qatar 2022

my first day in doha was a momentous one, not just for me, but for the entire country and i suspect all of the middle east. it was the day that qatar was awarded the 2022 world cup. the company i work for was involved in the bid and so the office was buzzing all day in anticipation. i quickly learned of the previous night's final presentation, including the speech from sheikha mozah (the queen) which brought tears to people's eyes. that day everyone left work early and we made our way over to aspire park to watch the announcement live on a big screen. i should mention that the sun starts to set around 4:30 here - weird!
 

 when qatar was announced the winner, the crowd went crazy!!

after some celebrating, we left the park and drove around part of the city. the streets were full of cars honking and flags waving in celebration. men were standing out of sunroofs and women in burkas were hanging out of windows cheering. it definitely was a site to see!

we headed back to the office:

where people were handing out flags to cars driving by:

we had a bunch on hand because my company also makes flags and had them in preparation of national day which is this month.

i went for a celebratory dinner with some coworkers to a traditional qatari restaurant. obviously i was nervous as to what the menu would be and was thrilled when i found out a fellow canadian coworker is even less daring than i am. a bunch of dishes were ordered and shared family style amongst the table and i am proud to say i tried almost everything :) and happy to report that it was delicous! what a great start to my journey!