Surviving Doha

We had a very pleasant evening yesterday with Amal. It started with a nicedinner at an Italian place at the Intercontinental Hotel called Za Moda,followed by cappuccino at Najjar, a new Lebanese coffee shop here.

The atmosphere at both these places was lovely and somehow felt verynormal, as if we were not living anywhere near a conservative Gulf country.I guess this the best way to survive this place; pretend you do not residehere.

In other developments:

1. We finally have wheels. We rented a Renault Clio and we are gonna keep it for a month. Living here has a new meaning when you are the king of the road.
2. I'm currently reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Euginedes. It is the story of a hermaphrodite. Interesting stuff.
3. We finally got to watch Spiderman 2. I loved it. I thought it was even better than the first one. Toby Maguire's performance was top-notch.
4. We are planning a short trip to Dubai in Oct. It will be a celebration of our one-year anniversary. If all goes well, the trip will be a great chance to meet up with Dalia and Duri and see their newborn baby, Sanad.

Meanwhile, I'm still cooking and having those complex, vivid dreams. Blame iton the mattress cover. Life goes on.