Hot And Humid

About 10 days ago we went for a long walk. It is really one of our favorite things to do - just walk with no aim, get lost in narrow side streets, turn whenever there seems to be something interesting to look at. Unfortunately the weather has stopped us from taking these walks for quite a long time but then the temperatures dropped a bit and it was not humid so we walked for a couple of hours (stopping of course at every corner store to buy yet another bottle of water).

We found the 'Little India' of our area where most of the population is Indian migrant workers and where the restaurants serve traditional Indian food and the little clothes shops sell colorful saris. We also found the area where the very poor looking Arab migrant workers seem to cluster (many Arab migrant workers have office jobs but some are really at the bottom of the hierarchy here cleaning the streets for example).

In one street we found the Kabul Restaurant - a tiny place with no tables, a small menu/price list written in Arabic on the wall and a friendly Afghan man serving up portions of hearthy take-away food to the neighborhood people (mostly Indian residents and taxi drivers who stop by).


(Kabul Restaurant - keeping the food hot)

I am never very brave when it comes to taking pictures of people I don't know. I always fear that they might think I am doing it with some bad motive or to expose them in their state of poverty or hard labor. I'm afraid they think I regard them as a 'tourist attraction' - although this is in no way the case. Anyway, I got K to ask the Afghan restaurant owner if he would mind me taking a picture and he was happy to oblige:


(The owner of Kabul Restaurant and his young helper)


(Posing for the shot - the Kabul Restaurant owner and his helper)

Across from Kabul Restaurant there is a small hole-in-the-wall place that we almost walked past without noticing it. It has no signs of any kind and it is so narrow that you could almost reach from one end to the other. Inside these men are baking large, round bread known here as Iranian bread. The temperature inside is almost unbearable with 2 large fires burning inside the ovens.


(The 2 men baking the Iranian bread and placing them on a table - when someone buys them, they will be wrapped in a newspaper sheet)

The dough is spread out (like a pizza) on the white round thing next to the oven - then placed inside the oven on the wall. As you can see there are 3 people working in this tiny shop - I wonder how that is a viable business. I am sure the rent - as well as their salaries - is low but at 20 Fils for a bread (7 US Cents/5 € cents/40 øre) you need to sell a lot of bread to make a profit...


(Working the oven)


(Iranian bread baking)

So in the end we had a lovely meal for KD 1.080 ($3.73 / €2.93 / Kr. 21.80) and there was food enough for 3-4 people. I know this isn't cheap compared to street food in many other countries but in Kuwait where life is expensive and prices quite high, this is a bargain!


(A very nice and simple meal - the bread is lying on the sheet of newspaper we got them in)

So, the owner of the Kabul Restaurant had asked us in his broken English if we would bring him the pictures. We figured that if he asked for them it would be quite impolite not to give them to him - so we had a few copies printed and yesterday ventured out to give them to him.

The humidity is really high these days - it feels like you cannot breathe when you walk outside - a bit like walking inside a sauna. We had left home little after 6pm so we were not allowed to drink in public for the first half an hour or so due to Ramadan. As soon as the call to prayer was heard (indicating that the sun has set) we saw the staff of many of the local restaurants gather outside to eat huge plates of food and drink large bottles of water and soda. It's the first time I actually see anyone break the fast.

We only walked for about an hour in total to reach the Kabul Restaurant and go back home but the humidity made it feel like we had walked for hours and hours (even if we were taking it slow). I think it was only 35-40 degrees Celcius (95-104F).


(The shop window of a shoe shop in Salmiya - humidity blurring much of the window)


(Sweating in the humidity)

It is an interesting time of day to be walking around - the streets are almost deserted and you get that feeling that there has been a nuclear attack and you are the only one left in the world. Then some time after the sun has set, people start to come out into the streets - but mostly migrant workers and other expatriates (most of the Kuwaitis are at home with their families breaking the fast and only come out much later in the evening).

More humidity:


(The office window in our building)


(The entrance doors to our building)

I know this is not charming in any way but this is what a small evening stroll will do to you (mind you, without sunshine and daytime temperatures):


(Off to the shower...)


(Off to the shower...)

Ramadan Is Right Around The Corner

The Holy Month of Ramadan is hours away.

