4/3/2018 1 Comment Searching for peace in QatarThe travel blog is back and better than ever! After a brief 9-month hiatus, I am back to document my experiences across the globe, this time in Qatar. Qatar is a country in the Middle East in the Gulf, nearby Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and the Gulf Sea. It’s basically a little peninsula jutting out of Saudi Arabia. While Qatar is now one of the richest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita (almost $125,000 USD) with a beautiful skyline and constant construction, just 15 years ago that skyline was mostly orange, barren, desert sand. Just about 10% of the population is actually Qatari, while the rest is from various countries in the Middle East and Asia. Getting Qatari citizenship is quite hard, as pretty much the only way to become a citizen is if one’s father is already a citizen. This is similar to many of Qatar’s neighbors.
The trip was fully funded by NU-Q (Northwestern University in Qatar), which is part of Education City (EC) in Qatar, where six American universities (VCU, Carnegie Melon, Cornell, Texas A&M, Georgetown and NU) live more or less funded by the Qatar Foundation, a department of the government of Qatar. So indirectly, my trip was funded by the Qatari government, and boy did it show! The goal of the trip was not necessarily clear, but it seemed to be to see Northwestern’s campus in EC, meet our peers studying there, tour Doha, and see and experience the rich of culture of Qatar. Upon arrival, the 15 of us, along with 2 faculty, were escorted to a lounge to wait, snack, sip on some tea, and relax as our bags were retrieved for us. If only all travel was like this! I definitely felt like we were being treated as VIPs whom had to be pleased and impressed. I’ll take it. Greeted by the hot desert air, we set off to EC to meet our peers and see NU-Q and its beautiful dorms. It was amazing to be back in the Middle East – for whatever reason, this region always feels familiar to me, regardless of which country I’m actually in. It feels like I innately just understand in part some of the culture and more or less am meant to be here. This would be a thought that I would come back to throughout the trip, as the Middle East continues to be the most interesting place in the world – in my opinion. After getting settled in and dinner, the group, most of whom were strangers besides 3-4 pre-trip meetings, walked around EC to find a meticulously kept, well-lit open area called Oxygen Park. Consisting of about three main areas, the park was encircled by lights whose “bulbs” looked like air balloons getting ready to set off into the wind. Inside, the grass was incredibly green for fighting with the desert sun all day long, and each blade was trimmed to the same length. It looked as though this grass has not grown since being planted perfectly. There were soccer goals and a lane or two of a track, and although it was 9 p.m., the park was bustling with kids running around playing in the sand pits or soccer, couples going on a night stroll, etc. – all things that would seemingly not happen in America’s parks at night, which are often not well lit and carry a certain stigma once the sun goes down. Right off the bat, this country seemed like a utopia, a place that seemed just too good, too perfect to be true. We were lucky enough to sleep in the same dorms the EC students live in. Because each school is relatively small in EC, no matter what school you attend, all males sleep in one dorm, while all females sleep in another one 15 minutes away. Dorm does not do the building we slept in justice. Each of us got singles with a private bathroom, flat screen TV, mini fridge, and a lot of space. According to our peers who lived here, these were actually the worst rooms in what I thought of as more of a hotel than a dorm (it even had concierge and cleaning services daily). You can eventually get a full kitchen in your room, as well as other amenities. Of course, this is extremely different from our dorms back home, where most people are in doubles, share a bathroom with their floor, and could use a little bit more space. That being said, what comes with our dorms back at home is something some students in Qatar wished they had: constant socializing. The thought of all hanging out in each other’s rooms, with friends in your hall or in your dorm is not really a thing here. Privacy is often preferred, a trait that aligns with much of the Qatari culture. The next day we toured a few of the buildings in EC – each university gets basically one incredibly pristine, beautiful building where they hold all of their classes. Each college only houses majors which it is known for (i.e. if you go to Northwestern here, you are a communications or journalism major, if you go to TAMU you do engineering). Every single building clearly costs a huge sum of money which the Qatari government paid for, as all the universities had to do was provide the faculty and curriculum. The project, which was established by the mother of the current king, or Emir, of Qatar aimed to bring high-level Western education to the Middle East. While many Qataris are quite conservative, those in EC are seen as very progressive, as these universities are the only in the country that are not segregated by gender, can show lude material for education, can hire whomever they want (most companies here must have at least 40% Qatari employment), and teach in English. We then had a cultural session about Qatar, where we learned about the intricacies of society here and toured the souq, or market place. We learned about the cultural traditions of Qatari dress (men wear long, white dress called thoubs, while women wear long, black dress called abayas), of greetings between men and between women, and of the importance of Arabic coffee serving. The distinct dress makes it easy to see in the population who is Qatari (the people wearing the black or white long dress) and who is not. The coffee is served in small cups by one of the boys of the family in a very particular way, pouring just a little bit at once to avoid pressuring guests to drink more than they want to. It is seen as disrespectful to not finish at least one cup of the coffee, as this can be a sign of rejecting