Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Day Three: Around Town (and day two)

Buenos dias everyone. Today was a day out and about around the town. Yesterday we visited the campus rec center. My mom & I worked out in the Ladies Fitness Room. Ooh now, isn't that fancy? There was also a pool, and a little kids pool. Daniel & my dad were in the little pool and we met my mom's colleagues and her little kids. After that we went to dinner at Turkey Central in the city. It looked a bit like the seedier part of NYC. All the shops were tiny and neon. There were  million different types of stores; hairdressers, restaurants, men's clothes, women's clothes, art stores, pretty much whatever you wanted. The food at Turkey Central was pretty good. Delicious hummus, spinach pies, chicken, etc. Now, today.

First off we went to Mega Mart. Not so mega, let me tell you. However, it had more gluten free food than there had been other places, but not much, not much. There were more American, British, and French foods rather than at Carrefour. Then we went on a drive to the souq; which is just a little market place, or not so little, in any case. It was full of a huge assortment of stores selling pretty much whatever you wanted. There were stores selling colorful scarfs, hijabs, and abayas in whatever color suited your fancy. There was a store selling falcon gear, because people use falcons as messenger pigeons. There was a sweet rug store in which my mother bought a rug. In the store there was a man making a rug by hand. They said it would take him seven months to make one of those full sized rugs. Seven! Phoar. There was a store that had the prettiest color necklaces too. Pretty necklaces were everywhere. Everything there smelled so good too, you could smell all their spices and cooking, and everything. Their architecture is really cool too. And I actually took pictures of it. Downtown Qatar is like a mix between Florida & NYC & something else Mediterranean. The sky line is so pretty. But I had to be veeery sneaky taking pictures since Muslim people don't like their picture taken. I'm like a spy... :]

Daniel is currently trying to learn Arabic, but I already know the Arabic letters. That's what you get when you watch license plates out your window while mom and dad try to navigate the city. Oh, but let me tell you, I am so sick of classic cartoons like Tom & Jerry, and whatever that one is about flying bears. There are only ridiculous TV shows on here, as currently James Blunt is on...you're beeeoootifullll....

And I've decided to start a feral cat count. Today I saw one. Yesterday I saw one. Oh, but today we saw two kittens in the souq. My cat instinct was twitching. They weren't feral yet. And then it was sleeping in the baby carriage with the fake baby. Weird stuff...
Feral Cat Count: 2
Anyways, off for now.

Catharine ♥ 

4 comments:

Coleen said...

you're counting feral cats and your brother's learning Arabic. hmmm....

I'm lovin the blog, thanks for writing!

Unknown said...

Catharine --
I'm enjoying your accounts of the shopping, especially the colorful scarves and rugs, and, of course, the food. Did you see any camels yet? Keep up the feral cat count.
Lynne

Uncle Chris said...

Catharine bring me back a snow globe!

KCDM said...

Hi Catharine,

What a great surprise to get the link to your blog! Your brother's too! Anyway, I really love the descriptions you and your brother are sending Qatar. They're totally different from what we'd get from boring adults (I don't include your Mom or myself in that category, by the way).

So once you get a count on the cats, do you have a project in mind, like name all the cats, or promote feral cat adoption? Nah, just kidding :) Seriously, what do they look like? Do they just look like strays might look here or do they show any influence of one particular breed, or are they larger or smaller?

Working out at CMU-Q sounds wonderful! So does the housing.

How are you making out with eating Spinach pies and the like, with your allergies? I'm glad to hear there is some gluten-free food, though. But I guess you can live on Hummus, cheese, olives, etc., and not have to eat too much Pita.

What will you be doing with your days once you Mom is working and your Dad comes back to Pittsburgh?

Do send lots more descriptions and especially pictures!

Ma-a ssa'lama!

Kenya