Bahrain Protesters in Pearl Square
Egyptian Protesters in Tahrir Square"You shouldn't wear sandals in case we have to run."
That's what my husband said the other day to me on our way to the mall to eat lunch and watch a movie. With all the protesting and revolutions going on in the region, that is one example of the things we have talked about lately. While I think democracy is good, I do not know if this part of the world is truly ready for it. This region has been run by the elite wasta bearing minority (royals and military) for so long that it will take time and re-education of all before they can put a legitimate democratic election into place. These big, important changes will not happen over night. Wasta, or connections, will continue to be the way things get done around here for a long time to come.
We're here until July unless something forces us out - like a revolution in Qatar. We already planned to leave Qatar at the end of this academic year, so I won't be sad if we have to leave sooner. However, I really do not think the people of Qatar will revolt. The people here have a lot more to lose than others in the region. I've blogged before about all the handouts, welfare, and subsidies that the Qatari nationals get. The expats or foreign workers with residency (some with generations of only residency although having been born and lived here all their lives) could revolt. However, if the residents (not citizens) of non-western nations revolt, they'll just be deported to their homelands for which they hold passports: India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, etc. And then more laborers will come to replace them. Everyone is replaceable especially when conditions in their home countries are far worse. As one co-worker put it, "You vote with your feet."
My husband, being the responsible man that he is, even suggested that we have a "bug out bag" in case we need to jump on a plane or go to our embassy. What would we take? We've decided that we'd take our passports, financial papers, laptops, and wedding album proofs. We haven't put together a bag just yet though. We'd also grab our two cats.
Besides having to plan for the worst case scenario, the thing that irritates me the most is all the rumors and lack of information because it spreads nothing but fear. I had to stop reading one person's Facebook status updates and comments because of the rumors and lack of valid information the person was sharing. This person stated that protests would happen here in Qatar according to the Arab speaking world, but this person did not state when or where the several thousand person protest would happen. What good does that do to broadcast half the information about something that has not yet been verified? It only made me want to stay inside, and ignore all other posts from the person, rather than sympathize with the cause. I think some people get off on being the bearer of bad news, or withholding powerful information from others. It doesn't help matters that there is no real news source here about national issues except for the lovely online source called The Penninsula. That website has mainly short articles about nice diplomatic meet-and-greets and family fun festivals (that may or may not have already passed.) Therefore, I check CNN International every morning and a few times throughout the day as well.
My dad posted this on my Facebook wall:
Bahrain riots are close to Qatar? Be safe . . .
A dear friend posted this on my Facebook wall as well:
The sands are shifting around you . . . democracy is in the water. What do you think is going to happen?
God bless them both for actually knowing where Qatar (and Bahrain) are. When I told my dad that I wanted to study abroad in Granada, Spain, he said, "Didn't we bomb the hell out of them?" He was thinking of Grenada. If anything, being over here makes all our families and friends more aware of international issues.
I'm still wearing sandals. We live in the desert and it is hot! We'll just be sending our hard earned Qatari riyals home on a more frequent basis in case we have to leave quickly. It would really stink being here for the money and in the end not getting our nest egg safely into our US bank accounts.
Until Next Time,
WW
Image Sources: http://www.guardian.co.uk/ and http://www.ctv.ca/
