It has been a fairly eventful couple of weeks since I last put up a blog. The above pictures is of a martial arts group who put on a demonstration in the local mall. They were amazing, particularly the young boy in front, who was able to do the most amazing contortion feats. They got a good crowd out to see them as the new Harry Potter movie had opened the same week. Four of the movie theatres in the mall carried the movie, so there were lots of young people about.

This Friday, Derek and I joined a mosque tour, put on by the Islamic cultural centre. They provided a bus to a mosque which is in a nearby town. We were encouraged to bring our cameras and questions, and they lent the women in the group abayas (not sure of the spelling) to wear to the mosque. They gave us a demonstration of the call to prayer and the prayers in the service. A friend of mine from the stitch group had told me she was going to be there, but Derek also found a couple of fellows he works were there also with their families. It seemed a fairly modern mosque, but the details of the design were beautifully done.

The bottom of the mirhab (? I think that is the name which is the direction of Mecca) was an intricate tile mosaic

Here is a closeup of the tile. We went back to the centre at the end and they provided a traditional meal - men in one area and the women in the other, divided by a partition. The food was very good, but I had difficulty managing sitting on the seat so low to the ground and managing my flying black robes, so in the end didn't eat a whole lot. It gave me a new appreciation of how the local women seem to manage their dress with elegance. However, I met a women who was part of a group of Islamic ladies visiting from Germany, studying arabic and being toured around Qatar. I was amazed to be invited to join the group the next day on their tour. I accepted their invitation of course, but while I was on my way to meet them the next day, I stepped off the curb awkwardly and ended up in a heap on the sidewalk. The next moments are a blur, but I was helped to my feet and found myself shortly in a taxi being taken back to the apartment. So I have spent the last few days with my feet up, icing my sore ankle. Again, the groups of ladies, both the visiting germans, plus the local ladies who invited them here, paid me a visit in our apartment, bearing gifts of beautiful roses in the colours of qatar, and a huge, and I mean huge and beautifully wrapped display of chocolates - just like the ones I had seen in the stores and been amazed at how beautifully they were arranged. I was quite overcome by both their generosity and their concern for my well being. I am hoping my ankle will have healed sufficiently to attend their going away party next Friday.