Smells of Qatar

Leaky sewer, step wide:

 

smells bad

very, very bad

 

Where many people are packed into a small space, infrastructure is a work in progress and smoldering air sizzles, there will be smells. And if you're sensitive to scent like I am, you know that odor has a taste. Sucked through the nose and pulled toward a hungry, absorptive tongue like it is.

 

"...Qatar's population hits 2.2million..."

Qatar Living

 

For example, baked trash smells sweeter than cooked sewage. One is moldy apple cores, bananas and meat - a noisome dog food pie. The other is sweat, excrement and vomit served up in a savory latrine casserole that's simmered for days under a hot desert sun.

 

There's not always a visual clue identifying an odor's source. No piles of trash, sewage dumps, diaper pails, waste mounds. Because when it comes to dusting, cleaning, scooping, shoveling, taking-icky-stuff-away, in Qatar there's someone to do that. Here, malodorous flavors lurk, skulk and creep. One might be jogging along, enjoying the sunshine and colorful, just planted petunias when the heady bouquet of redolence drifts into range. Or descends in an invisible cloud like fetid smog.

 

When the rogue's source is apparent, it's generally a waste receptacle (empty or full), men's bathroom, men's prayer preparation space, an unmarked, clean appearing structure tucked into a corner. Or a truck marked "sewage" its hose an elephant's trunk pressed into the sidewalk. Where non potable liquid is drained from an underground cavern and hauled off to wherever smells live in the desert.

 

"...Qatar produces around 7,000 tons of waste each day..."

Dohanews.co

 

Less than 100 years ago, Qatar was an expanse of desert dotted with low prickly shrubs and limestone. Camels roamed the southern dunes and northern mesas. Bedouins camped in tents amid a sandy landscape marked by mangroves and rock. The hot air was ripe with the scent of oven roasted sand, wet camel, moist dung, salty sea, perspiration, perfume-sweet incensey bukhoor.

 

Today Qatar is a country under construction, its infrastructure persistently stretched to accommodate an ever increasing workforce population. As on any country-sized job site there are country-sized job site smells: engine fumes, exhaust, chlorine, smoke, sweat, coffee, cigarettes, portapotty.

 

Qatar was "...recently recognized by the World Health Organization as 2014's second most polluted country in the world (after Pakistan)..."

Al Arabiya

 

Oh sure, it's not all bad. There are flavorful restaurant aromas: oil, beef, chicken, shwarma, fresh bread. And (if you breathe toward the Gulf while standing in the desert or along the coast) delectable summer scents: sunshine, grass, flowers, fertilizer, fish, salt, sea.

 

But in Qatar today? Nothing beats the odiferous taste of sewer in the morning.

 

lovely day in April 2014

The Pearl, Doha, Qatar

(all senses not displayed)

Signs & Sentinels

 

Billboard signs tower over the ever present stream of traffic, are planted at intervals along highway medians and glued to bus stop shelters. It's the silhouette of a little boy peeking over what might be a table, keyboard, computer, window frame. "We all see you. You are not alone."

 

Isn't that nice? I thought. Like the famous line from the movie Avatar, Qatar sees me, my heart and soul and person-ness. No need to feel lost or alone so far from home, craving news of adult children, missing two beautiful, perfection-itself grandbabies who are busy growing up without me. Ahhhhhh. How thoughtful of the locals to touch base from behind those 10 foot walls; close the cultural divide to reassure and enlighten me. The veil is just a thin piece of fabric, after all.

 

Here's what others are saying about the ad, according to DohaNews.com:

 

…George Orwell 1984… 30 years later?

…I'm predicting it has something to do with kids observing us

…I think it's a child abuse campaign

…sounds/looks very sinister!

…felt like Big Brother state

…Scare the Children Into Submission campaign

 

Turns out we're all wrong: the ad is part of a three year initiative sponsored by Qatargas called "Qatar Belongs to Everyone" - the point of which is to reduce litter.

 

Yes, really.

 

In other words:

 

We all see you - leaving your campout waste at the Singing Dunes. You are not alone - on the planet or in this town, so stop spitting in the street, close that sewer valve and wash your car in the designated area.

 

Here are a few other curious signs seen around town:

 

Um, what?

photo credit: Bob Kennaley

 

No butter served here, maybe?

