Sunset on the Corniche.

Things have been busy as usual in Qatar – and now I have seemed to pick up a cold, just as the temperature is creeping up! But, I’m trying to enjoy my last week here as much as possible.

This past weekend we tried to go back out to the Sand Dunes again, but it was some what of a bust. We just ended up back at the Souq, but had a nice time doing some last minute shopping for gifts, and sitting out at an oudoor cafe for dinner and tea. As usual, the boys also smoked some sheesa.

One thing I have wanted to get since I was in Jordan is a bracelet or necklace with my name in Arabic. Gold is somewhat less expensive in this area of the world, and there is a “Gold Souk” or “market” within the regular souq that sells only gold and silver. As I am not usually a fan of yellow gold, I ordered the bracelet in silver instead. It took less than a week to have it created – I’ll try and post a picture of it later, but it was well worth the 100 dollars that it cost.

Inside the Gold Souk – I thought Erin would appreciate the wooden ship!

Before Qatar discovered that it had “black gold”, the economy here was based on pearl diving. While this is no longer the case, there are tributes to this past all over Doha and the coastline. Here along the “Corniche”, the downtown waterfront area, a GIANT pearl and shell:

Playing with perception.

Enjoying dinner at the Souk – one thing I like about this area of the world is that it is a part of the culture to be outside in the evening (when it’s 120 plus in the summer, night is the only reasonable time to go out) so cafes and restaurants all have outdoor seating areas that fill up every night.

Finally, a few weeks back, at the end of February we celebrated one of our co-worker’s birthdays. The sweets here are so pretty (but not always delicious, sadly…)