I Want Qatar To Be The Most Admired Country in the World

Donna Benton and The Entertainer
American Women's Association Qatar (AWAQ) meeting
Doha, Qatar, January 2015

She's a self-made millionaire.

 

Donna Benton is owner and CEO of The Entertainer, a popular two-for-one coupon book available in an ever expanding list of countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. She landed in Dubai from Australia 14 years ago for a job that didn't work out. With $3,000 in her pocket and not much else, she built a profitable business as a woman in a male dominated culture. Today her start up is a multi-billion dollar enterprise with themed books in UAE, Qatar and many other places including Johannesburg, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Jordan, Lebanon and London. The product is newly available as an app that downloads coupons and updates to a subscriber's smart phone.

 

"…the company currently has more than 100 employees worldwide, with around 70 based in Dubai. 'We have a new employee every fortnight and are expecting more new hires'…"

GulfBusiness.com, 2013

Today, she's a wife, mother, CEO, visionary. She's strong and personable, fascinating, inspiring, approachable.

But Donna Benton is not the reason a room full of international women still hums long past the featured speech. She is not why women continue to sip coffee in a well-appointed social room at Souq Waqif's Al Mirqab Hotel an hour after the end of the meeting. Nope.

 

The buzz is all about Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon. Or, as he's better known in these parts, "Your Friendly Neighborhood Qatari, Mr Q."

 

He's late.

 

waiting on Mr Q
Mary Anne, Sam, Cindi, Wendy
AWAQ meeting
Doha, Qatar, January 2015

 

In Qatar, Mr Q is a celebrity. His one to three minute, fun and funny videos introduce the inquisitive foreigner to curious Qatari habits: Why do Qatari men rub noses? What's the proper way to sit down? Shake hands or don't shake hands? Do Qatari men wear pants under their thobes?

 

"I wanted to be the first Qatari movie star in Hollywood," says Khalifa. "But my dad laughed." He shrugs. "I went into law."

 

Watch Mr Q

QTip: Why are Qataris Smelly? (5 ways to smell good!)

 

Today Khalifa aka Mr Q is dapper in a brown winter thobe and a white ghutra worn in the "cobra" style. He is enthusiastic, friendly, outspoken. And tardy.

 

But, "I'm not a late Qatari," he insists. This is an isolated instance, not a cultural event. He points to the usual delay-making factors: Traffic. Road closures. No parking around the venue.

 

Spoons clink porcelain, the scent of sweet bread warms the air. Heads nod, corners of mouths turn up politely. Donna Benton was on time. We were on time.

 

Still.Whatev. "Late" is the name of the game in Qatar. He is Qatari. He is forgiven.

 

Selfie with Mr Q

AWAQ meeting

Doha, Qatar, January 2015

 

Besides, he's adorable. Charming, outgoing, charismatic. He holds law degrees from the UK, speaks colloquial American English with a shiny bit of I-attended-British-university. He likes dogs. And bonus: he's 30 years old and single.

 

Khalifa's Linkedin resume outlines an impressive list of achievements dating back to his high school graduation: board member, shareholder, founder, CEO, ambassador, business owner, head of this, chair of that. Young Achiever of the Year, Qatar's Top 100 Hot List for 2014. He's the founder of ILove Qatar.net, (http://www.iloveqatar.net/) which just celebrated its 5th anniversary. His numerous skills include "…start-ups, business strategy, entrepreneurship, business development…" and more.

 

He flips his ghutra over a shoulder.

 

"The BBC claims that Qatar is schizophrenic," he says. "That we don't know if we want to be cultural or modern."

 

He straightens his shoulders. "I want Qatar to be the most admired country in the world." Futuristic, progressive, modern, tolerant. As he says in inspirational speeches to school aged Qatari boys, "You can have it all."

 

Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon, aka Mr Q

 

One woman raises her hand. "What about the generation of Lost Souls?" she says. You know, the boys who rev engines at The Pearl late at night, race motorcycles in creeping, bumper to fender Doha traffic? Chase tourist filled dhows on jet skis? Cruise bars? Wreak havoc from one end of the country to the other? Those wasta employed, over privileged Middle Eastern goodfellas?

 

Qatari boys chasing tourist dhow on jet skis

(Yes, this really happened)

Outside Doha, September 2014)

 

Khalifa shakes his head. Have you heard of the Doha Depression? he says. This is about boys with more time than things to do. And a culture that indirectly teaches its young that it's not okay to fail.

