Expat Wife Life: Missing Who's Missing

summer 2014: laughter, love,

a house full of beautiful babies

 

To expats, missing is a living, breathing, moist and fresh word with long, sticky fingers. It links head to heart, toddling the gray matter so the heart is always thinking. Before each trip, whether traveling to or fro, we haul missing out, rub it off and try not to watch as the object of missing's affections changes.

No matter where we are, expats are always missing someone. 

Summer 2014 it's been this guy:

 

Bob at the Singing Dunes

 

It helps to look forward to the next adventure. For example, also missing is the singing dunes, souk, the folks at Fanar, Arabic. West Bank vistas from Islamic Museum Park, a jog around the Corniche, the-latest-unique-thing-on-display at the Alriwaq exhibit hall, shopping; the adventure that is driving in Doha.

 

Missing is the Call to Prayer that circles the city five times a day, a reminder via regularly spaced mosques to pause in the day's busy-ness to recognize, thank and praise God. Each invitation begins at a slightly different moment - the result is a rich mix of spiritually uplifting dissonance that fills one's senses like just baked bread.

 

minaret, Grand Mosque

West Bay in background

 

I like it.

 

I miss monthly get-togethers with the fabulous Burns & McDonnell ladies and babies, dark early morning skies and the bright upside down moon. Beach sun (although I no longer bask), steamy sand, long sleeved slogs around the Pearl's bay in 115F temps followed by a dip in the resort pool. A clean apartment every Thursday, Fridays with my guy, camp outs at the Inland Sea, treks into the desert.

 

In Doha, celebrity events are comparatively inexpensive (and free). World class tennis, soccer, film and art festivals are accessible. Comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens), and Maz Jobrani have headlined Doha in the last 3 years. There's Mr. Q, Arabic class, the fabulous people at Weill Cornell Medical Center, halloumi cheese at Zaatar w Zeit, family dinner at Turkey Central, Nabil and the Sheikh's museum.

 

 

Dubai's beaches, golf courses, and sites like the Burj Khalifa are an inexpensive 45 minute flight away. It's a quick hop to weekend (or longer) adventures in Muscat, London, Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Rome, Amsterdam too.

 

Just as life in Doha isn't all sand, grit and empty-shelves-at-the-Carrefour, a stint stateside isn't all perfection. There are weeds, bugs, dirty laundry, trash to take out, cars and dryers that break down, a crowd of babies in the bathroom, high gas prices, a towering, government owned, dead tree in the yard next door.

 

None of which eases this next - rapidly approaching - round of missing.

 

Kansas City Northern Railroad Co.
riding a kid-sized train with three of my babies

I'll be missing them soon

Three Years, 300 Words

We're in Ireland this week!

atop Trim Castle, Ireland

This vacay day, I offer a summary of the last three blog years with links to 5 essays per year:

2011

Initial blogs outline Bob's experiences setting up housekeeping, adjusting to a 6-day work week, searching for the Catholic Church. There's info about Eid al-Adha, a photo tour of the Pearl, and an explanation about how to obtain a license to drink in Doha.

Katie and Kimber

Katie, Kimber and I make our first trip across the world and Bob earns his temporary driver's license after a three month effort.

2012

After seven trips over land and sea I am an official expat spouse. No more airport lines; Qatar Airways' Silver Status travelers board at will. (Today, ahem, I am a Gold member.)

Learn about Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser's job site chicken coop in The Sheikha and the Chickens. Update: the chicken coop and garden, a nod to the Koranic garden, a green space that includes plants from the Koran - was unceremoniously removed in 2013.

Watch a video (with translation) of the Call to Prayer and see a giraffe giving birth. Sit with me as Qatari college students share a favorite gulf tradition with elementary school aged girls, and participate in the gymnastics event that is the Qatari greeting.

2013

washing windows at Zig Zag Towers

Discover How to Get a Speeding Ticket, live Five Moments in Doha and get to know Qatar's Money. Finally, Dear Expat, About Your Cleavage is an open letter to the sparsely dressed Doha expat.

2014

We hang with our awesome expat family in a finicky climate. I attend a Qatari Wedding and a Qatari Women's Association event with Kimber and Kitty, Bob's mom. Our beautiful son, Chris stops by.

And the adventure continues!

Twelve Days in Doha: Adventure and Hot

silver and gold hangin' out in Doha

 

It's been a particularly warm May week in Doha with unseasonable temps exceeding 115F. Air like this translates to sweat drenched tee shirts, soggy undies, fogged glasses, beaded skin and high ponytails over rash prickled necks - before 9am.