the hospitality of the host. So, a small cup is poured to allow guests to drink as little as they want without being rude. Spices are then lit at the end of a meal when the hosts want the guests to leave as a way of “smoking” them out. The market felt a little different than other Middle Eastern souqs. This was because it was actually built relatively recently, but in a way that gave it an ancient feel like other souqs. So, it was like fake ancient, yet still had all the little trinkets and souvenirs the other ones would have; it was still a tourist trap. One major aspect that differentiated this souq was its bird and other animal market. Countless birds were confined to smelly cages, stacked on squished into each other, living next to cages of bunnies, turtles and more. It definitely did not seem like these animals were treated very well, and I am curious how many people actually come here to buy them. One bunny in particular looked like it was barely moving and on the verge of death. In general, according to one of the faculty at NU-Q, the animals in Qatar are not treated so well, which she feels is one of the domestic issues in the country. The souq essentially shuts down from 12-4pm daily, as it gets to be too hot for the shopkeepers, and reopens until late at night, where shisha abounds. Consequently, many of the NU-Q kids often come to the souq to go out at night, although there is no alcohol sold here, as the only alcohol sold in the country can be found at hotels, albeit at very pricey rates. Because it is an Islamic country, Qatar does not allow pork or alcohol to be sold within its borders. We also had various lectures on the trip to get a better understanding of how Qatar functions. Specifically, we were given a lecture by a Northwestern professor on the blockade, which is the joint closing of borders from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain against Qatar. Once it was announced, Qataris in those countries were given 1.5 days to leave before flights would stop going from those countries, and trade was halted so much so that Qatar airlifted in 2,000 cows for a dairy farm so the country could continue having dairy. While some argue that the blockade came as a result of Qatar sponsoring terrorism, others think that it is because Saudi Arabia either thinks Qatar is getting too rich, too progressive, or too powerful for its liking, and wants to put sanctions on them to deter all of the above. Of course, it depends who you ask. We also met with the Supreme Council that is planning the world cup in Qatar in 2022, where we were spoon-fed a lot of government propaganda. While the U.N. has complained about humanitarian issues with migrant workers building the stadiums due to their slave-like status (the complaint was later dropped in late October of 2017), the person we met with highlighted the great conditions the workers had, citing the fact that they had a soccer league of their own that they got to enjoy in. Needless to say, she did not mention the fact that they were paid much less than they were promised, had previously been tied to employers so much so that workers had to get permission from the employers to leave the country (this was later prohibited), and lived 6-8 people in a studio apartment. When she was asked about these conditions and what the Supreme Council is doing to solve them, the rep we talked to explained that she was not authorized to talk about such issues. If that doesn’t raise a red flag then I don’t know what does. That being said, the Middle East has never hosted the World Cup, so this will be a big chance to show the world what that region has to offer, according to this rep. From there, we saw the incredible wealth that exists in the country, going to a place called The Pearl, which houses incredible apartments on the coast, with a beautiful view of the skyline in the city. We had dinner at the Dean’s house, who has been leading NU-Q for the past 7 years and looks like he is living the life. The catered meal was incredible and talking to him about why he came here was really interesting. It is a lot to come from the U.S. to live in Qatar, but he seems to like it here, as do many of the professors that have moved to Qatar to teach in these universities. One professor we talked to said that he moved here to make sure his kids didn’t get too comfortable just living the regular American life, growing up in rural Pennsylvania, going to Penn State and never challenging themselves. He gave up tenure at PSU for his kids to experience a completely new culture and broaden their horizons. He said getting used to the culture in Qatar has been difficult at times, but after a year he has started to learn how to get around in his industry and research. We also went to the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and shadowed various classes. The MIA was built so its outside looked like a woman wearing niqab. It had incredible art from throughout the Muslim world and its history. One of the more interesting things I learned there was that for one culture, the way tombstones with which they honored their dead had different levels to signify importance or wealth (the more levels the more important), which is the exact same tradition I saw of a Jewish culture in my travels last year. It’s really interesting to see how customs and traditions travel between cultures. The classes were cool to sit in on in that they were learning the same lessons we were in Evanston, and the class dynamic was more or less the same as we had, although it reminded me a lot of high school, as professors and their students knew each other pretty well and had their fun in class more than we do. It seemed a lot more laid back, which was really refreshing. Throughout the trip, each of us was paired with a “shadow buddy” that was a student in our same major who would show us around and bring us to classes. My buddy is an Egyptian who was born in Qatar and lived here his whole life (though he’s not a citizen), and is a journalism major. He brought me to his favorite spot in the city, which was a lookout in a beautiful, well-groomed park on the water that stared right at the skyline. We also visited the state mosque together, which fits 30,000 people in it, and discussed his