-Many women wear the burkha. More common to cover your entire face and leave only your eyes to see and hands are okay too and heels.
-I saw a lot of more westernized style in the abayas the women wear in Qatar, too. I mean this in comparison to Omani style in the abaya. The Omani women seem to wear abayas that are fashionable that are extremely loose-fitting so that there is little or no way to really see their figures underneath. In Qatar, on the other hand, I was surprised to see many women wearing abayas that are similar to one I have purchased that button up on the top but are free flowing and have no buttons about halfway down my stomach. This leaves space for you to show-off your sense of fashion and that is one reason why I actually chose to purchase one of the abayas I got. I like it when I can show my favorite skirt or pants underneath with a peak at what type of shirt I’m wearing. And I know there are many women who feel the same way. I saw this in Qatar a lot and they seem to very interested in the real designer bags and not the knock-off ones. I think that’s a reflection of a culture. In many countries, the knock-off handbags seem to be extremely popular. Perhaps there appeared to be that every other woman in Qatar was walking around with their group of friends and a $2,000 handbag because the small population of Qatar of around only 2 million people are very well taken care of by the oil revenues that the government distributes to the people. The Qatari family in this generation and the last have been set for life in terms of monetary worries.
Something else I observed that had to do with expensive things in Doha was that after watching a wonderful film at the Doha Film Festival, we walked around to find a crowded place to smoke some shisha and have a fresh mango juice. We found a gorgeous place that was extremely crowded. The waitress immediately greeted us (I still have no idea where she popped out from-but she was very fast to grab our attention and be at our service), she told us that there is a 150 Qatari Rial minimum bill for the place. That means that basically, we would be spending 15 Omani Rials which is close to 45 american dollars. Yikes. She said the actually shisha was only 100 Qatari Rials, 26 American dollars. Still, a huge yikes so we politely let ourselves out. Who spends more than 5 dollars on a shisha? Very expensive.
-Nepal people everywhere. Cab driver Nepalanese. Waiters at the restaurants from Nepal. Why? Tunday-bar! means Thank you in Tibeten.
-Food tastes fresher but I still find myself missing Oman and my family’s homemade food. There’s something about the warmth in it. The food served is food in my Omani family’s home is food for the soul.
-The skyline for the city of doha is similar to Dubai in the pictures I’ve seen and also had a Las Vegas feel to it. The buildings are grand and beautiful but they have a certain faux feel to them. Even the “traditional” souk in the heart of the city was recently completely renovated and the many restaurants and the long courtyard with many cafe patios lining it outside filled with customers eating, drinking juice, and smoking shisha took me back to the times I’ve spent in Europe doing the same thing.
-The Islamic Art Museum
-Education city is so nice. The building is gorgeous. The dining hall has great food. The people are wonderful.
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