ALCOHOLIC...so you can drink it for the taste...

For information on why alcohol is forbidden in Islam, see:
http://islam.about.com/od/health/f/alcohol.htm

For information on malt beverages, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malt_beverage

Kuwait Towers

I spent last weekend with Mike, John, and Sara in Kuwait. Here the three of them are at the Kuwiat Towers in Kuwait City. I am laying on the ground and angling the camera up so I can get them and the towers in the background.

The sphere on the left holds a million gallons of water.

Can of Sweat

Thirsty for some Sweat????
MMMMmmmmm...Sweat.
Maybe you can drink some Sweat to wash down the Chicken Cocktail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocari_Sweat from Wikipedia
http://www.otsuka.co.jp/pocari_e/pocari1.htm cool explaination of Pocari Sweat from the manufacturer

Hungry?

Then how about I open up a can of Chicken Cocktail? MMMMmmmmm..chicken cocktail.

Free Dates in Qatar

The date palms in Qatar are producing vast amounts of dates. I have seen people picking the dates off the trees. As I have been told: Green-don't pick, Yellow-pick but may be bitter...let ripen, Brown ready to eat...but remember to wash off the sand and dust first or the dates can be gritty.
Since most of the date palms are on public property (ie. on street medians and in parks), they are technically the property of the Qatari government.
So I guess it is "pick at your own risk." I have date palms in my compound. So, for me, no need to pick dates on public property....but they do look good and tempting though...
According to Nadim, you definitely do NOT want to pick dates on public property in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, these dates are considered governemtn property and if you pick them you are considered stealing and you will go to jail. Apparently, it is not so strict in Qatar.

SNOWboarding in the desert

Question: It is 100+ degrees Fahrenheit and you live in the desert, what do you do for fun?
Answer: Snowboard at Ski Dubai!

Ski Dubai is an indoor ski slope in the desert. See http://www.skidxb.com/

While in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates this past weekend, I took snowboarding lessons...never been snowboarding in my life.

Definition of irony: Go live in the desert...learn how to snowboard.

Just in case you were wondering...I am wearing a cap on my head. My hair is greying, but the grey you see on the top of my head is from the cap.

Burj Al Arab

I went to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates this past weekend with John, Mike, and Sara. Here I am standing with Sara in front of the Burj Al Arab hotel -the thing that looks like a sail in the background. The Burj Al Arab claims to be the only 7 star hotel in the world...officially it is a 5 star deluxe hotel. See http://www.burj-al-arab.com/ Apparently, you can't just walk into the hotel and look around...you have to pay just to enter the hotel.

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Happy 4th of July 2006!

No fireworks in Qatar, but we did have Glo-Sticks!

Say Hello To My Little Friend!

One of the carved figures that I picked up in Oaxaca, Mexico now sits on top of my satellite console in my villa.
For information about Oacacan woodcarving see:
http://www.oaxacanwoodcarving.com/mythnatr.html

Is it hot enough to fry an egg on the black asphalt?

Is it hot enough to fry an egg on the black asphalt?

Not yet...

Sara, John, and David try our first test to fry an egg on the asphalt...more tests to follow in the coming months.

Putting the D'Oh in Doha

It is 111 °F / 44 °C in Doha, Qatar at 1:30pm on July 2nd and it's going to get hotter as the summer progresses.

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/41170.html

Fond memories of my brief visit to the States

$3.00+ US Dollars for gas in the US??!!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! In Qatar, Premium is 70 cents (US) and Super is 80 cents (US)...I spend the extra ten cents and splurge on Super.

Friends shouldn't let friends drink too much Scotch

Ladies and Gentlemen, El NachOOOOOOOOOO! aka Arron O'Dell.

Welcome to Our Planet

Nephews can be fun!

Nice Doggie

Two xoloitzcuintles playing next to a statue of a xoloitzcuintle in the grounds of the Olmedo Patino Museum. A xoloitzcuintle is a pre-Hispanic (almost) hairless canine breed. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xoloitzcuintle for more information.

Police Presence

There is nothing like a massive police presence to liven up the mood of a demonstration in the Zocalo (Plaza de la Constitucion) in Mexico City.

At the Top of the Pyramid of the Sun

I walked up the 248 steps of the third largest pyramid in the world, the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan.

Iglesia De Santo Domingo

The altarpiece of Iglesia De Santo Domingo is gilded in 23.5 karat gold.

Viva La Revolution!

