I'm backtracking here a bit--my apologies. But, it HAS to be done! My Mom and Dad came to Doha! January 31st, 2014 (my 28th birthday:) they arrived! To say I was excited is just a small understatement. Matt was on leave for most of it and it was so nice to be all together. It's safe to say that we all had a good time. They came with a boat load of gifts, orders, and random things collected from the States. It was like Christmas!
I had the fridge stocked with 'light' coke. No such thing as 'diet' coke here. For reals.
Story time with grandma and grandpa.
Eli and Grandma, enjoying a moment post church.
The singing sand dunes. This is a favorite spot of ours. As you side down the sand dune, it 'sings'! It's more like a rhythmic humming, but at any rate, it's awesome. The thing is, you have to climb to the top of the dune, first:) It is WAY harder than it looks! When we got to the top, my mom started dry heaving. In between heaves, she said, "I'm ok, it's just exercise-induced nausea." true story. Just another reason why I love my Mother!
We all made it, such troopers.
This is what the desert of Doha looks like. Sand for DAYS!!!
Probably my favorite picture of all time. Just sayin'.
We also toured the Grand Mosque. It's an insanely beautiful building. As long as you are dressed appropriately, you are allowed into the mosque. We brought scarves to cover up and it was just fine.
At the fish market. Right around the corner from where we live.
Wholesale Market is a really fun place to go, too. Mom found boxes and boxes full of okra:)
Another one of my very favorite pictures ever! We went to the camel market to see the camels. I told mom and dad to stand there and pose and right then, a camel licked my mom's head and she started screaming (naturally). It was the best!
Shopping around a bazaar on the lawn of the Museum of Islamic Art. Another really pretty building.
Exploring in the souq was fun, too.
Food, glorious food. My Dad's favorite restaurant (and ours, too) was Turkey Central. He loved the sesame flat bread and mezza platter. It is such delish food and we go there often!
Of course, we couldn't let them leave without going Persian rug shopping! Ramiez is our favorite place to get rugs. I think technically they are made in Istanbul, but whatever! I sent one home for Brooke and one for Erin.
My Dad needed a hair cut while he was here, so we ran to a little Saloon, or gents haircutting place. James was so sweet. He thought grandpa was scared, so he went over and held his hand the whole time he got his hair cut. James is such a sweet, perceptive, aware, and sensitive kid. I love him!
Of course, we took lots of walks around the compound!
Exploring the animal souq.
Eek! Toy AK-47's. Matt bought one for Phil. My mom bought AK-47 key chains for my brothers.
And, the camel races were the highlight of the trip. There are camel races on most Saturdays during winter. We didn't actually see the races, but we did see them training. There were probably THOUSANDS of camels--no joke. It was unbelievable.
My fearless mother went up to an Arab guy and asked if he knew where we could ride a camel at? He looked at her for a moment, then said, 'Wait here, and I'll get mine." Sure enough, 20 minutes later he comes back with food for our boys and leads us over to his personal camel stall. He wouldn't accept any compensation and insisted that we ride his camels. It was soooooo cool. He was so generous. And I'm so glad my mom asked him:)
Another favorite picture ever. My dad was skeptical about riding a camel. He kept saying, "I'm too fat" and making excuses. Once we finally convinced him to do it, he had a good time. I love this picture of him up there! Ya Dad!
I can't wait until they visit again!
p.s. if you find my dad's jacket, cell phone, and my mom's camera, can you please send it our way? It was a big bummer that it was lost:(
No comments:
Post a Comment