It is expected to begin from tomorrow (11 August) based on astronomical calculations - although some argue that it should begin on the 12th as the crescent moon cannot actually be seen until tomorrow.

Either way, people have been shopping more than usually for the past couple of days, decorations with lanterns and inscriptions wishing people a blessed Ramadan have been put up, stores are posting their changed opening hours for the coming month and I can clearly feel that there is something in the air. Although the two are in no way comparable, it feels a bit like the anticipation for Christmas.

During Ramadan, Muslims all over the world are expected to fast from sunrise to sunset. I have always found this quite an accomplishment but considering that since the Ramadan falls earlier every year they will now have to endure the August heat often above 50 degrees Celsius (122F) without a drop of water from sunrise to sunset. I could probably go without eating but I am not sure I could survive not drinking.

Non-Muslims are not required to fast, however the Interior Ministry of Kuwait has made it very clear that anyone who eats or drinks in public will be fined KD 100 ($357 / €262 /Kr. 1954) and/or a month in jail (that should very efficiently prevent you from eating again in public during Ramadan). Last year during Ramadan a foreigner who hadn't done his homework on 'do's and dont's during Ramadan' got jailed. Not dressing conservatively supposedly lands you in jail as well.

Although supermarkets stay open, cafés and restaurants (including delivery and take-away) will largely remained closed until after sunset (my local Starbucks will be open from 6.30pm to 2.30am for the next month). My local mall will open at 11am (when people have had time to sleep after eating in the early morning before sunrise) and stay open until 4pm. Then people will head home to prepare for breaking the fast (including a number of specific prayers) and shops reopen at 8pm staying open until 1am. It really is a change of day (and night) rhythm for a month.

To make it a little bit more bearable, official work hours have been cut to 6 hours per day (typically 9am to 3pm) and I have heard that some places unofficially accept their people not showing up to work every day. I have heard a few people (Kuwaiti Muslims) raise this issue over the past days on blogs and in newspapers - that the month of Ramadan is supposed to be difficult to endure (that's the whole point) and that by making it easier by reducing work hours and allowing people to rest inside in air-condition or sleep for much of the day, the point is being diluted. It is not in my place to judge this - I understand their point but I am also sure that it is very hard even with reduced work hours.

Since 'eating and drinking in public' also includes smoking, dissolving a mint in your mouth or chewing a piece of chewing gum I'll make sure to empty my hand bag before going to bed - of anything that could land me in jail for a month (I always carry chewing gum, mints and a bottle of water when I venture out of the air condition).

To those who partake in Ramadan I wish you and your families 'Ramadan Kareem' and to those of you who have to deal with a somewhat special month I wish you the best of luck...

Eating in Qatar

What better way to understand a country than through its food and most traditional dishes? K and I took full advantage of the food scene in Qatar and we found a few types of restaurants that we haven't seen in Kuwait - an Iraqi restaurant for example (obviously not very welcome in Kuwait after the invasion) and a Malaysian one.

We headed straight away for the Al Tawash, however, to try some typical Qatari food (which is actually in many ways similar to the food of the rest of the Gulf region as well). It's inside the Souq Waqif that I described in my previous post (The New Old Souq Waqif):


(Al Tawash restaurant, Souq Waqif, Doha)

As in most of the restaurants here, the Lebanese kitchen has had an overwhelming influence - and even in a restaurant serving traditional Qatari food, the starters are still Lebanese (which is really delicious, by the way):


(Lebanese starters, hummus, labneh with mint, tabouleh, freshly baked bread and lemon juice with mint)

We were actually so hungry that I forgot to take a photo of our main courses - the Qatari ones - that were the reason for coming here. I only remembered when we were almost done (hence the half-empty plate) but here is a really traditional one that I seldom see on the menu in Kuwait although I believe it's a traditional dish there as well. It is called harees and consists of wheat and meat cooked slowly for up to 8 hours. I know it doesn't look particularly appetizing but it is actually really delicious:


(An almost finished plate of harees)

Feeling brave and slightly more knowledgeable about the local cuisine we decided to try this little place the evening after. The man who greeted us seemed a bit surprised and tried to 'warn' us that this was 'Arabic food'. We said that we knew and that was exactly what we wanted - and since we had seen so many locals eating there over the past days, we figured it must be good. There was no menu and the owner of the small place asked us to come inside to look into the pots and trays to see what he had to offer because he did not know how to describe it in English. We picked a few to share and had them served to us outside where we sat on traditional sofas and watched the children play in the street and locals walk by with their shopping:


