New and Old

Ok, so I finally took my cameras out and got some pictures of more than just my apartment and parking lots. One thing that I have noticed in Doha is the lack of old buildings. Everything new is better than old seems to be the idea here. At Education City all the buildings are new and some buildings are so new they aren't even finished building them yet. Across the street from the TAMUQ building are some dilapidated buildings. I was able, very easily, to crawl through and got this picture through a door frame of the old building looking at the TAMUQ building on the left and the Weill Cornell Medical College on the right. I enjoyed the juxtaposition. They are building something new right next to these buildings so I assume they will be torn down very soon. New and pretty is desired here.

I was talking to one of my good friends in Texas last night and I mentioned something about the driving here, so let me tell everyone. I would rather drive in a snow storm. There are very few street signs anywhere, only on the occasional little street, but there are street names before you come to a round-a-bout. These only help if you know the street name that they are using at that point in the road. Each street has between 80-100 names (just kidding, bust some do have 3 depending on where you are) but they may or may not be on the maps. Since there is so much construction going on roads are opened and closed all the time, maps aren't accurate. I have taken to drawing in things on my map. The drivers here are a different ball game all together. Old cars are few and far between here and SUVs are the norm. I don't think I have seen so many Land Cruisers anywhere before and the people here, in general, tend to think that the more expensive your car is, the more power you have. You get better parking spots; can be ruder on the road, etc. For example, it is not unusual for people to flash their lights at you. This may mean a number of things, including "get out of my way," "hey, I'm right here," and "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" I am beginning to think that the more expensive the car the more the person is trying to compensate for something.

Also, if you, the reader, have any questions about what something is like here in Doha, send the questions to me (or to Mom and Dad and they can forward it to me) and I'll answer it here on the blog. Things are becoming normal to me now so it is harder to think of interesting things for the blog. One last thing for now, thanks to everyone who has emailed me about enjoying reading the blog, it is nice to know that someone beyond family is reading it. Although I am doubting myself about the spelling of words since so many former teachers are reading this.