 

"I believe there's a generation between mine and my father's that became too rich too quick," he says. In a survey the most common goal of this group was to "achieve their own skyscraper." Today things are turning around as a new, up and coming group seeks bigger dreams. "Guess who's the current largest audience on youtube," he says. "Saudi Arabian females. Most popular topic? Education."

 

Another hand goes up. Why do Qataris keep separate from expats?

 

"For every expat to have one Qatari friend," he says. "Every Qatari must have seven expat friends." He laughs. "I already have more than 100 family members!"

 

A third hand. "Can we get a dog park in Qatar?" And finally, "Who do I talk to about setting you up with my daughter?"

 

Um. "Just ask," he says. "I won't say no."

 

With grace, sincerity and for coming up with a politely generic response to the dog park question, Khalifa aka Mr Q is a stereotype-busting ambassador to a place that has blossomed high rises from sand in the way a 12 year old boy sprouts six inches overnight.

 

But Donna Benton? Who started with nothing, generated a marketable idea in a place where it can be difficult for women to be accepted on the same platform as men? And, without maids, nannies or someone to carry her cell phone, turned her idea into a multi-billion dollar venture? She's amazing.

 

"…The Entertainer now has 12 types of discount voucher books that include many two-for-one deals on waterparks, fine-dining restaurants, hotels, golf courses and adventures in the desert. The company's deals now go further afield than the Middle East, and cover the Maldives in the Indian Ocean to Cyprus in the Mediterranean. Two new books are also slated to be launched next year in Riyadh and Jeddah…"

TheNational.ae, August 2011

 

Fans
photo courtesy Samantha Vidal

 

Watch more QTip videos

Learn more about Donna Benton and The Entertainer here

Talk Like An Egyptian

pic borrowed from the web

 

In the American Midwest tree branches are bare. Brown leaves litter streets and sidewalks, frost fogs windows. Crisp blades of frozen grass stand at attention. Breath puffs into the chilly air like clouds.

 

winter in the American Midwest

 

We start out on the couch, but end up cross-legged on the soft, carpeted floor. Books and notebooks whirlpool around us. "Do you want tea or coffee?" she says.

 

No, thank you, I say.

 

She shrugs. Okay.

 

A 6-foot wide tapestry from Kuwait adds a bright bit of color to the cozy earth tone space. There's a dining room table, piles of books. A cheerful, functional kitchen. A bathroom with a spray nozzle built into the toilet seat. With a dial to select level of water pressure and a button to initiate stream.

 

example of portable bidet

pic borrowed from the web

 

We laugh about it, this bit of Middle Eastern preference tucked into America's heartland. "It's cool and refreshing," she agrees. Her smile is bright. "But then you're wet."

 

She has a Ph.D. in law and taught university before moving from the Middle East to Kansas. Where she takes the kids to school, meets up with friends at Starbucks, cleans house, cooks dinner. She's fun, funny, comfortable and smart and she wears a colorful, friendly hijab. She's my colloquial Egyptian Arabic tutor.

 

harakat! I say. In written Arabic the word means movement and refers to those little dots and dashes that appear above and below the looping Arabic letters. In colloquial Qatari dialect it's how a teen might say cool! or awesome!

 

She laughs. "In Egyptian dialect you could say gamda aowee." Which translates to rigid a lot.

 

da soura gamda aowee

not rigid in Cairo, 1974

 

All Arabs read and write using the same letters. Written Arabic has grammar rules, tenses, form, structure and is called fusha (fooS-Ha). It is the language of the Koran, and considered the foundation from which all Arabic dialect is derived.

 

Perhaps you, too, can read and write Arabic. Perhaps there is opportunity to use what you've learned on the street and in alleyways. Where educated Arabs recognize the high form of their language, chuckle at your stilted speech and respond slowly and carefully (because you're obviously not a native speaker). Perhaps communication happens.

 

But not cultural appreciation, personal comprehension, empathy.

 

shiny flask

 

Empathy is what happens in Qatar's silver and mirror lined window-less majlis spaces far from the English speaking streets. Where hidden women insist, just as it was in Egypt 30 years ago, a guest must eat three sugary dates as is stated in the Koran. To be a good guest here one must sip both tea and coffee, nibble cheesy bread and cake. Language flows fast, like the women who sit close, hover and fuss. It seems there are rules for everything from greeting one another to seating assignments, touching and laughing.

