A couple of weekends ago, Edna and I had breakfast at Rik’s
Kountry Kitchen, an American based restaurant in Doha. The restaurant offers American cuisine and
has American university and sports teams banners hanging all over from the
rafters. It appears that most of the schools
and teams are those which are the favorites of the Americans who live in Qatar
and have dined in the restaurant.
Therefore, the Pittsburgh Steelers are quite prominent. It was excessively hot as we exited our car
and headed for the restaurant. An Arab
man was outside selling honey to shoppers.
He told us that the honey was authentically from Yemen. Yemen has the
reputation for having the best honey in the Middle East. We told the man that that we would talk with
him when we were leaving, after we finished eating. Now the temperatures are extra hot in the
desert at this time. Edna found a web
site that stated that the heat index placed the temperatures at essentially 138
degrees. Needless to say, folks don’t
stay outside any longer than they need to.
This man stood outside trying to sell many jars of honey for the entire
time that we were eating, and more than likely all day. Folks from the Middle East are somewhat used
to the heat. We’ve met Sudanese folks
who live in the desert without air conditioning. But I don’t see how anyone actually “gets
used” to the desert. There he was when
we left, still selling his honey. We
bought a jar.
Many folks take trips to the different countries of the
Middle East. CMU sends folks from
Admission to recruit in the various Gulf Coast Countries. Yemen is not one of those countries. Yemen is in the middle of a war. Most folks believe that the war is actually
between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but is being fought in Yemen, at the expense of
the Yemenis, and by Yemenis. Saudi
Arabia, abbreviated KSA, and Iran are opposites. KSA is made up of Arabs, of the strictest
Islam sect, Wahhabis, which is a fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam. Iran is made up of Persians, and represents
Shi’a form of Islam. The “little people”
are caught in the middle. But there is
an interesting story that we learned a few months ago. Yemen has at least one church in the country,
an Anglican-Episcopal church. They
haven’t been able to meet for worship since the war began, for obvious safety
reason. One day a few months ago, a
group of terrorists determined to destroy the church building. However, the people from the community
surrounded the church, and told the would-be destroyers that they weren’t going
to destroy “our church.” Interesting,
everyone who encircled the building was a Muslim. None of them worship at the church site. However, they called it “our church” because
it is in their community, and they feel a burden to protect it as part of their
“hospitality.” Hospitality is a
tremendous virtue to Arab Muslims especially.
These are the types of stories that never seem to find their way into
western news stories.
The heat will continue to be unbearable for a couple more
months, until around October. Until
then, eyeglasses steam up when one exits a vehicle. There is also a haze, the skies are
frequently sandy or dirty, and the air quality is not good. Then it will begin
to cool and be nice. The freshmen were
here for orientation last week at CMU.
Classes will begin today.
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| Our pool |
With regard to foods, Qatar prohibits pork products and all
products that originate or contain pork products. Therefore, there is no ham, sausage, or pork
ribs or rinds. Likewise, there is no
Jell-O or Peeps, because they contain pork products. The hot dogs are all beef. When they serve bacon or sausage, you can be
assured that it is turkey bacon, ham or sausage. Many call those products, “facon.”
Finally, one of the questions that we are asked by our
friends in the states is, “what do Middle Easterners and Muslims think of the
United States?” I am sure that there are
various thoughts, but for the most part, our experience is that they love
America and Americans. This week, a
Middle Eastern female student stopped in to tell me that she is spending a
semester of study at CMU in Pittsburgh. Her
facial glow was amazing and told the whole story. I have had at least 4 other students
talk with me about spending a semester in the US, either they leave in a week
or so, or they have just returned. They could not be more excited. When I ask prospective students if they have
traveled in the states, those who have beam.
The three most prominent areas that they have travelled are New York
City, Orlando, and LA. They love it. Folks
from the Middle East keep up with our news and know a lot about our
presidential election. When the massacres occurred in Orlando a couple months
ago, folks shared their heart-break for America with Edna and me. Their
comments included that this is how they have to live in their home countries all
the time, (the threats of terror), but they don’t want it to happen and are
stunned that it is happening in the US. AS
we spoke with a Canadian couple, the wife shared that she never realized how
much Canada and the world depends on the USA until her family moved to
Qatar. The US represents the defeat of
terrorism and other evil powers to many. (To be fair, there are others who
remember fatal mistakes that America made or covered up even over 60 years ago
involving the Middle East).
Before we left Qatar for the US in June, the young man
who takes care of the apartment pool, from Nepal, asked me if I would bring him
a USA t-shirt. I figured, that would be easy with July 4th and the
Olympics coming. He wore a medium. But it wasn’t as easy as I figured, because
with our busy summer of travel, I seldom shopped in malls and stores. I only was
in an Old Navy store, and their selection was limited. I forgot about the
request until we unpacked in Qatar, where I was glad that we got the Old Navy
shirt. After a week, I finally connected with him and gave him the shirt. He
giggled. Two days later he showed me a picture
on his camera phone from the previous day, wearing it proudly. He was the envy of his friends and
co-workers. Also, last spring, a couple folks misread the tenor of one of my
responses to an applicant. They called
me in to ask me if I was tired of taking repetitive questions from applicants,
and suggested that I answer like an American and not as a Middle Eastern Arab.
When I explained what I had asked of the student, they realized that they had
misunderstood my tone, that I was blunt, but my questions were sincere and not
sarcastic. I’ve been told that folks miss Edna and me when we are away, because
of our friendly and uplifting nature, speaking to everyone. My point is that
they have a positive view of America and Americans for the most part, and think
of us as benevolent, but powerful. While some Americans ask why so much of the
world hates us, our experience is quite the opposite. Furthermore, when I ask Muslims about ISIS,
Taliban and the like, the general consensus is that those people are crazy. By
this, they really do mean, insane! They’ve been killing their countrymen
viciously for quite a while, way more than they have Americans a couple months
ago.
Until next time, blessings.
Bob & Edna
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