Doha Tribeca Film Festival

It was the first film festival in Doha and we went to see the opening and closing night movies; Amelia and Cairo time. Both were shown at the open air theatre in Museum of Islamic Art. We really enjoyed the movies, especially watching them in the open air.

The atmosphere, stage, lighting, decorations and firework display were all breathtaking. 2 Turkish soap stars; Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ and Songül Öden, Robert De Niro, Mira Nair and many more attended the festival. They showed the red carpet walk on the big screen before the movie started. Later on I read that Turkish stars got more attention from the public than the Hollywood actors that even they asked to find out who they were. It really amused me a lot.

However the organisation wasn’t very  good, there was chaos going on all around. Instead of professional officials, it was full of amateur volunteers arranging the seats and leading people. It was a total mess. It isn’t like they can’t afford it or they lack of money. It could have been a very well organised festival.

The shocking part came afterwards, though. As the car park wasn’t available during the festival, the buses were provided to people in different points of the city. At the opening night when the movie finished, the volunteers led people to the picking up point and making a line for queuing up. We got into the line and we were at the front of the queue. The buses started to turn up and all of a sudden tons of people ran among the bushes and reached the buses and filled them. 6 buses passed in front of us totally full and even if we were at the front of the queue we waited almost an hour to get on a bus. We argued to stop this happening and then the buses stopped opening their doors until they reached where the queue was but yet again the buses kept passing us and stopping at the end of the queue and picking those people. Jo had to fight hard to show them the front of the queue and got a bus stop in front of us so we could load in.

It wasn’t a very good organisation from the beginning but this unrespectful behaviour made it absolute nightmare.

Jo’s birthday

Yesterday we had a BBQ and mezze day at our place and celebrated Jo’s birthday. Jo’s colleagues and a few more people from the bank they work for came over. It was a nice party and we both enjoyed it.

We have been thinking of a gathering for quite some time but putting it off because of the excessive heat. While having had a good reason for it and a nice weather, we just went for it.

We had no idea how much effort and hard work people put into while having a BBQ or house parties. We have appreciated everyone who took over that job in the past once again. (The biggest thanks are going to Tony, Carol and Bill,  then to all family members as well..)

 

Film is life

The city is awakening from its long summer sleep and coming to life. Last week when we went to the theatre to see Romanoff and Juliet, we were given hand-outs for Doha film festival which is starting next week. There are lots of things going on around since the end of September.

Also the weather is great right now, changes between 30 to 35 since the middle of October. Not too hot, just warm in the day time and cooler during evenings. We have started walking after dinners and no air cons humming, anymore. It is a perfect temperature for me.

* Doha Tribeca film festival is starting on 29th October and ends on 1st November. Tickets will go on sale at the Grand Cinecentre, City Centre, Museum of Islamic Art and on the DTFF bus at venues across the city. During the Festival, from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, tickets will be sold at the event venues one hour ahead of performance time.

Opening night on the 29th of Oct at Museum of Islamic Art;

Amelia, free public screening

Film Schedule for the festival

The Doha players

I still can’t believe that there is an English theatre in Doha. I  found out about this amateur theatre group a week ago and almost cried as a big theatre fan. I can’t think of a place without a theatre.

The Doha players are actually expats living in Doha. They either moved here to work or for their partners’ works. Some of them have got an experince on stage but most of them are experiencing it for the very first time. They are pretty good for amateurs. We have seen the first play of the new season; Romanoff and Juliet by Peter Ustinov, a British dramatist. It was on only for 4 days at Qatar Academy building. It was a small stage with 100 seats or so.

As they don’t have their own premises, the plays are on wherever they can arrange a stage. Also only 4 or 5 plays are on throughout a year. They always in need of and welcome new players since people come and go all the time.

It is a small theatre but warm and welcoming. During the break, we were served chocolates, water and juices. The tickets are 50 riyals = £9. The group’s next production will be the annual pantomime and this year they will perform Cinders- The True Story, to be directed by Sarah Jenkins and staged from 10-12th December.

In the coming months, Doha players will move into a large villa on land that will eventually become part of Qatar Science & Technology Park. It will be a temporary home until they are given land to build their new theatre.

