Driving in Doha...

What a topic.... The title should be "MAD Reckless Racing in Doha", or "Defensive Driving at it's finest", or "Supreme Craziness on the road" is more like it... I will probably get deported for this one...

I have never been to a place like this before, and we have been around the globe... Cairo Egypt I thought had to be the worst, until I moved here, but DOHA takes the cake. This is a subject talked about daily in every group and organization, newspaper, online, but still NOTHING has changed... Bottom line...
NO RULES for the LOCALS!!! They own the road... and the country and everything else... So move out of their way... That is their Motto!!!

1. The shoulder is a LANE, even if it has stripes painted on the road, or even curbs, It's a lane. The bike path, it's a lane too, sidewalk, you guessed it - A LANE!!!
2. There is not a such of thing as courtesy, everyone just pushes their way into the lanes in the front of the light. Queue, or waiting in line is not an option here. Not even a word they know.

3. Smash your car, leave it there,  go buy a new one tomorrow.

4. A right turn from the left lane is completely OK if you are driving a white Landcruiser  or even better, visa versa, a left turn from a 6 lane road at a red light from the right lane is just normal. Get use to it!!!
5. They have to build fences between the medians to keep them from jumping curbs. Curbs are not a big enough deterrent.
6. Qatar has the #1 pedestrian deaths in the world. At the mall NO ONE lets you walk to the door, they speed up when they see you to scare you. It's super rude. Even the taxi drivers have not learned that pedestrians have the right of way. My country taught us better manners!
7. If you driving down the street and a Qatari gets 2 inches behind you and flashes his lights no matter what, you are supposed to move over, even if there are wall to wall cars and traffic, or you are about to turn, it's the law... Remember they own the law and the road...
8. Seat belts? WHAT IS A SEATBELT? This has to be my worst issue here. Never a child buckled in!!! They sit in the laps of the drivers while they are on the phone! Yes, and it is a law, but only for others... How can you not want to protect your baby? This my friends, I do not understand. Allah or no Allah, I love my babies and will do whatever it takes to protect them.
9. Oh and the phone, you got it... Law: you can not use any devices while driving, if you are not local.
10. If you haven't seen a young Qatari trying to show off by getting his car up on two wheels at a round about - you will. Or a motorcyclist guy doing a wheelie for an entire block at a super high rate of speed, don't fret, you will.
Here are some rules the Qataris follow:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Solution:
BE ARAB!!! Turn up your Van Halen as loud as it goes, be BEYOND aggressive and pretend you have a white landcruiser, DO NOT LOOK AT THE ROUND-A-BOUTS, JUST GO, everyone will stop for you. It is amazing how much fun this is... Even if you are just going to the grocery store, buckle up... and put your PEDAL to the METAL all the way to the floor and BUST A MOVE!!!
Trust me, it is way more fun that being in a bad mood... If you can't beat them, Join em!!!

Life is like a carpet...

We spend our whole life worrying about the details. 

Working with the knots like the carpet weavers...

Is your hair combed, legs shaved, makeup on, shirt tucked in properly. 

Is your dinner warm, steak cooked to perfection, is there too much salt in the sauce?

Did you make the best grades, is the yard mowed, flower beds weeded? 

Did you read enough news, pay attention to the presidential election, stay that extra hour at work, know enough of world issues? Are you smart enough, religious enough, happy enough? 

Oh my gosh so many details. 

Look at a carpet... LOOK really close....When you go to buy one, the carpet man always turns it over so you can see the details of the work. If you work harder on the details the carpet is much more beautiful and exquisite.  

We spend more than half our life on the wrong side of the carpet. 

Staring at the backside, the knots and issues without stepping to the other side to admire the beauty of all your hard work!

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Award yourself with praise, don't wait until someone else does it for you.

Be proud of you.

Let's step to the other side of life... 

Let us all gander at the wonderful world amongst us. 

Let's like our face, body and family. Let's love yourself, friends and neighbors. 

Let's stop nit picking our lives to death because we didn't hit the ball as far as we should have or made an A+, didn't loose that 5 pounds, lifted that weight one more time.

 Although you work really hard on that final exam, redecorating your livingroom, peeling the garlic, took extra time on that spread sheet, relax. 

Marvel at the majestic finished product with admiration of a fine job you have done.

Stare at the pretty side. Get past the knots.

We all have flaws, that is what makes us unique and special as well as irritating sometimes. 

Some of us talk too much and don't listen to others, snore, fart, are too loud or too meek, too much of a goodie two shoes, or too obnoxious, some of us are too prejudice, think you are better than others, bossy, or too skinny or zit faced, crooked teeth, wrinkles, not very nice, whine all the time, talk about others, judge people, negative or fat. 

