Camels and Christmas- getting closer

So they painted our house last weekend (technically supposed to be done before we moved in but as we are learning- not too bad in the big picture- we could have been waiting till March)

What to do when your house smells? That's right- the Camel Racetrack. We have a few simple goals as a family living abroad: we want to experience the rich diversity of people on our little planet, we want to see and explore amazing places, and we want to ride camels.

So far we found a plastic camel you can ride if you put a couple riyals in and we saw some camels in the back of a truck. We were ready- I had tried to do some research into race schedules but couldn't really find anything- guess you just kind of know when they are if you are a camelracing afficionado. We weren't in the know but had a map and off we went. It's an impressive facility but not with too many bleachers- the reason for this is that the crowd goes with the camels. The race course is long- (5-10k?). The owners are on the inside of the track with little remote controls- the jockeys are now robots- they used to use small boys wearing velcro pant (seriously) but I guess enough of them perished that they had to come up with another option- which is a pity because I think Luca would really be a good camel jockey. The crowd is on the outside of the track and they drive with the race- if the roundabouts of this country are any indication- I bet it's CRAZY- that would be where I would be placing my bets... except that you cannot bet in this country.

Alas, there were no races that day so we watched the camels trotting about and dreamed of the day that we are the riders- getting closer. As is christmas- I don't know how I shall fit a camel saddle under the tree this year.

Thinking of you all

Empty parking lot and grandstands? Sweet we can sit wherever we want!

I never thought I would say this out loud- Camels are cute, and baby camels- super cute.

In Colorado we call this beetle kill- in Doha this is the only christmas decoration I have seen- not much in the way of marketing over here- it's kind of nice