Kah TAH (spelled Qatar) – What Kelly is laughing about

From airport door to airport door it took approximately 24 hours to get from Seattle to Doha.

From Seattle to London I was on this two-story plane where the pilots drove from the upper level:

And from London to Doha I was on another two-story plane, but this time the pilots were on the lower level:

International flights are super fun when I am used to flying economy domestic flights– you’re still squished between people, but the wine and meals are included and there are a bunch of tv shows and movies. I took some naps, and watched the end of all the movies I had tried to watch on the ship but ended up falling asleep in the middle.

When I made my way off the plane in the Doha airport, I looked for the usual signs that would point me to the way out— baggage claim, immigration, exit — but there were none. Only signs that pointed to food courts, shopping and other gates. I thought maybe it was some strange thing about being on an international flight. Then I realized that all the flights were international— Qatar was a small country. You didn’t fly from one place to another within Qatar. Finally I asked someone where to go and he asked to see my boarding pass— which gate was I going to? No, I’m staying here in Doha. I just need to find the exit and the things in between. Immigration? You’re staying in Doha? I felt like a misplaced white girl. He told me to take an unmarked elevator up to a hallway and to go in a direction that felt like I was entering the exit every step of the way. Immigration? Yes, this way, through the metal detectors as the people entering the airport stepped aside. I saw a sign indicating where I should go 50 feet beyond the elevator I needed to take. I felt like I was a really smart person and had gotten really good at not falling for clues that are meant to distract you in an escape room or a mystery. Finally after an hour and a half in the immigration line, the immigration officer let me through without a word and I found the smiling faces of my friends, Ben and Carly. It was 3am in Qatar and 5pm on the West Coast. The last time we’d seen each other had been in Scotland and Ireland when we met up there while they were chaperoning a field trip. These guys were some of my closest friends in Denver, and when I started traveling around, they moved to Doha to teach at the American School there. When they were applying for jobs abroad, I was already preplanning to go visit them wherever they landed, and now here we were!

My mom had been to Qatar on a cruise, so when Ben and Carly said they were moving there, I was one of the only people who had heard of this tiny country which sticks out like a thumb tip out of Saudi Arabia. The only thing my mom said about Qatar was that it was in the Middle East and it’s spelled Qatar but pronounced like Cutter. I listened to a podcast about Qatar and the first 7 minutes was a debate about how to pronounce it– was it kaTAR or Cutter? The conclusion was that it was pronounced aggressively KAH TAH. This seemed unnatural to me, but lo and behold! As I settled into my seat on Qatar Airways the flight attendant began her announcement– Welcome to KAT TAH airways– that solo word spoken just as aggressively as it had been on the podcast.

It was the middle of the night, but we took the scenic drive to the compound where Ben and Carly lived so I could get a feel for the country. We drove by the terminal that is just for the Royal Family. Ben said he has a student who is part of the royal family and one day she was expected on a flight, but needed to finish her school work. She said that they would hold the plane for her while she finished her work. It wasn’t a big deal.

We drove along the road that gave us a great view of the Skyline and Carly gave me the task of deciding which building was my favorite. Hers is the one that looks like a giant condom. I said I’d need to see it during the day to make a thorough assessment.

Qatar’s total population is roughly 2.6 million. There are approximately 313,000 Qatari citizens. The rest are all expatriates. The Qatari citizens get money from the government because of the oil so they don’t have to work. The expats are appreciated, though, and lots of decisions are made to make them happy.

As I was trying to fall asleep that night, I vaguely heard the sounds of the call to prayer.

The next morning we woke up and got ready to go check into a hotel. My visit would start out by easing me into this exotic culture and also because there happened to be an appropriate event planned. One of the teachers at Ben and Carly’s school had just beat cancer and was turning 40. To celebrate her birthday, everyone was going to brunch (a thing the expats do on the weekend). The brunch was all you can eat and drink and included a night’s stay at the hotel and a massage.

Qatar is a dry country, but the hotels serve alcohol. So the only way to go to a restaurant where they serve alcohol is to eat at a hotel.

This is the view of the lobby from the elevator. The restaurant where we had brunch is on the upper level.

Here we are in our wigs!

The brunch was incredible– food from a variety of different cultures served buffet style. They kept our glasses full and then even came around with food and specialty drinks. Who would like a bloody mary?

Ben wore a wig too!

That evening we went to the Backyard. This was an outdoor venue at another hotel where they had live music and also served alcohol. I met a couple who owns a house on the street where I grew up (partially) in Sacramento! Small world.

Up in the skyline picture, there is a building on the right that is shorter and wider than the rest. The lights are yellowish with pink on top. In the 1970’s this was the only hotel in Doha. All of the other skyscrapers have been built since then. That was also the hotel we went to for the Backyard that night.

Kah TAH (spelled Qatar)

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