I know what you all mean about a large proportion of people who wall themselves up inside compounds and never take advantage of the opportunity to get out and 'see what there is to see'. No matter where you are.
There were a lot of people who deployed with me to Doha that were the same way. I'll bet that half of them never left the base at all, and most of them hated their time in Qatar - after all for them it was nothing more than work, military food, and then back to the tent (of course in my two years in Spain, a lot of military people did the same thing and hated that too.)
I read the thread about western men wearing the traditional garments, which leads to another story that I've told people over the years...
One thing that I wanted to bring back to the States after my time in Doha was a thoub and shumagg from the souq. The military knew that there could be 'sensitivities' about us buying them (especially being 20 years ago), so we were told to make the purchases from younger sellers, who might be more moderate in their views.
Well, it came time for me to actually make my purchase, and with at least a little bit of nervousness, I approached a young dealer amidst the alleys of the old souq. Immediately I realized that I'd picked probably the one person I met in Qatar who I couldn't communicate with in English, "One moment..." he replied as he went behind the curtain at the back of the shop, and returned with what must have been his Grandfather. He couldn't have been over 5 feet tall, I couldn't even venture a guess how old, and was VERY conservative in his appearance.
I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound", and explained what I was looking for. The old man looked up at me with a concerned look (which could have only added to my nervousness), when his face suddenly broke into a huge smile "You want to look like an Arab!" he exclaimed as he put his arm around my shoulder and started going through his wares. He called to the neighboring shoppes and several of his probably even older friends arrived with an old Polaroid camera as he finished adjusting my headdress - everyone wanted their pictures taken with 'the American who wants to look like an Arab'. We ended up sitting, talking and laughing over coffee and dates for an hour, as if we were old friends.
It goes to show, that despite all of our cultural differences, we're all still more alike. It is things like this trip to the souq that so many of my compatriots, who never left the base, missed, and one of my favorite memories.
I know what you all mean about a large proportion of people who wall themselves up inside compounds and never take advantage of the opportunity to get out and 'see what there is to see'. No matter where you are.
There were a lot of people who deployed with me to Doha that were the same way. I'll bet that half of them never left the base at all, and most of them hated their time in Qatar - after all for them it was nothing more than work, military food, and then back to the tent (of course in my two years in Spain, a lot of military people did the same thing and hated that too.)
I read the thread about western men wearing the traditional garments, which leads to another story that I've told people over the years...
One thing that I wanted to bring back to the States after my time in Doha was a thoub and shumagg from the souq. The military knew that there could be 'sensitivities' about us buying them (especially being 20 years ago), so we were told to make the purchases from younger sellers, who might be more moderate in their views.
Well, it came time for me to actually make my purchase, and with at least a little bit of nervousness, I approached a young dealer amidst the alleys of the old souq. Immediately I realized that I'd picked probably the one person I met in Qatar who I couldn't communicate with in English, "One moment..." he replied as he went behind the curtain at the back of the shop, and returned with what must have been his Grandfather. He couldn't have been over 5 feet tall, I couldn't even venture a guess how old, and was VERY conservative in his appearance.
I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound", and explained what I was looking for. The old man looked up at me with a concerned look (which could have only added to my nervousness), when his face suddenly broke into a huge smile "You want to look like an Arab!" he exclaimed as he put his arm around my shoulder and started going through his wares. He called to the neighboring shoppes and several of his probably even older friends arrived with an old Polaroid camera as he finished adjusting my headdress - everyone wanted their pictures taken with 'the American who wants to look like an Arab'. We ended up sitting, talking and laughing over coffee and dates for an hour, as if we were old friends.
It goes to show, that despite all of our cultural differences, we're all still more alike. It is things like this trip to the souq that so many of my compatriots, who never left the base, missed, and one of my favorite memories.
Mike