Home again, home again....

You know, I think I might just have a crush on the Qatar Airways people. I now know what seat I will be picking when I do have to fly. It wasn't first class, but I had all the stretching room I could ask for and the bathroom was only four feet away :D

As usual, the air crew was awesome. A special shout out to Sheridan, as I saw her the most in my area. She is a very nice lady and took very good care of us all. I am always amazed that these ladies look as good at the end of the flight as they do at the beginning. I am sure they are tired and I am sure they can't wait to get home and put their feet up, but you would never know by looking. What is also interesting is listening to them switch languages so quickly. All of the staff speak English, but I've also heard Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Russian, German, and French when the requirement was there. I have heard three or four languages come out of one person on the flight over, earlier in March. I don't know if being multilingual is a requirement of the job or if it's just a skill of specific attendants, but it's nice to be so accommodating. It's funny how riled up people get in North America over speaking French or Spanish, and then when you leave there and see how it is so not an issue in most other places. Anyway, in addition to English, I can also speak French, German, and Russian. I'm working on Spanish and I picked up some Arabic watching children's tv shows while I was in Qatar.

Now, Air Canada, you guys need to start doing some hugging or something. At the very least, hire extra coordinators because your staff don't seem to know what's going on. I got to Montreal early, knowing I would have about a three hour stop in the airport there. Now, before I go any further, let me say how nicely organized customs was, and the general staff at Pierre Trudeau - awesome and friendly. I now officially like going through there better than Pearson in Toronto. I was so happy to see a Tim Hortons....there is no good coffee in Qatar. They NEED Tim Hortons, they just don't know it.

My flight from Qatar landed early. They're always early, yay!!! I had to get my baggage and go through the whole process of checking in again, as if I was walking in off the street - I don't know why Air Canada won't do a carry through because everyone says that their carriers do.  Anyway, in the course of getting a boarding pass for my flight home, the agent says "You will have to get your seat when you get there." What the hell? This flight was booked and paid for in January but I don't have a seat? And WHY is that? And my flight is delayed. Fine. I'm going to Timmy's, I need coffee to chase my Trans-Atlantic migraine away and since I've been without my beloved phone for three weeks, I am going to squirrel away in a corner and cuddle with it. There is a $5 bill on the floor right below an empty seat. Clearly some force in the Universe wants me to sit down and have a cup of coffee.

While I was enjoying my coffee, the flight home changed again. And again. I went to the gate I was now supposed to go to....no more flight. Back to the boards to see where/when/if it is. Over to the new gate. Flight is now leaving at 19:00....whatever....but it is not posted at this gate. I inquire of the agents there, but they are with another airline. I'm clearly not the first person who has asked them because the agent looks at me with that special look that says "If I had a nickel for everyone who is asking this...." and proceeds to let me know that no, she can not help, she's not with Air Canada and blah, blah, blah......

Oooookay.

While sitting down, a broadcast message is played regarding my flight: it is at Gate 7 (where I, and several others are) and is boarding at 17:30. It is already 17:10, Porter Air is at this gate boarding a flight to Toronto, there is no Air Canada person in sight, and the main schedule screens still say we leave at 19:00....two hours from now. And the flight is now to Winnipeg via Ottawa. But we're boarding in 20 minutes? Huh??? The Porter Air agents tell us to go to Gate 11, because we are mistaken. I sit back down, I am not budging from this spot. Nowhere on the boards or in announcements has Gate 11 been mentioned.  I have flown Air Canada enough times to know that I am not wasting my time running all over the terminal because they are busy messing with things. Some of the passengers get up to leave. I tell the ones sitting beside me to stay put. I remember the 18 hour song and dance to go from Ottawa to Halifax once.

Oooookay.

You have to understand, most of us on this flight were just on a twelve hour extravaganza from Qatar. We're tired, cranky, we want to go home (most of us are headed to Winnipeg, a few are headed further) and we don't work in an airport for a living so forgive us all for asking "stupid" questions, but we are now thinking about being stranded in an airport nowhere near home. No one seems to know what is going on, the AC people at other counters are no help because they also don't know. The Porter ladies wrap up their boarding and go to wherever they go.

