Life Among the Aspens with the Hartleys

Since my sleep pattern is now successfully adjusted to Doha time, I decided my body should get adjusted too so I found my way to the community center gym this morning. I’m not sure how far I made it or how many calories I burned because its been too long since I had to do metric conversions. And it was odd to be on equipment next to an Arab woman working out with her head covering. That just doesn’t happen at Downtown Fitness.

Today’s highlight was a trek in my brother’s jeep to Zekreet. So I’m never been too good with geography but I do know Doha is on the eastern part of the country and Zekreet in on the western border. I stood on a sandy beach today and looked across the Arabian Gulf to Bahrain. I stood on a peaceful land where cultural diversity is embraced and looked across at a land on the verge of great turmoil. As I stood there and contemplated the strife in our world, I took comfort in the sea and the ever faithful tides. The water is an amazing aqua color with a high salt content – I know because I did what we Hartley’s always do when we arrive at the sea – we taste the water. I couldn’t believe how warm the water felt. During the summer here when temperatures can get to 120 degrees fahrenheit,  groups of Arab men stand in the water up to their necks as a way to try to stay cool. We also toured a movie set that has been used in some Arabic movies and a soap opera. Then we crawled around on what I would refer to in New Mexico as mesas. My brother thinks they’re called jebels. I just know they look really cool as they jut out of otherwise barren sand dunes.

We spent quite a bit of time on the roads and highways around the city and found our way to the financial district and the stock market.  For my dear husband, I made special note of the OGE equivalent here called General Electricity. Some of the architecture is so innovative – there’s one building that looks like those little Chinese finger handcuffs and another one people here call the tornado building because of its shape. My personal favorite is what I call the torpedo building – dark charcoal in color, mesh metal exterior and against the water and sky, it looks magnificent. The skylines here, there are actually three, just continue to amaze me. Most of the construction here has happened in the last five years. They don’t hesitate to tear a building down to make room for a new idea or project. I guess that’s the beauty of many things being built out of stucco here until the last few years.

My family will tell you, especially my daughter, that I don’t like to shop – except when I’m on vacation. My new friend from Sri Lanka working at the Gold Souk told me my husband would completely understand if I decided to buy some new bling. He even offered to explain it to Tim on the phone. I decided not to call Tim at 1:20 a.m. And I went light on the bling, but scarves are a different matter. Many of the items here in the souks are from India and Pakistan and the artistry is quite stunning. We also made a stop at another of Doha’s malls. I’m telling you it is so bizarre to see all the Arabs in their “dress” shopping at American stores like the Gap or Coach, dining on McDonald’s and drinking Starbucks. Again, more opportunities to study the purses and shoes……oh these women make American women look like amateurs when you see their accessories.

One thing Qatar is known for are these wooden boats called Dhows.  They are the traditional boats used for fishing and pearl diving. They remind me of Asia not the Middle East. It’s cool to see giant yachts right next to these old wooden vessels in the marina areas. We talked about going out on one, but I don’t do white caps and prefer to keep my motion sickness on land.

Here’s a way that Qatari people have perfected something I would like to see in my country – Petrol (gas) stations are full-service and all have drive up ATM machines. Think about how great it would be to have your car filled for you and to get the cash you need without ever getting out of your car. Just saying I miss full-service gas stations although my hubby is really good about taking care of that need for me.

I know I teased you yesterday with promise of camels. I did see tons of camels today at the racetrack and in the stables. Tomorrow we are riding quad bikes at the dunes and spending some time at a camel souk. I should have some good photos from that.

Take care and Happy St. Patrick’s day!

Today’s post is about art in different forms from simple to intricate.

