So, yesterday I discovered that Doha had a "hood". Our school put us up in this fabulous hotel but like any normal person we want to unpack and unwind. Our principal told us to wait until Sunday and he would give us an agent and a drive. Me... wait...whoever heard of such a thing. Anyhow, my adventure partner and I google some apartments, write down the addresses (with just street names and no numbers lol) and head for the green taxi. We decided to venture out on our own. We had for our favorite apartment first. The apartments are fabulous online and they were fabulous in person too. But, the neighborhood was needless to say "shady". It was shady in a weird way. You could obviously tell it was a poor area but there was no graffiti. There were no people standing on corners. There was no haggling, no loud talking, no mischief.
So, it got me thinking. How is it that Doha obviously has areas of poverty but no crime? When I say no crime, I mean crime here is almost non-existent. When you turn on the news you won't see any murders, thefts, burglaries, rapes etc. The news here reports on the problems of other countries and casually mentions their own climate here and there which is always "hot"!!!! In the states people often blame crime on the fact that there isn't enough money to go around or on how they want to come up. Why is it the same problem exists here, yet they respond to it differently? I asked 2 locals about it. One told me it was because of the Islamic "eye for an eye" law. In other words, they say the punishments are so severe that everyone is too afraid to break the law. Another local said it was from a genuine fear of the police and deportation. That reminds me, I haven't seen a police car since Ive gotten here.
Anyhow, this is a question that I'm determined to have the answer to before I leave Doha. Why is there no crime?
On another note, today was interesting. In the 3 short days Ive been here, I have met people from New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Philippines, Libya, India and Yemen. Doha is truly an international melting pot city. When I started talking these people I never thought I would learn such a big lesson.
I was talking to the young lady from Libya. She was explaining to me that her family fled from Libya years ago because of the mistreatment in the country. The other day I saw a story on the news. The nanny from the Ghadafi family had boiling water poured on her head because she couldn't keep the toddlers silent. She had 3rd degree burns from head to toe. Then, she was refused medical care until the newscasters got wind of the story. Anyhow, the girl from Libya was explaining to me that this was normal in her country and has been going on for 42 years. She said the citizens are overjoyed about Ghadafi being kicked out.
Im a huge believer of the United States minding their own business and staying out of the drama of other countries. However, she was telling me how grateful she was that the United States and NATO stepped in. She said that if they hadn't, Ghadafi was going to order mass shootings of all the rebels and it would have had much more bloodshed than has already happened. So, I learned a lesson today. Some people do need our help and we truly can't understand a situation until we are closer to it. Hearing her story made me proud of my country. These are the wars we should be fighting. Lesson learned: When you are in a position to make a difference, do it!! We really shouldn't be afraid of these places with civil unrest. Instead, we should try to understand them. Everyone has a cause and a rationale for that cause. In the states, we gossip and complain about who did this and who did that. But could you imagine being tortured or having boiling water poured on you? It made me look at things differently. We should definitely be more appreciative and use all the resources we are so blessed to have as a nation.
So, it got me thinking. How is it that Doha obviously has areas of poverty but no crime? When I say no crime, I mean crime here is almost non-existent. When you turn on the news you won't see any murders, thefts, burglaries, rapes etc. The news here reports on the problems of other countries and casually mentions their own climate here and there which is always "hot"!!!! In the states people often blame crime on the fact that there isn't enough money to go around or on how they want to come up. Why is it the same problem exists here, yet they respond to it differently? I asked 2 locals about it. One told me it was because of the Islamic "eye for an eye" law. In other words, they say the punishments are so severe that everyone is too afraid to break the law. Another local said it was from a genuine fear of the police and deportation. That reminds me, I haven't seen a police car since Ive gotten here.
Anyhow, this is a question that I'm determined to have the answer to before I leave Doha. Why is there no crime?
On another note, today was interesting. In the 3 short days Ive been here, I have met people from New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Philippines, Libya, India and Yemen. Doha is truly an international melting pot city. When I started talking these people I never thought I would learn such a big lesson.
I was talking to the young lady from Libya. She was explaining to me that her family fled from Libya years ago because of the mistreatment in the country. The other day I saw a story on the news. The nanny from the Ghadafi family had boiling water poured on her head because she couldn't keep the toddlers silent. She had 3rd degree burns from head to toe. Then, she was refused medical care until the newscasters got wind of the story. Anyhow, the girl from Libya was explaining to me that this was normal in her country and has been going on for 42 years. She said the citizens are overjoyed about Ghadafi being kicked out.
Im a huge believer of the United States minding their own business and staying out of the drama of other countries. However, she was telling me how grateful she was that the United States and NATO stepped in. She said that if they hadn't, Ghadafi was going to order mass shootings of all the rebels and it would have had much more bloodshed than has already happened. So, I learned a lesson today. Some people do need our help and we truly can't understand a situation until we are closer to it. Hearing her story made me proud of my country. These are the wars we should be fighting. Lesson learned: When you are in a position to make a difference, do it!! We really shouldn't be afraid of these places with civil unrest. Instead, we should try to understand them. Everyone has a cause and a rationale for that cause. In the states, we gossip and complain about who did this and who did that. But could you imagine being tortured or having boiling water poured on you? It made me look at things differently. We should definitely be more appreciative and use all the resources we are so blessed to have as a nation.
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