takin' it middle easy

Spelunking

2007-12-19T03:21:00.000-08:00

We learned about a sinkhole/cave. We went and found it. The last picture is of sheep about to be slaughtered.

Duning and Inland Sea

2007-12-19T02:53:00.000-08:00

I went duning with some friends. We went south to the "inland sea" (a large salt water inlet). The land you see across the water in some of the pictures is Saudi.

Dhow Cruise

2007-11-17T06:05:00.000-08:00

I went on a dhow cruise (a wooden boat, you can see one in the pictures) for some people's birthdays. We went out to an island and swam and had some food.

Doha at Night

2007-11-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

This is the skyline at night. The spirally thing is a fancy mosque. There seems to be something to say about the mosque and the HSBC right next to each other.

Oryx Breeding Facility and Camel Race Track

2007-10-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

My dad was invited to go and view an oryx breeding facility and the camel race tracks. The oryx is the national animal here but has been extinct for quite a while. They are trying to reintroduce them. While the camel racing season has just started, and there was not a race scheduled, they put on some practice trials we were able to observe. The camels run along a track (with robot jockeys) while the trainers drive alongside in suvs controlling the jockeys and yelling instructions. This is a serious business here; most of the camels in these pictures (with the exception of those in the last one) are worth in the vicinity of one million dollars.

Dukhan

2007-09-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

My dad happened to be in town last week (for reasons unrelated to my being here). On Friday we drove to Dukhan, a city on the west coast. We found beaches and oil. We swam in the water. It was warm (high 80s/low 30s, at least).

education city

2007-09-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

these are pictures taken around education city. obviously, the whole place is very much under construction.

Texas A&M's building. They manage engineering.

The convention centre, in progress.

Cornell's building, they run the med school.

The ceremonial court, as seen across the "parking lot".

A mural on the side of one of the buildings.

Qatar Foundation headquarters. Qatar Foundation is the group responsible for this whole educational enterprise. It is headed up by one of the Emir's wives.

Some of the surrounding buildings. Mostly, it is surrounded by desert but in some places there are houses, as you can see.

The side of the building housing the gym, pool, basketball courts, etc.

Just some gardens.

More gardens.

The LAS building. It is the temporary home to both CMU and Georgetown.

A blurry picture of the iftar dinner at the university last night. Taking pictures isn't always ok, so it was a hurried and discreet affair.

dave goes to saudi arabia (almost)

2007-08-25T08:06:00.001-07:00

I decided to drive to the border of Saudi Arabia yesterday. I drove to the southwestern most corner of the country. On maps, there is a border town. I overestimated the size of this border town and didn't realise I had passed through it until I was metres away from entering Saudi. Luckily, my slamming on the brakes and u-turn in the middle of the highway was not taken too badly by the border patrol. I drove back to Doha along the east coast.

All of the pictures were taken while I was driving, so excuse the quality.

The last two pictures were taken just south of Doha. The one is a picture of some of the boats in the harbour and the other is the skyline of Doha. I live on the right hand side of that picture, kind of near that pyramid looking building.

my apartment

2007-08-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

This is my apartment, the building it is in, the pool, and the view. It is in the area known as the "diplomatic district". On the map of Doha you can find it north of the bay. It is right next to the City Center mall. Education City, where the American universities are located, is about 15-20 kilometres west. On the map you can see the traffic department, Education City is just a few kilometres further west along that road.