Museum of Islamic Art

I’ve heard of I.M. Pei, a world-renowned architect, who is famous for his ‘pyramid’ at the Louvre and many other signature buildings across the world. So it’s no surprise that when the Emir decided to build the Museum of Islamic Art, he hired the best. There’s a pattern here in Doha that when the government does something, it is done at the highest level and the concept of “lowest bidder” doesn’t exist. The museum itself is a piece of contemporary art that kept me in awe during my visit. I’m going to post some photos on Facebook again so you can see the beauty I saw today. The actual art in the exhibits isn’t something I’ve seen or studied before. Lots of jewelry, decorated tilework, enameled glass, silver-inlaid metalwork, and carpets and textiles. One big surprise of the day was the lack of actual paintings – the mainstay of American art museums. Evidently it was the belief in this culture between the 7th and 18th centuries that bad things might happen to you if you painted pictures of people, animals or objects. I did over hear an American woman discussing markings on a sword with a Qatari woman and asking her if they represented different tribes like the different Indian tribes in Oklahoma?

Feet are Beautiful

At Tao Yuan, a.k.a. the Foot Care Centre, all three of us enjoyed foot massages for an hour. Males and females are placed in separate rooms, just like the prayer rooms throughout the city. Christy and I were soaking our feet and getting our backs massaged when two Qatari women barged in and tried to “bump” us, but Madame Soong was not going to let that happen, so they left in a huff and we finished with our royal treatment. It cost 90 ryals which is much less than I would have paid in Norman for a similar service. Madame Soong does not speak English but she spoke one of my favorite languages – reflexology.

The Pearl Man

Just about every time I wear my pink and while Qatar pearls I get a compliment so I couldn’t wait to meet the Pearl Man and see what other beauties he might have just calling my name? I have to be careful here not to give away surprises I have in store for family and friends. I did try on a large white pearl necklace priced at 100,000 ryals – that’s $36,500 in U.S. dollars. I didn’t buy the necklace but I do have a picture of it. One cool thing about the different souks or markets here is that you can make a deal.

Other highlights of the day

I did visit the Rug Man today too and saw a beautiful collection of rugs. Just wish I could get rid of all my carpet, put down hard floors and have the Rug Man fill my home with his beautiful floor art.

Lunch was a falafel wrap and bottled water on the outdoor patio at Zait & Zatar in the Souk Waqif. Bottled water is bigger here than the States. A movie was being shot near here so it was a great people watching opportunity.

Dinner was at Al-Majless, a restaurant featuring an extensive selection of Arabic specialties. Two of Dennis and Christy’s friends joined us and we all shared lots of yummy stuff including olive salad, hummus, baba ghanoush and moutable all served with hot, fresh flatbread. Entrees included lamb chops, lamb kebab and stuffed mixed (zucchini, cabbage rolls and dolmas). Everything was yummy and I know I’ll appreciate dishes like this the next time I eat them back home.

After dinner entertainment included an open mic night at the Doha Players theater. Dennis and Christy’s ukelele teacher performed two songs tonight and was just darling. No Arabs were there, on ex-pats. Many people had brought their own beer and wine so I asked my brother how this was possible in a Muslim country where alcohol isn’t allowed. The Emir loves America’s support so ex-pats can apply for a liquor license. The amount they are allowed to purchase each month is a percentage based on their income. Dennis said most of his friends say the amount is so great you could never get close to your limit. And there is one liquor store here in a country of 1.6 million people. If you get stopped by police with alcohol on your breath or an open container in your car, you are immediately deported. No tolerance equals no DUI’s.

A few key things I learned/observed today:

• When you don’t finish your meal, you ask for a “take away” instead of a to go box.
• Most of the cars here are luxury brands and no more than a few years old. You get fined if you have a beater or a car with dents and dings. I have no idea what happens to the old cars but there are some sweet BMW’s here.
• Gas is about 90 cents a gallon so there are lots of SUV’s.
• Roundabouts really do work to manage traffic effectively.

Tomorrow’s post will likely include something about camels….

Doha in the daylight was not what I expected. My vision of a third world country with developing infrastructure was inaccurate. This place is rocking! The construction is impressive and they are serious about competing for international sporting events. I understand why the World Cup chose this city for its 2022 event. They will be ready and if their Aspire Center is any indication, it will be amazing. Aspire is their Olympic training center with residences. It will be fun to watch future Olympics to see how this investment pays off. It is different to see no grass and the sand/rock rubble look but I’ve gotten used to it. There are lawns and beautiful landscaping around the villa where Dennis and Christy live and at key areas of the city.

