Happy New Year y'all!!
I know that " y'all " just throws 80% of people into outright confusion. Don't panic. Read on, dear viewer!
When you take a fish out of the water, does it only then learn the importance of the water in the first place? Rather, do you only ever come to understand something when you are taken out of the very same situation? There's a reason I left America... It was to get away from the sticky American mentality. I didn't realize how far away I'd gotten until I tried to be "American" again... I much prefer being - "whatever-the-fuck-I-am" - to trying to fill a certain stereotype. Maybe that's why I like to travel, to absorb different aspects of different people... The trick is to always be dynamic - never give yourself long enough to take on a personality other than your own.
I was taken out of my normal routine this week, and got to experience (if ever so briefly) another side of Doha. It's so hard for me not to be cynical of this side, since it's so.... Elitist. I know Doha's famous for its 5 star hotels and swanky, ritzy parties and hooplah and what not, but I honestly think I prefer smokey evenings in "Pakistan" (I decided my neighborhood has the ethnic makeup of Peshawar... Maybe with a few Filipinos thrown in for good measure) to an overpriced meal at a hotel restaurant on the beach. Don't forget that you're in Doha. Why come to Qatar if you'll spend your time holed up in a whole different universe? Just because those places serve alcohol... You'll cordon yourself off from ever experiencing the real thrust of the city?
I'm starting to figure out Doha... I'm getting used to it; but these latest experiences totally threw a wrench in my understanding. It's a completely different world out on the West Bay Beach; a world most people in "Pakistan" would never ever see.
Something related to income level or priorities? Whether one prefers booze or ganja? Islamic morals or Christian ones? Really I don't know... I've said it before, but if you consider the population of Doha to all fall into some sort of spectrum (possibly related to income and country of origin), those on either end would never cross paths. While being lost and looking for the entrance to swanky restaurant that was my destination, I stopped and asked a construction worker which way to go (first in Arabic then English), and he shook his head saying he didn't know where the place was. It ended up being less than 100 yds away.
My boss once gave me a ride home and said: "wow, you really live... with the people," and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way.
Peace and love always <3
Been going through the exact same thing. I work in the area and can't help being squeamish everytime you step into one of these places. The prices, the people. It really is a different place from the rest.
ReplyDeleteWe missed you BoulderHijabi:) and we still looking to hear more from you~
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