I am still adjusting to the idea that Sunday is actually Monday as far as the workweek goes. Sunday morning is the first day of school each week and the first day back on the job for the construction workers so it is full of energy from the first step outside.
We decided to go to Souk (market) Waqif to look for a wrought iron bracket to hold our birdfeeder. This sounds so simple. Souk Waqif is a low concrete open air complex with small crowded hallways. It has rows of spice souks, rows of hardware souks, rows of fabric souks, rows of thobe (national dress for men) souks with a few ‘antique’ souks thrown in the mix. It took us forty five minutes to get downtown and into the parking lot which left us exactly thirty five minutes to buy birdseed, find a bracket and check out the falcon souk before the entire area closed for prayers and rest.
Walking inside always makes me smile as the smell is magic. There are barrels and sacks of dried spices, teas and coffee, beans and nuts. Wizened old porters will shop with you and they use wheelbarrows! The wheelbarrows are padded with burlap and these guys follow patiently behind you loading whatever you buy into them. You can buy anything in the souks! Fifty pounds of rice, lentils by the kilos, fabulous sari fabric by the meter and aluminum pots of every size – the brianni pots are large enough to fry a turkey. Someone told me yesterday that whatever I was looking for is always available here in Doha – the issue is where to find it. I have a feeling I will be spending some time learning my way around the souks finding something new each trip!
We had no problem finding the little shop that we like for the birdseed although I did have to seriously avert my eyes when we passed the pet stores. There are not too many regulations here regarding the care of animals for sale. There is the same attachment to the idea of the “in” pet as there was in Singapore. If it is cool – one must have one. Remember when everyone had to have a Dalmatian after the movie came out. There are animals in cages during the summer with no water, there are birds that have the oddest faces – as soon as I figure out how to post pictures, I will because these are really odd – and the latest controversy is the dyeing of rabbits and cats.
We had to ask directions a few times to the falcon souk and it turned out to be smaller than I had thought but way cooler. There were about twelve hooded birds tethered to stands spaced about a meter apart. There was a man in the back making the colorful leather hoods by hand – small works of art. We tried to ask questions but there wasn’t much English spoken. At the shop next door, there was a local man checking out the larger falcons – he took the hoods off of one or two and seemed very vocal in Arabic about how dry the eyes of the birds were. He actually picked up what looked like a small watering can and squirted water in their faces, which they seemed to enjoy. On the way back to find somewhere to have lunch, we looked in the window of the first shop and there was a young man holding a falcon on his arm. He saw us looking and said to come in and take a look, which we did. Up close the birds are strong with fierce eyes. There were stuffed animals all over the lace that have been killed by various champion falcons. There was even a picture of an ibis or crane that was killed by a falcon a sixth of his size. The price of these birds ranges from 4,000 to 100,000 QAR. From what we understand, the championship birds can be up to 1,000,000.00 QAR. I have a feeling that the souks selling falcons are like the pet stores selling hunting dogs in the states, that the important sales take place elsewhere.
We walked around looking at the various restaurants and selected a Moroccan one with bright yellow chairs with blue piping around blue and yellow mosaic tile tabletops with a brass plate in the center for the shisha pipe. The menu actually had Tanjia with camel – fresh local baby camel cooked in a traditional pot with Special Moroccan Spices – we passed on this and instead had the Harrira classic Soup – Moroccan chickpeas, tomato and lentils and lemon! Excellent! We also had Zaalouk – mashed eggplant with Moroccan Spices, which was also incredible. Mike had the mixed meat kofka with saffron rice and vegetables. Afterwards I had Moroccan coffee la-te that – no surprise - is half milk and half coffee that arrived in a juice glass that was too hot to pick up. It definitely slows things down. We had to take the time to sit and savor the moment!
On the way home we stopped at a roundabout with a newly installed signal light. It was flashing yellow and the front three vehicles were stopped– the moment it turned red – all three launched into the intersection! I did have to laugh out loud. Every time we are out I see drivers do things I can’t believe I’m seeing.
Today the news in brief said the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (leader of Qatar) will join the faithful to perform the Istiska (rain seeking prayer). The Istiska prayer follows the Sunnah – sayings and deeds of the Prophet Mohammed who performed these prayers whenever the seasonal rainfall was delayed. No rain as of yet but the clouds were gathering as we drove home – the first gray clouds I’ve seen in the desert!
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