My day started with a tour of the Texas A&M building within Education City. The craftsmanship and materials used in construction here get A+ grades. I’m proud of Dennis and Christy for taking this risky step in 2003 and being part of spreading America’s wonderful higher education here. It was great to meet many of my brother and sister-in-law’s friends. And everyone was generally pleasant when I answered the question “where are you from” with Norman, Oklahoma. I even got some scoop that former TAMU basketball coach Billy Gillespie is OU’s choice to replace Jeff Capel – time will tell.

Next up was the new Student Center, the project my brother has been working on for the last three years for the Qatar Foundation. I posted some photos on Facebook so you’ll have to check them out to see the grandeur of this facility. Separate prayer rooms and fitness centers for men and women caught me a bit by surprise. It’s easy to see America here and forget it’s a Muslim country, but only for a few minutes. Then a woman walks by wearing a floor length black abaya with a shayla covering her entire face, but sheer enough so she can see through it. Of course none of those women are students here. The students from Qatar are dressed more progressively with “bedazzled” head coverings and full make-up. You also see students from Jordan, Oman, Yemen and other countries dressed like us. We also visited the Carnegie Mellon building and enjoyed lunch with friends in the food court. I enjoyed studying the art of shoes and purses – these women know how to accessorize! It is Education City after all and it’s important to study.

The time difference isn’t too tough, although we did have a short power nap this afternoon before heading out to Vilaggio, one of Doha’s upscale shopping malls complete with Tiffany’s and Cartier. Lots of fun to people watch and see American store signs in English and Arabic. Next stop was The Pearl – an even more upscale retail development on a man-made island in the shape of a clam in the bay of the Arabian gulf. We had dinner at Pompano’s, a restaurant concept developed by Placido Domingo. We shared smoked swordfish, guacamole, mini tacos with tenderloin beef, and rib eye steak on flatbread with black beans and carmelized onions. If there is an official drink of Qatar, it’s what I enjoyed during dinner – fresh mint lemonade. May not sound that weird but it’s green, not yellow. If you like mint, you’ll like this. After dinner, we strolled by the Lancel, Vera Wang and Maserati stores. (I’m not sure how to break the news to Sarah that she won’t be able to attend the University of Tulsa, but I have a sweet new purse she can borrow.)

You should know I am a self-proclaimed foodie – and our tour through two grocery stores today called Lulu’s and CarreFour was really cool. Lots of American products with labels in English and Arabic. I was surprised by the selection and quality of fruits and vegetables, including about a dozen things I couldn’t identify without reading the little signs. Speaking of signs – prices here are in Qatar ryals, which are 3.65 to a dollar. Thanks goodness my iPhone has a calculator. And I’ve discovered an easy way to convert celsius to fahrenheit.

I’m signing off from today’s post with something very important – toilet flushing devices in Qatar have two buttons to choose from after you take care of business – there is a large button and a small button. I’m leaving it up to you to do the math and figure out which one to push.

Good night and sweet dreams!

When my brother first told me he and my sister-in-law were moving to Qatar, I asked him where in Texas that was located. Then he broke the news that Qatar is a small middle eastern country next to Saudi Arabia. Probably most well known as the launching point of the war against Iraq. Since they moved here almost eight years ago, I’ve never been worried about their safety. I’ve gotten to see them at least twice each year and the technology advancements during the last few years have made it possible to communicate as often as we want. My family has learned a great deal about this little country and been exposed to a different culture thanks to Dennis and Christy.

For those who don’t know, my brother worked in College Station for Texas A&M for 20 years before accepting an opportunity of a lifetime to move to Doha and help create the engineering branch campus for TAMU as part of Education City. Six American universities have campuses here and the last three years Dennis has overseen planning, development, construction and the opening of a student union for those universities to share. His time here is almost over as he and Christy will move to Tulsa this summer for another transition in their lives that will include more time with parents, children, grandchildren and family.