Experiment with Arabic cuisine

Weekend brunches are excellent time to sample all types of Gulf and Middle Eastern Cuisine, including Iranian and Lebanese food. You will often see buffet spreads with huge amounts of food. These will usually contain:

Hummous: a dip made from chick peas and sesame seeds
Tabouleh: chopped parsley, mint and crunched wheat
Ghuzi: a whole roast lamb on a bed of rice, mixed with nuts
Wara enab: vine leaves stuffed with rice

Matchbous: spiced lamb with rice
Hareis: a rich delicacy of slow cooked wheat and tender lamb
Seafood: served with specialty rice

Umm Ali: a type of bread pudding
Esh asaraya: a sweet type of cheesecake with cream on top
Mehalabiya: pudding sprinkled with rose water and pistachios

Falafel – fried chick peas
Moutabal: Broiled aubergine, blended with tahini and lemon and olive oil
Fried kibbeh – ground meat (usually lamb or mutton) with bulghur wheat and seasonings
Fatteh (with labaan) – baked chick peas/pita dish (served with a type of Middle Eastern yogurt)
Shish Tawook – marinated skewered chicken
Khoshkash kebab – skewered meat in a spicy tomato sauce
Arayes kofta – bread with grilled lamb
Fattoush – salad with a tangy lemon dressing topped with crisped pastry
Baba Ghanoush – aubergine mixed with sesame and garlic
Kellaj – Lebanese bread filled with halloumi cheese, charcoal grilled

For breakfast, baked bread with toppings, hummous and olives are consumed.

Seafood is very popular from this region as the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman serve some locale specialities – lobster, cigale, crab, hammour, shrimp, tuna, kingfish, pomfret, and red snapper. Many hotels will have seafood buffets where you can indulge yourself in these various dishes.

A traditional and very popular snack is the shawarma (similiar to Turkish döner) – grilled slices of delicately spiced lamb or chicken, mixed with salad, and rolled inside a pocket of Arabic bread. It is sold all over the Middle East, and is considered the fast food of the Middle East! Some also contain chilli sauce, tomatoes, mayonnaise and french fries.

Another popular Lebanese type food is manakish (similiar to Turkish pide) which is baked bread meal with toppings. Traditionally, it is served for breakfast or lunch depending on its topping. You could liken it to a pizza and usually it is served folded. Some toppings are cheese, zaatar (thyme, mint and olive oil mixture) with cheese, labneh (yogurt type cream), minced beef, manakish bjibne (with cheese and olives) or lahem bel ajin (open pie topped with ground beef and lamb, pine nuts, onions and herb).

The Arabian diet is very focused on meat, so you can often get a meat grill with a mixture of the meat which is a good plate to share.

For deserts, you could try Knafeh (similiar to Turkish künefe), which is a semolina type desert with cheese and syrup. You will see many of the shops offering baklava, which is sweet filo pastry stuffed with nuts and covered in syrup.

Also, as far as drinks go, the availability of fresh juices is amazing and at very reasonable prices. People like to try the fruit cocktail which is a luxurious heavy concoction, that is sprinkled with pistachios.

When I compare the Arabian flavours and cooking styles with Turkish cuisine, it is so much alike and also that much different. Künefe, baklava, and many more are both Arabic and Turkish desserts but even if they look alike, they taste different.

Coffee is a very much liked drink in the Middle East. Arabic coffee is prepared very different than Turkish coffee even if the same coffee and cooking utensils are used. Turkish coffee is made with cold water, coffee and sugar which are mixed together before being put on a fire. When the mixture reaches to boiling point, it starts to rise and that’s the time you take it off the fire. Whereas Arabic coffee is made with boiling water, coffee and sugar. Once the water in the coffee pot boils, coffee and sugar are added into the boiling water. They are all mixed well and left to boil on the fire for 10 mins or more. As a result Arabic coffee turns out very bitter and strong just like Arabic tea which is left to boil on the fire. However, in Turkey neither coffee is boiled nor tea since we believe boiling them spoils the taste of them.

There are still a few things I haven’t had the chance to experiment with. Even though most people aren’t quite keen to try camel meat and camel milk, I’m looking forward to. It is not that weird after the idea of consuming horse meat and milk. Horse meat and milk used to be the main food of Turks in the Central Asia and it still is for the other Turkic countries (Kazakhistan, Kirgihizistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tatarstan, Sakha Republic, East Turkistan).

……..