There have been some government reform protests going on the city center of Oaxaca. Of the course the Communists made an appearance. You know what they say...the Communists love a good Party...BADA-BOOM

Mountains of Agave = Mountains of Mezcal

Outside of Oaxaca are mountains covered with fields of agave plant which produce the liquor mezcal. Mezcal comes from one species of agave plant, whereas tequila comes from another species. Oaxaca is the home of mezcal production in Mexico. Mezcal has a smoky flavor as opposed to tequila because the agave hearts are roasted in a fire pit for mezcal. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezcal for more information.

Appreciation of life

There is nothing like careening on a bus around dangerous hair-pin turns with falling rocks in a torrential rainstorm with 18 wheeled trucks as on-coming traffic inches from your bus in the mountains east of Oaxaca to give you an appreciation of life, especially your own.

Where is Ed?

Where on the dance floor is Ed? I put a circle around myself, so you could find me.

Deep Sea Fishing...Priceless

I went deep sea fishing. Blue Ocean...three foot seas...you see where this is going...

Taxi to the marina...90 pesos

Six hours of deep sea fishing in choppy waters...1050 pesos

Catching a beautiful fish while my friend Arron is heaving his guts out over the side of the boat at the same time......PRICELESS.

For everything else there is a Marine Science degree.

Heads you win, heads you lose

If you WON the ball game, you were decapitated and your head put on the skull altar while you body was burned. Losing has it´s advantages, but if you won the game and had you head cut off, you were guaranteed a place with the gods.

Largest ball court in Mesoamerica at Chitzen Itza

Chitzen Itza

Another sight that if you read in a book and then see it, the book was nothing compared to real thing. The most interesting thing about the temple is that there is a Mayan temple inside the Toltec temple that you see now that was built on top of it. If you clap at the bottom center of the temple grounds, you can make the sound of an eagle echo off the top of the temple. The Toltecs belived the eagle was the messenger of the gods.

Winning it all and losing it all on Cancun

How much is 250,000 pesos in US Dollars?????...don´t worry, I lost it all on the next hand, not real money anyways, played for fun.

Mesa Verde

I finally got to see Mesa Verde after all the reading I had done on it in school. Being there was nothing like the books.

Snow

I got to see snow on my way from Denver to Mesa Verde!

37

I turn 37 on May 22 of this year and I wanted to give you an idea of what it is like to be 37, by sending out some lines from a great movie, "Clerks" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109445/):

Dante Hicks: You said you only had sex with three different guys; you never mentioned him!
Veronica Loughran: Because I never HAD sex with him.
Dante Hicks: You sucked his dick!
Veronica Loughran: We went out a few times. We never had sex but we fooled around.
Dante Hicks: Oh my God, WHY did you tell me you only had sex with three different guys?
Veronica Loughran: Because I DID only have sex with three different guys; that doesn't mean I didn't just go with people.
Dante Hicks: Oh my God, I feel so nauseous!
Veronica Loughran: I'm sorry, Dante, I thought you understood!
Dante Hicks: I did understand! I understood that you had sex with three different guys and that's all you said!
Veronica Loughran: Please calm down.
Dante Hicks: How many?
Veronica Loughran: Dante...
Dante Hicks: How many dicks have you sucked?
Veronica Loughran: Let it go!
Dante Hicks: How many?
Veronica Loughran: All right, shut up a second and I'll tell you! Jesus! I didn't freak out like this when you told me how many girls you fucked!
Dante Hicks: This is different, this is important. How many? [long pause as customer buys something]
Dante Hicks: Well?
Veronica Loughran: Something like... 36.
Dante Hicks: What? Something like 36?
Veronica Loughran: Lower your voice.
Dante Hicks: Wait a minute, what is that anyway, something like 36? Does that INCLUDE me?
Veronica Loughran: Ummm... 37.
Dante Hicks: I'm 37?

John and the McDonald's styrofoam hand puppet

Somebody wanted to see the hand puppet I made from the McDonald's styrofoam container...WELL HERE IT IS!!!...and John...

Someone asked me where I got the googly eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googly_eyes) for the puppet...Doesn't everyone have a package of googly eyes sitting around at home? I do.

What do you do in the heat of the night?

When it is 106 during the day and 96 at night, what do you do in the heat of the night?

Drink South African wine and smoke Cuban cigars on your front porch...and sweat.

Yeah, I said Cuban...cool part about other countries is that sometimes you can get something you can't get in the US, especially with an embargo in place with Cuba.

