This week I’m at this big conference in Doha. It was even bigger than expected, more than 5000 people from all over the world. It’s very different to the conferences I usually attend; less science and more politics.
Yesterday was the opening ceremony; speeches by highnesses and excellences, music by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and then a nice dinner. I was impressed by the kitchen crew. It’s not easy to cook for 5000 people (unless you know how to do the 5-bread-and-2-fish trick, which has been demonstrated only once, as far as I know).
Lots of hot shots are here; secretaries of state, CEOs of major oil companies, highnesses and excellences. Today I was listening to a talk with the Energy commissioner of the European Union; lots of political bla bla bla. I didn’t get anything out of it that I didn’t know already.
This is not the pond I’m used to swim in. Here, I’m a very small fish in a big pond.
My talk was today, this afternoon, in one of the technical sessions. I had a slow and easy morning, and arrived at the conference center right before noon. First, I went to my company’s stand, and begged them to give me a tie (and I got one). Luckily, the color goes quite well with my black shirt.
I started to look for the speaker’s room, to upload my presentation to the computer system, and to prepare for my talk.
The conference center is HUGE, and I couldn’t find my way, so I asked one of the 800 students who work as volunteers at this conference. She was a female student from the university in Doha, dressed in a niqab, covering everything but her eyes.
She was helpful and polite, but I must admit it felt kind of strange to talk to a person showing nothing but her eyes. It’s the first time I’ve been talking to a muslim woman dressed like this. I have no idea if she was smiling or grumpy or annoyed.
I gave my talk in the main theatre. Even with 100 in the audience, it looks almost empty. I wasn’t quite sure how to start. Normally, I start with “Ladies and Gentlemen. Good afternoon”. But what if there were highnesses or excellences in the audience? I didn’t want an insulted and pissed excellency running after me. So, I started with the class-neutral “Good afternoon to all of you”. The rest was straight forward; I’ve done it many times before.
Tonight there was an “Arabian Nights” party, down on the beach of Doha. There were lots interesting dishes to taste (but no beer), and of course I had to swallow a camel. Well, I didn’t eat the whole camel, just a small piece of it, fried on the grill.
The camel tasted very much like pork, but don’t tell the muslims because then they don’t want to eat it anymore.
(I took the picture above in the conference center today. The huge spider is a very nice piece of art, made from bronze. The young lady in the lower right corner happened to pass by when I shot the picture. I can tell you that she had very pretty eyes. That’s all I know about her.)
It would be strange to only talk to someone and only see their eyes.
ReplyDeleteThat spider is cool. I wish I could see it up close. Thanks for sharing your experience. I always feel like I took a side trip out of my life when I visit your blog.
That spider statue looks like it was in one of the movies I rented this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe conference sounds massive. And I've eaten some unusual food in my time, but never camel.
ReplyDeleteI would feel very uncomfortable in such an environment.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would have been so nervous to give a speech and to so few people. Camel? Not sure I could eat that, don't even like goat or pork.
ReplyDeleteLydia: It's first time I've apoken face to face with a woman in niqab, and it was really strange.
ReplyDeleteLiz: Which movie did you rent?
Alex: The conference is massive. Too much people, too much politics, nd too little science for my taste. The cmel was OK, but not among my favorites,
Bathwater; You get used too it. Everybody is unconfortable in big conferences, at least in the beginning.
Clarissa: Camel meat is not my favorite, but it was interesting to taste; very fat. The chef cut through the fat to get into the meat. I guess this is how camels are constructed to survive the long walks in the desert; a thick layer of fat to burn when no food is available.
the giant spider sculpture is by the artist Louise Bourgeois (i'm pretty sure anyway)...i've always wanted to see one in person.
ReplyDeletegreat post, lots of nice information. i did laugh at your mention of the black shirt! ;)
Spiders make my skin crawl. If I'd been that girl in the picture, you wouldn't know anything about me at all, because my eyes would have been shut tight and I would have been high-tailing it out of there.
ReplyDeleteid: I just googled Louise Bourgeois. You're right; she made the spider. Thanks for letting me know. There's another one outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (according to Wikipedia). The sculpture in Doha was amazing. I took plenty of pictures of it.
ReplyDeleteNessa: Some like spiders and some don't. I have nothing against them in general, but don't like the dangerous ones that may show up in your neighborhood.