(Dinner at a small local place in Souq Waqif on a warm evening)

This is the 'restaurant' itself, no seats inside but one more row of sofas outside filled with local women that I could not photograph:


(Local restaurant, Souq Waqif)

The food was really good - like a comforting home cooked meal. When we had passed the place the evening before we saw the old wife of the owner serve food for the local women. She was wearing the type of metal niqab that is traditional in some parts of the region (including Dubai) but I had never actually seen anyone wear it nowadays. Of course I could not take a picture of her but this is the thing I am talking about:


(The type of metal face cover worn by women in past generations)

As K was working I ate quite a few meals on my own. Inside the Souq Waqif there was a small bakery that made traditional Iranian bread and through the window you could see the men working inside, taking lumps of dough, flattening it out and placing them on the sides of an oven with a live fire inside. They had a small menu in English glued to their window and I decided to try a freshly-baked bread with thyme (for a bargain 3 Qatari Riyal - $.24 / €.67 / Kr. 5 / KD .240).

When they saw me standing at the window looking at the menu one of the bakers opened the side door (pic below) to ask what I wanted. I ordered the bread, gave him the 3 Riyal and he told me in half Arabic half English to wait 5 minutes. About halfway in, he gave me a subtle nod through the window as if to signal that he was working on it. Then he opened the door and handed me the steaming hot bread wrapped in a folded paper plate and put in a small plastic bag. It was delicious!


(The small bakery in Souq Waqif - taken right before the sand/thunderstorm I wrote about, which explains the color of the sky)


(The small bakery in Souq Waqif - customers place their orders through a small window)

On a different day I had lunch in one of the small covered alleyways of the souq. The smell of grilled meat was great and after walking for a long time in the sun it was nice to sit in the relative cool of the covered alleyway. There was a simple menu on the table - everything was really cheap and very basic (and tasted really good). If you wanted a grilled tomato with your meat that was 1 Riyal. If you wanted a grilled onion that was 1 Riyal and if you wanted a big plate of local rocket salad that was 1 Riyal (usually condiments come with the dishes - but then the dish is of course more expensive and you don't necessarily want your grilled tomato and onion):


(Lunch place at the souq in a covered alleyway)

And lunch is served:


(Grilled meat, kebab, rocket salad and freshly baked bread - a perfect cheap lunch)

Although Qatar has expensive restaurants as well, it seems that it is generally speaking easier to find a decent cheap meal here than it is in Kuwait - but that said none of the countries in this region are cheap.

Another highlight was this Persian restaurant - the food was very good but the interior got a lot of our attention. The place had traditional seating:


(Traditional seating, Persian restaurant, Souq Waqif)

...And the place was FULL of glitter, colored glass and small mirrors - even the ceiling was covered in it:


(The ceiling of the Persian restaurant all covered in glitter and mirrors)


(A huge samovar in the middle of the restaurant on top of a small water fountain)


(Glitter, colored glass and mirrors - the upper section of the restaurant where a lot of women were seated away from the potential stares of men in the downstairs section)

And it gets better - here is their VIP room:


(Glitter, colored glass and mirrors - in the VIP room of the restaurant)


(Glitter, colored glass and mirrors - in the long entrance leading back out into the non-glittery souq)

And the food that we almost forgot although it was really delicious and with quite different herbs and spices from what we are used to in the region:


(Delicious Persian food)

Speaking of food - this tiny cat was just one of many living in the streets but whenever we walked by it it would follow us (so much so that we had to make detours and try to fool it into not following us to the hotel). One day we had bought a small tin of cat food for it, which it seemed to enjoy (the tin is smaller than a normal can of tuna - the cat is really tiny).


(Hungry street cat enjoying some roasted chicken cat food)

Less related to food it was nice to see that the Qatari authorities are trying to stop littering by imposing fines - as this lit up poster made clear:


(Keeping Qatar clean by imposing fines on littering)

Last picture from Qatar - the Qatari National Bank lit up at night:


(Qatari National Bank at night)

The 'New Old' Souq Waqif In Doha

In the 'good old days' before the huge air-conditioned malls brought international brands and western style shops to the region, the souq(s) was the center of life of any city. In Doha the main souq - Souq Waqif - is often referred to as the 'new old souq' because the Qatar government decided to knock down the old souq and rebuild it much as it used to look (but to last for many years to come).