Baby Boom

To show you how dull it is in Qatar and to prove that there isn't much to do here, two couples who work for SFS-Q are expecting.

Above is a picture of one of the expectant mothers. She didn't realize it at the time when I took the picture that she was a walking cliche.

Here we see Molly - barefoot and pregnant, wearing an apron because she just made her husband some baked goods (cookies, muffins, etc.), folding their laundry...ah the 1950s are back.

McRoyale with Cheese

At McDonald's in Qatar (http://www.mcdonaldsarabia.com/english/qatar/index.asp), they offer a McRoyale (with cheese) at McDonald's. They also have something called a "McArabia", which is "McArabia CHICKEN": Two grilled chicken patties (de-boned breast meat), Arabic bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, garlic sauce, but I got the McRoyale WITH CHEESE. The McRoyale with cheese is the same beef and cheese quantity as the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, but has more fixins' like lettuce, tomato and special sauce...they also have a Big Mac. Also, because cetrain coutries in the Middle East, including Qatar don't allow ham to be sold or imported, the HAMburger is called a BEEFburger even though there is no HAM in the HAMburger. If you go into a McDonald's and by Western instinct say "HAMBURGER", the person behind the counter will look at you funny and SOMETIMES go "BEEFBURGER???" McDonalds needs to have a cross-cultural communications course for all new new employees to combat Western instict in ordering. (To prove that McDonald's is imprinted in the Western mind and especially hardwired into my head, I will demonstrate...."Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun"...I know that jingle by heart...I didn't even have to look it up, but if you didn't recognize that as the 1975 slogan for the MacDonald's Big Mac go here.

Also, the bigger sandwiches come in sytrofoam containers. Yeah! Back to the 70's and 80's again. So much for not using styrofoam to protect the environment. Best part about the styrofoam containers is that you can make McDonald's container hand puppets with them again!

To understand the "Royale with cheese" reference, see the quote below from the movie "Pulp Fiction" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/):

Vincent: And you know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: Then what do they call it?
Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent: Well, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac.
Jules: Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent: I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King.

Adventures at the Ramada

The names in this story have been changed to protect the innocent or guys who have girlfriends or fiancées...or secure jobs they would like to keep.

I knew Thursday night at the Shehrazad Bar at the Ramada was going to be interesting, when Bob got denied entry due to the fact that he was wearing sandals. The dress code for the Shehrazad Bar is smart casual. NOWHERE does it say "NO SANDALS", but as soon as the "bouncer" saw Bob's sandals he said he couldn't come into the bar. OK, everyone in Qatar wears sandals...but not in this bar. Maybe they have an unwritten "no sandal" rule to keep out the sandaled people (non-Westernized Arabs and blue collar expats). White collar expats and Westernized Arabs usually wear dress shoes or sneakers, but then again I was wearing sandals at work earlier that day. OH WELL ANOTHER D'OHA MOMENT. D'OH...We had walked to the bar (no drinking and driving in Qatar, you drink and drive and get caught by the police, you leave the country involuntarily), but we took a cab back to our villa compound had Bob put on a pair of Tom's sneakers and back we went to the bar in the cab...again. When we walk into the bar, I instantly notice that it's a sausage fest, a helmet party, a room full of swinging dicks...a bar FULL of straight Western and non-Western (mostly non-Western) heterosexual men and Asian prostitutes...and maybe 5 older Western women with their friends or husbands...AHHHHH, D'oha.

The first thing I saw when I walked into the bar was an Asian prostitute go up to Western bar patron and proposition him. I looked at Tom and said that the girl must be a pro. Tom didn't believe me. He was like, "NO they are just friends"...RIGHT (sarcasm).

Next Tom, Bob, and I got our two complementary beers apiece with our drink tickets from the 50 Riyal cover charge.

And then the fun REALLY began...a fight breaks out a foot in front of me between two Asian bar patrons. The cool thing about the fight is that they fought themselves out of the bar. In a bar fight in the States, you would normally stand your ground and have the bouncers push you out of the bar. Not in Qatar, the patrons push themselves outside as they fight. The other interesting thing about the fight is that the area were the fight occured was devoid of people for about 10 minutes. It was like it was hallowed ground that had beer spilled on it.

