First, let me just say that I find it unfortunate how the middle-eastern countries are generalized with some kind of a negative connotation. It may be true that some of them are not in a good condition, but not all of them suffer the same dilemma. Middle-eastern countries, such as Qatar, has a very rich culture, they really preserve and treasure their heritage and these are some of the things people who are looking from outside the country is missing.
At first, I was also clueless about what this country is. I didn’t even know that there was a country called “Qatar” before my mom got here. And then, I was immediately curious and fascinated about their culture and their love for Islam. I immediately realized how rich this country is and how firm they are about what they believe in.
I guess the 5 years that we stayed here is enough for me to
appreciate Doha more. Yes, they are kinda strict with the dress code and stuff,
they have to preserve their culture, but they are already modernizing. And,
through those abayas, hijabs and thobes are luxurious, fancy and stylish men
and women of Qatar, I am assuming.
Luxury at its finest
Qatar has been one
of the most sought after destinations for luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo,
Christian Louboutin, Prada, Louis Vuitton and luxury car brands such as
Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Maserati, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, etc. All these
brands has a huge clamour from the middle-eastern market especially in Qatar,
because the people here know how and where to spend their money. They can be
practical as well, but these people never fall short on bringing home
extremely luxurious things. And, with these stylish things around, it’s a
perfect excuse to be dressed up at any day. I sometimes decide to dress
casually, but when I want to really dress up, I never needed an excuse to do
so.
Shopping is so fun
and kinda expensive here in Doha. But window shopping and being able to even
just fit or touch some of the expensive clothes, shoes or bags in the stores
can make me feel nice already ;) The stores here are more welcoming, it does
not have that feeling of alienation for the average people. Let’s admit it that
some of the luxury stores in the Philippines have this alienating vibe, it’s as
if the door of the stores, and sometimes the sales people, is quietly chanting
that “if you will just look around and doesn’t look like you can buy stuff
here, then don’t even bother coming in”, right?! I think many people will agree
on this. But here, it’s completely different. You can wander in any stores and
just look around without feeling judged!
I’ve already spent a
reasonable amount of time here in Doha and though I can’t afford to buy all the
luxurious things this country has to offer, I found joy in watching the people
here strut with those sky high stilettos and shiny Hermes purses while getting
off their Ferraris like I am watching them from a fashion show runway. It makes
me kinda dreamy, haha!
Culture all around
Qatar never, ever,
ever, ever fell short in showing off their culture and tradition. They even
have these cultural villages such as Katara and Souq Waqif, and visiting these
places really enriches my culture and I kinda have a fuller grasp of their
culture while walking around. I once wandered these streets with my cousin, ate
PX, and she said that it reminds her of the movies about Jesus. It’s like we’re
walking around the streets where Jesus has walked. And I must agree that it has
that aura with the old cobbled streets and the built of the infrastructures,
it’s like being transported to olden times.
Its cultural
villages also feature different exhibits all year long. They have tons of art
galleries here. They mostly feature artists from the region but they always
make sure they also give recognition to the artists from different countries.
They also love bringing in different educational exhibits featuring history,
science and modern technologies. If you’re the kind of person who just loves
walking into an exhibit and appreciate painting or photo exhibits, then you’ll
love Qatar.
But, one of the many
things that I really love seeing here are their mosques, aaaaah! They’re
mosques are so beautiful. I always wanted to go inside and look if it is as
rich inside as it looks like from the outside. There’s this one mosque in
Katara called the ‘Golden Mosque’ because it looks shiny, like it’s made of
gold and the mosque near Souq Waqif called ‘Fanar’
it is the Qatar Islamic Cultural Center and Mosque, its architecture is an
eye-candy, it looks spiral and very nice when lit up.
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| Photo source: http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/s/so/souq_waqif_mosque.jpg |
The Sunsets
There’s something
breath taking about the sunsets here, maybe it’s that super bright sun all
throughout the day finally retiring and giving the whole sky a very warm
goodnight. It’s so simple yet it’s like the sun is wrapping everything in gold
before finally setting. It’s a view worth soaking in to. I have been to my fair
share of beach resorts and hotels here, and seeing the sun set while I’m soaked
in the beach or just sitting by the window of my hotel room is something to
smile about.
The Roundabouts
Roundabouts are huge
here! I seldom see traffic lights on the road, but the decorated roundabouts
are everywhere. Every major roundabout has a name, depending on what it’s
designed with or what major facility is near it. It’s really clever and easy on
the eyes, though going in and out of it is nerve-wrecking! Haha. But,
remembering each roundabout is really convenient and easier to find, because I
just base it from what I see. For an instance, the one near our area is called
the TV R/A because it is directly across the Al-Jazeera TV station, the other
one is the Oryx R/A, because they put a statue of an oryx, which is their
national animal, in the middle of the R/A, etc. Another thing to love about
these roundabouts are the fact that the vehicles there are just going in and
out, just imagine being able to see it from the top and watch the cars come and
go in a very fast pace, it’s something that I can consider as uniquely Doha ;)
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| Photo Source: http://loadpaper.com/large/Monuments_wallpapers_528.jpg |
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| Photo Source: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/4954245673_68edba76cd.jpg |
The Doha Tribeca Film Festival
They started this
Festival on 2009 and it has been an annual thing since then. I was fortunate
enough to be among the Press when they launched the festival here and just last
year I was able to volunteer for the festival, different directors and actors
from all over the region and other parts of the world came together to
celebrate good movies. I have always believed that to peek through a different
country’s way of life is to watch their movies and watch how they react to
those movies. And watch their movies, I did! It gave me a better understanding
as to what they believe in and how they look at things. It’s really magical and
fascinating how much has changed in the arab world and how the young arabs are
revolutionizing in their own fields without forgetting their roots. I think
that volunteering for this festival is one of my most treasured moment because
I was able to be part of something that is really sought after and the people
that I met from different walks of life, who shares the same fascination to
movies as I do, it’s a memory worth keeping and worth telling. It was also very
interesting because I was able to do it with one of my very good friend J
The Skyline
It’s very hard to
think that just few years ago all these places were just pure desserts, with no
buildings, just plain dessert and now it is filled with proud and mighty
skyscrapers, all twinkling during the night while showing off their colors and
lights. I was able to dig up a photo of how the place where this skyline now
stands used to look like. And, I think you’ll be surprised that the first
building built there was Sheraton hotel and it used to stand there alone, but
look at it now. I posted here a before and after photo.
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| Photo Source; Photo source: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2497/3783104432_ca07dc79b5_z.jpg |
And, that is how I
see Qatar and how I hope everyone else will. It’s young, rich in culture and
very colourful! There’s so much more to see and do in Qatar if we just look
past the stigma that was unnecessarily put upon all the other arab countries, you’ll
see that these countries are really welcoming and are more than happy to let
everyone be part of their culture, their very laid back, artistic and rhythmic
culture. Stop the stigma and look at the fascinating things the Arab countries
has to offer!
-J!
-J!
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