QatarQATARqatar!!!!!!!

Finally, we are here. I’m not too sure if it is too soon to say this, but Qatar is exactly how I imagined it to be… gorgeous, multicultural, hot and fabulous!!!!

It is funny that last year we started in Egypt and ended in a Gulf Country too. It has been just a little over 24 hours, and I am just loving Doha!

We started our time here by visiting Al-Jazeera. For me, this was the epitome of our entire Middle East/Journalism focus. We met with different directors and toured the studios. We were also able to talk to the head of international relations! They were so eloquent with their words and seemed genuinely happy to be a part of the Al-Jazeera “family”. They gave us so much insight, that we could never have learned without this amazing opportunity.

Some ideas they talked about were:
the importance of context in a headline
hard power: military aggression vs. soft power: public diplomacy
Al-Jazeera coming to America

I learned that Al-Jazeera is an independent organization that was the first global news network outside of the western world. They are in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington D.C.

Al-Jazeera has been banned in almost every Arab country in some point in time. They were the first channel to dialogue with the Israelis. It was very interesting to learn about the differences between the Arabic and English channels.

We learned about some of the journalists who have lost their lives while out on the job. It was very sad to learn about them and others who have been in terrible situations while striving for truth. In a way it was good to know that Al-Jazeera cares for them and their families. We saw a memorial that they have at the center for these fallen journalists.

We also got to see the American and Arabic news rooms, which was extremely cool. I haven’t even seen one in America, so it was a new and exciting sight to see.

This visit was great because we were able to learn more about Al-Jazeera, from its history, to its functions and future plans.

After Al-Jazeera, we stopped at the City Center Mall. A typical, enormous mall with tons of high-end stores, fast food chains, and fancy restaurants and decorations. Oh, and there is an indoor ice-skating rink.

In the evening a group of us went to the Souq. This market is totally different than Hamdieh (in Syria) and the Khan el-Khalili (in Egypt). It was so clean and organized, and nice smelling incense was in the air. There were ATMs around each corner, and each section of the souq was organized by type of goods to buy. There were restaurants, organized food stands, as well as, dunkin donuts, McDonalds and baskin robins. I don’t think that these chains being in the market is really a traditional concept. Don’t get me wrong, but I really think that when you look at the culture of the Gulf region, with the international population and the high standard of living, literally “caters to” the idea of having luxuries inside of a souq.

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