scoreboard

Friday is a weekend here in Doha, so I ended up going out on the town. John took me with him and another guy - Edward - to a spot called Palm Island.

The trip started off initially as a trip to the Marriott, but they were "booked," so we could not hang out by their pool. Thus the decision to go to Palm Island instead. When John, Edward and I got to Palm Island, they wouldn't let us buy tickets because it was "family day." Family day here is a little strange. Essentially, single males cannot do anything when it is a family-only day (even if they are married/engaged, if the female isn't with them, they are single). So, instead we had to wait for the other people we were missing - an Egyptian couple and a Lebanese couple. Once they got there we were allowed in - because all you need to constitute a family is one female. (Ridiculous, because 10 guys could come with one girl, and be allowed in). Anyway, when they got there, we got tickets and were on board.

Palm Island is a small island in the gulf that has, wait for it.... palm trees! It has a beach and a 4-wheeler track as well. We ended up just hanging around, ate some food, and eventually went swimming. The beach was not soft. In fact, it was mostly very unconfortable rock as you walked out into the water. John dove in and scraped his legs all up, but we ended up swimming for quite a while. The temperature by that time was probably high 80s, low 90s, and the water was just about the same. One interesting thing on the island was the smoking of Shisha - a very popular and interesting habit. (This is not hashish, don't worry!) It's basically flavored tobacco - in flavors like apple, rose petal, lemon, etc. In any case, you rent hookahs to smoke it - and everyone on the island was smoking it, including the people I was there with. So, when in Rome... I tried it. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be - it was almost pleasant. I don't know that I'll make it one of my "things to do," however.

So, after the shisha, and the swimming and the lunch, it was time to leave. I could have stayed there all night, it was so nice. Talking with the Egyptian couple (Nelly and Sharif) was very interesting. It seems, from them, that the reputation you hear in the states of people in the Middle East hating all Americans is not true - although I suspected that was the case anyway. It was englightening to sit and talk with them about Egypt, its relationship with Israel, and how it was outcast in the Arab world for eventually having peace with Israel.

After that, we went to City Center Mall for dinner and had some chicken skewers. I got the mild, and tried John's "hot" chicken. It was quite possibly the hottest "hot" I have ever had. I don't know how John ate it all. After that we took a drive down the Corniche - the main drag, and they showed me some more land marks, including the Souks, which are little market shops.

Then it was back to the apartment. I chilled out, watched Lost, and went to bed. Unfortunately, the USB cable I found doesn't work in Martha's digital camera that I brought, so I have to find another way to get the pictures off. I expect John will help me with that, so stay tuned for more pictures.