Culture- or what are you putting out there?

As this little planet closes in on 7billion people I just can't help thinking about how truly fascinating humans are- we are pretty weird if you stop and think it over. My friend Tracy Teetaert had a great lesson on the 8th grade hut trips she organized where she had the kids define the culture of the backcountry- It always stuck in my mind and I found that I have tried applying it to different things: mainly people and countries. I see culture to a certain extent as what you put out there for others to take in-people put out kindness, rudeness, humor, etc. Nations do the same and the best part of moving to Doha has been to meet great people from all over.
I have had a notion as well that the culture of the middle east and of america are oil and mcdonalds. It blows me away that the biggest line in the food mart is for the golden arches and the biggest line for america is at the oil pump (cheap asian textiles are pretty close). Is this the best of the 2 countries? Nah- as I was reminded this week- the best part of countries are the people- We had student conferences this week and Qatari parents just want whats best for their kids just like anywhere else on the planet. The other thing that reminded me was watching kids- the kids in our neighborhood just want to play- they don't care where anyone is from, only if you can run around the block.
I like these little reminders- I need these little reminders when the golden arches start to get me down- America isn't just fast food and Qatar isn't just oil $$.

want some fries with that cholesterol? you're welcome. 

luca and the culture of pants on head- we should all try this one

Beiber culture is everywhere

cool hat culture

kids rule culture

the culture of lounging on the front patio

the culture of amusing yourself in foreign lands

the culture of using camels for transportation... or at least transporting camels

Math 101

We had 2 interesting math conversions today that seemed to be a bit of a flip flop from back home. First we pulled in to the gas station in our sweet set of wheels. "Fill er up- all the way up" we said to the attendant- (you don't even get out of the car). The damage: 41 riyals for 41 litres. Bear with me, 41 riyals comes to 11.23 U.S. dollars at the current 3.65 exchange rate. 41 litres is a nifty 10.8 gallons bringing us to a whopping total of $1.04 per gallon!
Now before you get too impressed let's consider the flipside of the coin: alcohol. Our incredible neighbors Ben and Hellie were going to the alcohol Souk (the one- the ONLY- place you can buy in the entire country- and only if you have a residency permit). They kindly offered to pick us up a few items and we eagerly said "YES PLEASE!" So what does 1 case of beer, 3 bottles of wine, and 1 bottle of gin set ya back? 450 riyals- (123$) and after a mostly dry first month- we probably would have paid double. So what would you rather have? cheap gas or cheap liquor? I know some of you are probably answering...well both. DUH!
cheers amigos

As we leave the gas station we had this guilty feeling that we forgot to pay.

and this would be worth more than gasoline- if you weren't allowed to have it.

Have car- buy fish- makes sense!

 As I was walking back from LuLu's (our neighborhood grocer) I was struck by the fact that my Mtn. Dew was not nearly as ice cold as it was 15 seconds ago. We have been kind of in car limbo lately- you can't buy a car without your resident permit and there is a shuttle bus taking us to and from school... and there are taxis. But sometimes a man needs cold soda- it was time to rent a set of wheels and claim some independence. Our sweet ride was delivered on saturday at about noon- yes the delivery was a very nice touch- and the open road was beckoning our beige Nissan Sunny. Not sure what a Sunny looks like? Fear not, nor did I- but I think they are pretty big in china- check out the advert- sweet isn't it?

We decided to go to the Souk Waqif- a collection of shops in narrow alley ways that sells everything from spices to swords. Lisa and the kids were on a mission to find a pet- I went to find coffee and a place to grade papers. I found good strong turkish coffee but started to sweat on the lab reports. The kids found just about everything on their journey- enjoy the pictures and cross your fingers that the next post does not include the word funeral.

Entrance to the Souk Waqif- there are 100's of pigeons on that building- none for sale.

The grand mosque- 

Lisa is still smiling as she enters the animal wing

This is not photoshopped and there is no PETA in Doha

Pleeeeeeeeease may I have a lizard?

and the winner is... fish- may they live long and prosper

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