And Eid not so Mubarak

After four weeks of trying to get someone to come and figure out why our internet didn't work we finally got someone out here and I'm happy to say we finally have internet at home. It couldn't have come at a better time, since I go back to work tomorrow. At any rate, I'm looking forward to writing this from the comfort of my own home.

Most of last week was Eid al-Fitr, one of two Eids (which basically means festival). This one commemorates the end of Ramadan, and whereas we could eat in public again, a lot of places were closed for the holiday. On Wednesday we ran into some friends and decided to try going ice skating that night at the Villaggio Mall. It never occurred to us that since it was a huge holiday everyone else would have the same idea. After trying to find a parking place we ended up hanging out at another teacher's apartment, eating pizza and talking all night. Though we did learn an interesting thing about the malls here. The entire Eid holiday was declared "Family Days" at many of the area's malls. Now, this didn't seem so unusual since most malls do the same thing on Fridays. At first we thought that it was interesting, and showed how much arabs appreciate family in their culture.

"Gentlemen, are you here with your families?"

However, it never occurred to us what the other side of the story was until we saw single men turned away from being able to enter the mall. Qataris are definitely the minority in this country. Most people here are single men from places like India, Pakistan, or the Philippines, working rough jobs and sending money back home. Then when it's finally their day off or a holiday they get told they can't go shopping at the mall because it's "families only." Now I suppose places can make up their own rules and who am I say it's unfair, but here's where the racism comes in. If you're arab or white, and clearly not there with your family, then they let you in: no questions asked. At any rate, now you can know a little bit about the darker side of this country. Here's an article on it the local paper. Check it out.