 

As in fusha, guttural 'ein is pronounced deep in the throat and "khaaf" spits like a hissing cat. But "jeem," a letter which says its name in fusha, is pronounced "ya" and the letter "qaaf" sounds like "g" as in "gate." Here "ee" means "yes" and "abee" means "I want."

 

Qatar's dialect, like its society, attempts to remain close to Koranic fusha. Both are ordered, structured. And changing.

 

Egyptian children's stage show

performed at Doha's souk waqif, 2012

 

Egyptian dialect, on the other hand, is loose, easy, indulgent, fun. Words flow, structure transforms to suit the moment, sound bits mix, muddle and sing. Egyptian dialect is the language of colloquial Arabic tv, music, books. Cartoons, comic books, children's programming is often produced using Egyptian dialect too. In Egypt, unlike Qatar, people speak their own language in the shops, markets, businesses and on the street.

 

Here, "ah" or a close lipped "mmm" translates to "yes." It's perfectly polite to add "ya" to the front of a person's name in greeting and everyone is "habibi/habibti" (my sweet one). In Egyptian dialect, "jeem" is expressed as "g" in "gate" while "qaaf" is eliminated altogether. There are words like "bass," "kidda," and "mish" which pepper speech like "yeah" and "uh huh" in English and "aiza" means "I want."

 

Sure, there are rules and structure, but rules are meant to be broken, right? The language, like the people, is vibrant, relaxed, comfortable, forgiving.

 

And changing. Like Egyptian society, which has experienced much turmoil in recent years - I am told there is a movement in Egypt to return the language of the street…to fusha.

 

returning soon to Cairo?

Treasure in the Sand (Not Oil)

desert rose

 

Qatar is known as the wealthiest country in the world, per capita. Here you'll find world class sporting events, resorts (under construction), stadiums (in the works), spas and restaurants (coming soon). Qatar is also surreal traffic, tower cranes, nepotism (wasta), prejudice, bias and pollution. Countrymen huddle behind 10 foot walls, no one, it seems, speaks the local language and there's no such thing as a Qatari restaurant.

 

seen in the desert

 

There are, however, remaining pockets of untouched earth. Where no one has marred the landscape with weird steel plates and called it "art," filled the sea with concrete or crumbled porous stone with trucks.

 

behind the wheel in Doha

 

To find this disappearing space you must venture far from the city's desalinated river of life. Past the tower cranes and thirsty trees, water and sand processing plants. Beyond Lagoona's zig zag buildings and West Bay's whacky high rises. Far from roads lined bumper to bumper with SUVs, rumbling concrete mixers, rebar loaded semis and the neon night where stars twinkle from party dhows that drift under strobing towers.

 

Here you'll find the under populated, plaster coated old neighborhoods of early Qatar.

 

(pic taken thru a dirty window)

 

Slide between the houses, majlis tents and mosques and aim for the desert. Continue to where the soft sand is a crisscrossed network of animal, foot and tire tracks. Where hills of porous rock slip into plains of earth and sky.

 

seen in the desert

 

When the only sign of civilization is the persistent trail of power lines and race camel farmers, search the sand for splotches of white sabkha salt flats and scattered amber disks.

 

Mary Anne, Ronita, Samantha, Cindi

desert rose hunting

 

This is the land of Qatar's desert roses.

 

 

"Desert Roses are found in areas of sabkha either lying on the surface or between the layers of wet and dry sand. These roses…are intricate, petal-like clusters of crystals, mostly composed of gypsum…"

Qatar Kaleidoscope, by Frances Gillespie

 

Desert Roses are not exclusive to Qatar; they're found in other hot, dry, sandy places, too, like Mexico, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and Arizona. They are mineral formations, composed of gypsum (selenite) and barite, shaped when fine sand is trapped between mineral fibers and then crystallizes. Barite is the heavier mineral, while gypsum is more fragile and fibrous. A rose occurs when multiple discs adjoin at angles.

 

 

Gypsum roses are more commonly found in the Middle East, Southwest USA and Arizona. Barite roses are found in Oklahoma, England, Italy (and many other places). Because the mineral is softer, gypsum roses are more fragile appearing than barite roses.

 

Some believe the sharp but delicate objects have supernatural qualities that can neutralize bad energy, purify, heal.

 

"…Some of the inhabitants of the Sahara desert believe that what they call the 'Sand Rose' has an internal energy that is used for protection, prosperity and purification…"

Mind Body Spirit online

 

In Qatar, the best formations are found in the desert's salt flats, deep in the heavy sand, where the earth is moist and cool. Dig carefully with gloved fingers and brushes to avoid nicking the sharp, but delicate leaves. The right locations yield an abundant supply of crystals.

