It has been an uncharacteristically cold and wet winter in Qatar. That, coupled with the incredibly diverse international population of Doha, has resulted in a veritable smorgasbord of sickness. Next time you're in the grocery store, pick up a dozen packages of different types of medicine, compile a list of all the maladies printed on the various packages, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's been going around, around here. Headache, soreness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat...you name it, we got it.
But at least we have a treehouse. After we watched Disney's "Swiss Family Robinson," my boy wanted a treehouse. The tree in our front "yard" (a 10-by-10-foot patch of grass, really) is barely big enough to support its own weight, but I managed to brace a platform up there, large enough for two kids (three, if one is small). Abu Khayed, a friend of a friend, took me down to the construction souqs in Najma (an area in downtown Doha) to find lumber, screws, etc. for the project. I'll have to go back down there, to the metal souq, and get a bumper made for the Jeep--once I get it out of the shop.
Abu Khayed and his son are contractors themselves, from Jordan, working in Doha because the construction market is red-hot around here. They specialize in decorative stone, and Abu Khayed showed me some impressive photos of some of their work. Their families are back in Jordan, so they, like so many other workers here, are suffering from separation and homesickness, for the sake of making enough money to buy a better future for their children. Some of these guys spend their entire working lives away from their families, seeing them for a month every couple of years. I understand their reasoning, and I appreciate their spirit of sacrifice, but I think the children would rather have their daddies at home.
Lucy, our adopted saluki, is getting along well, and is even learning to retrieve tennis balls. Sort of. She serves as an effective anti-terror device in two ways: first, most folks around here are deathly afraid of animals, especially large dogs (although according to Mohammed, the saluki is the one "clean" dog), and second, by throwing her offal over the wall, I have created a fairly comprehensive minefield out there. If anyone climbs into the compound over our section of the wall, we'll be able to smell their shoes immediately.
I just received a disturbing email from someone on the main Texas A&M campus in College Station, that they received from their supervisor, alerting them to a policy change:
The University is amending its policy on responsible computing use to include wording about the inappropriate use of any verbiage in an e-mail or signature line other than that needed/required for University purposes. What this means is that University employees will be in violation of the changed University rule if they have personal phrases in their e-mails/signatures. This could include links to personal web sites, scriptures, quotes for the day, etc. Let’s do our part to comply and review ourselves before this comes out. Please check your e-mail signatures and remove any phrases, wording, etc from your signatures if you have any that is not directly related to University business.
I inquired about this issue and discovered that this policy change has been discussed in high-level meetings, but has not been implemented...yet. Of special note is the direct reference to scripture. The University's computing use policy already addresses harassment and other related issues, so this proposed change would basically serve to define scripture as harassment. It is, I believe, a knee-jerk response to baseless complaints from people who want to keep other people from putting Bible verses in their email signatures.
Then there's the idea of banning "personal phrases" from "emails/signatures." This goes far beyond the "scripture in the sig" issue. What, exactly, is a "personal phrase" anyway? Is there some way for me to eliminate my personality from my emails? Would this policy be effective notice from the University that "anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law"? Am I automatically under arrest by the State of Texas when I become an employee of Texas A&M University?
In a logical world, any email-signature-related complaints would be handled on a case-by-case basis by HR. The proposed policy, as I understand it, smacks not only of censorship, but the fact that "scripture" is explicitly banned also indicates a clear anti-Christian bigotry. This would open up a huge can of worms for the University--and frankly, I'd probably be willing to help open it. I've already had a run-in with a TAMU VP over a conservative quote in my email signature; I backed off in that instance, but this would be pushing it too far. In true "world-class university" fashion, TAMU seems to be all about "freedom of speech" when it comes to promoting deviant sexual behaviors as healthy lifestyles, or spouting anti-American leftist propaganda, but State forbid we allow employees to put "personal phrases" or--horror of horrors--scripture, in their email!
The Qataris have grand designs to make their country a premier tourist attraction. As such, they have gone to considerable lengths to make life in Doha very comfortable for visitors...and, to a great extent, they have succeeded admirably. The fact remains, though, that people are sinners, and ultimately they aren't any more well-behaved in Qatar than anywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, the government and the society of Qatar are deeply bound to Islam, which--all arguments to the contrary notwithstanding--is an oppressive force in many ways, especially toward women.
Folks are ugly in traffic, just like anywhere else. Women seem to be especially prone to mistreatment. The wife of a coworker was recently rear-ended in traffic, so she stopped and got out of her car, as the law prescribes, but the Qatari who hit her was verbally abusive and physically intimidating, and ordered her to get back into her vehicle and keep going. Unfortunately but understandably, she did not stand her ground but left, ignoring the damage to her vehicle.
Women are not necessarily any safer from molestation here than elsewhere in the world. While violent crime such as rape is relatively uncommon (or at least unreported), verbal and physical harassment is almost the norm. One evening, two of our female friends, both very modestly dressed, were out exercising on the corniche--one of the most beautiful areas of town, oft-touted by the Qataris as one of the reasons to visit Doha--and as they passed a Qatari man, he grabbed both of their backsides. Another Qatari man, sitting nearby on a bench, did nothing. Qatari women receive no better treatment. A woman wearing the black abaya is considered "fair game" by the young Qatari men, and will often be subjected to catcalls and ogling, even in very public places.
The government's PR machine would lead you to believe that Qatar is heaven on earth, but Qatar has a dark side too, with the added injustice that Qatari men can get away with almost anything. Anyone visiting Doha, especially a woman, would do well to remember all the "common sense" advice about being aware of the surroundings, watching for potential dangers, staying away from dark places, and being alert in general. And be wary of men in white dresses.