For the last 2 weeks, have been suffering again for the 2nd time this year from grief. I lost another friend from another blood disease. Can’t find the right words; I’m so stunned, so much in pain and so scared…

After we came back from London, Jo had a bad cold and I got it from him a few days later. It was around the same time when the news reached to me and took all the energy out of me. It took 2 weeks to recover from that bad cold but I don’t know when my heart will recover from grief…

Back to Doha

We had a nice cool break in London. Personally I very much enjoyed every moment of it. I have realised I miss London as much as I miss Turkey. The best thing about London is its liveliness and capacity to entertain anyone just like Istanbul. I’m realising that I prefer living in cities which have got lots to offer.

Doha is the biggest city in Qatar but there isn’t much around in the means of theatre, musicals, shows, museums and art galleries. Instead  food festivals, brunches and speacial promations at hotel restaurants are available all the time. Recently I have come across with a webpage giving information about all other events in Doha which I wasn’t aware of. I’m quite excited about the ones in October.

There is 7th annual diplomatic charity bazaar between 21st and 24th of October at International Exhibition Centre. The charity bazaar is supported by 41 embassies in Doha. In these bazaar they offer Arabic and French perfumes, beauty products, chocolates, food items and handicraft. There will also be events like cultural shows and the Thai Embassy will offer foot massage for the visitors. Sounds interesting enough to go and have a look, especially foot massage (yay) and cultural shows.

On the same dates, The International Furniture & Design Exhibition will be showcasing world class home and office furniture, interior design, art, lighting, fabrics and landscaping at Doha Exhibition Centre. I may sneak into it after visiting the charity bazaar to have some ideas of modern interior designs and decorations.

The entire month of October will be a Mexican fiesta with live entertainment from the famous Salsa Band at Mexican Restaurant Salsa in the Marriot Hotel. There were only Indian and Asian food festivals throughout all summer. Mexican night out sounds just perfect to me. I like  Mexican food and shaking after eating chilies. I have missed our belly dancing nights with girls too much. I haven’t done any belly dancing for 3 years now. I used to love it, actually I still do but don’t know who would fancy dancing with me…

Off to London

We are off to London today and will be there until the 26th of September. We both have been looking forward to this break and seeing everyone we left behind. Hopefully it will be cool and rainy in London, actually I’m sure it will be.

We miss the rain so much and never thought we would have said that. The first thing I would like to do is to walk under the rain and hear the sound of it while falling asleep. It has always been my biggest help to go to sleep.

Also I can’t wait to join the crowd in Oxford Street and do some shopping. I like shopping in the street shops so I can be in and out, breathe and see the sky…

Lailat al-Qadr (Kadir Gecesi)

Laylat Al-Qadr is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. It is also the anniversary of the night in which the Quran is believed by Muslims to have been revealed in its entirety. Laylat al-Qadr is to be found in the last 10 nights of Ramadan. There is no history in the Quran as to when the specific date is. In Turkey it is celebrated tonight.

The whole month of Ramadan is a period of spiritual training wherein believers devote much of their time to fasting, praying, reciting the Qur’an, remembering God, and giving charity. However because of the revealed importance of this night, Muslims strive harder in the last ten days of Ramadan since the Laylat al-Qadr could be one of the odd-numbered days in these last ten (the first, third, fifth, or seventh). Normally, some Muslims from each community would perform an i’tikaf in the mosque: they remain in the mosque for the last ten days of the month for prayers and recitation.

This is the music

Deep in music since the beginning of this month so that very peaceful and relaxed.  I feel like I’m blossoming again every time upon listening to the music and melodies I added up below. It has started to cool down a bit (from 48 to 42) and naturally it has got an effect on me, too.

Today simply delighted with everything. After a long time I had a shower without getting burnt and very much enjoyed it. I like to have cool showers and have been suffering under the boiling hot water (from the cold side of the tap) since May. It is so funny living here. I can’t describe how happy it made me just to be able to have a cooler water although it isn’t quite right, yet.

It is a reed flute melody of a poem “Gel Gör Beni Aşk Ne’yledi” by the Turkish poet Yunus Emre. Translation; come,  see what love has done to me.

One of the most beautiful songs in the world. One of the greatest artists in the world. May rest in peace !

Yansımalar, meaning reflections, is a Turkish group that compose and play contemporary ethnic music.

3  old Ottoman melodies from Istanbul.