Qatar! Boots! And a relaxing weekend.

I forgot to post some of our pictures from Qatar. While Jon and I were in Doha, we shopped at a store called Zara that is really amazing! I found an awesome pair of boots that I just couldn't pass up, so we bought them. I love cowboy boots and these look kind of like cowboy boots, only they are a little shorter. I wear a lot of gray and black so I thought these would go well with these colors. They are a good neutral color so they will probably work with anything. I absolutely love wearing boots in the fall and winter time! LOVE IT! I pretty much base my wardrobe around my boots because I can't get enough of them lol. Here in Germany everyone wears boots. It was 60 degrees the other day and every woman I saw was wearing boots! It was so exciting to see this and I now know I won't have any problem fitting in over here. Other than the fact that I don't speak German..... yet!! Here are the boots!



While we were at the mall in Doha I really needed to tinkle, so I ran to the bathroom whilst Jon continued shopping. Needless to say, I decided not to use the restroom when I saw what the toilets were like. I had to take a picture so I could show everyone. Jon said I was just supposed to squat over the toilet. Yikes. I think not. There was no toilet seat; it was just a hole in the floor.



The last night we were in Qatar we went down to the beach and took a couple of pictures. Here are the last pictures of our trip. I didn't realize I had the camera on manual and the coloring was on Sepia, but the pictures actually turned out really neat.





Our trip to the Middle East was really great. I look forward to traveling there again. Jon will be going back in October and who knows, I might pop along with him.

This was a wonderfully relaxing weekend!

Friday, Jon and I got up early and went to the gym for a bit of a workout! I jogged on the treadmill for thirty minutes and Jon did weights! It was a great workout, although afterward I was completely worn out, due to the fact that I am completely out of shape. Later that day we went downtown to do some window shopping and enjoyed the weather. Right now it is cooling down in Wiesbaden, but the sun is still shining so it's not too bad. We walked by a shoe store and I saw another pair of boots I liked, so I had to get them. They are the perfect shade of brown that I can pretty much wear with any neutral color! I can't wait to wear them. (Well I'm wearing them right now around the house, but I can't wait to wear them out and about!)



After shopping we went to an antique store and saw some things that would look great in our new apartment. I can't wait to shop for neat things to put in our place. We ate dinner at Vapiano, an Italian restaurant. I had ravioli and Jon had fusili bolognese. We also had the house red wine which is actually very nice. It started getting chilly so we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Saturday, one of Jon's co-workers asked us to house sit and dog sit, while they went on a day trip. We were all about house sitting, just to get out of the hotel for the day was wonderful. We woke up at 6:00 a.m., got dressed, and walked to the market. We bought fresh eggs and continued on to Caroline's house. When we got there, we grabbed Bella and took her for a walk. Bella is a Wirehair Fox Terrier. I meant to take a picture of her, she is adorable, but I forgot. I found this picture on the internet of a Fox Terrier. But Bella is a lot cuter than this ;)



After our walk in the park with Bella we decided to hustle back to the house and start making breakfast! We made scrambled eggs with turkey and provolone cheese. MMMMMM it was so yummy. Jon loves the discovery channel and history channel. One of the shows we watched back in the states was Planet Earth, a documentary. Obviously by the title it is about the planet earth. Caroline had the entire dvd set of this documentary so of course we watched it. It was actually very interesting and amazing how they shot some of these videos. Sadly enough the full documentary was 11 hours and we watched the entire thing. Jon and I needed the R&R so we took full advantage of it. We stopped every once in a while only to take Bella for short walks and grab food and drinks. For dinner we made chicken cordon bleu and tortellini with veggies. What a treat it was to be able to cook for one whole day! It was the best Saturday I've had in a long time.

Sunday we slept in til 8:00; I know that's late! We had our morning coffee and watched My Blue Heaven (which is still one of my favorites). Afterward we headed to Jon's office, which was in desperate need of organizing. Again we decided to just take it easy so we went back to the hotel and made sandwiches while we watched Love Actually. This is such a great movie. I love the story behind it. At the beginning Hugh Grant says (in so many words) if you take a step back and look around you will see that love is actually everywhere. It also put me in the mood for Christmas even though it is several months from now. I just love the holidays and really look forward to them this year. I don't think we left the hotel for the rest of the day, wow we are lazy bums! We ordered pizza from the Italian restaurant downstairs called "Little Italy" and ate our weight in chicken, mushroom and garlic pizza, while watching Bridget Jones Diary! Yes two chick flicks in one day! My husband is awesome, he watches girly movies with me! Thanks Jonny ;) While we were watching Bridget Jones, I glanced out the window only to see this!!!!









It was so awesome, our first rainbow in Germany. This rainbow actually came before the rain. It was kind of weird, because normally in Oklahoma a rainbow comes after the rain. But it was nice to see this beautiful creation from God. I was having kind of a bad day, and when I saw this it made my day better. It was like God was telling me, Steph you're going to be ok!!

We have 8 more days until we move into our place, and I can't be more excited! I've already started packing some of our things into suit cases so we won't be packing at the last minute. Our vehicle arrived this weekend so we will be picking it up some time this week. That will help a lot just having a form of transportation other than bicycles. I'm so excited! As Jon always says, "Things are lookin' up Jon and Steph!"

