Live from Doha

I dunno why, but I liked the sound of that title.

Anyway Doha’s kind of a weird place. I didn’t even know the place existed until we were slated to come here. This city reminds me of Las Vegas, only kind of incomplete. There’s construction literally everywhere, I swear, the one place on earth the recession hasn’t made any impact on must be this place and Dubai. Or something.

The thing about Qatar in general is, and I keep making this joke, but I really do believe it, is that it’s like the America of the Middle East. There’s SUVs all over the place, just like America. There’s American fast food everywhere, just like America. There are cars that stay in lanes in follow comprehensive driving laws, just like America. It’s kinda strange, really.

We went to Al Jazeera yesterday, and that was really incredible. We learned a lot about the organization, and I think I had a lot of myths about it dispelled for me. I feel like I could go on and on and on about it, but I’m writing a story about the visit anyway with Caitlin, so I’ll save it for that. It was a really fascinating visit, though. They seem like a fantastic journalistic institution, and I’m shocked to think about the perception I remember them having in America, though I guess most of that can be attributed to stuff like the Osama bin Laden tapes that they aired. I think that brought them an undeserved reputation of sorts.

Today we went to the education city part of Doha, which was kind of weird in and of itself (a lot of American universities have departments here, because the Qatari government constructs the buildings for them and invites them here). We heard about the Doha Debates, which seem like a really constructive series. They’re basically a monthly debate the BBC hosts in Doha that brings together high-profile figures and lets them debate topics such as the US relationship with Israel. I plan on watching them when I get the chance.

We go home tomorrow night, and there’s a lot to say about the trip, but I’ll save that for a more lengthy entry as well. I’m definitely excited to get back home, much as I’ve enjoyed this trip.