Glenn Gets His Groove On
So, you all thought I was the ambitious one. Not so. Glenn had one burning ambition when we decided to come to Doha: he wanted to become a beach bum and learn how to kite board. Well, it’s taken a while for Glenn to find his groove, but it all came together this past week when he received an invitation to do some dry land kite-board training with a colleague of mine.
When Mike came to pick Glenn up on Friday morning (remember, Friday is now the new Saturday, in our reality—I will blog about that some day), he asked us if we wanted to come to the beach with him and his wife later on in the day. That was a no-brainer! You see, Qatar is essentially a peninsula—we’re literally surrounded by water, except for a strip of land where we’re connected to Saudi Arabia. But getting to a really nice swimming beach is a bit tricky—most of them are about 45 minutes away, and that typically requires a car (or hiring one), and we haven’t done that yet. Yes, there’s Katara beach, where I go dragon boating, but it’s not great for swimming.
So, we jumped at the chance to go to Al Maroona beach with Mike and Stephanie (and we joined others). Our bags were packed by the time Glenn got back from his dry training, and we headed out of town with our suits, towels, and snorkel gear. Mike also brought his kite for some more training.
The drive itself was nothing to speak of. We live in a desert, so it was sand, sand, and more sand all the way there, with the occasional gate marking a farm or estate (we’re talking very nice estates—people who live on some of these “farms” have ostriches and leopards and tigers and on and on. Stephanie works at a school where there are a few kids who live on farms. She said one day one of her students showed up with a long face and, when asked why he was sad, he replied that his tiger had to be taken to the vet). But I digress. Back to Glenn’s groove.
As you’ll see from the pictures, we arrived at Al Maroona Beach to find that the wind was just perfect for training. There were half a dozen kite boarders on the water, too, so we could check out their style. They make it look easy. It’s not. Glenn’s getting the hang of it, and he’s looking forward to his next outing with Mike (and he’s also been invited to play pool with the guys on Wednesday nights).
The beach was amazing. We swam and snorkeled (nothing to see, but it was fun). Further down the beach, Stephanie found some rays and freed them from the net. We got the vehicle stuck in the sand on the way out (but got it out, of course, and then Glenn played Corb Lund’s “The Ford Got Stuck” on his phone and blue-tooth speaker—you really need a 4-wheel drive for this country). I tell you, he’s got his groove on—no kidding! He also bought a mountain bike last weekend (it’s a beauty, as you can see below), fulfilling another major goal. It’s soon going to be too hot to ride it (even in the evening), but he’ll be ready for the cooler weather in the fall. And he’ll be keeping his eye out for a bike for me, so I can get my groove on too!
When Mike came to pick Glenn up on Friday morning (remember, Friday is now the new Saturday, in our reality—I will blog about that some day), he asked us if we wanted to come to the beach with him and his wife later on in the day. That was a no-brainer! You see, Qatar is essentially a peninsula—we’re literally surrounded by water, except for a strip of land where we’re connected to Saudi Arabia. But getting to a really nice swimming beach is a bit tricky—most of them are about 45 minutes away, and that typically requires a car (or hiring one), and we haven’t done that yet. Yes, there’s Katara beach, where I go dragon boating, but it’s not great for swimming.
So, we jumped at the chance to go to Al Maroona beach with Mike and Stephanie (and we joined others). Our bags were packed by the time Glenn got back from his dry training, and we headed out of town with our suits, towels, and snorkel gear. Mike also brought his kite for some more training.
The drive itself was nothing to speak of. We live in a desert, so it was sand, sand, and more sand all the way there, with the occasional gate marking a farm or estate (we’re talking very nice estates—people who live on some of these “farms” have ostriches and leopards and tigers and on and on. Stephanie works at a school where there are a few kids who live on farms. She said one day one of her students showed up with a long face and, when asked why he was sad, he replied that his tiger had to be taken to the vet). But I digress. Back to Glenn’s groove.
As you’ll see from the pictures, we arrived at Al Maroona Beach to find that the wind was just perfect for training. There were half a dozen kite boarders on the water, too, so we could check out their style. They make it look easy. It’s not. Glenn’s getting the hang of it, and he’s looking forward to his next outing with Mike (and he’s also been invited to play pool with the guys on Wednesday nights).
The beach was amazing. We swam and snorkeled (nothing to see, but it was fun). Further down the beach, Stephanie found some rays and freed them from the net. We got the vehicle stuck in the sand on the way out (but got it out, of course, and then Glenn played Corb Lund’s “The Ford Got Stuck” on his phone and blue-tooth speaker—you really need a 4-wheel drive for this country). I tell you, he’s got his groove on—no kidding! He also bought a mountain bike last weekend (it’s a beauty, as you can see below), fulfilling another major goal. It’s soon going to be too hot to ride it (even in the evening), but he’ll be ready for the cooler weather in the fall. And he’ll be keeping his eye out for a bike for me, so I can get my groove on too!
Comments
Post a Comment