We really enjoyed Souq Waqif - it did not feel like a Disneyland at all nor as a tourist attraction and we saw many locals come here to do some shopping or get some food. We went together at night and I went during the day alone as well and there was always something new to see.


(The outskirts of the souq - a popular hang-out place for the many pigeons)

The souq is very centrally located - close to the Fanar and right off the Doha corniche (and about 15 minutes' walk from our hotel):


(The outskirts of the souq with the Fanar (Qatar Islamic Cultural Center) in the background - a popular hang-out place for the many pigeons)

There is something like a main road running through the souq with shops and restaurants on each side:


(Main 'road' of the souq)

And then there are smaller narrow alleyways as well as an entire part of the souq that is completely covered (and too dark to take decent photos in):


(A smaller alleyway of the souq)

As with any decent souq there seems to be a bit of everything for sale. This little shop had some very colorful fabrics and woven items in the traditional Bedouin patterns and colors:


(Small outdoor shop selling products with traditional Bedouin style patterns and colors)


(A limited display of men's sandals in a side alley shop)

And of course there are plenty of shishas (or nargila or hubbly bubbly or water pipes or whatever you prefer to call them) - an inevitable part of the culture in the Middle East:


(Small stall selling shishas and belts (?))

We came across a shop inside the covered part of the souq bearing the name Danish Trading Co. We thought that was a bit odd and had already started wondering whether they were selling Danish dairy products (Danish design seemed a bit out of question given the location):


(From the Danish Trading Co. in Souq Waqif)

As we went inside it became clear that it had nothing to do with Denmark (we even asked the owner who spoke little English and he looked quite surprised at our suggestion that there would be a connection with the country Denmark) - so apparently it's just a name with no reference. I wonder if he had a lot of trouble during the recent years' crisis over the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammed. The shop sells nuts and sweets:


(Nuts and sweets for sale at the Danish Trading Co. in Souq Waqif)

They were quite happy to let me take these pictures of the small store - they almost seemed proud, which was really nice.


(Nuts and sweets for sale at the Danish Trading Co. in Souq Waqif)

These small stores are on the outskirts of the souq - if you click to enlarge the picture you will see that all 3 store owners are sitting by the door reading:


(Small stores selling a bit of everything, outskirts of Souq Waqif)

There were lots of stores selling fabric and clothes, small tailors sewing dishdashas, kitchen supplies of all possible kinds and sizes and lots of little stores selling a bit of everything - I just didn't take any photos of that. In the evening, women would come with home-cooked dishes in insulating containers, sit on a little square on the backside of the souq and sell portions to passers-by. Most of them had no signs of any kind and a few had hand written pieces of paper mentioning today's dishes (in Arabic only). I haven't seen local women sell food in the souq anywhere else in the region. I'm sure it was delicious!

Another section of the souq houses falcons - another Arabian tradition. However, the place was closed when I was there with K and I did not dare go in alone as it seemed very much a man's world (groups of men sitting on sofas outside as well). I did see one afternoon, however, two of the men taking a falcon out for training in a little courtyard with a patch of green grass. They didn't mind me watching but I never asked if I could take a photo.

Here's a local man carrying home some shopping next to where the falcons are:


(Carrying home the goods, Souq Waqif, falcon section)


(Local men walking in the Souq Waqif, falcon section)


(Local men walking in the Souq Waqif, falcon section - and a man walking behind them carrying some items they have bought)

As can also be seen on the picture above, this part of the souq is nicely built with the traditional style ceiling - made of 'woven' leaves from the palm trees bringing shade and cool. I like the shapes they make:


(Section of Souq Waqif with a view to the traditional ceiling)


(Looking up to the ceiling, Souq Waqif, falcon section)


(Looking up to the ceiling, Souq Waqif, the Art Center section)

As I already mentioned the souq is not very touristy and also sells the needed nets, traps and other supplies for the local fishermen:


(Shop in Souq Waqif supplying the local fishermen)


(From the outskirts of the souq)


(A man clipping his toe nails in the souq)

There is also a part of the souq that is dedicated to animals. Although some of them were being taken very well care of, many of them were in a sad state (as is the case in most of this region as well as many other places in the world). The majority of the animals were birds - I suppose they are relatively easy to keep whether on a balcony or in a proper garden.


