Happy Deepavali!

The view from my landing of my downstairs neighbor's apartment last night.

The carefully laid colored powder and the fresh flowers made me smile. I was extra careful not to mess it up on my way up and down.

Happy Deepavali!

The Bachelor Ban

Even though Qatar is a very Westernized country, there are occasional moments where I am distinctly reminded that Qatar is not like the suburbs of Chicago. Take shopping at the local malls. Being a female, I'm never restricted access and can enter anytime I wish (provided I'm not scandalously dressed of course!) However, it's a different case for males, particularly single males, and even more so for single laboring immigrant males (who currently make up about 1M out of Qatar's 1.7M people). Malls and even public places frequently institute 'family only' hours or days, restricting the access of single-males. Some apply this mandate to all males, regardless of race or appearance, but others seem to employ it only against " bad-smelling, poorly-dressed adult men".

A recent newspaper inquiry tested the basis for denying admittance to single males. The paper found that generally, well-dressed and proper single males were allowed in while those in worker clothes or with scruffy appearances were denied. Also, some reports have found that Western and Arab males would be let in, but Asians were not. Two single professors at Carnegie Mellon expressed concern over this ban, as they are Pakistani and Bangladeshi and could be mistaken for being part of the laboring class.

While 'family only' time has been a practice here for several years, it recently made headlines over the Eid holiday, where workers had time off but were prevented from gathering in the malls, the souqs, or even the Corniche (waterfront area). Where should they go? What happens when you don't give 1M people something to do during their off hours? In the States, this situation could breed resentment and problems but Qatar has a unique solution: deport 'em. Since only Qataris are citizens, anyone else is an expat (even if born here) and could be duly deported to their home country if they act up. That certainly has a way of quelling unrest...

And unlike the States, there really is no effective way to protest or counter this 'bachelor ban' situation. Write a petition? To whom? Boycott the spots with the ban? Where are you going to go? Organize a protest? Fine- how soon that you pack your things for your deportation flight back home? :/

My commute

Before I move to my new apartment at the Education City Housing Compounds less than 5 minutes from Education City, I thought I'd share my current commute home from EC to my apartment at Al Samrya Gardens. The ride home is usually significantly shorter than the ride to work, mainly because in the morning traffic backs up due to a short light that only lets traffic in one direction at a time. Each cycle takes four minutes, so sometimes it takes 20-30 minutes just to get through the light, meaning my 10 km drive could take 30-40 minutes! Crazy. In order to lessen my impact on the environment and recapture about an hour of my day, I'm moving to EC housing (inshallah) next week.



Items of potential interest in this video:
-You'll perhaps notice a large white building with 'holes' in the facade on the right- the LAS Building at EC was the most recent former home of CM-Q.
-After that, the large white towers and space on the right is the EC Ceremonial Courtyard, where EC senior celebration was held.
-This video was shot before I received my vehicle permit pass, which now saves me the trouble of dropping off and picking up my international driver's license at EC Security each day.
-Where I pause before I turn onto the main road was the site of my March accident (which ending up costing me about $1K). I'm a lot more cautious in my driving now.
-Note the roundabouts- once the bane of my driving existence, I know generally embrace them for speeding up traffic. Some roundabouts in Doha have traffic lights, which does slow things down somewhat but probably reduces accidents.
-The huge billboards at the final main intersection are the site of my usual morning long-light. This time I got lucky and zipped right through.
-Since one can't make left turns throughout most of Doha unless using a roundabout or making a U-turn at an intersection, I take the back way to my compound to avoid the crowded roundabout I would need to use to get to my compound.

Opposites

Before my students complete their next assignment in a week (the infamous LAS Faculty Film Poster), I thought I'd share the most recent designs: 'Opposites'.

The students were randomly assigned two relatively opposite words. Their challenge was to visualize the meaning of each word, with each composition succeeding individually and together as a pair. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the solutions this semester. Remember- these are non-design students and for many, this is their first foray into the mean world of the Adobe Creative Suite (mainly Illustrator).

Enjoy.

Maryam Alsemaitt

Nada Mohsin

Noora Al-Mannai

Shaereen Vencilao

Amna Al-Hitmi

Asma Al-Kuwari

Aysha Siddique

James Harrell

Lawrence Tan