As most of you have read by now, I went on R&R last week. 5 luxurious days off with no stupid boots, no hot uniform, no hair regulations, and most importantly, no ban on alcohol.

The base in Qatar takes most of the personnel for R&R. It’s scheduled so that you get 4 days of down time. We had a little bit of a different experience than usual: when we arrived (at 3am!), they were not expecting us. They put us in a frigid, over-air-conditioned tent (where we slept on more textured flooring) where we waited until 5, then boarded us on a bus (where we slept sitting up) where we waited until 6:30 before going anywhere, and then we finally made it to As Saliyah where we waited (and slept) some more. After our brief, we were let loose - about 8am.

That first day for us didn’t count as our four days since they didn’t know we were coming, so we had the entire day to ourselves. I got my hair done that evening…to get foils and a very minor cut took them 3 hours. I don’t know who is slower, Rota or Doha.

The next day, there was a big party planned that most everyone went on. I had not been feeling too great lately and needed some time for myself so I passed on the trip. My friends went and had a great time, and while they went I indulged myself in a spa day. Maybe indulged isn’t the right word. I got an hour massage, a facial, a manicure and a pedicure. I was a karate chop away from death for an hour straight and left with bruising on my right shoulder, middle back, lower back, and left arm from my Ben Gay and baby oil massage. My facial was nice except that having lain on my stomach for the Hour of Near Death and then turning over and having large quantities of steam blown in my nose made me so congested that I could hardly breathe. Following the facial was the 2½ manicure and pedicure, which ended up with a bleeding toe, sore fingers, smudged nail polish, and lasted all of one single day.

Each night we went out for drinks at the local clubs - where there is a strict 3 drink limit. We still had a great time for the most part and had a lot of fun watching karaoke, although I sincerely think they should consider increasing the 3 drink limit to, like, 13 drinks for karaoke night ONLY. Because 3 drinks just isn’t enough to be able to appreciate karaoke, especially when someone is singing “Ice Ice Baby” 2 beats off the entire song.

Left to right: Walter, me, The Stripper, Stitch, Jocelyn, SuperCuban WonderBoy, Beth Christ, Jason, Unidentified Guy That I Don’t How He Got at Our Table

Me, Jocelyn, and SuperCuban WonderBoy’s enigmatic eye.

Our second day was spent mainly by the pool, where my brand new iPod dock got splashed by water and is now completely dead. Our third day was spent shopping, shopping, and more shopping. One of my purchases was an incredible tapestry that I nearly missed out on - all hand beaded and in colors that will complement our bedding at home nicely. There were several near-buys, like a hand carved wooden chest lined with red velvet, or a Turkish area rug, but I ended up buying mostly just Christmas gifts. The only thing that was really for us was the tapestry and something small for our living room.The following day was our trip day. The program is set up really nicely so that every day there are multiple trips arranged for you and you just pick which one you want to go on, you pay, and they bus you to wherever you’re going. There were several trips that we all agreed upon but of course, on our priority day there were only two trips, neither of which any of us had any interest in. I didn’t want to not get out and do anything, so I suggested the dhow cruise and we all ended up getting on it.

Me on the Doha skyline

The boat on the left is a dhow similar to the one we were on.
The Skyline…the city seems to be exploding, everything being built all at once.

L to R: Beth Christ, Walter Bean, and Joceleeeeeen

Christina assembles her grilled lamb kebab and hummus on Arabic bread. Yum!!

Flick!