Realistically idealistic daydreamer, seasoned procrastinator, atheist and monarchist with a secret agenda and a slight inclination towards voodoo practices.
Please welcome a new addition to the Middle East blogosphere: Sunshine Kitty! She is new in Qatar, but it looks like she got the gist of life here already. Her blog features such insightful observations as:
"The whole country is just a shitty little hole with the most incompetent people I've ever met. There is no place you could go out and socialize. The only fun is going to the Cornishe and laughing your behind off watching the ninjas walking 2 meters behind their masters with tons of kids. Though after a while even that gets boring... "
"We have a rasist vain personal manager from Lebanon who thinks when he looks like a European he is one..."
"Wow, my consul in Kuwait was right, why the hell does a graduated intelligent european woman go to the primitive desert???"
"I'm really considering to leave it all behind and get away from here before they really ruin my life. You just can't have a private life or a family over here, nothing. All you can do is going to work and spending money in the shops. If you are that superficial that might be enough for you but I'm more demanding and intellectual, it's a torture for me to live in Qatar!!!"
"What upsets me the most are the natives here. They are really like bedouins from the desert. They treat women in general like shit. They have maids they treat even worse than shit. They are unskilled. And uneducated (university here = primary school in Europe). They stink (thanks god we have air refresheners at the office...)"
"I've had enough of "made in Qatar"..... You know, it's like once you've driven a BMW you don't really want to return to Trabant....."
I understand that by "BMW" she means Slovakia where she came from. If you would like to read more of this young lady's thoughts, they can be found on her blog. Enjoy!
=^..^=
UPDATE:
It appears that Sunshine Kitty edited her blog and removed all the horrible bits and pieces recently. I was really glad to see that. I hope she will live to find something she likes about Qatar.
They were trying to tell me that I got it all wrong.
They, on the other hand, have got it all figured out.
They come from a religious monarchy which has no legal protection for freedom of religion, and such protection does not exist in practice. Theirs is the official religion, and the law requires that all citizens be of that religion. Their Government prohibits the public practice of other religions and any public religious activities of those other religions. Non-official religion worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in overt religious activity that attracts official attention.
They have all political, religious and sexually explicit information monitored, or outright censored. All communications are subject to inspection. The official policy is to protect people from the harmful effects of pornographic material, and whatever other harmful items are on the internet. They live in a country where freedom of expression and association are nonexistent rights, political parties and independent local media are not permitted, and even peaceful anti-government activities remain virtually unthinkable. Infringements on privacy, institutionalized gender discrimination, harsh restrictions on the exercise of religious freedom, and the use of capital and corporal punishment are also major features of their country’s human rights record. Their women continue to face severe discrimination in all aspects of their lives, including the family, education, employment, and the justice system. Religious police enforce a modesty code of dress, and institutions from schools to ministries are gender-segregated. They do not allow their women to vote, work and drive. They can tear their throats all they want about their (one) woman pilot and their female teachers and doctors, and I will tell them only this (one) thing: women account for roughly 5% of their workforce. Now come on, argue with me!
In their country, capital punishment is applied for crimes including (among others) sodomy and sorcery. In most cases, the condemned are decapitated in public squares after being blindfolded, handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, and tranquilized. Their courts continue to impose corporal punishment, including amputations of hands and feet for robbery, eye gauging, and floggings for lesser crimes such as "sexual deviance" and drunkenness.
Yet they think raping boys is fine.
They consider abusing foreign maids their birthright.
I can go on and on.
Can you guess who they are? They are the people who pissed me off yesterday beyond belief, preaching their values to me and trying to degrade mine and humiliate me. Telling me in my face that women are nothing, and thanks goodness they have theirs under control. Telling me that their religion and beliefs are universal and their God - omnipotent and whatever else you can imagine. Telling me that soon, very soon, they will rule the world and I will have to submit.
They told me that were I one of theirs (one of their what, exactly?) they’d show me my place. Tough luck. They were not in a position to show me anything, but I was. So yeah I didn’t keep my cool towards the end of the encounter, and told them to get the F*** out.
I found this cool toy thanks to my girl Entity, and now I am curious to find out what my readers and my friends think of me. One request - make yourselves identifiable to me, please!
