So far my experience in Qatar and with the global business program have exceeded all my expectations. The food has been great here, the people have been welcoming and very willing to accommodate our inability to speak Arabic, and the amount of wealth as shown by the city skyline and infrastructure is mind-boggling. Similarly, the global business program has given us an awesome experience so far. We are staying at a nice hotel, they provided some excellent meals, and have given us plenty of free time to explore and get acclimated to the new time zone. Additionally, the program has planned out some really cool experiences, such as a desert safari, dune bashing, dinner on a traditional boat, and visits with global companies such as Schlumberger. I don’t think I would be able to get such a full experience of Qatar if I went here on my own.
One thing that really surprised me about Qatar is how Americanized it is yet how the people still at the same time have seemingly totally preserved their culture keeping it truly Qatari. For example, pretty much all the stores and most of the restaurants in the malls are American or European, additionally, everywhere we’ve been the people who live here have been able to speak English, and most speak it very well. In fact, all of the workers I’ve interacted with have started off the interaction by speaking to me in English, seemingly automatically. Now despite this the Qataris appear to have rejected westernization by holding very true to their social structure, religious beliefs, laws, traditions and values. One constant reminder of this is how almost all the true Qatari men wear thobes. Whenever I see a man in a thobe (which is pretty much all the time) I’m reminded of how foreign and unique this place is and how serious they are about staying true to their culture and values.
Overall I am hoping that by the end of this trip I will have a much better understanding of the Arab and Qatari culture and perspective, and hopefully I’ll come out learning a little bit of Arabic as well.