When we first got here we (being the 6 Course Assistants from CMUpittsburgh) had a brief orientation period which included a session titled "The Culture Shock Model." This being my first time out of the country, I listened closely to try to better understand the experience I was about to have. The model, which is shaped like a U, is a visualization of the range of feelings one might experience while studying abroad. The first phase is known as the "honeymoon" and like all things new and exciting, it is marked by extreme enthusiasm and a lust for your new environment. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Doha might not fit the typical culture shock model, if it's even possible to characterize experiences like that, but I certainly am enjoying it. The move here was ultimately much easier than I originally thought and for the most part, adjusting to my new life has been smooth sailing. In fact, life here is surprisingly western with a few small exceptions and for the most part, I haven't felt self aware of my white/femaleness in a place that is largely neither white nor female.
That is not to say my experience has been totally without incident. On my birthday a couple days ago there was a rally here on campus regarding the Isreali-Palestine conflict and Her Highness, Sheikah Mosa, came to speak. As an American in an Arab country these days, I might have felt unsafe in the situation, but given the context, that the queen was speaking and that it was within the doors of my campus, I attended. This probably had to have been one of the most unique experiences I could have had because I was priveledged to safely watch something from a side of the fence that I might never have been able to observe it from. The message of Her Highness' speach and the over arching theme of the rally, was the importence of education as a weapon against weapons and I couldn't have agreed more.
Nearly the entire population of women who were in attendence were wearing the abaya (the long black overgarment) or some version of the hijab (the collective term for these garments) and some even in Niqaab (the head covering that conceals the face). Because it is not my religion, I am never required to wear them although being in a sea of people who are, one might feel suddenly compelled to do so. Perhaps even more pressuring were the keffiyehs that everybody was wearing, which is the image at top. A keffiyeh is a scarf that can be worn a number of ways, in turban style as a head wrap, bunched as a scarf or even just draped around the shoulders. Urban Outfitters used to sell them (and again I would insert a discussion of authenticity here) until somebody called to their attentention that the significance of the garment is its check pattern which has come to represent Palestine (although it is not its flag) and wearing the pattern is to show Palestinian solidarity. These were passed out at the rally, and every, I mean everybody wore them. This includes the other handful of white people I knew to be American who are also teaching elsewhere on campus.
The Isreali-Palestinain conflict is something that I understand merely on the periphery, which I think is better than most Americans can claim. As an American, I appreciate the civil liberty of dissention and that even though my country is at war, even though we have national policies that the rest of the world is aware of, my right to disagree is protected. The guard handed me the Keffiyeh but it ultimately didn't feel right, even if my views were in line with that. I slipped it in my purse and I sat in the back of the room quietly, skirting a delicate line as an American looking on to the GCC zeitgeist.
So now I have this scarf. It's folded neatly in my closet and is the first addition in a long time to the things I own. At the end of last semester, even after everything was photographed, there was a significant amount of shuffling. I got rid of all my hangars, a bowl I loved very much, my sheets which I had since high school and an orange lamp my mom bought me when I first came to college. Some of these things were replaced with new things before I even got on the plane. I'm sure I'll collect other objects before I leave here too, but this keffiyeh, a gift from the Qatari government to those participating in the rally that was hosted at my new school on my 24th birthday, this is something I think I'll have for forever.