Post #7 - Julien's Post

One the first day I arrived at Qatar and at my host’s house, I visited the Villaggio Mall with Yaman and Medhat (host brothers). When I arrived there, I took notice of its beauty and it’s impressive architecture. There was an indoor replica of river along with paintings of stars and the sky on the ceiling. I also took notice of the chlorine smell along with the magnitude of the mall. However, what I find interesting was the diversity represented at the Mall. I saw a mix of people wearing regular clothes, clothes that teenagers like I would wear, and Traditional Qatari attire like full Hijabs or Gutras. I found this interesting because I did not know what clothing was worn in a Middle Eastern country. As I walked around, I noticed that there were many American stores and outlets there, which surprised me a bit because I hadn’t been aware that Qatari’s were very accustomed to American culture. This was also evident given that almost everyone spoke English and was aware of the current situations America along with our music.  However, the mall in Qatar was different than regular malls in America because there were more accessories in the Villaggio mall. In fact, there may have been more there than in SONO Connecticut. There was a bowling arena, ice-skating rink, roller coaster, Imax, carousel, go-carting arena, etc. We eventually made our way to the arena park area. There, I saw a mini roller coaster then went around the area, a bigger colorful carousel in the middle, a large light blue waterslide in the corner, and a trampoline jump. This was exciting for me because not only had I never seen an amusement park in a mall, but also I had never seen an indoor amusement park. While this seems surprising to me, the Qatari students who were hosting us didn’t share the same enthusiasm or amazement given that they had been there many times.  We then went outside to a beautiful park where we saw a small lake, the torch tower, and where the construction of the FIFA world cup would be. Despite the cold and rainy weather, the park had beautiful scenery.