With the clock ticking, I knew my chances to visit Doha were dwindling. It meant a great deal to me when my brother told me how much he wanted me to travel here and experience what his life has been like the last eight years. So…

Tim and Sarah dropped me off at the OKC airport Sunday, March 13. I flew to Houston, then made it through a long line at Qatar Airways, and a long security line at the airport just in time to get to my gate about 15 minutes before boarding. As other passengers sat, I was doing my yoga stretching moves, knowing my children would have been totally embarrassed by my public display. However, in my defense, the longest flight I’ve experienced was from Phoenix to Kauai – about eight hours. This flight – 14+ hours direct from Houston to Doha – had me a bit on edge.

I had plenty to keep me busy, especially since my wonderful boss bought a new MacBook for our office, which just happened to come with me to Doha. And I am using it this evening to type my blog post.

So I boarded the plane and sat in my aisle seat next to Mayonia from Bali and Nada from Canada by way of Islamabhad, Pakistan. Three women traveling alone and thankful to have each other for the next few hours. Mayonia slept about 13 hours of the flight. Nada and I had the chance to get to know each other. She lives in Calgary and was flying home for her best friend’s wedding and to help her sister plan a September wedding. We talked about religions of the world, U.S. history, and the importance of education no matter where you grow up or where you live.

Qatar Airways calls itself a five-star airline. Now any good marketing professionals out there know what a trap it is to set high expectations if you can’t meet them. Qatar Airways exceeded them. After getting seated, they came by with a basket of candy and hand wipes, then a cart of newspapers and magazines, and a smile at all times. Hot wet washcloths were the sign that dinner was on its way. An appetizer of mixed bean salad with a spiced yogurt dip, an entree of Louisiana creole chicken with roasted red skin potatoes and mixed vegetables, followed by a thai coconut tapioca, and fresh bread, cheese, chocolate and your choice of French or Chile red wine. (French for me.)

I passed a few hours by watching the James Franco movie, 127 hours, then caught up on some work while listening to Steve Wonder Live. Finally drifted off to a light sleep to wake up, sort of, at 3 a.m. to the offer of sandwiches and chips, which I declined. I kept sleeping but couldn’t pass up the 6 a.m. offer of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream. Then a quick spruce up in the bathroom. (Good call Sarah Hartley on the one use toothbrush thingamajig from CVS.) Then a little more work, some reading, another movie, then a fantastic omelet for breakfast with chicken sausage, fresh fruit, yogurt, mini bagel with cream cheese, orange juice and coffee. Did I mention the flight attendants – all female although Christy says they often have male attendants – are offering you water and juice any time you want it. They also provide you with a printed menu of your dining options and little stickers to put on the top of your seat if you don’t want to be disturbed – like a hotel room do not disturb placard.

So 14 hours didn’t seem that bad. I made new friends and watched a couple good movies. Even squeezed in some work. Arrived safely in Doha and was met by a personal assistant (Thanks to my wonderful brother and sister-in-law) who walked me through the Visa process, collected my luggage, and delivered me to my family.

They swept me away to an open air market with puppies, cats, birds, turtles, hamsters and crabs. Every fourth or fifth shop in the souk (A.K.A. mall) featured a tailor actually sewing clothing. I’ll be going back for scarves and other Qatari treasures for my family and friends. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant top floor patio And I enjoyed lentil soup, half of a camel sandwich, and some of my brother’s seven vegetable couscous. And a sweet treat of Moraccan mint tea. Wondering what camel tastes like – it tastes like chicken with a hint of lamb.

This city was beautiful tonight with its stunning architecture featuring well planned lights. I can’t wait to see what daylight brings.

My goal is to provide an update each evening and to hopefully add some photos.

On our way to the Oklahoma City airport. First stop Houston. Then Doha, Qatar.
Waiting to board, wondering what the stories are of the people waiting with me. Hoping whoever sits next to me is clean, fits between the arm rests and views life with great joy!