:^)
UPDATE:
Haha, wow, thanks everyone who did it, I knew you liked me, but I didn't know you liked me THAT much! Well now for those who know me well (or think that they do, lol) - check out my DARK side and add your observations. No hard feelings, guaranteed! And please don't forget to leave a comment here if you decide to create your own windows :^)
It's cold again in Qatar. I told my parents a week ago that it was already really warm, and of course the day they arrived the weather took a major U turn. This is not fair. Although it is fun watching them as they try to figure out what to wear, lol.
I got an average of 3 hours sleep 3 nights in a row. This doesn't make me sociable, and I didn't even feel like blogging. The last two nights a couple of local imbeciles were working on some pretty intensive physical training routine right outside my house, complete with yelling, counting out loud, clapping, moaning and yelps of pain and strain. At 3 $&#%$# am! Where is my rifle when I need it most??
My parents are enjoying it in Doha, took them around a little. It's too cold to explore anything other than malls, so no new pictures. Planning to go to the Arabian Horse Show today, will see what the weather will be like. If it's too windy I think we'll go another day. One of my internet pals came here for the show, a girl from Denmark, so should be fun finally meeting in person.
Oh yeah, we went to the Jewellery and watches exhibition the other day. Now that was something! :^) We agreed that Graff diamonds were out of this world. I was so very pleased to find my watch on one of the show displays as well, lol. Silly Cat.
That's it for the time being, nothing else happened that's newsworthy.
Tagged again, this time by the lovely KuE, my fav film critic. Hey girl, I didn't see it coming! But oh well, here it is. And this is officially my last tag. I think I've had enough of them! :^)
1. Travel to all the countries 2. Learn Arabic 3. Make right choices 4. Stay at Burj al Arab with the loved one 5. Eat all the sweets I want 6. Save a life 7. Make someone happy
7 things I can't do:
1. Tolerate pain 2. Make right choices 3. Eat all the sweets I want 4. Speak Arabic 5. Live without internet and mobile phone 6. Deal with stupid people 7. Housework
7 things I always say:
1. Love you too 2. Aha 3. Shut up 4. Oh, sh*t! 5. Oh, that's nice! 6. What's for dinner? 7. Yalla
7 books I have loved:
1. “Hobbit” - Tolkien 2. “Lord of the Rings” - Tolkien 3. “War and Peace” - Tolstoy 4. “The Forsyte Saga” - Galsworthy 5. “Queen of the Damned” - Anne Rice 6. Harry Potter books – Rowling 7. “Wuthering Heights” - Brontë
7 movies I love to watch over and over:
1. Love Actually 2. Harry Potter 3. Bridget Jones Diary 4. Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Chocolat 6. Original Sin 7. Underworld
7 things I get attracted to:
1. Freshly ground coffee 2. Sports cars 3. Military Uniforms 4. Talented people 5. Travel 6. Great humour 7. Internet
I swear I was going to stay out of it. I said to myself that this is not my problem, not my call, not my issue. But I was drawn into it and now I just can't remain silent. Yes, it's about those infamous Danish cartoons. I am sure that “Danish cartoons” is a household expression now in many places around the world.
Now before I go any further, I want to declare for my personal safety and for my friends' peace of mind that I DO NOT SUPPORT those cartoons. Nor would I agree with anyone who uses the right of free speech to insult others in any way. Therefore I will not publish or link to them or any such material on my blog, ever. I am a very tolerant, understanding and willing to learn white western infidel if there ever was one. So please save the cheers of support and the death threats.
How come I am writing about it now?
Today I went shopping for groceries (a rather rare occurrence) and I discovered that Danish and Norwegian products are now banned from the shelves of a leading supermarket! I stood there dumbstruck. Why am I being punished? What have I done to be denied my favourite brands? And most importantly, what have the producers of these brands in Denmark and Norway done to be treated like that?
What happened to allocating the blame and punishment where appropriate? I am yet to hear the King of Saudi apologising for the actions of Saudi suicide bombers. I am yet to hear the apologies of Mr. Bush over there, and Mr. Osama over here. Why then would someone expect the Queen of Denmark to apologise for the actions of some cartoonists and one editor?? Aren't their (the cartoonists and the newspaper in general) apologies enough? And who is going to apologise to me personally for denying me my Royal Danish?
