Having a coffee in Souq Waqif - the first in a while - we were pleased and suprised to see two mounted police riding two super Arab horses on patrol. And then taken aback to see, trotting behind the two horses, two men ready to clean up anything the horses left behind!
(Scroll down for the movie.)
In the You Tube movie at the bottom of this post Al Jazeera, often very critical of foreign countries but cautious when it comes to biting the hand that feeds it, dwells on the plight of migrant workers in Qatar. The video pulls no punches: "They are not even treating us as human beings," says a worker at one point in the video.
We find the video fascinating. There are already contradictory forces at work in Qatar. On the one hand the Doha Media Freedom center is invited to set up here, and it doesn't take long it gets into a blazing row. On the other hand journalists, who often have their passports taken away for the duration of their stay here (hopefully new legislation will put a stop to this) are often careful of just what they say. Jail sentences handed out, although often for journalists who have returned to their home country before their trial, reinforce this.
At the same time, a decision has obviously been taken not to censor high profile websites like Qatar Living, as well as smaller blogs like this one. In Qatar Living especially there is no topic which has not been discussed, from politics to religion to the personal characteristics of Qataris. To date just one post has been censored - that featuring images of a censored book: Winnie the Pooh.
The movie below is not directly critical of Qatar, but does draw attention to the workers suffering here. While viewers can only have sympathy for these labourers, allowing this video to be broadcast is a very positive step forward for Qatar.
Also see: Qatar Labourers: No Place to Go
A sign at The Pearl gives a clue to how transport in Doha might develop in the future.
Also see: Qatar Transport.
Getting in Contact with Qtel
Seeing that people were getting in contact with Qtel too easily (only one hour waiting time) Qtel have now taken new steps to frustrate and annoy customers.
This was my recent experience when, after 17 hours of no internet (general error according to Qtel) my internet slowed to a crawl for several days.
Now when you ring Qtel you get a new message telling you all operators are busy and asking you to ring back later.
If this was an option it would be quite a good idea. However, you are then cut off.
Of course, when you do telephone back later you get the same message.
I can only assume that a Vodafone mole has infiltrated Qtel and is taking measures to make sure all Qtel customers transfer to Vodafone when their internet services become available.
Katy Adler visits Doha in a recent BBC news article on Qatar, but fails to get under the skin of the country.
In many respects she has the same experience as many expatriates here - the people she meets, apart from in an official capacity, are not Qatari.
Harsher penalties have been introduced for both sponsors and foreigners breaking the sponsorship law in Qatar according to an article in Arabian Business today.
Weird - I ran across this this morning - a 'snow city' for Qatar.
For those of you with text browsers here is what it says...
The Qatar Supreme Desert Development Council (QSDDC) is planning its most ambitious project yet - a snow city to be located in the heart of the Qatar Desert.
Incredibly, the city, which is the brain child of Sudanese Champion Skier Dr. A. F. Ool, will be located outside.
According to Dr Ool, as the snow will be generated via solar-nuclear energy the project will actually run best the in searing heat of the summer.
For more information visit the official website at www.QatarSnowCity.com.
By John
On April 26th, the 6th Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir.
The race track, designed by Herman Tilke, the in-vogue track designer also responsible for the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia, is 5.4 kilometers long and the race consists of 55 laps, giving a total distance of 297.6 kilometers.
The race will be hotly contested by the 20 or so cars. At the moment the exact number is unknown following the withdrawal of Honda from the sport.
The former Honda team under the brilliant Ross Brawn, architect of much of Ferrari's success in the Michael Schumacher days, including the winning by Schumacher of the first Bahrain Grand Prix, are currently looking for a new owner but are hoping to be racing in 2009.
The other winners at Sakir have been Fernando Alonso, in 2005 and 2006 for Renault and Fillipe Massa for Ferrari in 2007 and last year.
Last years race was an early turning point in the championship, with a Ferrari one-two after a poor start to the season and BMW in 3rd and 4th, iving them a champonship lead.
Hamilton had a disastrous race last year, stalling at the start and then, in an over eager attempt to make up lost places,running over the back of Alonso's car.
Sakhir circuit features a variety of bends, slow hairpins, fast curves and complex corners with double apexes.
There are large run-off areas, criticised by some as being too forgiving of drivers' mistakes. However, I would rather see a driver able to carry on and attempting to make up lost places than a wrecked car in the wall and hard won advantages by other drivers eroded by the deployment of the safety car.
Another "feature" of the course is dust, which can make the opening laps of both qualifying and the race more hazardous.
One thing we can be sure of, the 6th Bahrain F1 GP will provide an exciting weekend of racing with plenty of drama.
Sakir Circuit, Bahrain.
Length: 5.4 Km.
No. of laps: 55
Race distance: 297.605 Km.
Lap record: M. Schumacher/ Ferrari 2004 1Min 30.252 sec.
Also check out our guide to the new Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix.
At last Qtel plan to upgrade and speed up their internet connection. (Good job they didn't announce it tomorrow or I would have thought it was an April Fool's joke!)
At least I think it isn't an early April Fool's joke - the work is due to start tomorrow.
We've been a big critic of Qtel's slow connection and slower service - see 200 KBPS a Perfect Lines Says Qtel.
However, give us a fast working connection and we could become Qtel's their biggest fans. (Telephones that are answered in ten minutes instead of an hour would also be a bonus.)
The plan involves short term disruption, but if they keep disruption to half an hour at a time as promised it will be well worth it.
After being rejected as one of Vodafone's first 100o customer's, I might even stay with their mobile phone service!
You can read the full story on the Gulf Times site!
IT wizard and running fanatic Martin Taylor is getting ready to run across the Sahara desert after months of traning in the Qatar desert.
Martin left his high powered job in Holland in February and came to Qatar in search of a new life and adventure. Now he is preparing for the run of his life in the Marathon Des Sables, a 6 day, 151 mile run across the Morroccan desert with only the food the runners can carry.
Martin is doing this in aid of charity. The charity he is sponsoring is Facing Africa. Facing Africa supports victims of Noma, a ravaging and gangrenous disease which destroys the faces of young children. Facing Africa sends out teams of surgeons to Africa to rebuild the faces of these young victims.
To read about the charity and its work visit Facing Africa: Noma. You can also sponsor Martin on his run, or visit Martin's blog to follow his progress across the desert.
Noma - BBC report:
Friday morning saw my kids and I floating on our backs in a swimming pool, looking up at a blue sky before enjoying a barbeque.
With daily reports of both dreary weather and economic gloom from home - 18 were made redundant from my sister’s office last week - I felt lucky to be in Qatar.
Qatar is not unaffected by the crisis. The property sector is buckling, and oil and gas prices have fallen to too low a level to justify the huge ongoing investment needed for the future.
The Emir himself has said that what we are seeing now are just the first signs of a global recession that will affect exporting as well as importing companies.
However, in Qatar, unlike much of the rest of the world, the recession does not dominate the conversation.
And unlike my own country, Qatar used the good times to build up huge budget surpluses - and it is not afraid to use it to support struggling home industries.
Huge investment is still going ahead, and there are no plans to cut government spending.
Qatar may well yet be affected by the recession - but right now, I feel lucky to be here.
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