17:15....still no agent.
17:20....still a cow eating grass.
17.25......yay!!! An Air Canada agent shows up. Surely she will know what is going on because the announcements conflict with the board and no one can tell us for certain if we may be in the process of missing our flights.

She knows nothing. My French is not perfect, especially when the speaker is having some issues and is not happy, but I gathered enough listening to her contact someone from the desk phone, that she also did not know what was going on and was clearly flustered that several people jumped on the desk as soon as she stood behind it. What she did seem to know, a few minutes later, was that boarding was at 18:00. The flight crew was still not there yet. Another agent showed up, also not sure of the situation and said something about being pulled from her other counter at the last minute. Now, I do not do this for a living, but I AM in a client centred profession and I know enough to know that it is very unprofessional to be exhibiting confusion in front of clients. Even if you don't know what's going on, act like you do, or start to find out what is happening....but don't stand around in front of people talking about how confused you are. People are superstitious as it is when it comes to flying. This sort of thing gives them even more stress.

I wait for a calm in the storm before I politely ask about why a seat is missing from my boarding pass. They do not know, but what they do know (and what I know) is that I will be the last one on the plane because I have no seat.

Then comes the next zinger, which I knew was coming sooner or later: the flight is oversold, would someone without checked baggage please volunteer to step aside and take a later flight?

You've got to be kidding me. Don't even look at me because 1. My luggage is checked and 2. I have been on the move since 6am when I got in a taxi in South fucking Asia to fly to North America. Hell to the N-O, don't make those eyes at me. Thankfully, a businessman flying to Winnipeg and wanting to contact someone before he leaves Montreal steps up to the plate. Thank you, whoever you are. Bless your heart.

But that still doesn't change the fact that I still have to wait to the absolute last minute to get on that flight. I have been thinking happy thoughts the whole time and thankfully the Universe heard me because after being in this airport for 5 hours, not knowing what was happening, I got a seat just like the one I had on the QA flight to Montreal. So we're all happy little fliers on the plane.

Except the plane isn't going anywhere. Oh....wait now, it's moving. To another spot. Now we'll taxi out. Nope.....moving to another spot. And another. Ooooops....moving some more around the ol' parking lot. Then the captain's voice, "May I have your attention please...blah, blah, blah, blah.....right engine not working....mechanical crew attending to this, blah, blah, blah.....thank you for your patience.

0_o

Oh. My. God. I hate flying. I hate the taxi, I hate take off, I hate reaching cruising altitude, I hate seeing the world get smaller and smaller out the window, I hate seeing clouds below me, I hate descending, I hate landing, I hate the massive sinus headache that I get, that makes me want to throw up when I smell food, I hate everything about being in an airplane but I love to travel and see new places, so flying is a necessary evil.

This flight has been poorly scheduled, oversold, the staff at the airline have not been updated on all the delays it had coming in from Winnipeg (see why it's valuable to speak other languages, folks?.....and PS, why it is also rude to speak in another language in front of everyone, when the majority do not understand.) so clearly there are communication issues within Air Canada, the flight crew was late, boarding was late, and now we are having engine problems just before take off????? Did the plane have these problems in Winnipeg, too?

Oh my lordy be, get me the hell off this plane. If I can't leave, then you better get me good and hammered so that I don't feel anything when we drop out of the sky and go crashing to our fiery deaths because at this moment in time, I seriously question our safety.

Another PA announcement, saying that the ground crew was filing paperwork regarding the engine problems, and we would be leaving shortly.

Alcohol. Please. My imagination is producing a tornado in my head of all the bad things that might happen because of all the things that have happened so far. I'm not the only one, because I see lots of hands really gripping the arm rests of the chairs.

I am offered orange juice, water, and smoked almonds. Maybe if I bite each almond in half and chew  them really slowly, I won't think about dropping out of the sky. Ooops, no, I saw the window and the plane is shaking....nope, chewing not helping. Must chew harder.

The flight from Montreal to Ottawa is 20 minutes. Reach altitude and descend. Yay....we lived through this!!! Now we have to do it all over again at this airport. Thankfully, exhaustion takes over and I sleep through most of this flight until our final descent. The flight itself was uneventful, thankfully.

