Standing on a bridge
I've been in Qatar now for over 18 months and I find it hard to describe the impact this change has had on my life. Being the end of the year and the end of another contract without the certainty of another yet again, I'm in reflective mood. Those who know me know all too well that I have sought to understand and embrace Arabic culture rather than continue my English life abroad. My feeling being that a life seeking knowledge and cultural understanding is all the richer for it. So I shrugged off my British reserve and resistance and opened my mind and my heart. To quote from Muhammad Asad's extraordinary work 'The Road to Mecca', "when water lies motionless in a pool it becomes stale and muddy, but when it moves and flows, it becomes clear". So too the heart and soul and indeed the mind of man. So…. I have Arabic friends, I frequent the souq as my relaxation space of choice, I listen and dance to Arabic music, occasionally smoke shisha, dri