 

Qatar National Museum (under construction)

"The (Qatar National Museum's)…striking design was inspired by the desert rose, an other-worldly mineral formation of crystallized sand found just beneath the desert's surface. The pavilion's sand-colored floors, walls and roofs resemble the sharp bladelike petals of the desert rose…"

wrmea.org

 

In Qatar nothing is as it was. There are no more pearl divers. Salty sea water is desalinated, sand is processed, even the sun is filtered to assure arctic interiors as outside temperatures soar to somewhere between hell and death.

 

West Bay

 

Skyscrapers lord over a once vast expanse of camel spotted sand. Grocery stores feature potatoes from Australia, carrots from Philippines, apples from France and cheese from Lebanon. Qataris are a minority here - in fact, many expats have never met a local. Laborers, administrators, engineers, geologists, architects and the cable guy are flown in to mold and shape the environment to accommodate the Qatari vision.

 

It seems that nothing and no one is from Qatar.

 

 

Except (oil and) one rare and beautiful thing: the Qatari earth still shapes its own desert roses.

 

Ronita's desert treasure

An Ordinary Life

Museum of Islamic Art

from the park

 

Her husband works in oil, construction, water, marketing. He's an executive, engineer, architect, accountant, geologist, pilot.

 

She's lived in Doha 5 years. Before that, home was Bahrain, then Kuwait. Her children attended American schools abroad, university stateside. Grew up, married, reproduced.

 

feeding the birds

on the Corniche

 

She lives in a three story villa tucked inside a walled compound with other families from her husband's company. There's a pool, tennis courts, gym, spa, convenience store. A live in maid mops floors, scrubs bathrooms, walks the dog. A driver escorts her to American Women's Association meetings, Tuesday Ladies Group, monthly mani pedi, weekly kaffee klatch.

 

Qatar National Theatre

from the inside

 

Her highlighted hair is neatly coiffed. She wears a loose fitting cotton shirt in the Middle Eastern style, Donna Karan jeans, high fashion pumps. Her bag is Gucci, bought cheap at that little place, I'll take you. She's a skilled bargainer, as demonstrated by the gold that shimmers at her neck and wrist, and glistening pearl earrings.

 

shopping Doha

International Trade Festival

 

She travels home three or four times a year, enjoys golf and shopping weekends in Dubai and Istanbul, beach holidays in France and Greece.

 

Bob and Chris

atop the singing dunes, 2014

 

Some people camp the dunes, shop the souk, eat a late meal at Kempinski, she says. "But we mostly stay home at night. We eat dinner, watch tv, go to bed. Get up, do it again." A young man in a white waist length vest slips between us, spirits away the used dishes. The smell of just baked bread courts the scent of honeyed lamb. An air conditioner hums.

 

ladies' tea

 

She slides a cube of sugar into milky tea and circles the confection with a shiny spoon. It clinks against the saucer. She wraps pink fingernails around glittering porcelain, breathes in the bitter and the sweet.

 

There are perks to the adventure, she admits. But for the most part, "we live an ordinary life." She smiles. "In an extraordinary place."

 

Is Qatar Safe?

 

The second most common question we're asked (after Qatar? Where's that?):

 

Is it safe?

 

After all, battle lights from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan sparkle over Qatar like a halo. The Taliban Five are housed here, those guys the US President controversially freed in exchange for a single American Marine. The five live in our resort "neighborhood," purportedly housed in a guarded, castle-like compound at The Pearl.

 

no matter your size, there's a thobe for you

display at The Pearl

 

The single land route out of Qatar is through Saudi Arabia. Permission to make the trip requires months of paperwork and is usually only given to drive straight through. A woman must be accompanied by her mahram and covered head to toe, even in the car.

 

There is the questionable treatment of migrant workers, Matthew and Grace Hwang, the unending parade of waste water trucks that disappear into the desert and return stocked with "potable liquid."

 

Plus, they wear thobes and abayas in Qatar, live behind forbidding ten foot walls, speak Arabic. And they're Muslim!

 

 

While it's true that there are cultural and ideological differences that sometimes cause conflict, if you read my blog, you already know that Islam is a peaceful religion. And Qataris are, in a quiet, non attention seeking way - Peacemakers.

