One Mosque and a Riyal

I made it to Doha, Qatar.
Wow!  I never thought I would
spend a substantial amount of time in the Middle East.  Even though I am just in the airport for a few hours, it has still been a very interesting experience to see more women
that are fully covered than are not, to exchange my US Dollars for Qatar
Riyals, and to see a mosque in the middle of an airport terminal.

Some might be frustrated by not being able to speak the
language and being thrown into a complete culture shock, and I cannot say I can
blame them.  It is a hard thing to do
alone, but I am truly blessed to have this opportunity.  I find it a privilege to be able to
experience what some visitors experience on a daily basis in America.  I have only had this experience one other
time before (while I was in Peru with only a Spanish dictionary and an inability
to form a complete sentence in Spanish), but this time has been even more
interesting because I am COMPLETELY ALONE.
The only African-American person I have seen since I left Houston has
been my reflection, and I can count the “obvious” Americans in this entire
airport right now on half of one hand. : )

The plane ride from Houston to Doha was 14 hours of smooth
sailing.  I slept a lot of the time and
woke up to dinner and breakfast or to finish my movies.  I chose to watch some premier movies:  The Tourist was a pretty good choice, then I
watched some “Black comfort” with Martin Lawrence in Big Mommas: Like Father,
Like Son, and I did not get to finish Rabbit Hole, the story of a young couple
trying to recover from the death of their young son, but I hope it is an option
on my flight to Singapore!  I ate the
vegetarian option meals because EVERYTHING was chicken or beef… go figure.  And now, I’m here in Qatar.

I cannot say I do not enjoy these layovers in the
airport.  Call me “typical American” if
you will, but it gives me an opportunity to charge my iPhone and iPod, to call
my mom, to check my social media and emails, and to connect with you.  I do not think this means I am not fully
experiencing my journey by staying connected (as some might argue)… I feel I am
experiencing the best of both worlds!

I think I will eat a bit and “play shop” at the designer
(Coach, Prada, etc.) stores here at the airport.  I cannot sleep in airports, so I am trying to
make myself tired so I will sleep well on this next flight.  On a side note, although I have not finished
the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” (with Julia Roberts, one of my favorite actresses),
from what I saw, I feel like I am having one of those “alone in another world
to experience ME again” moments…  I can’t
wait to see what comes of this.