 

(snicker)

photo credit: Matt Mikus

read Matt's fantastic travel blog at postcardsandplaylists.com

 

In Doha, a "saloon" is a barber shop.

Perhaps the result of phonetic Arabic spelling for an English word, translated back into English: in Arabic, "salon" is spelled with a letter that makes the "oo" sound.

 

Other interesting displays:

 

Meet Consumer Rights Guy, economic superhero, Marshad, whose job is to save sanguine spenders from their own bad habits. He's seen dangling from ceilings, waiting at cash registers, posted to mall walls, in grocery stores and retail establishments.

(I think he's pretty awesome.)

 

 

Expats quickly learn the basics of prayer time "whens."

Bummer to spend all that time in traffic to get to (grocery store, meeting, lunch) only to be met by one of these…or realize there aren't any cashiers around at the time you're ready to check out.

 

Prayer and wudu' spaces are everywhere:

grocery stores, businesses, construction job sites.

This photo was taken on a college campus.

(I think this is pretty awesome too.)

 

We arrived in Doha too late to see the wild camels.

Still, I like this optimistic sign found near the Singing Dunes.

 

And finally, lest one forget:
 

Not the same as baking cookies with Krissy or reading a train book snuggled up to Killian.

But knowing the sentinels are afoot makes me feel warm and cozy in…a different way.

48 hours in Doha - pictures

Chicago to Doha, non-stop:  North America, Europe, Africa, Asia.  An ocean, a couple of seas, 13 hour journey, plus an 8 hour time difference.

 

It's my 7th trip across the world - and the good folks at Qatar Airways surprise me with a business class upgrade:  porcelain mugs, plates, bowls, tiny salt and pepper shakers, complementary full sized toothbrush.  Would you like wine, Ma'am?  Coffee?  Soda?  Nuts in a glass bowl?  Spacious seat, movie screen at the end of a pull out bed, cozy pajamas and a quilted blanket.

 

My knees are happy.  But inside my head:

 

this is what jet lag feels like

 

Off the plane and it's back to work:  training, meetings, case study notes.

 

And coffee, lots of coffee.

 

 

There is this:

 

Start to finish, one small load takes 6 hours

and this:

 

Dave Ramsey disciples hammering out the budget

 

What's the exchange rate again?

 

 

Finally, a long, long sleep:

 

 

And the world looks like this again:

 

quiet Friday morning boardwalk at The Pearl

 

shops closed for afternoon Siesta, 1-4pm, everyday

 

Palm trees in the city, loaded with dates

 

Time for dinner out:

 

we like the bottomless chips and salsa

 

A bookstore run:

 

more Office Max/Archivers than Barnes & Noble

 

commercial children's books, in Arabic

 

school supplies and books in English

Job site visit:

 

Big hole, filling up

 

Bob and Cindi, happy to be together again:

 

 

Late blog, few words. I will do better.  But first...

 

ahhhhhhh…

Mshiereb: Our Doha "What/Why"

A slice of Mshiereb at Night - someone is working in the Big Hole 24/7

 

Here's what I know about Bob's employment in Doha:

 

The project is big.  In the billion dollar plus range. In a "wow, that's a Big Hole surrounded by chain link you got there" and a "cheez, them's a lot of cranes" kind of way.

 

The project is important.  A special viewing balcony overlooks the Big Hole to accommodate Sheikha Moza's visits to the job site.

 

The project is complicated.  Phase One A involves construction of four buildings, including a National Archive, Eid prayer ground and the Diwan Annex.  Phase One B consists of 27 diverse structures: hotels, apartments, offices, retail and mixed-used buildings, a mosque and more.  Phase One C consists of a school, townhomes and office buildings. The project employs thousands of people from all over the world.

 

There are more phases.  At this moment, Bob's company is not involved in them.

 

The color of a worker's hard hat identifies his/her function onsite:

 

white - manager/supervisor

red - safety guys

yellow - regular workers

blue - skilled workers

green - security personnel

 

(The function relative to the color of each hat may differ depending upon the project and the companies involved.)

 

Bob wears a white hat.

 

Each morning, six days/week, Bob rises at 5:30am.  He showers, dons business casual, swigs a cuppa Folgers Medium Classic and is out the door by 6:15am.  At the job site, he sits at a desk inside a trailer overlooking the Big Hole.

