Qatar's National Day
It has been the third year that it was celebrated on 18th December . Before it was at the beginning of September . Then suddenly it was shifted to this date .
A thing that could not really happen in Hungary - I guess .
Seeing the rehearsal was a pure joy : we went to play with the kids to Al-Bida park and saw the show of old boats . Those sailing boats which had been used here for centuries crossed the bay slowly with stylish dignity .There had been around 800 ships in Doha harbour 50 years ago - fishermen's boat ,pearl divers their staff 's boat , merchants' boats and so on ..
After the boat show we could see some 50 camels and riders strolling along the destroyed area of Rumeila district ...Qatar zaman
It was just rehearsal ... No wonder that
we had great expectations for the day itself .Vodaphone and and iloveqatar organized programs in the Aspire park which seemed to be fun ... they promised bouncing castles , sparklers , face painting , dance ,musicians , free local food between 10am -6 pm.
It was raining - but we still went there around 2 pm - there were some bouncing castles that was true - but no sparklers , no face paintings , no dance ,no music ... not even a Qatari flag for the kids , no festive atmosphere ...just crowdy bouncing castles ... and rain .
It was very disappointing ... for some it was even worse ....just read this thread

I think that next year I will make do with the rehearsal ....

Christmas stories from my childhood - my auntie's house

Pretty Vintage Miss by almawad
 We started a new life with my family in a new town . After my father got a better position we lived a more comfortable life than before  but we were not happy at all . In our previous dwelling place everything looked better  and my elder brother and I wished to move back . It was not possible and we had to find to good point in the town . It was not easy ! It had only a few things that we liked and one of those was the house of my auntie ...

Every thing used to be so beautiful at my auntie's house . High ceilings , odd geometric patterned curtains ,fine ceramics ,gorgeous old furniture ... as all the house had been covered by some golden dust of a bygone era .As a little girl I did not know words and notions like art-deco or bourgeois or artistic sense .
Their Christmas tree was so beautiful too - full of interesting decoration which were not available at shops at that time ... her cakes were traditional delicacies spiced up with original ideas . I had always felt that to be with them at Christmas was a great privilege .Our parents were chatting after lunch and we were merrily merrily playing ....Firmly , I believed that all those beauty and charm in their house was due to the fact that they had only one child and that is how they could afford it ! And   I happened  to feel   jealous  and wished our home was filled with luxury and beauty like that !

 But one year - instead of the usual cheer - we found that bad mood reigned in their home when we arrived on Christmas Day  .My cousin did not want to come out and play with us.  He closed himself inside his bedroom . Under the tree there were the unopened gifts .He did not want to open them and refused to taste the wonderful lunch as well .

My auntie was sad .It was very embarrassing to hear her explanation : "Santa does not exit . We had to tell him . He had been longing for a little brother or sister for years and he has been writing letters to Santa to get one .Unfortunately it is not possible . "

When I first heard it I was very much surprised at the fact that he still believed in Santa. Then I remembered how nice that my parents never lied to us about this issue. They had always told us that this was just a game.

All that was sad but we were children . We did not understood the weight of their problem .We were merry as usual with my brothers .This one cheered up my auntie .We appreciated her Xmas lunch , admired her wonderfully decorated tree and were grateful for the presents .We went home sooner than usual .

Our flat was much smaller and furnished at an average level of the 1970's Hungary .There were two old paintings on the wall ,my mother had a porcelain dinner set for special occasions . That was all the luxury we had .Still all that made me very happy at that moment . It was then that I understood how great gift is to have brothers growing up with me !
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My auntie 's home is still lovely . I live far from her and can not go home for Xmas usually . Luckily their days and their Xmas is always merry - full of laughter and cheers. Their three grandchildren live near them and they make their days very special all the year around .



Read more Christmas Stories

It was nice weather at Messaid at Eid . Families were enjoying sunshine , large waves the sand ... What makes me scared is that nowhere a boat or any other thing to save lives though there are so many people there at every weekend ...
Beaches should have toilets as well for public safety reasons . And where are the beaches with ladies only hours ? It was more than two years ago that I read in the local news that there will be three beaches belonging to the municipalities ? Where are those beaches ? What takes so long ?
They need a fence around the beach , some toilets , some shade or a club house than that it is . They should hire someone to sell tickets , some security guard and some folk should take care of the safety of the swimmers .