The Inspiration: Well, to be clear, I'm not sure I want to go. I'm super curious now though, because in the last 24 hours I've heard people talking about visiting Qatar THREE times, completely independently: the first was in class last night, then in my other class this morning (there are no overlapping students, other than me) and then while I was waiting for my latte at the coffee shop today. Isn't that strange?
Here's what I do know about Qatar. It's on the Persian Gulf, in a region of the world where I've always wanted to go, partially because it's full of mystery for me. It's got the second highest per-capita income in the world. It's natural hazards include "haze". There is an 89% literacy rate. It has about 350 miles of coastline, and only one land border (with Saudi Arabia). That all sounds rather lovely, other than the haze and the probably-very-expensive part. However, and this is important, it's quite hot there. According to http://www.qatarvisitor.com/
"Hottest average temperatures in Qatar peak at around 41 Celsius in June and July. Of course, that doesn’t reflect what it is really like to be out in the sun in the middle of the day when temperatures can reach or pass 50 degrees Celsius. It’s also worse in the city, where air-conditioners pump cold air into the houses but hot air into the city. The towns are also located in the coastal areas, where there is greater humidity. Everyone who can leaves Qatar for the summer."That sounds awful; really, really awful. For reference, 50º C is 122º F. Sooooo, if you're one of those people who loves Qatar, you should tell me why I should want to go there.
I want to go to Qatar! Of course, that's really just part of my general desire to visit some of the more progressive oil-rich Gulf States. But I feel like Qatar would be a good choice if only because quite a few American Universities (CMU, Georgetown, Cornell, Texas A&M, etc.) have decided it's safe enough to have campuses in Doha. That and Al-Jazeera broadcasts there, well, at least the children's channel does. Of course, I have heard that you have to be careful what beach you go to. With all the leaky oil tankers in the Persian Gulf apparently there can be a lot of oil build-up on the beaches. But I'm not much of a beach person anyway. Also on the positive side: veiling is not mandatory.
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