In the News

Justin Harbor, a friend of mine here in Doha, showed me these interesting articles in the local paper:

http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=260389&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=260186&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

Snow

Here is a good look at the indoor ski park. In the background are restaurants. The ski area is contained in a glass/metal facility where they keep the air and snow below freezing.

This is a plastic ball where you can get inside and they will roll you down the mountain. It looks awesome...I wish I could have done it.

Friends

Amy, Melanie, and myself right before we hit the snow.

Golf in Dubai

This is the clubhouse at the Majlis Golf Course in Dubai.

I am standing on the putting green with the clubhouse behind me.

As you can see in the background, this golf course is hosting a professional women's tournament. The tournament played at this course is a "Fairwell to Annika Sorenstam" since she is retiring after this year.

Here are the box seats they are building around the 18 green. We had 2 professional ladies playing behind us on this day. They could outdrive us on every hole and they were playing from the tips. The European tour is hosting a Race to Dubai tournament here in a couple months. The winner gets around $3 million. Tiger Woods won the tournament last year. The rough was 4 inches thick, the greens were fast, and the fairways were in great shape.

Here are the bleachers on the 18 green. The 9nth green is also attached to the 18nth green since it is a double green.

Golf and Snow Skiing in One Place

Here are quotes on the board from Ernie Else and Lee Westwood quotes on the board near the green.

Here is me.

Here is the tallest building in the world...the Burj Dubai. It should be finished next year.

I am getting ready to snowboard inside the Emirites Mall in Dubai. For $50 you get to a suit, snowboard, and a lift ticket for 2 hours.

Here is the ski slope with a 2 story coffee house. The ski slope is blue on the left and green on the right.

Boarding on Snow and on Sand

To get on the lift you just swipe a card that is in the sleeve of your jacket. The machine reads it and the light turns green and lets you pass.

Here is me snowboarding. The tubing park is on the right.

Here is me sandboarding in Dubai. I went boarding on sand and on snow in the same day!

Here is the camp where we spent the night out in the desert in Dubai.

Here were the sleeping arrangements in the desert.

Thobes

Here is a picture of Justin and myself out in the desert in Dubai. They had a tent where we could put on "thobes". Justin is married to Amy's sister Melanie. They are friends from Dallas who came to Doha for vacation.

Here is my attempt at looking like one of the "country ruler portraits" you see everywhere.

Here is a picture of Amy, Melanie, Justin, and myself. Amy and Melanie are sisters. Justin is married to Melanie.

A friendly little handshake...

Fixing the headwear....

Sunsets and Falcons

I thought about buying this falcon...but I didn't have $4,000 on me.

We are "sand bashing" in the desert. Our car is stuck in the sand because in front of us is a cliff, and we can't go in reverse due to the steep hill. We finally got another car to pull us out.

A sunset in Dubai.

A sunset with a camel farm below.

My first experience petting a camel. I think he is happy.

The Desert

Yes...another sunset.

Justin and myself looking into the distance.

A team pic with the driver on the left.

The only 7 star hotel in the world. It is on an island by itself. Supposedly even the tvs in the room are plated with gold.

Scuba diving in Dubai with Amy, Melanie, and Justin.

Golf and Friends

The first hole on the Majlis course. Here are the rental clubs (Ping G10s) they gave me.

I am practicing on the range before our tee time.

Two crazy looking buildings in Doha. They look like they might fall down.

Here is a large project going on in Doha called The Pearl. The picture is taken from a middle "island". Large buildings are built on the surrounding land (Pearl) which allows large ships to come in and out at will.

Here is my Thanksgiving meal spent with the Byrd's. We ate at a traditional Arabic restaurant where you sit on the floor.

Scuba and Golf

We are getting off the scuba ship that took us 20 minutes out to sea. The ocean was clear in parts and very dark and red in parts. We would be swimming in clear water then come upon "red algae" patches where it would get totally dark.

Here is the hotel where we based our scuba dives from. We are on the east side of the UAE scuba diving in the Persian Gulf.

Here is another picture of the tallest building in the world at around 800 meters or 25 football fields.

Here is a picture of Ken Byrd (Amy's dad) at the Doha Golf Course. They will also host a professional golf event here on the way to Dubai.

Another great fairway shot. The professional golfer behind us put the ball within 3 feet of the cup.

Downtown Doha

They sell these falcons at the local market. The are used as hunting pets. They can start at $3,000 and go up from there.

Here is a downtown shot of Doha.

TAMUQ Basketball Team

This is a picture of the TAMUQ basketball team after we won the 4 team tournament. The little guy holding the basketball is the son of one of the faculty members.

D&B

This past weekend we took the youth group (31 middle school and high school kids) out on an overnight retreat into the desert. We went dune bashing in cars, sand boarding (like snow boarding but in the sand), played capture the flag, and went swimming. Eight of the kids got stung by jelly fish. We saw these guys 4-wheeling in front of us.

We are in SUVs going up and down sand dunes. The key to sand duning is going straight down the dunes. If you start going sideways down a steep dune, there is a better chance of flipping the car. Before we took the SUVs out in the sand, we deflate our tires quite a bit so that we could get better traction on the sand.

Sand, sand, and more sand.

Here is a picture of the sunrise out in the desert. One of the highschool girls from the youth group is shown in the picture.

Here is the tent we ate in when we spent the night out in the desert. We had rice, chicken, beef kabob, water, and fruit.