Thobe and Abaya Day

Yesterday a bunch of us decided to wear traditional Qatari clothes to work and around Doha. It was interesting, especially since I went to the grocery store, a small Arabic shop that doesn't get much traffic from Westerners, and a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Most people knew that I wasn't Arab, but a few thought that my pale skin and light hair (what little of my hair could be seen) meant that I was Syrian or Iranian or something.

Anyway, thought you might like to see the results.

Group shot: Dave, 'Funke, Nikki, Lily, me, Marjorie, and Ryan














Jinanne lent me an abaya (the actual robe), a shayla (the head scarf), and the sunglasses to anchor the shayla 'cause I was having trouble keeping it on my head. Jinnane is wearing hejab instead of shayla - hejab would be the head covering that shows absolutely no hair, and that is what religious women wear in Islam. The shayla is more cultural to the gulf area.














Dave models the Qatari dress for men - the thobe (the white robe), the ghutra (the white head covering), and the aghal (the black ropes on the head), along with the traditional accessories - worry beads, sunglasses, and cell phone.



















Nikki, Marjorie, Dave, me, and Lily














Ryan gets a little too close for thobes and abayas.



















Ryan models the casual look of the young Qatari men - thobe and baseball cap.



















I managed to get a bit of work done on abaya day. The fact that yesterday was payday also led to more than one joke about "put on Qatari dress for just one day, and all of a sudden you have a couple thousand dollars more than you used to - how appropriate!"