Freedom felt at last

I got to take a trip off base last week with one of the other nurses I work with and a couple of civilian contractors. We went to one of the off base malls in the capital city of Doha. Doha is only about 25 min from the base and is an easy drive down highways that look very much like American highways. The mall we went to is not the biggest one here but it was very big and beautiful. The ceilings were all painted to look like the sky and looked almost 3D. The first two stores I saw in the mall were a Starbucks and Sephora. I was so excited. We only had a few hours as we went in the evening and curfew is 10pm for the medical group. We ate at a South African steakhouse that was very good and not too expensive. We wandered around the mall and watched all the people. Lots of Europeans vacation in Doha so there were a variety of cultures. Maybe 30% of the people were wearing traditional Muslim clothing- the males in white "mandresses" that look like dress shirts that go to their feet. The women were wearing all black over regular clothing and most had their faces completely covered with a burka. They would walk around in groups of just men and groups of just women. I couldn't help but feel bad for the women, especially since their are so many Western people walking around. An ice skating rink was located in the mall so we sat and had Cold Stone ice cream and watched the children ice skate. The Carrefour is a French store very much like Walmart located in the mall. You wouldn't know the difference between this store and a typical Walmart except some of the products are from Asia or Europe. They did have plenty of American brands there as well. I have a picture of me and my friend posing with Bathing suits that cover everything from your wrists to your ankles. A muslim woman walked up while we were posing and I felt bad, like we were making fun of her culture.

It was a breath of fresh air to wear civilian clothes after 75 days of PT uniforms or ABUs. We joke though that we were in our civilian uniform- collared shirt and khakis. You can only wear certain things off base. I am very much looking forward to going again and getting to spend more time shopping. I also want to go to the museums as well, I hear they are very cool. I'm planning on getting my hair cut today, I got it cut last week but I was nervous about letting them take too much off and so she only took an inch off. It is barely short enough to wear it straight with my uniform so I am taking a picture in of how I want my hair cut- we shall see what happens. I guess I can always pull it back until it grows out if it doesn't work out.

100 days today left of my deployment. I am starting to get homesick although I am still enjoying myself. I am getting to save a lot of money because there isn't much here to spend money on.

Megan