Doha Tribecca Film Festival

 Or DTFF for those of us who visited the festivities.  Opening night was earlier this week on Tuesday at the Doha's brand new cultural village. It was packed full of red carpet celebs such as Salma Hayak, Kevin Spacey, and the festival's biggest supporter, Robert Di Nero. The opening film (Above the Law) was showcased in an outdoor theater with the gulf on two sides.  It was my first French film. Good thing there were subtitles in English (and Arabic). 

The film festival took place over several days. Thursday night was capped off at the Four Seasons beach theatre. This is probably the coolest thing I have done since I arrived several months ago.  The film was "The Two Escobars".  A little disappointed because my husband saw the same film on ESPN in the US. Here I was feeling so special when I could have viewed it in the comfort of my own home for free.  However, if I had watched it at home, I could not have watched the entire movie with my feet in the sand. What a romantic setting, with lounge beach chairs, a warm breeze, the screen several yards out into the Gulf, AND goodie bags! 

Friday night was the not an exciting location, just at one of Doha's 8 malls, but the film was spectacular. I saw "Waiting for Superman", the documentary about the US public school system. Great film, very well done, and a must see!

Same, Same, but DIFFERENT

I am now back in the balmy weather of Doha.  I had a wonderful two weeks in the US visiting family, friends, running a marathon...the usual.  The number one question I got was "What is it like over there?"  There is a simple answer...same, same, but DIFFERENT (which is a favorite saying for this part of the world when describing things that are similar, but very different-ex. whole and skim milk).  What do I experience in every day life....
Food-Humus, breads, LOTS of dates, gorgeous desserts (personal opinion-look better than they taste), camel meat (no, I have not had any yet), juice stalls-AMAZING!
Driving-Few rules of the road, even fewer rules enforced, round-a-bouts with stop lights, heavy congestion during rush hour
Clothes-Abaya's and Thobe's for the Qataris. All others are conservatively covered from shoulders to knees. High-end runway fashion, beautiful handbags and a Rolls are nice accessories.
Families-Very familiar society, which is different than the US. Families in Qatar are considerably larger than you might find Stateside.
Water-Everyone drinks bottled or filtrated water.  Not sure why....
Nightlife-Expats and locals tend to find themselves at either one of the 5 star hotel's restaurants/clubs or at the Souk smoking shisha.  Alcohol can be found at a select few establishments, but most spend their nights sober.
Environment-One word-Beige. Very sandy with mostly neutral colored housing structures.  However, Doha is an architects dream. There are some amazing structures here.

That is all I can think of for now.  Let me know if you want more....

Really? Really!

Sorry I have been absent for a while, but I have been back in the US for the past week. Last Thursday I took the 15 hour and 45 min flight from Doha, Qatar to Houston, Texas.The flight left at 9am Doha time (1am Houston). I tried to stay-up all night to help with the jet lag. My plans were to arrive in Houston on Thursday evening and leave for Chicago on Friday morning. I needed to be well rested because my husband and I were running the Chicago Marathon.  All of that aside, I was looking forward to (AND needed) a nice relazing flight to the States. 

Picture this:  I am sitting in seat 14C, as isle seat.  I was all worried about who might sit next to me. I should have been worried who was sitting in 11A, 11E,  and 19E.  Lucky for me and all the other adults on the plane, those seats were occupied with screaming, whaling children.  It was like a choir of crying, one would start and then others would join like a nicely organzied round of tears. 

You may be asking where were the parents? Sitting right next to them. I understand tough love or the Focker method, but a 15 hour plane ride is not the time to try it out on your children. Really! If you just let you children wail and scream at home, fine. The rest of us on the plane (who were making faces that you could not see) suggest another parenting method for plane rides. Really!  If you are going to let your children cry at ear piercing tunes, then at least provide the rest of us with noice reducing headphones, Really!

Really? Really!