Cause for Celebration

I guess since we are home from the hospital Abbey has cause for celebration (we both do actually). Just now, when Brett left to go to the store he asked Abbey if there was anything she might want him to get. Without missing a beat she simply said, "A piñata." I don't know that we would have the strength to beat the candy out of a piñata, but I think my Abbey has the brilliant ability to express the most with the fewest amount of words. I think she might take after her brother that way. So Happy Fiesta!

The Curse of the Cookie Dough

Don't do it! Don't taste that delectable cookie dough. Every time I have put a mound of chocolate chip cookie dough into my mouth I have heard the warning in my head: DO NOT EAT ANYTHING WITH RAW EGGS OR YOU WILL DIE! Well, I'm here to tell you that warning is not some old wives' tale.

And even better advice: DON'T LET YOUR CHILDREN EAT ANYTHING WITH RAW EGGS OR YOU WILL BE PUT IN THE BAD MOTHER HALL OF SHAME!

Yes, Abbey and I are lying in matching hospital beds as I write this, and even though we are feeling much better today, I can't remember ever being as sick as I was these last few days. Being a patient in a hospital in a foreign land hasn't been as scary as I thought it would be, and that is mostly thanks to the skilled, yet ever so sweet Filipino and Indian nursing staff they have here at Al Ahli Hospital. They have been a blessing to our temporarily topsie turvy family life.

The other blessings have come in the thoughtful visitors stopping by with puzzles, books, and games for Abbey and Labello lip care for me, the many phone calls from concerned friends, the grocery store run by our home teachers, the timely delivery of personal items from a good neighbor, the cards and flowers from my children, and the continuous flow of moral support from friends and family for my Superman hubby Brett.

Thanks to all of you who made such a nightmare turn into another reminder of how many wonderful, Christ-like people we have in our lives!

Photos of the Week

Is there really anything I need to explain here? Scandalous, I know!

Photos of the Week: Double Standard

Here are some interesting shots I got at the camel races a couple of weeks ago. This is a common sight here. I have often been puzzled by this. It is frowned on in Middle Eastern countries for men and women to have any public display of affection, yet it is very acceptable to see two men holding hands or linking arms. I almost get a little jealous when I see this, knowing that I cannot reach over and grab Brett's hand or give him a good bye kiss when I drop him off at the university. In some twisted way this seems to be a double standard. I know that this practice also takes place with the Indian, Malaysian, Nepalese, and Filipino part of the population here. It is not unusual to see women walking closely holding hands either.

This proves, at least in my mind, that human beings need that physical touch from someone, especially in public where some of us need reassurance and strength from those closest to us. So, because it is taboo to hold their sweetheart's hand, men here reach out to their buddies for that need to be met. I'm not even adding any gay issues into this equation, because didn't you know, there are no gay people in the Middle East. :)

Word Verification

How do you verify a nonsense word?
When it is absolutely without a doubt absurd?
Is a subutri an underground park
Where the sloides can be slid in the dark?

And what about the madvo that bously refuses
The advances of warics and totally confuses
The adjik sitting in the singsk with its book
Looking up words with a noplad kind of look?

It gets more exciting when the spyro is there
Apprehending the drophot villain with flair.
They refsk and battle until both are exposed
And shockingly neither are ever opposed
To the essectul turn of the intiz twist in plot
Ending up in the baria, neither getting caught.

Then a rock throwing utley shows up on the screen
Telling the lownelio to get outtewai of his dream.
Not everyone understands the siongl of a man
Who measures his belidgu by calizes on his hands.

The typical sociste will never be enlightened
By the fusit to be found in the chotweis of excitement.
I hope your brasuls are comprehending this stuff
If not then I think your computer experience will be rough!

Photos of the Week

I have been waiting for months to capture this fairly common site around Doha. I have talked about this before, but never shown pictures: Yes, you read correctly. Many, way too many of the beauty salons here call themselves "beauty salOOns." I think it is a mistake that just keeps perpetuating itself, because one salon owner (who is obviously not a native English speaker) just copies the mistake from someone who copied it from someone else. It is hilarious, too, that this has injected a wild west flavor into a very eastern society. A woman told me that when she told the owners at her salon about the mistake, they were very embarrassed and changed it as soon as possible. Here you can see images of the Diamond Beauty Saloon that is in the nice, newer part of Doha.

Another funny fact about the salons here is that they have big walls around the establishments and men are not allowed to enter. They actually keep the doors locked. I had to ring a door bell when I went for my hair appointment and wait for the receptionist to let me in. Maybe they have had problems with men storming the salons and demanding equal services, who knows. Really, I think it has to do with Mulim women's ideas of modesty. At my hair appointment I saw a beautiful woman getting her hair done, then she went into the powder room and proceeded to cover herself up with her abaya and shayla. It made me wonder why she had just spent all that money and time. But you know, some days I really wish I had a shayla to hide under!

So back to the "saloon" label. The irony here is that Qatar is a Muslim country. Any kind of spirited beverage is taboo for followers of Islam. So I guess these are the covert operations going on right under the noses of the authorities. The government thinks that ladies are going to these establishments to get beautified, but in reality, they are partaking in the one stop shopping experience: a little color, a little cut, a little cocktail. Who wouldn't be happy with their new style and the bill after that?! All I can say is, after my one and only experience with a salon here, I really could have used a stiff drink.

The Camel Races

Saturday we went to the camel races in Dukhan. They were not what I was expecting. Instead of riders, the camels have small robots on their backs that are controlled with remotes. The camel "racer" is the man holding the remote, and he controls how much the robot "whips" the camel. It was amazing to see camels RUN/GALLOP for about 14 minutes straight. The sad part was seeing the camels finishing the race with foam around their mouths. I've never seen a horse race in person, so maybe horses finish the same way.

The beginning of the race is the best part (sadly the video I took of the start did not turn out), because the camels are all lined up with men standing in front holding the leads. When the start line is pulled up, the men let go of the leads and have to run/leap out of the way. If you ask me, they don't pay those guys enough! There were some camels who didn't want to start the race and some who didn't want to finish. I have to say I don't blame them at all.

There is a Land Cruiser with a video camera and a camera man on top that drives along the race route and films the event. Most of the race is not even visible to the people sitting in the stadium seating. Because sitting in the seating area is so boring, spectators can board a bus that follows the camels around the track along with numerous other vehicles. Brett and Abbey told me that it was the best way to see all the action.


The end of a LONG camel race

Most of the action, for me, was shooting pictures on the grassy area where people were allowed to get up close and personal with two camels. Some children could not take their hands off the poor animals. Abbey, on the other hand, could not get far enough away. It didn't help either, when I finally got her to pose with one, the camel reached over and tried to take a bite of her pony tail. Many people rode the camels (including Brett), but I was just fascinated by the funny creatures. Their eyelashes are things of beauty, but as Abbey put it, their teeth are disgusting. One of the camels kept making a whistling noise with his mouth and would show his teeth each time. This is how I captured the cheesy "smile" in one of the shots.

So there you have our adventure to the camel races. Not one of the highlights of my life, but definitely an experience to remember and talk about. I just want to make one thing clear, especially to Brett's dad Kenny: there were no bets placed, at least not on the races. I did wager at how long it would take Brett to jump onto one of the camels though!

Lawrence of Arabia Rides Again! Notice how he waves to all his peeps!

These Things Make Me Happy!