Visiting the State Mosque

Today, we had the opportunity to visit the newly opened State (National) Mosque. Some basic facts which were found here:

The mosque covers a total area of 175,164 sq.m. As many as 11,000 men can offer prayers in the air-conditioned central hall of the mosque and the adjacent special enclosure is spacious enough for 1200 women.

There are three main doors and 17 side entrances to the mosque. As many as 28 large domes cover the central hall while 65 domes cover the outer quadrangle. On the whole the mosque can hold a congregation of 30,000 people.

For all the wealth of Qatar, it is a tasteful building, unlike some very ostentatious counterparts elsewhere. We were able to take pictures, though they are taken while dodging the grasp of baby in carrier. It was fun and interesting, and a few of the questions I have had were answered as well. I'll write more on Islam later.

One of the side door entrances to the main mosque

The outside hallways around the courtyard

Leoni sitting on a light

Drinking fountain in front of the mosque

Leoni and her friend Isaak

The women on the tour needed to cover their heads and wear an abaya

Me by one of the outer entrances with my hijab and abaya

My friend Afton who met us for the tour

Leoni brought along her "fabric" so she could be covered as well
(Girls under 15 don't have to cover their heads.)

Leoni by colorful stained glass

Leoni & Isaak

The library
It is filled with gorgeous leather bound books, all in Arabic.

A view of the multi-domed roof, which is often referred to as looking like an egg carton

Up in the minaret

A view of the Doha skyline from the minaret

Leoni running around even though she said she would sit and be quiet.

Burke walking toward the rows of tissue boxes on the floor, any toddler's dream.

Leoni outside in one of the "tunnels", where shoes can be removed before entering

There are some nice shots by a professional here, including night shots.
It looks beautiful all lit up at night.

A Feathered Friend

We headed out to Souq Waqif for the New Year. It is sometimes just fun to walk around and take in the ambiance. While we were there, a young boy with his pet falcon let us take a picture. We was happy to show off this prized pet and probably would have let Leoni hold it on her arm, but we felt she was a little young for that (and skittish about touching animals).

Meeting Papa

Papa John that is. There are franchises here, and they are real Papa John's. They even have the garlic butter, being shipped and held up in customs.

Trying Papa John's pizza

She loved it and ate THREE pieces

Swimming

Now that temperatures have kept creeping up, we are taking advantage of the opportunities to swim. Luckily, we have friends who live in compounds with very nice swimming facilities.

Photography exhibit

We went to a photography exhibit with the Tibbitts. Diane had read about it, and we were glad to find out as well (articles here and here). It showcased some of the oldest known photos of Doha (as well as other Gulf areas), taken by a German traveler, Hermann Burchardt, from 1903-1904. It was fascinating. The photos are taken from the original negatives, which are housed in Berlin, Germany. They have also been published in a German book, some of which can be previewed here.

We couldn't take pictures of the pictures, but this is a mosque at the Cultural Village where the exhibit took place.


While I was looking for links, I came across this site that also has old photos of Doha. Pretty interesting.

Handball sidenote

Travis posted about the IHF semi-finals we attended, but he forgot to mention one of my favorite moments. Going to find out what edible fare was being offered and finding it to be cheap shawarma instead of hotdogs.

Qatar National Museum

Back in January, I had a hand in helping plan an outing for 8-11 year old girls (Activity Days) to visit the Qatar National Museum. We were going to talk about being a good citizen where ever you live and what that means. I had tried to contact the museum several times for details, but I was having trouble getting someone to answer the phone, which is not uncommon. I finally did get an answer, but the person didn't speak much English, but at least I knew they were there.

I headed over on a Thursday, planing to make a worksheet to help the girls stay interested and learn a little about the country (the outing was scheduled for Saturday). Upon arrival, I was taken back by the desolate parking lot, but I figured that it may not be a popular attraction. That was, until the "ticket window" slid open. We walked over to talk to the guard inside, who told us in broken English, "Closed. Museum closed. Come back, one year."

Well, the outing was canceled, and I thought maybe we would go back in a year when it reopens. A few days ago, I read this. I guess we'll have to push that visit back a few more years. The prospective renovations, however, look impressive.

Sheikh Faisal Museum

We visited the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani Museum with my parents. You have to make a reservation, which was surprisingly easy, considering that tour companies usually charge a lot saying "all fees included" but the museum itself is free. We called and they set up an appointment for the following day in the late afternoon.

Sheikh Faisal is a cousin of the Emir (Qatar's political figurehead and leader) as well as a very successful businessman. The museum is for everything he has collected throughout his life, and he has put it together in a museum to preserve the heritage of Qatar.

There were rooms set up to look like traditional Qatari homes, artifacts, the cars that have belonged to his family over the past 100 years, and so much more. He has a collection of money that is currently being worked on for display. He has bills and coins from around the world, some dating back to 250 B.C. that are in VERY good condition. We will have to go back and check those out more when the displays are finished because we only saw part of the collection.

The entrance

A view of a part of the museum

In front of the little lake thing & a ship floating in it (???)

Kind of feeling like Disneyland

Leoni dreaming of her future as a pirate girl

Inside a courtyard

Checking out a stagecoach

We were there at the same time as a girls' school group. They loved Leoni & tried to use her as a part of their assignment of finding things in the museum and what country they're from.

Amazing collection of fossils including this dinosaur skull. It is huge!

More fossils

Fossilized turtle heads

Who knew these would be so "common" in the Middle East

Checking out more displays in one of the big halls

Fancy Arabian furniture covered in inlaid mother of pearl

Sheikh Faisal himself
He arrived and spent time with us showing us different things in the museum including pulling up water from a still functioning well in the middle of the museum and offering everyone a drink. I have a better picture, but for some reason it won't transfer over. He was very nice.