Qatar, Day Two

Last night a couple of people from Jon's office, along with Jon and I, went to the Souk. It is a traditional old style market. There were so many vendors it would have taken several hours to stop by each one. When we first arrived the vendors were closed. During Ramadan they don't open until 8:00 p.m. So we had dinner at an Irani restaurant. The food was wonderful. Jon and I both ate from the buffet which had chicken, lamb, rice, vegetables, etc. The lamb was so yummy. Here are pictures from the restaurant.

This is the entrance of the restaurant.

The hallway leading to the restaurant. I loved the inside it was incredible. Every inch of the walls were covered with some sort of glass, decoration, sculpture or painting. It was the most colorful place I've ever seen.

Me standing in the hallway.



The chandeliers were so awesome as well. There was a fountain in the center of the restaurant as you can see in this pic.

Jon and I

The chandeliers again.

Myself, Sandy, and Jorge eating dinner.

After eating we walked around the market to de-stuff ourselves. It was so hard to get the full effect of the architecture at night but I still took several pictures. There were vendors who sold antiques, souvenirs, fabrics, pashminas, clothing worn by Qatari people, etc. Jon bought a t-shirt and I bought a couple of pashminas because they are so great for winter. We also bought some post cards and a couple of things for family back home.











While shopping a man stopped Jon and asked him if he wanted to try this head piece on! Jon was like "uh sure" so as not to be rude. I had to take a picture.






Falconry is big over here and throughout the Middle East. The nomads who lived here centuries ago used the falcons to hunt other birds, rabbits, and even gazelle. They still use them for hunting, and the season starts in October. They also have showing competitions, similar to dog shows. The most impressive and beautiful falcons can cost tens of thousands of dollars, with royal falcons worth even more. It looks kind of sad here in the pictures of the shops, but falcons are treated with such reverence that they are issued passports and even placed in first class on the airplanes while in route to hunting areas in other countries. While we were looking at the birds, a Qatari man started talking to us and showed Jon the way to hold them with the glove. We thought he worked at the shop, but he was just a friendly customer. He then took us to the other shops and showed us around.



They usually keep hoods over their heads so they don't get scared. They can see so far away that something down the street could startle them.







The Qatari man took the hood off the bird; they are so impressive looking!!



In another shop, the birds didn't have hoods and weren't as calm as the others. The hunting season starts soon, so thankfully the birds will soon be taken out to soar the skies as they were meant. The next time we are down here, we'll try to accompany a hunt to see these guys in action.

Qatar (Brian and Jon say we are "Qatar Heroes")

Jon and I are in Doha, Qatar at the moment. Qatar is a peninsula in the Middle East, connected to Saudi Arabia. Jon is on a business trip and we thought it would be neat for me to travel with him to experience a part of the middle east.

I took a couple of pictures from the inside of the Abu Dhabi airport where I had a layover. I thought it was such a neat airport, so bright and colorful.





We have a great room at the Marriott. The people here are so nice and very willing to help. I was so tired when I got in from my flight and they were so kind; it was really nice to get that kind of treatment. Not to mention the bed is soooooo comfortable! It's going to be tough to go back to the hotel in Germany! I took a couple of pictures from our hotel room. It has a view of the bay.





Right at the moment, it is 11:22 a.m. and we're guessing about 105 degrees with 100% humidity. When I say 100% I actually mean it! It is unbelievably hot! But we do have air conditioning here, unlike in Germany. Thank the sweet Heavens for that! During the day most people remain indoors. Jon and I are here during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. I found a great explanation on Wikipedia that will help explain this tradition:

"Ramadan or Ramazan (Arabic: رمضان, Ramaḍān) is a Muslim religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, believed to be the month in which the Qur'an was revealed to Angel Gabriel, to deliver it to Prophet Muhammad. It is the Islamic month of fasting (sawm), in which participating Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the person patience, sacrifice and humility. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of God, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance into the future, ask for help in refraining from everyday evils and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds."

So, this means during the day it is hard to find open restaurants, and eating and drinking in public is not allowed. We do have two open restaurants in the hotel during the day so we are able to eat lunch. But when we are out in public we respect their tradition and do not drink or eat in public. I asked Jon if water is allowed because it is so extremely hot here it would be horrible for your body to not be able to drink water, but he said it is not allowed. Because of this alot of people do get sick and are hositalized of severe dehydrtation.
Once the sun sets and it cools down, the town comes alive. The streets are crowded, traffic is terrible and it is busy until after midnight.

Tonight we are going downtown to the Souk, which is the traditional old style market. I really look forward to this, because I want to get a feel for their culture. I also can't wait to buy some neat antiques, souvenirs, etc.

Last night Jorge, one of Jon's co-workers, took us to the mall for dinner. We ate at Macaroni Grill, and I got some great pictures of the inside of the mall. The name of the mall is the Villaggio. It is so much like the inside of the Bellagio in Las Vegas and also reminded us of Ceasar's Palace because of the painted ceilings. They also have a canal built in the center of the mall with gondola rides just like your were in Italy! Here are the pictures from our evening.


The ceiling

This is the view of the ceiling at the entrance. It looks like the night sky.

Krispy Kreme Donuts in Qatar!

McDonalds

Macaroni Grill

Jon and I at dinner

The Canal and Gondola





Inside the mall

This is such a neat picture, it looks like a little village.