So our family loves to visit Santa Fe and we make it there a couple of times each year. We have some favorite places to eat, sleep and shop. Many friends have asked for recommendations so I’m including our Hartley Family List of Favorites:

1. One of the most affordable and consistent places to stay is Santa Fe Motel and Inn. Always clean and the breakfast featuring local fare and incredible bread from the Sage Bakery is just part of the deal. The location is ideal as it is just south of the Plaza.
2. Now if you want to do the historic/romantic hotel deal, we always choose La Fonda. The pool is refreshing in summer and a massage is a good idea any time of the year.
3. On our last two visits we’ve rented houses and those were both good experiences. You can visit Vacation Rentals by Owner or VBRO, or visit Two Casitas and talk with Wendy Kapp.
4. We love eating our way through this town. Our favorites for New Mexican include Maria’s (awesome margaritas), The Shed, La Choza and Cafe Castro (near Jackalope – I’ll get to that later). We recently discovered Mucho Gusto and were impressed with the service and blown away by the new take on Mexican favorites. Breakfast is great at Tia Sophia’s on the Plaza – locals flock to it and that’s always a great sign.
5. For drinks and snacks we would count the Coyote Cafe Rooftop, the bar at La Fonda, and Del Charro as our favorites.
6. Shopping is a necessary part of any trip to SF. Leave plenty of room in your car for wine from Trader Joe’s. Yes, they sell Two Buck Chuck but they also have a great assortment of other wines at unbeatable prices. There’s also a wonderful World Market in the Sanbusco area where you can get fun home stuff and more wine……BUT the best place to shop and play is at Jackalope out on Cerrillos road (Cafe Castro is just across the street). There are at least eight buildings to visit – you’ll buy some things, but it’s just fun to check out the outlandish furniture and to watch the glass blowing demonstrations.    

And we made another trip to Santa Fe, this time for a ski trip between Christmas and and the New 2012 Year. We added some great new spots to our list and here they are:

1. The Pantry on Cerillos Road – so we’ve driven by this place for years and our daughter has wanted to go there many times but it just looks so blah from the road, not much curb appeal. But we wanted to go somewhere for breakfast on a Sunday morning so we tried it. WOW – I’ve never had anything quite as good as the cheese omelette stuffed with a chili relleno, covered in more cheese and red and green chili sauce. The side of potatoes, which are boiled, then sliced and fried in butter with paprika are like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Service was outstanding!

2. We also had drinks at the new Ore House right on San Francisco street in the Plaza area. What a lovely open space with live music. We didn’t have dinner but we did look at the menu and eyed dishes being delivered to tables around us. Everything looked and smelled yummy!

3. Late one afternoon while the boys were watching more football, we headed over to the Sanbusco area and really had fun meandering from store to store. There are some really cute local places as well as some favorites like Chico’s.

4. And this time we rented a condo at the Fort Marcy Complex because it is right on the road up to the ski area. We’ve stayed at Fort March before, but this two-story condo with a fireplace and great views of the Sangre de Cristo mountains was perfect for the five of us. And the price was was less than $225 per night.

Enjoy your travels!

Celebrating Life

This photo is of my dad celebrating his 80th birthday. He never talked much but when he said something he meant it and when he laughed, he laughed hard. Pappy died in December of 2007 and hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of him in some way. He’s physically gone from this world however he lives on in me, his sons, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. We give him credit for the great sense of humor we share as a family. Thanks Paps!

Yesterday a complete stranger picked up my lunch tab. When asked why, he said he was celebrating life. So let’s start this blog dealio with a couple of questions – what’s the coolest thing a complete stranger has ever done for you? And what have you done lately for a complete stranger? If you’re like me and can’t think of answers quickly, then shouldn’t we start being kinder to everyone we meet? I know I thought the stranger who bought my lunch was a little nuts. I found out later he is one of the most generous people in our state who freely shares his wealth with underpriviledged children.  Now that’s cool.