 

West Bay skyline at night from our pool deck - not in the sun in Doha

 

Hot like this means a bright, yellow fireball halfway to the sky by 4am, burning sand, blazing sun, indoor activities and afternoon naps. Still, creative, dedicated gadabouts may find one or two interesting ways to entertain themselves. Like for example:

 

father/daughter shopping time

 

Wander shaded souk alleyways, bargain with shopkeepers and dig into stacks of plastic wrapped Pashminas as the bracelet maker melts colored blocks of wax; tour the gold/fabric/spice souks for jewelry, baskets, pans, dishes, tea and coffee sets, candy, jelabia, abaya, keffiya (deep breath) and more…

 

bargaining with the basket guy

 

Chat with camels beside a forever-under-renovation downtown fort, below a never ending line of sky infesting construction cranes, near a job site office full of interesting people from all over the world, especially Missouri…

 

some of the best buncha people ever
(missing Ben, Aaron, Tom-on vacay and Ed-who'd stepped away)

 

Eat, drink, cook, eat, read, wash dishes, eat, do laundry, eat, eat, eat.

 

"family room" at the shwarma place

 

Visit museums like the one dedicated to Mshiereb's Heart of Doha downtown renovation project (ie, our reason for being here), located on a barge docked along a tree and flower lined Corniche; view videos, pearl diving memorabilia and historical photos and a model of the gargantuan endeavor…

 

one of three fabulous works of art, created by Bob and Cindi

(genetics underwritten by Charlie and Peggy and Dan and Kitty)

 

Tour IM Pei's famous Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) to see cool stuff from the Middle East and beyond…

 

Kings and Pawns: Board Games from India to Spain

now at Doha's Museum of Islamic Art

 

See Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani's popular private collection of historic Qatari memorabilia and eclectic wonderment (click here to read more about the museum), including cars, planes, boats, tapestries, carpets, tents, a real well, swords, knives, photographs, paintings, doors, walls, Catholic vestments, a full sized confessional booth; and where an artist will ink your name in Arabic calligraphy for 10QR (about $2.50USD).

 

Mohammed animates Kimberly's name

 

The pyramid shaped Sheraton hotel is closed for remodeling but there are still skylines, Doha Bay dhows, Palm Tree Island, the Singing Dunes. There's beach day at 8:00am, sun kissed skin, salty seas, crossword puzzles. Katara's amphitheater, private art galleries, cart riding and cupcake eating in a cupcake shaped chair wearing let's-do-tea hats and skirts.

 

I like her

 

Indoor and outdoor pools, mani/pedis, Ferrari and Lamborghini; the Pearl, camel race track laps inside an air conditioned SUV, Our Lady of the Rosary Church outdoor grotto, stray cats, waterfalls, candles, prayer and wudu spaces, selfies.

 

in a bathroom at Sheikh Faisal's place

 

Tea in a Qatari home with sisters, cousins, nieces, new friends and Yemeni neighbors. Zubarah fort, sweaty desert treks, an archaeological site, artifact exhibit, sand and rock vistas, ancient walls, watch towers.

 

watch tower is coated with a light layer of concrete
as protection from sand and wind

 

Fanar, Shaheen's, Starbucks Frappuccino's, shwarma, tabbouleh, hummus, jasmine tea, Arabic coffee, food sharing at Turkey Central, lunch in a window-less backroom, waiting on Bob.

 

architectural demonstration: laying down the law, negotiation

 

Lessons in Islamic prayer and fasting during Ramadan in a Qatari home majlis surrounded by Qatari ladies and women from all over the world. Abayas, sheylas and the Ibn Abdul Wahhab Masjid - Doha's Grand Mosque.

 

inside the Ibn Abdul Wahhab Masjid, Doha's Grand Mosque

 

Because, after all, psshhhh, really, c'mon: what's a bit of blazing sky, sauna air, shimmering horizon and searing, scalding, burning sun when there's adventure to be lived?

"…Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance: I hope you dance…"

- from "I Hope You Dance" written by Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers

popularly performed by Lee Ann Womack

Why I'm Not Posting a Blog Today: New York Edition

photo credit: Lois Kathryn (Kay) Hedrick, Realtor

(http://kayhedrick.kwrealty.com/)

Introducing Lois Kathryn (Katie) Kennaley, Bachelor/Masters of Science, Dietetics:

 

beautiful Lois Kathryn (Katie) Kennaley

prepares to be hooded

 

Katie graduates from D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York this week after which time she'll study for, take and pass her registration exam and begin job hunting in earnest. We're happy to be present for the big event and much too busy visiting Niagara Falls, shopping at Target, jogging in the puddly-muddly street wearing shorts, eating, drinking and generally being merry to post a blog!

