Wednesday, November 30, 2022

all-female refereeing trio - between Costa Rica and Germany

 

Katara festival

 

Katara Beach yesterday

 Half of the beach is  closed  for the  Dhow festival .  The other  half is  open  and no fees .

 It comes  with the disadvantage  that you  can not  buy a  sunbed . First  come , first  served  basis .

 That  was  rather inconvenient .I wished to sit down  under  the shade  while supervising my son   .But there  were  no  seats available .

Around 2 p.m., it was  hot. The beach was crowded. The international guests wore a variety of swimming attire, ranging from full body covering to minimal covering. Nobody was bothered by it.

  After  half an hour  a family was leaving  near  me and I dashed  to the  bench in the shade . So did  some  other  Arab  women .Did  we fight for that  seat ?  No . They  told me  confidently    . " We  will  sit toghether ."  They shared  with me their drinks , their  food and their  thoughts .  It was so  good  chicken  stew - I  can not find  similar one in restaurant .  

 After  three o clock   the  weather  was much  cooler but we  were  still   chatting .It turned out we  have some  common  interest and one of them   studied in my country .

  We could hear the dhow festival performances and see the vessels with national flags sailing in front of us.When  walking  towards  the Metro  we  saw  as  the Katara is getting full but  it was not  disturbing .

  I felt much safer than at the  Souq  Waqif.  There   is more space  here . Also  a large  screen to  watch  the matches .


Sporting activities such as kayaking, pedal boats, and water skiing were not available at the time. It was unclear when it would  open again.


   

 

   




Monday, November 28, 2022

Mild weather - light winds - beach time no marine warnings today

 


 

Already had HALF of the games at Qatar 2022

 

AVOID ALL MARINE ACTIVITIES TODAY

 

2 HOURS Beautiful Arabian Music

 

 Want to see an oud player live in Qatar? I saw one at Souq Waqif Art Center the other day. He was sitting at the end of that fabulous hallway and playing this traditional Arabic instrument. You can listen to him for free,

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Ousha the Poet - today on Google Doodle

 

 Google Doodle celebrates today Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi (Ousha the Poet  1920 -2018  ), considered one of the greatest Emirati poets of the 20th century. Abu Dhabi-based guest artist Reem Al Mazrouei illustrated the Doodle of the Emirati poet.



Monsoon Wedding - Indian musical review by Alma

 I got an offer for the Indian musical The Monsoon Wedding in an email yesterday.


I bought two  tickets since prices dropped.

I haven't seen a play in years. Let's go ! 

__________

The theatre at the Souq Waqif was a little difficult to find.

The staff, on the other hand, was warm and welcoming.

They offered us much better seats than I had purchased.

________

Expected  some boredom .Bollywood style   story about lovers who must suffer .

My teen son  just  came  with me  out of politness . He  was asking me  at the beginning if it

was allowed  to sleep  during the  performance .

___________

The play's main language was English, which was  spiced up with Hindi words.

It became increasingly exciting as we progressed through the story. We could follow the romance of two sets of Indian couples.

_______

A well-to-do Indian family is marrying off their daughter to the son of another upper middle-class Indian family from the United States.

The story  contrasts   expat Indians  uprooted   lives  with those who are living in  their country with their large families .The narrative  portrays the lives of working class and middle class individuals.

 Old and new values  are featured in a seemingly  traditional love story. 

The director does not shy away from addressing sensitive issues such as marital boredom and sexual harassment.

Problems inside the family that arise when you love someone of a different religion.

____________

The brave topic selection was paired with excellent music, songs,  humor and wonderful visual effects.


I was happy  to see  that my teen  was  wide awake   following the  story with much interest.

.  The director and the troop were able to touch our hearts.


  

  

At the end, the audience cheered by standing up . That rarely happens in Doha.


Best wishes to them for their Broadway premiers !






Saturday, November 26, 2022

Marine warning expected from this afternoon

 

Souq Waqif experience during the World Cup 2022

 

During the World Cup, I didn't plan to go to the Souq Waqif at all. I really like this place, but I try to stay away from it when it's busy.

 I simply wanted to see a play at their theater. It was a pleasant experience. The only issue was that there was no buffet in the theatre, so by the time the play ended, we were starving. 

What a wonderful way to make this evening unforgettable!

 A Souq Waqif dinner seemed like a nice idea to me. 

However, it was not. It was packed with ecstatic soccer fans. Moroccans, Saudis, Tunisians - a large number of Spanish-speaking people - a few Europeans - I recognized and heard a few Croatians. Some Poles were swearing. 

The air was thick with the aroma of grilled food, waterpipe smoke, and the sweating of the crowd. It was way, way more crowded than I thought it would be. We decided not to have dinner then . Okay, I thought maybe after the World Cup we'd get our Souq back and postponed the family dinner idea. 

WE walked to the nearest Metro station. There was an African employee with a sense of humor whose job was to announce over the loudspeaker. Metro - Metro - Metro . He must have grown tired of his motonon job. He tried to make it more entertaining by changing the intonations of this word.To spice up his announcement, he added "Hakuna matata" in a soothing tone, which put a smile on all of our faces.

 I noticed something else that made me smile as we were leaving the station. A Korean or Japanese family with a young child, with the father dressed in traditional Qatari attire from head to toe.A new trend among tourists here. 

After all, it's fun to see so many different kinds of people here, I thought as I was eating a cold sandwich from the metro station.

The art of Henna -Middle Eastern Tradition

 

Lusail Boulevard - canopy of flags

 

Foreign tourists in Souq Waqif

 

Friday, November 25, 2022

Stadium Guide Today

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Purple Island Mangrove Kayaking & Sea Tour Experience - Qgrab voucher

Recommended until favorable   weather   conditions  ! 

Find a date and check the weather before calling the agency to inquire about the availability of the tour .

Qatar Foundation - picturesque spots to visit

 

Japan beat Germany - FIFA World Cup 2022

 

 



 Even though the fans are overjoyed by their team's unexpected victory, they clean up after themselves; this stems from their upbringing; as far as I know, Japanese students with their teachers clean their classroom every day.

schedule of today's games

 


Do you prefer to avoid the crowds or attend a sporting event? In any case, it is useful to be aware of the schedule of today's games.

Numbers in Qatar - 674,172 passengers a day

   I WAS ONE OF THEM ☺😊



expat Qatar