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 Tuesday at 5:00 am.  We all made it to Doha, remarkably Jeff got in at the same time as we did.  Pretty decent flight on QA, but we were sitting in the front of the bus and the service, comfort, and meal quality is much different than many folks experienced.  But on time and no airport hassles.  So we are at Kathy’s house and everybody seems able to sleep except me.  

Editorial correction.  Kathy has been in Doha for 15 years and seems to have figured out how to make the best of life in this crazy country.  She is acting as a first class hostess, with welcome packages, activity books and a generous greeting from three puppies, all of whom want to lick you

It’s been a crazy couple of days since I wrote.  It is now Thursday evening and I am running on empty.  Got here on Tuesday night, didn’t sleep much, Wednesday arrived and we watched soccer and then attended the Mexico v Saudi Arabia match that started at 10 pm in the Lusail stadium located about 20kms  from Kathy’s house.  The FIFA/Qatar website said 20 minutes in a car, 90 minutes using the metro, assuming you could find a parking space at the Metro station.  Small oversight in that they built a great metro system but forgot that people often drive to the station first.  So, limited parking.  We drove and two hours latter finally got into the “closest” parking lot to the stadium.  From the parking lot it is a 20 minute bus ride to get close to the stadium, than another 30 minute walk to get you to the first of four credential checks.  FIFA promised golf cart assistance for old or disabled people from bus stops to the stadium, but…..finally with the help of a lovely Saudi woman who used some kind of young woman magic, she got  a golf cart to stop, turn around and help us get to the stadium, and then really worked magic to convince three security guards that Shirley, Kathy, and I were nearly on our death beds to get us through the next Hayya card and ticket check that allowed us to actually enter the stadium.  Lusail seats 60,000 people in a 5 level stadium.  We were on level 5, all stairs.  They have an elevator, but no one seemed to know where it was, or how to find it.  A well, the match was great, the crowd amazing with about 20,000 supporting Mexico and about the same number rooting for the Saudis.  And the rest just enjoying the spectacle.  We learned some new cheers in Arabic and Spanish, and a couple of unique vulgar insults directed at the officials.  Anyway, the getting out of the place, finding the bus, the car and the way home took another two hours, so now it was about 2:30 am.  Long day.  FIFA and Qatar organized about 10,000 volunteers for crowd management, but while there were a lot of volunteers, the level of consistency in their knowledge was pretty low.  

So that was Wednesday.  Dinner in Lusail, the new city of glitz, that seemed to be skin deep.  Multi story buildings with a restaurant on the ground floor and empty space above it.  Future development?  Or maybe all gone in a year?  



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