practice of Islam and my practice of Judaism. I explained to him how Judaism worked, which he had never learned about and was a really interesting conversation to have. He had no idea of really any of my Jewish customs, and was astonished by how long Jewish prayer services can be every day, as he said the ones he is used to take 5-10 minutes. He used to be religious but no longer is. He also took me to his favorite restaurant in Doha, where I got to eat some local food at a little hole-in-the-wall. To be honest, I have no idea what I ate, but I do know that it was so good, and obviously the hummus was just a little bit better than the Sabra hummus I’ve been eating in America. At the restaurant, stemming from our conversation on religion, I asked him about his thoughts on Israel. This was a big topic, and for about an hour we explained to each other our views and what we were taught as children. He said that growing up, people would not refer to Israel as Israel, as that would be recognizing it as a legitimate state and entity. Instead, he was taught to call it an occupying force or oppressive power, etc., and didn’t necessarily love the country. The country was seen as a violent, militant group focused on kicking people out of their homes and destroying families. The Israeli people were seen as wanting collectively one thing, and that was against the Palestinians. As he grew up, he wanted to do some research on his own, and just relatively recently had learned about Israel’s economy, inventions, and I told him about some peace seeking, coexistence groups. It was interesting to hear his perspective and then give mine, which he labeled as pretty moderate. He also asked me if I had any pre-conceived notions on Muslims in general, and overall, I think we had a pretty enlightening conversation for both of us. I realized myself over the next few days trying to avoid saying I had lived in Israel if it came up, rather opting to say Jerusalem, which I hoped would be a more neutral connotation. That being said, I also realized that if I believe Israel is a state and should exist (which I do), then I shouldn’t shade my beliefs just because they might be an outlier here, though I didn’t want to stir up any conversation. It was a dilemma that I still haven’t solved. Finally, we also got to do some really fun activities on the trip, including taking a Dhow boat out onto the water, where we were given an amazing array of grilled meats that continued to show why food in the Middle East is just better than in America. We also got to swim in the sea, which was really welcome after weathering the desert heat. The combo of the swimming and actually unreal meat culminating in the sun setting over the skyline of the city proved to be one of the most fun parts of the trip. The sunsets in Qatar seemed to just be on another level, making me again think of this place as a utopia at times, which of course it is not. As soon as you drive around the city, you see the migrant workers working in the immense heat constantly cleaning or grooming the grass, sidewalks, and glass doors and windows, explaining why the Oxygen Park grass seemed so incredibly pristine. The workers clean and cut it every single day. We also went to the Inland Sea and desert on our last day, which was basically a desert that suddenly turned into a beach. One minute, there were dunes and nothing but sand in sight. The next, there was the giant body of water and what looked like our own private beach. We were split up into smaller cars, and my driver was hilarious. He was Qatari, so he was dressed in his Thoub and everything, and he loved American music. He got Wi-Fi in his car so he could watch music videos on the screen in his car, and we jammed out to everything from Rihanna to Tupac, who he said was his favorite. He just seemed to love his job, as he would swerve around the sand and every time we would go over a bunch of bumps he would make the sounds the car was making, his favorite one being “ra-ta-ta, ra-ta-ta, ra-ta-ta,” which was accompanied by several different hand motions. He was just loving life, it seemed. Some NU-Q students came with us, and we all just chilled at the beach and had a fun last day before our early flight the next morning. Overall, this trip taught me a lot of things. I learned about the Qatari culture and it functions, I learned about college students from across the world liked to do for fun (hint: it’s pretty much the same as us), what their thoughts are on all sorts of hot button issues, and reinforced the idea that traveling to experience other cultures really rounds one out as a person and teaches you invaluable lessons. Although we are all different, we are also all the same. We experience joy in similar ways, want to have fun, but also want to be intellectually stimulated. We are curious and want to learn about each other. It is easy to think of there being a normal or better way to live life, and a different or lesser way to live life, but this is untrue. There is no best way or normal way, only what we are used to in our culture, in our society. Across the world, their normal is different, their good life is different but still good, and they are still people, still humans. For me, traveling is kind of like a reset on who I am, what I want to be, and how I want to spend my time. This trip reaffirmed for me in a big way the value of travel (doing it for free makes it that much better), as it keeps me super curious, constantly questioning and reflecting, and continues to better me as a person. There’s no learning for a test on a trip like this, but rather just learning because I am genuinely curious of what it is like in Qatar. I can’t wait for my next trip, wherever that may be, to experience the world and all its people has to offer. Thanks for finishing the blogpost, I know it was really long, but I’m just excited about sharing my experience with everyone, hope you enjoyed! Shout outs: TVA girls if they’re still reading this.
1 Comment
2/3/2024 08:36:09 pm
How does the article analyze the impact of regional or global factors on the peace-seeking efforts in Qatar?
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AuthorDan Rosenzweig-Ziff Archives
June 2017
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