It’s LIFE, POST-DOHA…
Boy have I been getting a lot of questions from Americans about Qatar. I guess it’s to be expected. Here are some of the most common misconceptions I’ve heard…
- Qatar. You can pronounce it “Cutter.” Or “CAT-ar.” But not “Qua-TAR.” And you should really just pronounce it قطر like it’s meant to be but I still have trouble with that one.
- It’s close to Dubai. (“Ahh yeah, I’ve at least heard of that one.”)
- It’s an Arab Muslim country. No, those are not the same. Most Arabs are Muslims but not all. (e.g. Lebanon, which is 40% Christian.) The majority of Muslims are NOT Arab. Arab is an ethnicity, its people speak Arabic. Iranians are not Arabs and they speak Farsi, which is unrelated to Arabic. Pakistanis, Afghans, and Turkish are not Arabs.
- Qatar is a very rich country but its money comes from its natural gas exports— not oil.
- Most women cover their hair, and some cover their face, but it is not required by law.
- American music is very popular. Movies as well although in the theaters, sex scenes are generally censored (though at the Doha-Tribeca Film Festival I attended, there was no censorship and the audience was given a mere verbal warning before the start of each film.) Qatar has not only McDonalds and KFC, but even Applebee’s, Cinnabon, Virgin Megastore, and Dolce & Gabanna. The lives of my students are not so dissimilar from that of a typical upper-middle-class suburban American teenager, although family pressures to conform and obey authority are much stronger— especially for girls.
- I was teaching physics, not English. I taught at a university. My students were generally 17-20 years old. I would not be able to teach anyone under the age of 14, ever.
- The weather is very hot and sunny. You survive by a combination of: (1) staying in the A/C most of the time, (2) getting used to it. It’s just the weather, toughen up people. Also, yes it did rain a few days this year and in the winter temperatures are quite pleasant, though never got down to anything I’d call “cool.”
- Almost all people there disagree with America’s position in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Besides that, they are not particularly opposed to the American government. And certainly not to its people. But they do think we have some funny habits. Like some Americans, they believe a lot of our national society’s problems are due to a lack of strong family structure.
- Yes, I would do it again. I almost did.
On Monday I travel to Ithaca to catch up. A few of the TA’s are congregating there, and many of my former students from the Qatar campus are doing research in Ithaca for the summer. I’ll get to see them all, and I’m really excited!