 

the Peace and Love Guy dances on his truck

in front of the Amiri Diwan

 

In Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Syria and with the Taliban (who, it's said, have offices in Doha) Qatari leadership quietly broker discussions to further peaceful resolutions to end the cycles of violence. In taking the Taliban Five off the road, after the US President negotiated their release, Qatar assures the men's physical non-involvement in conflict. As the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup (in 2022, in case you've been living under a rock), they're breaking new ground in communication and understanding.

 

Qatar has opened its doors to an expat majority who don't dress, look, eat, play, worship - and sometimes don't even respect - their culture, religion and way of life. Yet, before the roads, water lines and electrical networks had traversed the peninsula, there was McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Chili's and TGI Friday's. A new modern mall goes in, it seems, every week.

 

There are Christian churches in Doha. And, even though it's haraam in Islam there is a liquor store that sells pork.

 

 

Sure, we feel welcome. But do we feel safe? We respect the culture, follow the rules, keep a low profile. And, yes, we feel safe.

 

giant pitcher on the Corniche

hospitality symbol

 

More safe than I feel right now, in fact, sleeping in my bed in America under a US government owned, 40 foot tall, 12 foot diameter dead tree. Paperwork, photos and bids have long been submitted requesting removal of the tree. Meanwhile, its 20 foot partner recently fell, taking out a neighbor's back fence.

 

 

Please Mister President, cut down your tree so that I might return to the Middle East where I will feel safe.

Palestine

from Doha News

 

smoke from burning tires

clouds the summer sky

the street a river

of bottles old food

used toilet paper

raw sewage and blood

 

three families sleep

in one room share one

bath one cold kitchen

one bare yard the smell

of perspiration

salted with dread

 

Zionist settlers

build a wall depress

a population

with economic

servitude hatred

humiliation

desperation death

 

soldiers with machine

guns tanks grenades gas

comb ghetto alleys

for children with stones

little boys with sticks

moms with wooden spoons

 

families fight back

with homemade weapons

rebels dig tunnels

martyr themselves as

modern explosives

made in USA

rain on tenements

 

settler zealots

"God's Chosen People"

bulldoze ghetto streets

withhold water and

electricity

murder fathers jail

teens assault children

 

as world media

reports terrorists

attacked innocent

settlers who were

fishing for salmon

in West Bank streams and

Gaza lakes today

 

smoke from burning tires

clouds the summer sky

the street a river

of bottles old food

used toilet paper

raw sewage and blood

 

Hanthala

a symbol of the Palestinian resistance

sticker affixed to a Doha car window

Minding My P's and Q's

beautiful, energetic, my mama

 

She's dynamite in white: pants, shirt, shoes, socks. Even her mop of curly hair is iced in frosty hues.

 

Multi lingual army brat, homecoming queen, degreed. She's a busy professional who operates her own business, jogs, lifts weights, writes. A stranger once stopped her on the street to rave over her multi colored aura but you don't have to read it to see it: energy shoots from her eyes, radiates off her skin, envelopes friends and others. She's a light in the darkness, a campfire on a cold night, a rocket soaring through the sky.

 

"We travelled from California to Missouri and all along the way people offered me their seat," she laments. "As if I were old."

 

I suggest the deference wasn't due to incorrectly assessed infirmity but because she's a woman, professional, of a certain age and worthy of respect. She rolls her eyes.

 

"Did you take the seat?" I ask.

 

She nods, smiles. " Yes, of course."

 

respect your elders, youngun

(Katie and her grandpapa)

 

My mama taught me this: say please and thank you, excuse me, yes, ma'am, no, sir. Don't play your music too loud, do offer your seat, flush. These universal niceties are one's P's and Q's and apply no matter where you are in the world…plus a few more:

 

In Qatar

 

Adherence to the cultural expectation of modesty is considered good manners and respectful too. Plus, when supping from a communal dish one should use the three fingers on the right hand, eat from the area nearest you, don't blow on your food. Hold the door and stand so that others enter first, to your right. An older-than-you female relative or stranger is called "aunt" or her kunya is used to address her. Adult women refer to young girls as "Mahmah" to bestow a kind of pre-respect. Deference is shown to a man with the title "uncle."

 

But, wait, there's more:

 

"…I go to the ground floor of our house and my children rush to kiss my head…I start by greeting 'Al-Salam Alaikum wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh', and try to find my mother. I kiss her on the head, then do the same for my father. My siblings and nieces/nephews would be queuing to kiss my head…"

Osama Al Assiry describes a typical Family Friday in Qatar

 

That's right, older family members - and senior strangers within the culture - receive kisses to the top of heads from younger others. It's respectful, deferential and expected.