When 9/11 happened, I heard from many Muslim friends of mine that we shouldn't judge the whole religion and all the Islamic world for the actions of select few individuals. That Islam is the religion of tolerance and peace. So how come the whole nations of Denmark and Norway are now being judged for the actions of less than 20 people? Scores of these innocent people have already lost their jobs due to the products boycott in the Muslim countries. Some were assaulted and threatened. Is this the right approach? What do Muslims around the world expect to get in return? That the West acknowledges the mistake and learns the lesson? I somehow doubt it. I doubt it because the means to achieve it are wrong. You don't teach such a lesson by spreading death threats right, left and centre. Yes, the newspaper people might have apologised, but they did not necessarily understand your reasons why they were forced to do it in the first place.
Personally, I don't find cartoons offensive. I wouldn't find ANY cartoons offensive, mind it, whoever and whatever is depicted. It's just a cartoon, for goodness sake. It's someone's personal opinion, nothing more. However, I do understand where my Muslim pals are coming from. It is blasphemous for them to depict a Prophet in this way (in ANY way, for that matter). So yeah, me knowing that, I would have never done it. But I do realise that not everyone knows it! And not everyone who knows it bothers to stick to the rules, just because they don't have to. It's not a universal rule, people, please! If you believe you shouldn't draw Prophets – by all means, don't! But I reserve my personal right to draw whatever I may please. Some other people out there have their right to publish whatever they may please. And Muslim people have all the rights to express their disgust if they so wish or believe they should. But death threats? Product boycotts? Assaults? Over CARTOONS? Duhh...
I hope at some point people understand that their religious duties and principles apply to them and those who are of this particular religion alone. No religion is universal. I am not a Muslim and therefore I am excused from following the Quran. I wouldn't expect my Muslim friends to stick to the Bible. I wouldn't expect my Christian friends to behave like Buddhists. Maybe it is insulting to the Buddhists that my name is Qatar Cat, for instance... Maybe it is forbidden in some other religions out there. I don't know about it. Am I to be killed for it? And even if I DO know it, am I still to be killed? Threatened? Boycotted??
It's getting late and I feel like I am not getting anywhere. All I wanted to say was that I am really sorry that such incidents happen. I am sorry on behalf of Danish and Norwegian (and whoever else reprinted this silly stuff) publishers because I am European, and I am equally sorry on behalf of all Muslim people responsible for the boycotting and death threats because I live in the Middle East now and consider myself a part of the community. Now could we please move on already? Bottom line: can I have my butter back, please?
I was tagged separately by Sever, Miyafushi, Rumbling NRI, Fo0F (gotta love that nick, hehe) and I can't remember who else (will add if I remember or if you remind me) with the following two things:
a. 8 weird things about me
and
b. 8 attributes of my perfect lova
The Rules for the lova tag: 1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover. 2. Need to mention the sex of the target. 3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged. 4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.
A. My Quirks
1. I have to have a shower before I can have a bath. If I don’t, I have to have a shower AFTER the bath, which will negate the bath effect. So I shower before bath.
2. I don’t eat raisins and I spend ages every morning picking them one by one out of my cereal bowl (all my favourite cereals have raisins).
3. I read 4-5 books at a time. All these books are in different places of my house. I will pick the one I have next to me at any given time and carry on reading from where I left off.
4. I hate shopping in general. Exceptions: books, electronics, cosmetics.
5. I get terribly seasick even on a moored ship/boat.
6. I am anti-claustrophobic: I like to have all doors and windows closed around me.
7. I have to wear socks at all times. I am never barefoot. I suppose I have a sock addiction. The only times my tootsies see the sun is when I wear strappies or when I go swimming. I even sleep with my socks on.
8. Unlike Sever, I can’t live without my mobile although I do not necessarily answer it every time it rings.
B. Perfect lova - male
1. Would love and respect me
2. Has to be totally masculine – no metrosexual city slicks for me
3. Would be clean, wear neat clothes and smell nice, unless of course we get dirty together :^)
4. Would have a great sense of humour and be able to make me laugh
5. Wouldn’t mind doing something new and has to be adventurous
6. Won’t insist on being always right but wouldn’t be submissive
7. Has to be open minded and respect different views and opinions in addition to his own
8. Would have to be someone I could trust with my life.
Wow can't believe I finally did that. I am supposed to tag 8 whole people with this... But that's asking a lot. I will only tag Mimi, LYM and Kaza. Mimi and LYM because I don't know them that well and would like to find out more, and Kaza because she's playing truant lately. Oh yeah, and I tag Sever with the Perfect Lova exercise :^)
Now I won't insist on you writing it... but if you do, make sure you let me know!