And my baggage was intact so clearly the baggage handlers of Air Canada are not having their shit fit anymore. When I flew out on March 11th, they were pissy over being declared an essential service so because they couldn't strike, taking their nastiness out on peoples' luggage seemed like a really good way to gain public support for their case. Not one person on the Winnipeg to Montreal flight that I was on, escaped with good luggage. One man was literally carrying his suitcase in his arms like a baby in the Doha airport, because it was  ripped to shreds. Mine had a gigantic hole in the bottom and I was missing things.

I am sure that the folks at Air Canada probably have a nice logical explanation for everything that drove us nuts concerning our flight home but I am not interested in hearing it. I know they don't care, because they are an over-subsidized govermental sacred cow, so it does not matter if they provide good service or not. BUT, I will join the ranks of Winnipeggers who cross the US border to fly out of Grand Forks if I can not find a carrier that is not Air Canada.

Now this could all be solved quite easily if Qatar Airways would fly out of Winnipeg because those are the only flights I've been on that don't make me freaked out about flying. :D

Wrapping things up.....

It is 37C out today, sunny, and bright. The sky is blue, there is not a cloud in the sky, and the birdies are chirping. It is going to be so very difficult to go back to Winnipeg, which probably won't be nearly as warm....and where work awaits :(

I keep staring at the empty multi-purpose room which used to be a Starbucks. It would make a perfect esthetics salon for the ladies in this, and the neighboring compounds. It will be difficult to go from here, where people love to get things done and aren't afraid to spend money back home to where people aren't that into themselves and won't part with a dime. Other things I will miss:

1. As this is a Muslim country, there are no drunk people on the streets. No Lysol Fellowship meeting on street corners. It is nice not to have to step over passed out or nasty drunks. There are liquor permits in the city, to accommodate the large foreign working population, but something you don't see here, even with alcohol, are drunk expats staggering around. 
2. There are no sideways baseball hats and asses hanging out of pants. There are no girls wearing their underwear as outerwear, with fat dimpled bellies hanging out over jeans that are three sizes too small. People here, even the poorest, still dress both traditionally and nicely. There are no slobs here and if you look like ten pounds of poo stuffed into a five pound bag, people will say something to you and you will be expected to correct the problem. Even if they don't know you, people will still walk up to you and let you know that you are dressed inappropriately. They will be polite, but this is a conservative religious culture, and they will let you know that you are not up to code in their society. 
3. There are no drug dealers rolling slooooooowly through parking lots blaring bassbooster sound systems that shake your spinal cord. There are no gang wars, no shootings, stabbings, or anything like that. I don't fear elementary school playgrounds after dark in Qatar. There are no collections of scary looking teenagers that look like they might beat you to a pulp just as soon as ask you the time. Teenaged pack-roaming doesn't seem to happen here. The young adults that I've seen in my three weeks here have been polite, well-spoken, and well-behaved whether in the presence of their parents or not. I am sure that they do have their moments, youth finds a way, but they don't seem to be crazy out-of-control angry brats without boundaries that I've become accustomed to at home. 
4. There are no crazy homeless people who smell like pee collecting on the streets here. In fact, there are no crazy homeless people here at all, that I've seen. Crazy cat ladies, weirdos pushing shopping carts, freaky flashers, people looking like they've slept in a garbage dumpster - nope. I don't think those exist here. If they do exist in Qatar, their numbers are very few. 
5. Anyone coming into this country has to have either a work visa or visitor's visa. You need to serve a purpose here, there is no showing up and being without a place to stay and/or job to do. If you aren't working, and you're not a tourist, self-supporting resident or a native born Qatari, you are not hanging out. I'm sure there are probably some people who are here illegally, but I am betting it is nowhere near the issue it is in Canada. The only gravy train in this country is the one that you have to work your butt off for because you have a job here, so no one is showing up on Qatar's doorstep looking for instant benefits and a citizenship card. 
6. People are expected to fit in, behave, and tow the line here, and they do so. Crime here is a rarity. Little bits of grafitti are only just starting to show up here and there in the city....the sort of violence that I accept as an everyday occurrence in Winnipeg (shootings, stabbings, swarmings, car theft, home invasions, etc) would be highly out of place here. Of course, as I said before, people who come to Qatar do so because they have a reason to be here. There are no droves of refugees or large populations of  people that have no employment or lack purpose, therefore, there is little distraction towards crime and criminal behaviour. Security and safety are a big deal here, no one wants the problems of other developed nations emerging in this tiny country. 

