Ramadan

Ramadan just started over here and it is really emphasizing the fact we don't live in Texas any more. During Ramadan Muslims fast from sunup to sundown and locals work half days. All the shops are closed from 1:00 to about 5 or 6:00. The roads are really quiet for most of the day but during midday, sundown and about 8:00 they fill up all at once. It's because everybody is on the same schedule. Midday go home, sundown go to a big dinner and 8:00 go see friends. It's actually at a point where I ask Kara not to drive during those times. I've seen more accidents in the last couple of days then I have seen all year. The other big thing is since Muslims do not eat, drink, smoke, or come close to any sustenance during the day nobody else can indulge in such luxuries in public either. This does make getting a Big Mac or Mc Arabia impossible because this causes them not to be open during the day. Luckily our cafeteria is gracious enough to serve us a crust of bread and glass of water.

In the malls there are Ramadan decorations very similar to Christmas ones in terms of bright colors and being everywhere. There are also Ramadan sales which we are going to take advantage of when buying our 2nd car. It seems both cultures are more similar then I originally thought.

Power point pro

I have decided to use my College Degree and years of experience as a software developer to help out our local church. How you might ask. Well I’m now the newest member of the presentation team. This basically means I run the power point presentation (ppt) during the service. This is actually more difficult then what I originally expected. When you run ppt for songs it means you have to follow along with the people who are leading them. Well in this church there is not always a concrete plan for how a song will be played or even which songs will be played. This is good for everybody else because it allows for the music to evolve with the current feelings of everybody. Of course if you are an anal retentive control freak it has a different effect. What do you mean you’re going to sing that song, I don’t care what you feel like God was telling you. I have a list and even though it’s hand written on the back of a ATM receipt it’s my list and we’re not changing. Luckily people are gracious enough when the words don’t show up right away during one of these transitions. At least nobody threw their sandals at me.

Driving lessons

We took another trip to the inland sea this weekend. This has become a favorite activity for us because well, there really isn’t a whole lot to do in Doha. I got to actually drive my friends 4x4 down a couple of the dunes. I’m still not excited about bringing the beast out there but I think it will eventually have to happen. When driving up a dune you have to go full speed or you will get stuck and then slow down at the edge or you may roll down sideways which isn’t healthy for anybody. You then slide down the slope and do it again. It’s pretty intimidating because you can’t see the slope you are going down until you are committed to it. Everybody does it so it has to be fun. While in the dunes we saw some camels. This was pretty cool and we got some shots that I will post pretty soon. My favorite part is the snorkeling. I’ve decided that I need to get some fins because even though I don’t sink in the ocean it’s still an effort to use your arms when you are trying to go any sort of distance. Not much else is going on just the usual Ramadan desert life.