Not soon after the fight the house band started up. Tonight The Greatest House Band in the World (my name for them, they are called Street Noiz, or some other lame name like that) wasn't on stage. Instead The NEW Greatest House Band in the World (my name for them) was on stage rockin' out. The lead singer had Dee Snider of Twister Sister hair(http://www.deesnider.com/ and http://www.twistedsister.com/), but he was singing like an Asian Meatloaf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Loaf and http://www.meatloaf.net/). I probably thought this because he sang a decent version of Meatloaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" They also sang "Eye of the Tiger" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_Of_The_Tiger) by Survivor and other 80s and 90s tunes like "I Will Always Love You", the Whitney Houston version, not the Dolly Parton version. The band had these silver lamé outfits with capes...awesome!

But I digress, back to the story.

Tom wanted to know what the name of the band was so, he leaned over to one of the Asian women next to him and said:"What is the name of the band?" Her reply "300 Riyals." He replied back to her: "No, I said what is the name of the band?" Her reply: "OK, 200 Riyals." In case you haven't figured it out yet, "300 Riyals" and "200 Riyals" are NOT the name of the band. Tom got propositioned by an Asian prostitute. Finally, Tom believed me that YES, there were in fact Asian prostitutes at the Shehrazad Bar at the Ramada. A few minutes later Bob got propostioned by a different prostitute..."200 Riyals" she said to him.

So what did we learn by this:
1. The going rate for an Asian prostitiute in Doha, Qatar is 200 Riyals ($54.79 USD at a 3.65 Riyal to the US dollar exchange rate, if you "bargain").
2. Since no one took the "ladies of the evening" up on their offer, we don't know what you get for 200 Riyals...it can't be good and you might have to go see a doctor to make it go away.
3. And YES, there are Asian prostitutes at the Shehrazad Bar at the Ramada, DUH!!!!!!!!

After the band finished it's final set and we finished our quickly warming beers (the AC sucked, but then again it was 100 degrees outside and wall to wall sweaty people inside) we made a bee-line for the 24/7 Dairy Queen across the parking lot where I had a double cheesburger, french fries, a Coke...and finished that all off with a large Snickers blizzard.

After DQ, we hailed a cab, dropped Bob off at his compound while Tom and I headed back to our villa compound to think about the night's events.

So, if you are in town, I'll see you at the Shehrazad Bar. I will buy the first round...but not the prostitutes.

Ed, John, and Brendan at Nizwa Fort, Oman

Sandwitch in the desert

Menu selection from a restauarant in Oman. Saussage Sandwitch...?

Hot, Hot, Hot

It is 11:30PM and 34 degrees Celcius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) in Doha, Qatar.

It was only 40 degrees Celcius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) today during the day.

And it is only May, it gets hotter as we go into the summer! Yeah, air conditioning!!!!

For Doha, Qatar weather updates see:

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/41170.html

On the sea floor at 10,000 feet above sea level

On the peaks of Jebel Shams (jebel, arabic for mountain).

I am standing on an ancient sea floor (I have the fossilzed remains of bivalves, sea urchins, and sea biscuits, to prove it) in the mountains of Oman.

Oman

Sorry for the delay in presenting Oman.

Oman was interesting...too many things to describe even in a blog.
Above is a picture from Wadi Shab. The water in the Wadi is green due to a combination of underwater vegetation, algae and brackish water.

In order to get to the caves you have to swim through the green water thorugh a small opening in the rocks (underwater).

6 month anniversary

To celebrate my 6 month anniversary in the dullest "city" in the world, I am leaving Qatar and visiting Oman for an extended weekend. I will post pictures of Oman upon my return to Qatar.

Cannon Fodder

Is that a cannon in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

Al Zubara Fort

Fort in the northern area of Al Zubara

From Marhaba Magazine, "At the very tip of the Qatari peninsula, the now rather desolate area of Al Zubara was the site of successive communities and was once a thriving and prosperous settlement - the focus of the region's trade. Between 1775 and 1780, an attack by the Persians on Basra, coupled with an outbreak of the Plague, forced many merchant families to flee the southern Iraqi city, with many settling at the walled city of Al Zubara. At its prime, it is estimated that some 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants lived there, earning their living by fishing, pearl harvesting and merchant trading. The fortess city was destroyed in a siege in September 1878."

Biggest water fountain that I have ever seen

Road trip to the northern part of Qatar...came to the northern most village...biggest water fountain/dispenser that I have ever seen.

Crystal, Crystal !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Samples of Desert Roses found in Qatar.

From Wikipedia.org, "Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rosette formations of the minerals gypsum and barite with sand inclusions."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_rose_(crystal)