I am going to hell now :)

My morning coffee buddy disappeared for about a week. We suspected she was pregnant because we swore she kept looking a little bit bigger each time we saw her. When she finally came back she looked a whole lot thinner and ragged as dirt. She can't be more than six months old herself, poor little thing.

So, we know there is a litter of kittens somewhere nearby. My mother figures she was going to have them here the night of the big BBQ because that was the last night we saw her, but instead went somewhere nearby because of all the people in the yard. We have to start checking the gardens now every morning because she may well move them into the yard when we're not looking. A name can not be far away.

:D


Update: She has a name now, and her own food. We're going to have to figure out where those kittens are because her little dish of gourmet nursing mother kibbles is driving the other cats insane. The courtyard looks like a furry soup kitchen.

Tea at The Ritz

We had a ladies' tea yesterday at the Ritz Carlton Doha. I was amazed at how affordable it was, considering the location. A traditional "English Ladies' Tea" is about 30QR per person. Considering the level of opulence inside - WOW. I never would have thought that this was something I could afford to do. I have to confess, before coming here to visit my parents, I just looked at tea as something that was orange, hot, and sat in a pot. I never thought of tea in the way that I thought of wine. To me, tea was always common and I never paid it that much attention. You just have it on the stove in case someone comes to visit. If you're feeling all foofy and hipper than thou, then you drink green tea and you lace it with unpronounceable flowers from Asia. If you're feeling the need to convince yourself that you're not a narcissistic suburbanite wiener then you drink organic tea that comes from some mountaintop fair trade "womyn's collective" in a 3rd World country that you'll never visit. That was about the extent of my tea-ness.

The Ritz Carlton Doha takes grand to new heights

Here, everyone drinks tea. Not only do they drink it, they hold it in the same regard that I do wine. People have multiple tea sets with glasses for specific tea leaves and they pair it off with specific food and serve it up in so many different ways. I will probably never look at tea the same way again. The ladies here collect tea cozies the way that I collect wine decanters. So it was with this sort of a crew that I embarked on my third ever proper "afternoon tea", the first being as a teenager in Victoria, BC, and the second being in Ottawa or Montreal....maybe.....I forget....it wasn't terribly memorable.

This chandelier was to the left of us 

The ladies' tea gave the Muslim ladies in my mother's circle a chance to come out and socialize. They aren't allowed to be in private homes, unaccompanied. At a place like this, they can come and socialize without a small army of husbands, brothers, or fathers lurking around.

Part of The Lobby Lounge

The Lobby Lounge of the Ritz is where we held our tea. It is GORGEOUS. I've been to some really nice hotels over the years for various functions in Canadian cities, but few have come close to the standards of the Ritz Carlton. If you ever have the opportunity to visit one and enjoy a formal tea, do so. At the R-C Doha, despite being very open, the location felt discreet and private. We were able to people watch, yet were not on display ourselves. The staff were beautifully dressed in gold and black Asian style split skirts and tunics. Like all the other serving staff I have encountered in restaurants across Qatar, they are a constant background presence; magically there when you need them, ever present but unobtrusive. If I ever make it back there I will try their Moroccan tea and a traditional Arabic tea service. I enjoyed a pot of their China Rose. I have had rose tea in the past, but the scent of the rose petals diffusing out of the pot was an absolutely divine sensory experience. The only thing that still catches me unaware is that smoking is still allowed in restaurants here, so like yesterday, our tea was booked not even realizing that the default would be a smoking section. However, while we were unable to be moved, the smoke was not really noticeable and the doorman was very nice and kept the door open to allow fresh air into our area. So the staff were resourceful in their efforts to please our party. We fussy Canadians thank you!!!

No one rushes you in Doha. There is no 20 minute kick-off to turn over your table, which is funny because dining out costs less here than in Canada. I have to remind myself not to eat like a North American, to just slooooow down, to enjoy my food, because no one is going to usher me away to prep my table for the next people standing around glaring at me from the waiting area. It just isn't like that here. Dining out in Doha is enjoyable, whether it is five star cuisine or a family restaurant that also feeds the occasional stray cat. Eating is practically a spiritual experience, not something to cross off the chore list must eat on the way home. I will miss the social restaurant atmosphere the percolates this city, it is relaxed beyond belief.

