When Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Today, in fact.

Let me remind you (Blog #1) that Glenn and I live within 3 kilometres of, not just 3 as I reported in that first blog, but 7 large shopping malls! Well, maybe a couple of them are outside that 3 k radius, but they’re all a walkable distance away, except for one thing.

Skill testing question to see if you’re keeping up.

Glenn and I cannot walk to the malls because:

A) It is 101 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now, and it was not much cooler at 10 AM today;

B) We are both old and decrepit

C) All of the malls (except North Gate Mall, which may open in the next milennium at this rate) are located across a major 6 to 8 lane highway and there are no crosswalks or overpasses and no traffic lights (just a crazy traffic circle) and so much fast-moving traffic that you are taking your life in your hands if you even contemplate crossing the highway, 100 degrees or not!

If you guessed C), then you really have been paying attention! 

Glenn has, in fact, risked his life to cross the road at least a couple of times. Mostly he goes on Fridays when there’s not as much traffic. Friday morning here is like Sunday mornings back home in the 50s (or at least how I imagine them to be, having been raised in the 60s). Fridays here are, of course, holy days, and many people are attending services in the morning. But malls are open, at least for a couple of hours, and it is actually possible to cross the road!

However, if you’ll recall from the blog entitled Draggin’ Boating, I’m typically out on the water at Katara on Friday mornings. Because it’s the month of Ramadan right now, though, and many of the members of the Doha Wireless Dragons are fasting all day, Sandee has changed up the schedule and I was free today. 

So...this morning, Glenn and I made the epic 2 k journey to Lulu Hypermarket to buy groceries....and this chicken crossed the road! Easy-Peasy. Next to no traffic. A short walk to one of the best grocery stores in the area. We arrived at 9:50 AM, only to find that the mall would close at 10:30 AM (and reopen later in the day). We dashed through the store, bought what we needed, and, of course, took a car home (we may be crazy, but not crazy enough to walk home with a week’s worth of groceries in that kind of heat!)

It may not seem like much to you back at home, in walkable cities that are laid out on a grid, but this was a major milestone for me today.

Wish I had a picture of Lulu Hypermarket to show you; instead, I’m posting a street picture (you’ll see a very quiet street—one that leads to the never-to-be-opened North Gate Mall—and, behind it, a very very busy highway) and a couple of pictures of a mall that’s quite a bit further away, but quite amazing. Villagio Mall, located in the Aspire Zone, is one of the first major malls to be built in Qatar. It houses a number of high end stores, as well as a canal (!) and the only official hockey rink in Doha. It’s pretty amazing (though apparently not as amazing as some of the malls that have opened more recently). 

Malls here aren’t just a destination for shopping: with temperatures so high in the summer, they’re also places for people to walk indoors, and even for recreation (I guess West Edmonton Mall was built for a similar purpose, but the opposite season—winter). Glenn and I are often the only ones walking outside in this weather—Mad Dogs and Englishmen, I guess. Take your pick.

Enjoy the photos, enjoy the day, and happy birthday, Margaret Martens! This is your birthday blog. I know how much you love the heat! And hello to the rest of you. We miss you and think of you often.