Doha, Qatar, is absolutely beautiful. Both the architecture and geography are so different that what you see in the Unites States. Doha, being the capital, obviously has had a lot of effort put into looking nice, but the country as a whole is beautiful as well. It’s mostly desert, but you can see so far, and the flowing sand dunes and pillars of rock create an almost Martian atmosphere. The people are incredibly hospitable, the food is amazing, and all of our tours and lessons have been interesting.
We’ve met with several businesses so far, such as a small bakery and a farm. It’s been very interesting to hear about the unique set of challenges they’ve faced here in this country. They have laws that make it extremely difficult to open a business unless you are a male Qatari citizen, so hearing about how the girl who ran the bakery handled that was very impressive.
Qatar has had a huge self-reliance initiative, and are making steps towards being able to sustain their country without having to import any necessities. An aspect of this is farming, and we talked with one of the farms set up to help combat this problem. They only grow organic food, so they have had to develop creative ways to do that in the desert.
It’s been a great trip so far, and I’m looking forward to the next week we have here.