I am the first to admit, I am all of these things combined at times, well never too skinny!

If only!

Flaws make the carpet a sign of authenticity, to be handmade is way better than perfect. People seek out the ones that are special...

It means you are real, normal, authentic, unique. Our flaws make us OK to be yourself. 

No one is expecting perfection, except in our own minds.

Tolerate your human side without putting yourself down.

Accept you just the way you are.

Let your knots show.

:)

Presentation

What is in a presentation? Making something look pretty! 

Believe me, I am into presentation. It's my job, first of all. I spend hours and hours a day making people look good. But what is in a presentation if the inside is not as pretty as the outside?  

If you go to a fancy restaurant and the food is served with freshly cut vegetables cut in a rose with little drops of 1932 Modena balsamic vinegar in a Mona Lisa pattern, but the food itself taste like crap, does the presentation stand for anything? It does if you are a visual person. But if you are a foodie, then maybe not.

People can be the same way. Pretty on the outside, seemingly flawless ~ but on the inside not so much. And the opposite applies as well. Some people are not into "curb appeal". Some folks are deeper than that, go beyond the package wrapping... deep in the depths of your soul and then that is where the real presentation comes in. Remember, beauty is only skin deep! The really beautiful person speaks from within.  The presentation of your heart... My momma always said "Don't judge a book by it's cover"! She is right. You have got to read it first before you decide if you like it or not.

I know some of each. Pretty people that are hard to take, and not so pretty people that are absolutely beautiful once you get to know them. Their insides make the outside gorgeous and visa versa! God sprinkles our lives with both kinds... 

How can we present ourselves from the inside out? This is VERY hard for most. By not putting up walls, and opening up your heart and emotions outwardly without restrictions or worries about what people think! A problem I always had, so worried about what people think! So stupid. I'm getting better with that with age... But it is a fact of life, we want people to like us and not judge us for how we look, what we wear, if we cuss or drink too much or go to church. Most of us want to look good, have our kids behave and be well mannered, dress appropriately, and put forth a first impression that stays and means well. We teach them this. We teach them way more than we know we do. Especially the inside part.

There is always a time and place we have to watch our P's and Q's... (What are P's and Q's anyway?) Our actions speak louder than words or appearances. Who we are starts with how we act. How we love, and how we react... The presentation comes later... The inner speaks first whether we like it or not. No words necessary... Our children are spitting images of what we have taught them though our actions. Everyone knows that. Good and not so good... :(

Homes relate to this as well. "Keeping up with the Jones'" type mentality. All the most current furnishings and then there is depression and abuse on the inside. No matter how pretty things seem, there is always pain and suffering of some degree. Everyone has it. Some just hide it better than others. And some of us share it. I still love a fancy table setting and pretty houses. Not sure that will change.

We recently visited the shanty town called Langa Township in Cape Town, South Africa. 50,000 people live here in poverty. We were privileged to walk through this place with a guide that was born there, lived there still and he was educated and adorable. He was devoted to his land and his people. He had a passion for life there. Hard to swallow or understand once you saw this place... Trash and broken glass covered the dirt ground, dirty huge black Aunt Jermima type ladies fried sheep guts and brains to sell for 70 cents, (Yes, the Patrizi's all tried it), barely standing cardboard huts housed three families in one small room, dirty kids played in the streets, not many of them had shoes. But they had smiles. Although they had precious messy faces, their beauty was within. Love in their hearts... The presentation - well not so good.

All my life we have given to the needy, worked at the SOS food bank, walked 20 miles for Muscular Dystrophy, supported cancer, and bought gifts for families not so fortunate. This year we walked in the streets of poverty, experienced the real life of the African children, saw the minimal simplicities and filth of the living conditions... It was good and bad. At the end of our tour, my son, now 27 opened up his wallet and gave all his money to the driver and hugged him real hard. 

He was taught that. We have succeeded. I had tears.

 Frying sheep inards!

In 2012 I am going to try and be more open to things that aren't appealing on the outside. I am a visual person, pretty houses and pretty people and yummy food all mean something to me. Without tasting the meal, I can see if I like it already. That is not right. Same with life. When everything isn't perfect on the outside, there is goodness on the inside... if you would only give yourself the chance to find it. But first you have to look for it.

Give love.

Sher

A tradition continues...

Tradition what does that mean to you? 

Is it a family favorite dish you make each Holiday, or a way you wrap your gifts? Do you always go to a certain place for Midnight Mass, or search for the pickle on the tree? Do you buy your kids Christmas Pajamas and make them open that one gift on Christmas Eve so they look good on Christmas morning, read the Night before Christmas, watch the Charlie Brown special? 

