As much as you miss home, the home you miss doesn’t exist. If it did, you’d still be there, probably.

Dane Wisher, educator, in an article in the Billfold titled “The Cost of Things in Qatar.”

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In this reflective essay, Wisher, an American teacher, turns a critical eye on himself and his colleagues, highlighting that the costs of moving to Qatar are not just monetary. While sacrifices have been made, accepting the differences is important, he argues, criticizing the insular attitude espoused by many expats who move to Qatar:

Western expats can wake up, eat, go to work, go to the gym, do some shopping, grab dinner, have a drink, go home, watch television, Skype, and go to bed without ever really interacting with people who aren’t more or less like them…

The consequences of such a routine - which Wisher himself said he doesn’t adhere to - are far-reaching:

The unfortunate side effect of this is that expats tend to forget their humble situations. Between the jobs offering people unprecedented amounts of money and responsibility, the expensive cocktail hours, the fancy brunches, the beachfront apartments, and the brigades of deferential staff everywhere, expats often prove true the adage that there is no snob like the newly rich.

And maybe some of the arrogance comes from the fear of what will happen to us when we go back home.

Read the full piece, which includes Wisher’s guilty thoughts on Mega Mart, the downtrodden labor class and Qatar’s extreme wealth, here.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Martin Belam

Talk about a blast from the past! These photos were submitted to us by Hamad Al-Thani, who writes: Arabian Gulf Petrol Station. One of the oldest Petrol Stations in Qatar! Pics taken 47 years apart! I took the 2013 Pic. 1966 Picture provided by Al Rayyan TV! Thoughts?

Talk about a blast from the past! These photos were submitted to us by Hamad Al-Thani, who writes:

Arabian Gulf Petrol Station. One of the oldest Petrol Stations in Qatar! Pics taken 47 years apart! I took the 2013 Pic. 1966 Picture provided by Al Rayyan TV!

Thoughts?

Nude statues removed from Qatar Olympic exhibition

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Three ancient Greek statues have been removed from an Olympic exhibition in Qatar due to cultural sensitivities, the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum has confirmed. 

According to AFP, the statues, which included a classical Greek youth and a Roman-era copy of an athlete, were nude, in the tradition of how Olympic athletes used to compete.

A Greek culture minister told the news wire:

“Organisers in Qatar wanted to cover up the statues’ members with black cloth. So they were never put on display, they went back into storage and returned on April 19.”

A QMA spokeswoman denied to Doha News that this took place. She added that the curator of the exhibition decided to remove the three statues during the installation process:

“This was not due to censorship. The decision to remove the objects was based on the flow of the exhibition, awareness of the outreach to all schools and families in Qatar, and desire to be sensitive to community needs and standards.”

Residents of the Middle East hold conflicting views on the arts. Some six out of 10 Arabs surveyed in a Doha Debates poll last year expressed support for government censorship of the arts, with the majority of censorship supporters coming from GCC countries. 

Regulatory bodies and state-affiliated institutions are necessary because art could be “inappropriate” and offend “religious beliefs,” respondents said. But nearly six out of 10 audience members (58 percent to 42 percent) said censorship ruined the arts during a debate session that also took place last year.

Exhibition information

The Olympics – Past and Present exhibition at Alriwaq Doha exhibition space near the Museum of Islamic Art is on display through June 30.

It takes viewers through 2,700 years of Olympic history with two sections highlighting ancient Olympia and the modern games and displays some 1,200 objects, including over 600 objects from Greece and international museums. The exhibit is open daily from 9am to 8pm, and from 2pm to 8pm on Fridays. It is closed on Tuesdays.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo of exhibit courtesy of AlRiwaq on Facebook

Citing Jewish presence, Al Qaradawi refuses to attend Doha interfaith conference

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Prominent Islamic scholar Yusuf Al Qaradawi has once again boycotted an annual interfaith dialogue conference in Doha, saying he would not attend because Jewish clerics would be present, Al Arab reports.

“There is no more injustice than what the Jews have caused to our people in Palestine,” Al Qaradawi told the newspaper, as translated by Gulf News, reiterating the same reason why he has refused to attend past conferences.

However, representatives from the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which Al Qaradawi chairs, are attending the 10th annual Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue conference, which kicked off today. The event has has drawn some 500 people from 75 countries of the Islamic, Christian and Jewish faiths.

No benefit

According to news reports, Al Qaradawi stopped participating in interfaith dialogues such as this conference in 2009, saying that he could not find “one practical thing that these conferences have achieved for the benefit of the Islamic nation.”

But Middle East Online reports that the refusal may have been a calculated one:

Observers believe that Qaradawi’s boycott of the conference denotes a “sharing of roles with Doha” and “an agreed manoeuvre” in an attempt to show the existence of a disagreement between him and the official position of Qatar concerning the hosting of rabbis, in a move that is expected to unleash widespread criticism.

The views of Qaradawi, an Egypt-born cleric who holds the Qatari nationality, have always been in strict conformity with the positions of the Qatari government. His religious edicts represent an extension of Qatar’s foreign and national policies.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Omar Chatriwala

It is the connectedness between the old city and the new, West Bay via the Corniche, which holds the character of Doha today.

Tim Makower, architect, in a recent article in The Edge magazine called “Doha: A City with a ‘Soul?’”

imageWhen Qatar began razing parts of Musherib to make way for a new development, residents were sad, thought it was difficult to articulate exactly why. 

