Day 6-7 to Qatar

left manama, bahrain just before lunch yesterday on qatar airlines.
the airport was extremely interesting as most of the passengers were
dressed in traditional arabic clothing. the men had on their long
robes (thobs) and head garb and the women in their abayas or berkas.
at first it was very intimidating to just see these very differently
dressed folks. now, i am quite comfortable chatting with them, men and
women, and learning so much. if i am curious about something -
clothing, customs, food, etc., i just approach them and ask them. they
are very kind and helpful and i don't feel any anti-americanism at
all. they are actually very friendly. again, i think people around the
world even w/such different customs are more alike than different, be
they muslim or christian.
we are now in doha. qatar and staying for 3 nights at the grand hyatt
hotel. it is on the arabian sea and magnificent. i had a really
interesting experience happen to me yesterday/last night. the hotel
collected our passports upon arrival, to make copies, and were to
return them immediately to us in our respective rooms. after 3 hours,
i still had no passport back from them. i decided not to panic
(because it wouldn't have done any good) and check out the grounds -
find computer center, gym, beach, etc. last night around 6pm, i
decided it was time to be concerned so i went to the front desk to
inquire. i created a flurry of excitement w/about 5 of the staff
looking very upset. one accompanied me to my room and told me he had
personally put the passport on the desk. i was very polite, but told
him he was mistaken because i did not receive it. the hotel guest
services manager then got involved and asked me to be patient and not
worry because he would get to the bottom of it. long story
short.........after 2 more hours, he personally came to my room,
apologized endlessly, gave me my passport which the man had delivered
to another room, and offered to upgrade me to $1,000 (usa$) suite a
night because i had been so pleasant about "the situation." i learned
a long time ago that you get better customer service w/a smile rather
than complaining about everything, like most americans seem to do
abroad. he showed me the suite which was an even better view of the
arabian sea that the one i already have (which is beautiful enough).
since i had already unpacked everything in my current room, i smiled
and asked him - is it possible to get a complimentary bottle of red
wine, free internet, and a massage treatment instead? he smiled and
said, of course madam. he then wanted to give me the suite and the
bottle of red wine, but i declined and thanked him back endlessly. i
brought copies of my passport to give the hotels upon arrival so
nothing like this would happen, but i just didn't dig it out of my
purse at checkin yesterday. i will from now on (smile), but this was a
sweet deal, now that i have passport in hand.
this morning i was the first one to get to the breakfast cafe at 6am.
there were fabulous foods to try to include 10+ kinds of feta cheeses
alone, marinated lemons, 10+ kinds of exotic fruits, nuts and seeds
(each), and an endless variety of veggies, cereals, egg, rice, and
meat dishes, etc. today we take a panoramic city tour, view the ships
at the harbour, visit the islamic art museum and tour/shop at the
local market and souk. tonight we have a welcome dinner to meet all of
the folks on the tour. it will be the first time everyone is finally
together. take care and will touch base again tomorrow. having a great
time and learning a lot, angela