(Parrot outside a pet shop)


(Bird cages - with and without birds - for sale at Souq Waqif)

Without offending anyone I think it's fair to say that many people here have little respect for animal life and have not learned to appreciate or care for an animal. It seems that among some there is a tendency to buy a small rabbit or a chicken or another cute little animal if a child points at it - not with a deeper intention of taking proper care of the animal but just as you would buy a balloon (and expect it to 'die' after a few days) or a lolly pop that is another 5-minute pleasure.

To further help this demand, many sales men have resorted to painting the animals (something I have heard of in Kuwait as well but not seen myself) - you can almost hear the "Daddy, Daddy can I have the green chicken?!? And Mummy mummy I want the pink rabbit".

Speaking of pink rabbits - we walked up to one of the sales men that had these for sale. K asked him if rabbits are always pink in this region of the world. For a minute the sales man seemed unsure if we were really so stupid that we had not realized that the rabbit had been spray painted pink (which of course we knew) - and for a second I guess he really hoped that he would be able to sell us a rare Arabian pink rabbit at an exorbitant price. Our smiles gave us away and he said that he had painted it - and allowed us to take this photo:


(Pink - spray-painted - rabbit for sale in Souq Waqif)

And here are some of the spray painted chickens I mentioned:


(Colored chickens for sale at Souq Waqif)

I suppose you could argue that dressing up little chihuahua dogs - as the recent trend in the west seems to be - is no less cruel than spray painting animals...

It was in the same animal section of the souq that I got caught up in a combined sand storm and thunder storm one afternoon. In this picture you can almost see how the sky has turned sand colored and it's about to start raining with heavy thunder:


(Sand and thunder storm approaching rapidly, Souq Waqif)

Having spent so much time at the souq over the days, I made it through the covered alleyways to a juice bar almost without getting wet. I sat at the juice bar, had a fresh pomegranate juice and enjoyed listening to the rain (and seeing people run for cover):


(Watching the rain pour down - an unusual sight in this part of the world)

The souq hides many other interesting things - among other the Qatari Dama Association. I never knew checkers (dam) was being played here - inside plenty of local men were sitting at checkers tables deeply involved in their games:


(The Qatari Checkers Association deep inside the Souq Waqif)

Here's the local police station (inside the souq) with their 'police vehicle' out front. I already talked about how the Qatari dress very conservatively (How to spend a weekend in Firenze, Italy) - and quite interestingly, the white head scarf (ghutrah) with the black rings (aqal) that men in this region usually wear with their dishdashas is part of the police uniform in Qatar (in Kuwait for example the police uniform is western style clothing and no head gear).


(The local police station inside Souq Waqif)

In a small alley right next to the police station we heard clicking sounds one evening. The clicks were unmistakeably the sound of old typewriters. My mother had one when I was a child and although she didn't use it often, the sound has remained with me. In tiny shops with nothing more than a table, a chair, a typewriter and a typist, business seemed to be going very well. Some customers had come to have official documents typed (I suppose applications and other paper work to be handed to government offices) and one man was sitting next to the typist reading out a long hand-written letter that the typist then repeated and wrote on his typewriter line by line.

In other alleyways old local men were pushing wheelbarrows through the narrow alleyways filled with people constantly standing in their way. It is a common way in the Gulf region to earn some money by offering to drive around the goods that people have bought in the souq - often following them around for a long time before finally taking the goods to the customers' cars. The only difference is that in Kuwait this service is typically offered by Indian men (migrant workers) that were not lucky enough to land a job as taxi drivers. I have never seen old local men doing this job and I felt sorry for them - they were physically frail from what appeared to have been a long and hard life working and they should have been at home with their families being taken care of and shown the deep respect that elders normally enjoy in this region (not to say that I don't feel sorry for the Indians normally doing this job but at least they are still strong and not too old men).

I believe there is much to learn about a country by observing what is going on in its souqs and I enjoy being caught up in little time pockets.