 

Doha billboard

be respectful: don't spit!

 

In Philippines

 

Unofficially Filipinos comprise the second largest expat population in Qatar (after Indians). They are nannies and maids, clerks, administrative assistants, receptionists, drivers, mechanics, nurses, doctors and more.

 

"If Filipinos left Qatar, everything would come to a screeching halt."

- commonly heard (in country)

 

Some young Filipina mothers don't see their children for years as adults often leave home to provide for the family. Most come to Qatar alone, leaving children behind with grandma. It's no surprise that Filipino families are very close, with a strong, culturally imbued respect for elders.

 

"…conservative families expect children to practice the kissing of hands or placing their parents or elder family members' hand to their foreheads with the words 'mano po'…"

- philippinecountry.com

 

Remember to say please and thank you and press the back of auntie's hand to your forehead.

 

In America

 

 

Lush groves, rattling trucks and hog sized motorcycles with riders in camo doo-rags. Someone's mama drives a rusted Buick which passes an Amish buggy on a highway flanked by fields of corn, clover and Queen Anne's lace. Where just-folks wave to strangers, the American flag unfurls over the quik mart and the downtown McDonalds does a brisk noon business.

 

The highway between Springfield and Kansas City: the heart of America's heartland.

 

I pull into an empty parking space, step across the busy drive-through lane. In front of me swagger two teenage boys in CAT caps, baggy jeans, black tee shirts and scuffed, untied tennis shoes.

 

One boy pauses at the door. He holds it and stands so I might enter first, to his right. "After you, ma'am."

 

My heart swells with pride for his mama.

 

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me…"

-Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

Pork, Beer and Independence: 5 Joys, 5 Hardships

 

The US may be out of the World Cup in Brazil but it's still red, white and blue in the United States. It's Independence Day - when twenty somethings lounge on party pontoons at the lake as fireworks explode in the sky. Children run in circles in the middle of the street with sparkle sticks clenched in fat little fingers. Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles tip a cup from lawn chairs on driveways before garages turned into neighborhood party rooms. Families hold hands and lower heads in prayerful thanksgiving over tables loaded with potato salad, hot dogs, chips, dip, 5 bean casserole and coolers full of red punch and Bud Light.

 

Everyone, everywhere, it seems, with shoulders and knees bared, eating pork, drinking wine, celebrating God and freedom in his or her own way.

 

Life in America is more than MTV, People of Walmart and the ability to buy pork and alcohol in any local grocery store wearing a tank top and Nike shorts. Here are five more things a Middle Eastern expat might find fulfilling about a stint stateside:

 

 

1. Benadryl, ice, (fresh) Cheezits and Twizzlers (sorry, Bob) available for purchase at any local grocery store or convenience mart.

 

2. The ability to wash and dry multiple loads of laundry in less time than it takes to walk barefoot across the Sahara backwards carrying loads of soggy misshapen shirts and pants that will never dry no matter how long the machine cycles or the wet air blows.

 

small person, warm rain, great joy

 

3. A dance in the rain - in the middle of the street, at the park, downtown, or pretty much anywhere you want.

 

4. To hug, kiss, hold hands with same or opposite sex friends and loved ones while standing on a stage at a busy mall at noon (or wherever).

 

nope nope nope

 

5. Surf the internet without once getting "this site is blocked by your country" or "this program isn't licensed for viewing in your location."

 

 

Life in America isn't all bare skin, pulled pork, internet excess and champagne. Here are five hardships stateside Middle Eastern expats endure:

 

1. The necessity to open your own doors.

 

2. Entrance fees at museums, exhibits, fairs, the zoo.

 

3. Scrubbing out the bathroom p-trap using a kitchen knife and (ugh) fingers.

 

4. Forget full service gas stations with prices less than $1.00; you gotta pay in advance (to prove you can afford it?) and pump your own gas.

 

5. You must get out of your car, enter the food court or other eatery, collect your own tray and - seriously! - bus your own table.

 

smiling at his daddy, snuggled up to me

 

Babies and grandbabies, the zoo, happy hour, Walmart, chugging water in public at the height of Ramadan. It seems that life in America is perfect. But the Middle East has something the US doesn't: this hard working guy with his can-do attitude, cute dimples and gorgeous shiny hair.

 

Bob, continuing the adventure: year three