WE SHOULD BE HAPPY TO LIVE IN QATAR!!!
Making a splash
A BBC correspondent reports on her daring - and possibly breakthrough - act in Saudi Arabia:
...I called the hotel before I arrived, to ask a question I already knew the answer to - will I be able to use the swimming pool? The response was a small silence, and then an embarrassed laugh. "Er, No madam. The pool is, of course, for men only. I am so sorry."
...Undeterred, I wrote a slightly uppity e-mail to the manager of the hotel, protesting that whatever discrimination I expected in the country, I didn't expect it in an international hotel, and asking how he could justify charging me the same price for a lesser service.....
Read the whole piece - it's got an interesting twist at the end.
http://www.ordoesitexplode.com/me/
2007/05/the_first_woman.html
Happiness i think is more on a mind-set! wherever we are if we are ungrateful, cynical, pessimistic etc. that would make us miserable regardless of how good the place is.
Make it a pleasant day!
Cnidaria said: "Just FYI, I used to live in Saudi and the story above wasn't a reflection of swimming pool trends back in the 80's and early 90's. Especially if you lived in a large social compound."
But compound life is totally separate to what goes on in the rest of the country, in public places.
This journalist was referring to something that has happened in a fairly public place, i.e. something that has changed outside the exclusive little bubble of an expat enclave.
The abaya's in the Gulf are gorgeous. I love all the diamonds and intricate details. The way ladies walk looks like they are gliding...very elegant.
when I'm actually travelling on the plane then I usually wear one for comfort's sake. Usually I wear reasonably conservative clothing be it abaya or business suit or casual clothes. The wearing of black abaya is a cultural point peculiar to Gulf (khaliji) countries and as no-one is telling me (let them dare to!!!) what to wear it's really up to me to decide what I wear for different occasions and places. For example here in Qatar I choose to wear abaya for business and generally being outside but when I'm doing sport I wear sports clothes. But I do love my abayas. It has become a tradition in Qatar for local women to wear abayas so I love feeling part of that tradition. I love feeling that elegance with a long flowing sparkly colourful garment!!!
another question...when you travel internationally do you wear the abaya?
aah, very important ommission...when selecting abaya material you must do the 'crease test'. Nothing worse than an abaya which creases every time you sit down! Scrunch some up in your hand and hold for half a miute. If it is creased after that then it's a no no.
Scorpio/m_daylight, yes mine are handmade although you can get ready made but usually not the same quality. Best to have a tailor show you swatches of black material so you see the difference. Some materials are heavy, others lightweight, some are jet black, others a lighter shade of black, etc, etc. Shayla material should be lighter in weight than the abaya material. Again ask for the shayla material swatches. A good starting point for a first abaya would be Souq Faleh, I think, as it's full of abaya shops. I don't use that place but I've heard it's reasonably priced (+/- QR400 for abaya and shayla I believe). Just check the quality and try to bargain. They have ready made which you could try on and then have it altered to your sepcific size. Typically we wear the abaya just brushing the ground (with our high heels on) and the shayla wrapped in a certain way with no pins stuck in it. It's a practiced art!!! Any woman can wear this attire...you will not be reprimanded, m_daylight. Though it may be assumed you are a Muslima or just a conservative dresser. I thouroughly encourage you to have a go..it's lots of fun designing your own abaya!!!
Also good if you're in a hurry to get out the door as it doesn't matter what you wear inside or if you're having a bad hair day!
i am often amazed how qataris women are immaculately doing their shayla - in buying abaya does this shayla (headscarf) is included too? what if a non-muslim wears this abaya? will she be reprimanded?
Just curious...where do you get your abaya's from? Are they handmade?
Gypsy, I'm sure you could pull one off...just have to find the right material for 'flowing' effect then jazz it up with sparkle and colour...helps to wear quite high heels unless you are tall as this adds to the elgance factor!!! (maybe that's why we never walk very far in our abayas!!!) You will have to practise wrapping the shayla round your head...there are several different styles specific to Khalijias...helps if you put your hair up in a pony...go on, try, Qatarias will love you for it!!!
Just FYI, I used to live in Saudi and the story above wasn't a reflection of swimming pool trends back in the 80's and early 90's. Especially if you lived in a large social compound.
Amazing story!
Diamondgirl, She's talking specifically about the abayas in Saudi, which are plain black and have all the shape of a potato sack. Those ones are really quite depressing.
The ones Qatari girls were are beautiful fashion statements in comparison. I wish I could pull one off the way the girls do here.
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enjoyed the story but disappointed with the comment that wearing an abaya is like being a 'mournful ghost'. Not at all!!! That was clearly written by someone who does not regularly choose to wear abayas. I've always felt great in my abayas...beautiful material, colourful with sparkly bits! Really easy to wear and one feels elegant. I've certainly never been told by anyone in my family that I have to wear an abaya. An abaya is something I choose to wear. Why do some people think that unless and until women the world over wear jeans and a T-shirt then we are oppressed? Think of all the traditional and not so traditional clothes the world over...if everyone wore the standard jeans and T-shirt then wouldn't it be so boring???
Having the choice about what you wear is really the point isn't it? THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE. In some parts of Saudi women have to wear one and this is wrong. So is insisting on westernising everything. Each country has it's own history that has brought them to the point they are now. All countries are not the same and should not be.
So don't assume that here in Qatar when you see us Qatarias wearing our abayas that we have been forced to become 'mournful ghosts' - there are definitely many, many of us who wear them out of choice...not a 'mournful ghost in sight' when I am out and about with family and friends!!!
Let's celebrate our differences and enjoy what we choose to wear!!!
amazing!
Great story, I sent it to all the girls in my office. :D
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Nice story! Didn't think sport has that much influence! I always thought, that this process is going to start somewhen. You could see the liberalization process of the turkish women in Germany about 20 to 15 years ago. My best friend is turkish, so I got good insights. When I was a child, turkish women all dressed like here in the gulf, meanwhile they are dressing totally western style. Of course, the impact of a western culture is much stronger in GErmany, but this shows, that the contacts between cultures leed to liberalization, although I have to say, that not everything, which comes from the west is good and shall be adapted by the arab people. they have their own culture and they should never forget about that. Unfortunately some westerners always forget, that the colonization age is over and bringing civilization to the world's wild people is a bad habit.
The West should just not use itself as the reference or synonym for civilization. Though shouldn't the arabs.
It's just the U.S. that can claim to be in the position to bring freedom to the world, no matter whether the people want or not! ;)
Sorry all Americans, but I couldn't resist!;)