Doha

I passed through Doha, Qatar (said: KA-tar) on my way to South Africa.  I had the opportunity to take a long layover, have never been in the Middle East, and have a South African friend in residence in Doha.  That sounds like a yes, yes, yes to me.    

The pilot welcomed us to a balmy 39C Qatar…which was well past my mental Fahrenheit conversion abilities.  Luckily the airplane monitor did it for me.  I remember laughing because it would be 92F in Urbana after I left.  Now you can laugh at me because 39C is 105F.  Ha ha ha.  After landing, I tracked down my friend and we took in some of the sights of Doha.  Qatar, according to information from the airplane, is the wealthiest country in the world when you divide the GDP by the population.  So I can say that Doha was fancy.  As fancy as a dusty desert oasis can be…which turns out to be pretty fancy.  The airplanes I took to and from Doha were some of the swankest I have ever been on.  (As far as I can tell, Qatar Airways RULES!)  The skyline of Doha was definitely brag-worthy, luxury cars dotted every major roadway, and the homes resembled small palaces.  Oil, baby!  There is a thriving ex-pat community there, of which my friend is a part.  It seems like there are two tiers of foreigners there.  There are those that do the labor jobs (taxi driver, cleaner, etc) and those that do other white collar jobs (like veterinarian).  I bet that all makes for an interesting mix.   

We visited the Souk (Arabic for “market”) which is a large open air market boasting just about anything you could desire.  We had some amazing buffet food and then, since we were short on time, we just walked around to all the animal sights.  The sad live animal market was straight out of a public health outbreak investigation prompt.  Lots of cages packed with all kinds of animals in poor thrift.  Kitten herpes eyeballs and overheated rabbits for days.  I was warned to cover my face unless psittacosis was kind of my thing.  My friend said that for many people these were throwaway pets and due to their poor health they don’t usually live long anyways.  My friend warned me that the market made many people sad and we did not have to go if I did not want to see it.  I believe it’s better to know all ways animals are kept in the world, not just the heartwarming ones.  We must know what we are working with.  We also saw a falcon market which was right next to an all-falcon veterinary clinic.  That was cool.  Falconry is a pretty big thing in Qatar, but it sounds like it’s a hobby for the wealthy only.  There was also a nice stable of Arabians housed in the market that are used for official parades and what not.  After I got some postcards (you know me) and poked my nose into some spice shops, we went to the waterfront to look at the beautiful skyline.  Doha was really beautiful at night. The harshness of the desert softens at night with all the gorgeous architecture illuminated.  Ramadan had just begun, so when we first went out there were not many people around.  Presumably folks were inside getting their first bite since dawn.  As we started to leave the market we could see that the place was getting more and more packed.  We headed back home after a bit so I could take a quick shower and quick nap before getting up to head to South Africa.      

I’m glad I got a snapshot of Doha.  Learned a lot, but still have plenty of questions.  It was GREAT to see my friend again and reminisce about vet student life, South Africa, being a foreigner, and everything in between.  He was always so good to me in class (he always taught me new phrases in Afrikaans) and his hospitality could not be beat. I was so glad to see him thriving in his new home.  

Win, win, win in Doha.  But, peeps, South Africa is calling.