 

Job Site Trailer - front door

 

Construction packets create mountains, hills and valleys across his desk.  He reviews packet drawings, writes emails, makes phone calls, participates in meetings.  

 

Bob and Randy confer

 

Sometimes Bob likes what he sees in the drawings.  At these moments there is great joy inside the Big Hole.

 

Sometimes Bob doesn't like what he sees in the drawings.  There is gnashing of teeth inside the Big Hole.

 

Sometimes the issue concerns areas prematurely constructed.  Wailing and beating of chests pours out of the Big Hole.  (Just before the sounds of ripping, tearing and rebuilding begins…)

 

I pick Bob up each day between 5-6pm.  Sometimes he's ready to go.  Sometimes he's meeting with a contractor and I get some extra study time in.  Sometimes he's not there and I get to wait longer.

 

Time is a variable thing in Doha.

 

Waiting on Bob in Doha

 

Not long ago there was a chicken coop/garden overlooking the Big Hole.  One day, with no fanfare, a group of yellow hats tore it down.  I never learned the official reason for the coop's presence except that "Sheikha Moza want(ed) it there."

 

As this first part of the project whittles to a conclusion, Bob spends more time inside the Big Hole.  He climbs to the roof tops of buildings, looks over protected ledges and safely navigates sky-high scaffolding.  He wears steel-toed boots, hard hat, safety harness, safety glasses, jeans, tee shirt and a bright yellow vest for job site visits.

 

Bob, white hat, yellow vest, steel-toed boots

 

Want to know more?  Here's an official project video, published by Mshiereb on July 2, 2012:

 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmITqSVqx1o)

 

Question: "Is the Call to Prayer like a Siren?"

asked Cute Ken With Dimples, friend of the original Darling Dimples:

 

Answer:

Yes.  Sort of.  In that Adhan (Call to Prayer) is broadcast through speakers set high above the city to assure everyone hears and has opportunity to react in an appropriate manner.

 

And No.  In that a siren is discordant and designed to annoy, while Adhan is a warm, melodious, inviting sound.  Listen for yourself:

 

Adhan for Maghrib (evening prayers) near Bob's job site (ie, that skyline full of cranes)

 

This is what you're hearing:

 

Allahu Akhbar (4 times)                                                   Allah is Most Great

Ash-had an la ilaha ill-Allah (2 times)                             I bear witness that there is none
                                                                                              worthy of being worshipped except Allah

Ash hadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasoolullah (2 times)      I bear witness that Muhammad is the
                                                                                             Apostle of Allah

Hayya 'alas-Salah (2 times)                                              Come to prayer

Hayya 'alal-falah (2 times)                                                Come to success

Allahu Akhbar (2 times)                                                    Allah is Most Great

La ilaha illallah                                                                  There is no deity except Allah

 

With one exception, this is the very Adhan recited throughout the world 5 times every day: before dawn (Fajr), at noon (Dhuhr), afternoon (Asr), sunset (Maghrib) and nightfall (Isha).  Because prayer times are determined by the sun and not by the clock, the moment of prayer changes from day to day, location to location.

 

The exception:

 

This phrase is added after "Hayya 'alal-falah" (Come to success) in the first Adhan (which can occur as early as 3am):

 

As-salatu khairum minannaum (2 times)                             Prayer is better than sleep

 

Once upon a time, the muezzin climbed into the top of the minaret to complete the Adhan.  Today, he stands at a microphone inside the mosque to perform this sacred duty. His voice is broadcast to the community via speakers set high in the minaret.

 

Mshiereb Minaret at night

 

Minaret at the Pearl's mosque - hmmm

 

Gold mosque and minaret at Katara

 

There's a second call that occurs a short time after the first: the Iqamah.  Directed toward faithful inside the mosque, the Iqamah is recited quickly and with less intonation, and includes this line after "Hayya 'alal-falah" (Come to success):

 

Qad Qama Tis-salah                                                              Stand for Prayer

 

The Adhan isn't limited to the muezzin or the minaret.  I've heard it broadcast inside the mall, through my tv, coming out of a group standing on a boat, from a man alone under a tree.

 

"…the Prophet said,…whenever you want to pronounce (Adhan) for the prayer, raise your voice in doing so, for whoever hears the (Adhan), whether a human being, a jinn or any other creature, will be witness for you on the Day of Resurrection…"

http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=85443

 

Prayerful, warm, inviting, sacred. Musical - but not music.  I like it.

