Garrett's Trip to the Beach

For the first time in two months I was able to leave the base and dress in something other than a uniform or my workout clothes. Myself and a group of 5 other officers from work took a trip into Doha, the capital of Qatar. The Intercontinental Hotel was our destination. The hotel has an agreement with the base to allow service members, at a discounted price of only $37 US or $100 Riyal, the chance to relax poolside and enjoy a cool breeze off the Persian Gulf. It was a pleasant surprise to find palm trees and yes some green grass. For a while I thought my brain would forget how to process the color green since much of this country is gray and brown - not the most cheery colors of the spectrum.

It felt nice to walk barefoot through the grass and sand. The water was a nice bluish green color. No waves, but you could see that the tide does come in and out. The hotel had a small lagoon, protected by small earthin mounds a few hundred yards off shore. One sign I didn't expect to see was a warning to beach goers to be aware of "hard sand." I ventured out and quickly discovered the wisdom of that sign. The beach has some "normal" beach sand, but much of the beach surface has small fragments of coral - you know that stuff that can rip holes in the bottom of boats!! After a "pleasant" walk along the beach I returned to my lounge chair and enjoyed some sun, my itunes play list, and a bit of lunch provided by the poolside waiters. The pool was very nice. There was even a swim-up bar - not that I partook of any drinks - but cool to see.

As for the patrons, there were many western travelers along with some Arab families. I try to listen to all the different languages to figure out where everyone is from - as far as the westerners. There were people from the US, Britain, and France. As for the Arabs, there were even some families wearing traditional muslim attire. The men were dressed in long white robes with their religious head dress, for lack of a better term and the women wore burkas, the long black female robes that cover their entire body.

All in all a very nice afternoon. Many of the Arab countries want to embrace a western style of living while still honoring their Islamic beliefs. Sort of sounds like the struggle LDS church members go through. Much of the Islamic world receives bad publicity, but there are moderate countries like Qatar, UAE (United Arab Emirates), and Kuwait where Muslims and western culture are mixing quite well. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures. The hazy you see over the city is not smog, but mostly sand. There is a constant hanging haze caused by sand that is kept aloft. Ironically our day at the beach was on of the clearest I had seen since arriving. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.