Do you go Christmas Caroling on the 23rd? We do! Actually we have sang Christmas Carols on the 23rd for almost 20 years now. See, the 23rd is Ashlynn's Birthday and that is what she always wanted to do on her birthday every year, so we did it over and over again... We have sang Christmas carols on the 23rd in a pick up truck, a trailer filled with Hay, and horse and buggy in Switzerland and froze to death many times. This year we will do it in Doha for her 20th Birthday. I'm pretty excited about that. (They don't know that yet.)

The Patrizi's have many traditions, some from grandparents years past, and some we have created over our own lifetime. We make a Patrizi Chipino Sauce with a million kinds of seafood on Christmas eve. I will never forget when I was married to David and they made it the first year and I was NOT going to eat it because it had squid in it. YUK! That was before I knew SQUID was Calamari!!! Jeff stuck his fork in my plate after I'd been eating it for 5 minutes and pulled out a bunch of tentacles and I about gagged!!! Now it is a race to see where we can get the freshest seafood, Kemah in the Gulf of Mexico, or the seafood market in the Persian Gulf?

Today I had another traditional event. My Christmas gathering. This year for all hot mammas! Twelve wonderful expat friends with the same Christmas champagne punch I have been making for 25 years and sharing our pasts with each other. Reminiscing about dancing with our Grandmothers in Louisiana, when we told our kids the truth about Santa, best Christmas in Africa spending the day at an orphanage, making sure we taught our kids the gift of charity and GIVING! 

Every single story told had nothing to do with materialistic gifts, only moments in time that were instilled in our souls of childhood ~ ONLY FEELINGS, not STUFF!!! I like that. 

Makes you realize it is not the gift you give that is remembered, but the way in which it is given. It's the hope you have, the faith in the season, glimpse of happiness and Joy, LOVE and how you end up remembering the most unimportant details.

We paused today from the enormous to do lists, and about 40 kids between us and it was nice.

Whatever is on your list this year, make sure "time" makes the top ten. It's free, you can get it anywhere, no standing in lines, no internet or UPS required. Time to do what you love, walking Bella in the mornings with Fiona, time to rearrange my table top one more time, time to entertain friends and family, time to cuddle. Oh BOY, Time to CUDDLE!!! GROUP HUG coming in 3 nights!!!

I have a Christmas Journal to write down memories I want to recall. Things not to forget and things not to do again. Stuff that works and didn't. One regret I've had over and over was not spending enough "time" doing this or that. 

That is exactly what I am asking for Christmas this year, TIME! 

A wonderful gift  ~  I can give to myself.

:)

HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE THE MOST.

My obsession with decorations...

 Tis the season to be Jolly...

Oh come all ye faithful...

Deck the Halls!!! Now were talkin'...

 

Gifts are wrapped and waiting...

Pinocchio is welcoming you in the Poinsettias...

 Lanterns are adorned on the porch...

 Old St. Nicholas and his friends are ready to greet you!!!

This is the month for miracles. 

Where there is LOVE, there is always miracles... and where there is miracles there is great joy!

December's gifts... some come wrapped with tissue and ribbons, some are not... Some gifts are random acts of kindness and time and effort friends and family put forth to help make your memories fabulous.

The most important gifts really are the memories made. 

No shopping or wrapping required.

 MY CHILDHOOD SANTA, 

 A PRICELESS MEMORY 

RESIDES IN HIS PROTECTED PASTA GLOBE... 

This is the only Christmas decoration, other than the tree that my family had. I feel very blessed to have it now and put it out every year in a safe place... 

It is by far the most special decoration I own.

 People who know me, know I love Christmas decorations. Maybe it is an obsession. I'm OK with that. Problem is, I don't have it all here in one place. What a pity.

 and over time, you collect a bit more...  shoot, I might need another 20 foot container when I move...

There is one thing missing though, my nativity scene. 

I didn't bring it knowing that it could be confiscated due to the Muslim culture and didn't want to chance that. Religious artifacts are not allowed here although I do have a bunch of crosses and a huge St. Francis statue in my front entry. The nativity is really special, Chris and the kids bought it for me when we lived in Switzerland and it is fabulous.  So there is no Mary and Joesph, baby Jesus or 3 wise men here. They are safe in boxes in my closet in the states and I miss it a lot. 

It is the one thing we all need more of to remind us over and over again, it is not about the gifts under the tree or the fancy party, the cookies you haven't made yet, and all those last minute things you have to do...

The thoughts of the real reason for the season remains in our heart. 

Happy Birthday Jesus...

The table is set and ready for a 

Patrizi Safari Christmas!

All I need is them!

Wishing you peace and love and miracles this season...

Sher :)