Ramadan Kareem!

table display in the Carrefour (grocery store)

Beginning at sunset on July 19 and for the next 30 days, Muslims around the world abstain from all things sensual from first light until dark.  Yes that means no nookie.  But more importantly, it means NO FOOD OR WATER.  The most conservative faithful will not even swallow their own spit.

In Qatar temperatures often exceed 115F. And now it's humid too!  Water leaks down the sides of buildings.  Glasses fog.  Computers and phones drip.  Moisture shields the cityscape like a sandstorm.  And during the day, when the sun burns hottest: Muslims. Do. Not. Drink. Water.

If Lent was a track meet (when Catholics cut a meal and abstain from meat on Fridays) - Ramadan would be the fasting Olympics.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the year for Muslims and one of the Five Pillars of Islam.  The first verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad (PBUH) during this time. To Muslims, Ramadan means more than no food, drink or (ahem) relations:

"...The Arabic word for "fasting" (sawm) literally means 'to refrain'... every part of the body must be restrained. The tongue must be restrained from backbiting and gossip. The eyes must restrain themselves from looking at unlawful things. The hand must not touch or take anything that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places. In such a way, every part of the body observes the fast...Ramadan is a time to practice self-restraint; a time to cleanse the body and soul from impurities and re-focus one's self on the worship of God..."  http://islam.about.com/od/ramadan/f/ramadanintro.htm

According to my Arabic class friends, Ramadan's sacrifices are met with great joy.  Families are together, friends visit.  People sleep late, read, pray.  At night time, families gather to eat, drink and rejoice in the day's successful fast.

Non-muslims are not required to fast, but must follow the rules of Ramadan in public…or RISK ARREST:  no eating, drinking, gum chewing, PDA, visible knees or shoulders.  Morning coffee happens in manager's offices, quietly and behind closed doors.  Since restaurants are closed during the day, coworkers host lunch in villas and apartments.  On unhosted days, lunch happens in hotel back rooms - entrances hidden, drapes closed.

It takes some heavy-duty remembering not to sip water in the hot car as we zip about the city.  But we'll find respectful ways to learn:

Cindi reads the Koran and studies Arabic (next class doesn't begin until the end of September!).

Cindi's pretty Koran

Bob (gasp!) works. 

Bob and Krishna head for a site visit in 110 muggy degrees F (Bob keeps a tee shirt in his desk for these moisture rich inspections)

And after dark, when the cannon's boom indicates the end of the day's fast, we'll wander the city - and take in the happiness.

RAMADAN KAREEM!

Al Khor and 7-Up

Al Khor: the heart of Qatar's pearling industry.  Before Japanese cultured pearls - and the discovery of oil and gas, great wealth and shared profits superseded difficult, dangerous, life threatening labor...and flushed the Gulf right out of the market.

A few minutes north of busy downtown Doha, there is water, desert, a tiny Corniche museum (closed), and dhows. Lots of dhows - in the harbor, at intersections and seaside playgrounds (empty). But otherwise not much to enlighten the hopeful writer about pearling: gwais (divers), nahhams (singers), tabbabs (youthful helpers), tawwash (pearl buyers). How did they live? What did they eat? Personal histories?

Nada.

What we did see: charming, architecturally interesting homes

beside ever encroaching modern development

Concrete Easter-type basket planter in front of home under construction.  Huh?

a series of restored watch towers (plus dhow):

public library (closed).

The highlight of our hot (110F) tour was a crumbling, seaside, maybe heritage site (unmarked)

   

And a hummus and ta'ameya meal at a little Turkish restaurant where the upstairs bathroom was separated from the dining area by a screen and the male server spoke only to Bob - even as Cindi attempted to engage the server in Arabic with shokrans, itfaddils and min fadlaks (thank yous and if you pleases).

The only woman we saw - the entire day - was the restaurant's Filipina hostess.

 

 

The rest of the week went like this:

 

 

Bob

the usual one or two site plan packets demanding attention yesterday

Cindi:

in Egypt we called it "gyppy tummy" - in Q it's a mojo-killing, energy-sucking, life-draining, queasy-producing...sideliner

But more about that…when it can be funny. :)