I spy....the dunes!!!

So I just checked my blog stats, which I do every time I log in to write something. It is interesting to see where people come from. Someone from "mSpy" is coming here? Being nosy, I followed the link back to the main site. For those of you who are interested, mSpy is a mobile software program that allows you to spy on someone's cell phone if you have access to their device to install the program. So, if you'd like to invade the privacy of your spouse or children, and wreck your relationship with them forever when they eventually find out that you're going all Big Brother on them, go there and purchase some software. Let me know how that works out for you :D

Ooooh......sand!!!!

We went duning yesterday!!! I don't have many photos, because it is very difficult to take a picture of something when your face is smooshed into the window or wedged into the ceiling or your head is now flying towards the person seated beside you. FUN. I love it!!! If there are gigantic sand dunes where you live, then I highly suggest doing this. Of course, if there are dunes where you live then you've probably done this already.

I could not believe the amount of people out there. We were in the Sealine Beach area. The amount of families that maintain summer camps in the dunes was staggering. I don't tend to think of the desert as a terribly busy place, but being from Canada my impression of what a desert is comes from reading TinTin comics and Hollywood, hahahaha. The Qatari people are originally Bedouin tribes, so for them this is traditional living. I don't think my mother was too thrilled about getting knocked around in the SUV, but I enjoyed it. However, I also enjoy mudding, drag-racing, roller coasters, grizzly bear-wrestling, walking through downtown Winnipeg alone, and other dangerous things, so we can just add driving sideways in circles down the sheer facing side of a dune to the list.

A lot of us were trying to take photos of one kid who was like Evil Knievil  on a quad.

At one point we came to a rest stop near some camps and got to take pictures of the gulf as well as the mountains of Saudi Arabia across the water. The guides were pointing out the watch towers and immigration buildings, as well as some of the beacons on the smaller islands out in the water. Apparently people try to swim across the straights in that area in order to sneak into both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. I don't know. I can see wanting to sneak into Qatar, but Saudi Arabia just doesn't strike me as a place that I would want to make a run to,but I guess enough people feel differently that illegal immigration into the country is enough of a problem that a border patrol is neccessary. I will post pictures of the coastline when I get home because they are on my digital camera. The photos that I post right now during my trip are all one-step uploads from a cell phone.

Museum of Islamic Art

Yesterday I went to the Museum of Islamic Art. This museum can not be done in one day. You need to budget at least two days, as evidenced by the fact that I only got through the first two floors of static displays. There is so much to see. As I learned this morning while reading the paper, a former resident of Qatar has published a photographic book about Qatar, which was on sale in the gift shop there.

Unfortunately, Erik was too efficient and showed up while I was in the gift shop, so I bought a few magnets and rushed out. People giggle at me a little bit because drivers are different here. At home, you do not make the taxi wait or you will be facing a long walk home. Here they show up early, and they do not run away if you don't materialize within 30 seconds of their arrival. AND they are pleasant. Wow. Maybe I will be brave over the next few days and make the driver wait. Probably not :D

Back to the museum!!! Lots of things to see. It is very well guarded, too. There was at least one guard in every room and they made their presence known but were unobtrusive. A couple of times I got lost because I was too busy staring at displays and not paying attention to where we were going I lost my mother and they helped me around the rooms. Again, I am perpetually amazed at how friendly everyone is here, even when there might be a language barrier. A word of caution: do not, and I mean, do not try to touch things. I watched the guards very quickly respond to a tour group of ADULTS who kept on trying to climb onto this horse and rider display, then try to get on this rug, which had to be about 50ft long. Firstly, shame on you people!!! "Do not touch" means do not touch and yes, this means you. Who climbs on a thousand year old carpet? Tsk, tsk, tsk. A very coordinated response from security personnel very quickly and quietly took care of things. Seriously, it was like ninjas took care of everything, it was that fast.

But rowdy, obnoxious tourists were not why I went :) I am only posting a few photos of my trip there. I have many, many pictures but these are my favourites, and sorry about the flash spots!!!