Makower puts that pain into words by explaining how the different parts of Doha complement each other as clearly as the various parts of one’s body:

Old Doha is likened to a precious patchwork, handed down through a family, from generation to generation; something to be repaired but not replaced. West Bay is described as a piece of unfinished business, waiting for a new layer of streetscape and walkable routes to be added among the sometimes crazy glass towers…

The Corniche is called the defining motif of the city and, as well as a thorough examination of its present state, tantalising glimpses are given of how this already iconic crescent of public space encircling the Bay, could be dramatically renewed without being reinvented…

With the city’s two urban hubs held in dialogue with each other across the water by the curve of the Corniche, the three parts of the city centre are likened to the heart and lung of the city, without which it wouldn’t have a life…

Do you agree/disagree that Qatar needs all three of its parts - the old, the new and the Corniche, to retain its soul?

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Farzana Gardee

A book launch for The Donkey Lady and Other Tales from the Arabian Gulf will be held this afternoon at the Mathaf: Arab Museum for Modern Art from 4pm to 6pm. The book contains stories from across the Middle East that were collected by students from Qatar University. It was illustrated by art and design students from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and will be on sale at the Mathaf gift shop for QR150.  Today’s free event, which will take place at the Mathaf library, will feature a short question and answer session with the authors and a reading of one of the stories from the book. More details can be found here. Thoughts?

A book launch for The Donkey Lady and Other Tales from the Arabian Gulf will be held this afternoon at the Mathaf: Arab Museum for Modern Art from 4pm to 6pm.

The book contains stories from across the Middle East that were collected by students from Qatar University. It was illustrated by art and design students from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and will be on sale at the Mathaf gift shop for QR150. 

Today’s free event, which will take place at the Mathaf library, will feature a short question and answer session with the authors and a reading of one of the stories from the book. More details can be found here.

Thoughts?

The Qatar Museums Authority has launched a new shuttle service to carry culture-lovers between the Museum of Islamic Art, which is on the Corniche, and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, near Qatar Foundation.

The free service operates from Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 5pm. The museums, which are closed on Tuesdays, are about a 20 to 30 minute drive apart.

Would you use this bus? Thoughts?

Credit: Photos courtesy of QMA on Facebook

You know you’ve lived in Qatar too long when…

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First impressions in Qatar can be jarring, but they are also easy to forget.

That’s the point highlighted by British expat and journalist Philippa Stewart, who wrote a widely circulated piece in the Telegraph this week explaining how time and the humdrumedness of everyday life has caused the novelty of Qatar’s crazy traffic, camels in trucks and searing weather to fade. 

Wondering if you’ve adjusted to life here in Qatar? Here are a few signs, according to Stewart:

  • When you head back to the West, the outfits seem shocking. Not to sound like a prude, but there were shoulders and knees everywhere. Scandalous. Additionally, how do you all not freeze to death?
  • When you get unnaturally excited about Ikea opening. I am not ashamed to admit that I went twice in a fortnight, although potentially I should be.
  • When the working week is Sunday to Thursday. What do you mean my deadline is Friday? That’s just crazy talk. Who works on a Friday?
  • When rain is a cause for a) excitement and b) everyone forgetting how to drive.

Read the full list here.

Agree/disagree? What would you add?

Credit: Photo by Shubert Ciencia

Pearl-Qatar residents plead for solution to late-night ‘joy-riding’ nuisance

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“Pearl Hell.” That’s how one Pearl-Qatar resident describes his experience with the excessive engine noise from drivers “joy-riding” near his home, often late into the night.

In an echo of the scenario portrayed in British documentary “Millionaire Boy Racers,” which focused on Khaleeji men who drive their super cars noisily around London’s streets, many Pearl-Qatar residents have taken to social media outlets to complain about noise pollution from luxury cars and motorbikes on the man-made island. 

The gripes were revived this week in a post on Qatar Living by commenter Steve. Doha News has found that his view is shared by many residents.


A video of the engine revving shared with DN by one resident.

The noise has caused many sleepless nights, said Pearl resident Habiba Iqbal:

“We are in Tower 1, and my little one is constantly kept awake at night as late as 1 or 2am in the morning. One night a couple of weeks ago we had noise at 2:30am! I can’t wait to get out of here because of it.”

It is unclear exactly who comes to the Pearl to joyride, but one resident who requested anonymity said that the noise near her tower often comes from motorcyclists, not cars.

“I can see clearly that the noise is from a group on motorbikes. I once caught two of them under my tower in the dark wrapping their faces with scarves. There is also a big group of about five on these horrendous 3-wheeled motorbikes that can rev so loudly the noise is ear-piercing and they screech around the car park next to the mosque likes its a free for all race track.” 

Former resident Samantha Brydon says she moved away from the Pearl to escape the noise. 

“When we first moved in it was weekends only and pretty bad. Then we noticed it got so even during the week. Our twins are not great sleepers and the extra waking it caused them was too frustrating. A couple of residents including myself lodged complaints at the office about a year ago. Nothing happened.”

Still, United Development Company, which operates the Pearl-Qatar, told Doha News that it takes residents’ complaints “very seriously.” In a statement, UDC Director of Corporate Communications Roger Dagher said:

“We have discussed their complaints and concerns with the Doha Police. We will continue to follow up with the authorities on this.

All traffic related matters fall under Police jurisdiction and not The Pearl-Qatar. We are hopeful the matter will be resolved positively and will keep you informed about developments on this.”

Do you live on the Pearl? Have you experienced the noise these residents are reporting?

Credit: Photo by Mr Zeon for illustrative purposes only