 

Katie's proud family (us) travelled from all over the world to beautifully green, heavily treed, dogwood and cherry blossom (or something like it) sweet, rainy, refreshingly cold Buffalo, New York to welcome Katie to her next life.

 

Chris attends a graduation event via photo

 

To read Katie's resume and learn more about her professional experience in Dietetics, health and nutrition, and maybe consider her for a job in your fine establishment, click here: http://katie.kennaley.com. We're so very proud of Katie and her many accomplishments!

 

Man of Steel, Qatar

East-West/West-East by Richard Serra

 

"…he did not simply set an artwork in a landscape but rather took account of a natural but structured space, paying exact attention to the scale of his addition to it…"

-Qatar Museums Authority brochure

 

You wander the desert, the sun heavy on your head. All around you is an endless field of earth and sky marching toward a horizon marked by strange mesa shaped sand and rock formations.

 

There is color in these mini mountains: reds, yellows and chocolate hued rock bits shaped like burned charcoal. The sand is velvet soft, light and easily carried by the wind. It collects in your ears, fills wrinkles, sneaks into your socks. Sweaty, gritty toes rub against one another and blister.

 

You climb a limestone plateau. Shoes disappear into the soft sand. The top of the mesa is flat, speckled with pockets of low lying green. You can see for miles in every direction.

 

Bob atop a limestone plateau

 

At one end, blue variegates from nearly white around the sun to icy blue at the place where sky meets sea. You look inland toward tiny, barely discernable bumps along the horizon that signal the village of Zekrit. Another direction reveals miles of desert brown fading into the dome above you.

 

At the final turn a dark thread rises out of the earth, streams heavenward. You slide down the mesa and aim that direction. The unfettered sun boils your skin, burns your eyes. You raise your arms and unsettled air shimmers in the textured atmosphere.

 

steel plate appears threadlike from the side

Yeah, it's hot. And there are no - none - trees. C'mon, what did you expect? You're doing walkabout in a (nearly) equatorial desert.

 

desert green

 

You slog toward the dark line and it seems to change: at first reed thin, it widens, opens, closes, flattens, at one point appears almost round.

 

But wait - you must be hallucinating. Two shapes, now three - is that a fourth peeking over the horizon?

 

You alter your approach and see that the forms are rectangular steel plates, one end buried in the sloping desert between two limestone plateau ranges. Each plate measures 4 meters by 13.5 cm. Two rise 14.7 meters into the burning, unforgiving sky while the other two soar 16.7 meters high. Due to the uneven topography each plate stands exactly the same height as the others and the surrounding mountains too. Face the end of a pillar and it's a piece of copper colored straw. Stand directly in front and the plate is wide and flat and the others disappear behind it. As you step to one side or the other, the pillars open like folds in a fan.

 

four plates, one car

 

The plates are a sculpture called East-West/West-East by artist and world renowned Man of Steel Richard Serra. The artist also created "7" - a vertical permanent structure set on a pier behind Doha's Museum of Islamic Art. Additional works are currently on exhibit at Katara and Alriwaq at MIA Park in Doha. (To learn more about Richard Serra and his work, click here: http://richardserraqatar.qa/en/)

 

Bob and 4 plates

 

A streak of rust mars the front and back of each evenly spaced pillar. Sun reflects off the steel, absorbs and transmits heat as it delineates distance in the endless field of rock and sand. On approach, just two plates are visible. Even though plates are the same height as the mountains that flank them they seem to roll up and fall back as you move forward.

 

"…it only takes on its full meaning when we walk its length and grasp its relationship to its site…"

-brochure

 

You walk the length of the exhibit, taking in the expanse of burning sand, basking in the dome of blue above and field of brown at your feet. You consider each towering copper hued structure, careful not to stand too close lest you absorb your limit of hot.

 

limestone plateaus

 

You wonder at the enormity of the project and marvel at the curiosity of four steel plates marching across the desert outback like giant rectangular Bedouins.

 

Finally, after a long drive, strenuous climb and sweaty wander, you shield your eyes and search the horizon. There are no "facilities" in wilderness galleries. Just sand, sky, rock, the stray shrub. You know: nature.

And - at this end of the desert, at least - steel.

 

 

East-West/West-East is located in the Brouq Nature Reserve on Qatar's thumb - a desert peninsula outside Zekrit along the country's Eastern coast. Take the Dukhan Road, exit toward Zekrit. Pass the Cuban Hospital, beyond the billowing oil wells and wind surfers…follow the road until it ends at the tiny beachside town. Now turn right and drive into the desert. Keep going until you see threads rising into the sky.

 

GPS Coordinates: N25°31.019'E050°51.948.

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.