This is a one piece panel carved from stone. It comes from India and is dated to the 15th century. The photo does not do it justice. Well, none of the photos do these beautiful artifacts justice, you have to see them in person. This huge panel was carved in one piece. ONE PIECE. The detail, even 600 years later, is stunning.

 This is an Iranian watercolour Qu'ran. There is gold leaf in the painting and the geometric designs on the pages are amazing. To think that scribes sat patiently through this, working for years on a single book is awe-inspiring. I have many photographs of different Qu'rans that were displayed in the museum but this one is my favourite. It comes from the late 1500s. 

This is a page from a book, although I'm not sure what book it comes from. It is also Iranian, from the same period as the Qu'ran above. This is gold leaf and mainly blue pigment as well.

This is a piece of Persian tile that is about 500 years old. The colours are still stunning. The geometry of the designs is very precise. Blue, gold, and copper were the most predominant colours in use in many of the displays

 Iranian or Turkish, I can not remember. This is a bowl that was made at a time when the people of Persia were having much contact with cultures from China and the art was beginning to reflect the Chinese cloud motifs. 

Another beautiful Iranian tile, from about the 10th century. We often think of our ancient ancestors the world over as being somehow primitive because they aren't like us. This couldn't be further from the truth. The mathematical planning in a design like this, and the others, points to a high degree of knowledge. Such use of numbers has been referred to as "Sacred Geometry" because not everyone was privy to the mathematical formulae used in the creation of artistic renderings. Every time I look at these photos I want to crochet something, but yarn seems to be the one thing that eludes me in Qatar.

 This is an Iranian oil lamp from the 12th century. It is very small and contains a lot of fine detail around the handle and spout. 

This is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty in person. This is a jeweled falcon, from India. Falcons have been revered the world over for thousands of years, and even to this day in Qatar. The streets are dotted with large posters of Falcons and also Oryxes. People are very proud of their falcons here. I am told that Qatar Airways gives falcons first class treatment when they travel on a QA plane, but I don't know if that is true. I suppose if my mother gets hired on with them, I will get to find out:) My mother said that when she was teaching in Doha, some of her students brought in their falcons to show her. One summer a falcon moved into the tree in my backyard in Canada and graced us with its presence all throughout the summer and early fall.

 These are Syrian bracelets from the 16th century. Beautiful and heavy looking!!! The details in the facing around the gemstones are just amazing. 

These are Central Asian jars, from either the 9th or 10th centuries. The thing that always amazes me when I go to a museum anywhere, is that the things which our ancestors made, would probably still be useful today. Can we say the same thing about the goods we manufacture now? 

Qatar News

Just reading the paper this morning and a few things caught my eye....

Firstly, since everyone else is doing it, I will join Qatar in congratulating His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Thani, Chief of Emiri Diwan on the occasion of his marriage.

Blessings to your marriage and remember the old expression, "Happy wife, happy life". :)

I was hoping to find a nice link through the newspaper like I did for the other things below, but I couldn't.

**************************************************************
The following article was on the bottom of the fold, and it should have been on the top. Just my opinion.....but a pending water crisis is more important than some new ambulances. I did not realize that Qatar leads the Gulf countries in water recycling and conservation. Bravo!!! However, when you think about the rapidity of growth in this tiny nation - the population was about the same as the City of Winnipeg when my parents first arrived here in 2004, and now it's over 1.7 million people. That would place a HUGE demand on all resources, and let's face it, in a desert country water is probably more precious than gold. I read in the article about a hydroponic garden that has been started recently as a conservation project. I wonder if that was the garden centre I was in the other day. Hmmm.

**************************************************************
Qatar: Sand, Sea, Sky. I read about this book, written by Diana Untermeyer, wife of the former US Ambassador to Qatar, from 2004 to 2007. I will be hunting for this book. I wish I had seen this paper article YESTERDAY when I was at the Museum of Islamic Art because it is apparently for sale in their gift shop. However, the article also states that it can be purchased online so if I can't get back there before I leave, then I suppose I can order it when I get back to Canada. This is a great country and the people here are so warm and welcoming. They really do make you feel like family, even when you're falling flat on your face trying hard not to be a typical Westerner....which I may or may not have done :D