Qatar (the place, not the musical instrument)

So after a couple days in Qatar, I have some pictures to show. I went to a large outdoor market where you can buy everything from palm trees to dried fish (oh, the smell) to cheap Pakistani trinkets. The apricots were imported from...wait for it...California.

I wonder how easy it would be to tip over the whole stack of melons. I mean, what if I wanted that one near the bottom?

When I saw this guy I knew I had to get his picture, which he posed for willingly. The beard coloring is a traditional henna dye. You can't see it in the picture, but he was pushing a flat-bed cart around the market, and when I took his picture, another vendor came over to me and told me over and over that the cart belonged to him. I guess he was proud his cart was in the picture.

If this guy were shorter, I might have followed him to get the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

At another market (by the stinky fish) I saw this collection of vases and thought it would make an interesting picture. You be the judge.

After the fruit and vase markets, I went to the animal market. The 2nd most important feast in Islam (Eid Al-Adha) is approaching, and millions of sheep are transported to Saudi Arabia alone, from all over Africa and the Middle East. The on-hand quantity of sheep all over the Middle East is growing, and I saw buyers haul away sheep by the truck load.

So why no pictures of the sheep, you ask? Because the sheep didn't smile. But this goat did. See the toothy grin? When I put up the camera, the goat smiled. No joke.

I realized why the goats were happy after I spent a few minutes with these Sudani goat herders. They were very nice, and insisted on taking a picture with me and the goats. As is often the case, they were intrigued by the fact that I spoke Arabic to them and the standard questions to the white-guy-who-speaks-Arabic went something like this [author's translation]:

Them: Where are you from?
Me: I am American, but right now I live in Cairo.
Them: Oh. But your parents are Arabs, right?
Me: No. They're American.
Them: Both? Your Mom and your Dad?
Me: Yes, both are American.
Them: So where did you learn Arabic?
Me: I studied in the U.S. and I have been studying in the Middle East.
Them: Ohhhh (grinning like they finally understand), you speak Arabic because you're Muslim, huh?.
Me: Nope. I am Christian.
Them: Then why would you bother to learn Arabic?
Me: (smile)
Them: So, do you speak Arabic in the U.S.?
Me: No, I came to live in the Middle East so I could learn and practice speaking Arabic.
Them: Oh. Is speaking Arabic prohibited in the U.S.?
Me: (laughing) No. It's just that there are no Arabic speakers where I live so there's nobody to practice with, so I have to come here, to where the Arabic speakers are.
Them: Oh. (turning to each other and grinning with disbelief) He's American. And he's here...speaking Arabic (more laughing).

As you can see, it can be pretty interesting talking to Arabs who have likely never heard a non-Arab/non-Muslim speak Arabic to them. Later on, I will give you the transcript of the standard Obama line of questioning. It's also pretty good.

I got excited when I saw the basket hut, because Sara loves baskets, and I thought I would be able to find a nice gift. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in a decent color of useful enough to take home, so I didn't get anything. But at least I took a picture for you, Sara.

At the end of the evening I got a couple pictures of the skyline at the ends of the bay in Doha. The building on the left--with the spotlight shining on it--is the brand new Museum of Islamic Art that opened two days ago. Pretty fancy.


On the other side of the bay is the skyscraper garden. About half of these buildings are currently being built. They literally work through the night on these things.

And there you have it. Come back in a few days for more travel pics. I might even be able to find a camel or two, though I doubt I can get one to smile.