Our Nepalese driver picked us up at the spectacular Doha airport and drove us to our Hotel.

Upon entering we saw dozens of men sitting in the lobby in their thobes, (the long white shirt which reaches to the ground) and head dresses smoking shisha, which is a hookah or waterpipe. Hot tea was also available in large golden samovars. There were no women visible except for one woman who was the concierge.
The only people who wore western style clothing were the people working behind the desk at the hotel and other employees.  Keep in mind that all those who were working were not Qataris.  The atmosphere in the lobby was awkward.  It seemed that no one was smiling, even when I attempted to smile at them.  I soon realized that this is an entirely foreign culture and I needed to adapt. Because we arrived relatively late we decided to have dinner in the hotel dining room. This was another eye opener. We saw families eating together. The children were dressed in western style cloths but the women were covered from head to toe in their abayas and niqabs which covered everything except their eyes. The abaya is the loose fitting black over garment and the niqab is the face veil. Some of the abayas were a little more elaborate than the norm with embroidery and decorative stones. As the women lifted up their arms (and their niqabs) to feed themselves I saw a dazzling array of diamonds, gold and other stones adorning their fingers and wrists. What fascinated me the most, truthfully, was to see how they were able to coordinate feeding themselves with the niqab covering their faces. As I mentioned before, this is a very conservative society. Women and men have separate schools and conform to traditional gender related tasks. They must be accompanied by a man however, unlike Saudi Arabia, they are permitted to drive. When I asked one of the Qatari men how he keeps his thobe so beautifully white his response was “That’s a woman’s job!”
ABAYA	THOBE