Thursday, November 16, 2006
Friday 17th November.
It's the weekend again today and tomorrow and I can't believe how fast we go from week to week. A couple of volunteers show up at 8am. Adulqader and Mariam. Mahmood who was here the day before and to whom I'd said not to come at 7am but 8am shows up at 4:30pm. His english is not very good but others tell me he was really tired as there were people visiting his home and had hardly slept over the last few days.
I suspect this is a real sign of things to come. I tell him that if he has a problem with his schedule we can change him to afternoon shifts but when he's scheduled on, I expect him to show up. Rehab (an egyptian woman of 30) and Fouzia are also both here yesterday from time to time. But it's Sameera who shows up in the afternoon at about 3pm who really makes my day. The afternoon shift is from 1pm to 9pm technically although I've let my volunteers go at 7pm every night as the venue closes at 7pm this week. Nena shows up as expected at 2:30pm because she works. From the 24th when we go 24 hours/day the afternoon shift will start at 3pm so this won't be a problem. Sameera says she must leave by 9pm at latest at night.
She is in an abayah and scarf around her head. Her face is a bit darker (she is born here but her parents are from Somalia) and her english is the best I've encountered in all my volunteers. She seems young so I assume she is 18 or 19 years old. When asked how it is that she speaks english so well, she says that she speaks english with her friends. Her Abayah is adorned with some glittering rocks on the back which is seen on some women here. This practice is not respected by the most religious Qataris but everyone is free to do their own thing. Upon arrival, Sameera says she will go and put her eye liner on and I can't help but smile at this. Later when Frank comes to give the media managers training on using the phone cards, wifi cards, dial up internet cards, she says: "Oh you know Anne I use phone cards all the time. I need no training." She is very sassy and I expect she will do just fine in my area if I can train her properly.
I find out almost in horror when she asks if she can bring some of her studies in for when we are not busy, that she is in high school and only 15. Oh my god, no wonder she cannot stay past nine. I've never worked at any games for which any volunteers were younger than 18 years of age. And yet she might end up being one of my good ones. I ask her if her father is ok with her working here? She replies that he is "so so" about it. But not for the reasons I expect but rather because her father and uncle drive her anywhere she wants to go. " I am like a tourist here. I never go anywhere on my own. They just drop me off and pick me up." When volunteers check in the venue they are given meal vouchers but also taxi vouchers to get home. So, she says she'll just go accross to "City Center Mall" and meet her friends and catch a taxi home.
I take her to medical as she has a headache and on the way she sees that the Hair Salon is preparing for opening the next day. "Let's go and have a look". I tell her I'm planning to have a hair cut in the next few days in this salon. " I like your hair as it is" she says to me "but you definately need a color in there." I laugh and ask "what color? black?" She immediatly says: "Oh no, not black, brown, not too dark but light brown." Up until then I always thought my hair was light brown but then she says I need to have a bit darker yet and "you know I can also do your make-up for you if you want."
Anyway, the Press work room as expected is not very busy these first few days so it's ideal to go through procedures with the volunteers and to resolve the few issues with them so they learn. As I run this early morning past Orry, the giant Oryx Mascot of the games, on the Corniche the countdown clock indicates there are 14 days to go, 14 hours, 25 minutes and 47 seconds until the official opening of the games. We will get much much busier but I want my volunteers to be familiar with the venue before it comes to that.
Just a quick note about the White Thobes men wear with the white dishdash and black circular ring which holds the dishdash in place. I've seen some men here in both the traditional wear and also dressed casually. The thobes really makes a person look a lot more important than casual wear and also in some case a lot more attractive. There are few men whose facial features are really accentuated by this garment. At the press conference the other day, one of the official Qatari men was sitting in his thobe on the stage. He wasn't much of a speaker but I thought he had a beautiful face and spectacular presence. And yet sometimes I've seen people at a later time, in casual clothing and they just look very ordinary. The dishdash doesn't hold on the head if you move your head too much so these men just hold their head still and glide along the floor with a lot of grace. It's very interesting to me as I never thought this type of attire was particularly interesting before but just being here two weeks I've notice how much standing it gives to the wearer. Even Abdulqader, my mischevious volunteer had shown up at job specific training in the thobe and looked almost serious and official. But now in uniform I can hardly take him seriously. And who could...
It's the weekend again today and tomorrow and I can't believe how fast we go from week to week. A couple of volunteers show up at 8am. Adulqader and Mariam. Mahmood who was here the day before and to whom I'd said not to come at 7am but 8am shows up at 4:30pm. His english is not very good but others tell me he was really tired as there were people visiting his home and had hardly slept over the last few days.
I suspect this is a real sign of things to come. I tell him that if he has a problem with his schedule we can change him to afternoon shifts but when he's scheduled on, I expect him to show up. Rehab (an egyptian woman of 30) and Fouzia are also both here yesterday from time to time. But it's Sameera who shows up in the afternoon at about 3pm who really makes my day. The afternoon shift is from 1pm to 9pm technically although I've let my volunteers go at 7pm every night as the venue closes at 7pm this week. Nena shows up as expected at 2:30pm because she works. From the 24th when we go 24 hours/day the afternoon shift will start at 3pm so this won't be a problem. Sameera says she must leave by 9pm at latest at night.
She is in an abayah and scarf around her head. Her face is a bit darker (she is born here but her parents are from Somalia) and her english is the best I've encountered in all my volunteers. She seems young so I assume she is 18 or 19 years old. When asked how it is that she speaks english so well, she says that she speaks english with her friends. Her Abayah is adorned with some glittering rocks on the back which is seen on some women here. This practice is not respected by the most religious Qataris but everyone is free to do their own thing. Upon arrival, Sameera says she will go and put her eye liner on and I can't help but smile at this. Later when Frank comes to give the media managers training on using the phone cards, wifi cards, dial up internet cards, she says: "Oh you know Anne I use phone cards all the time. I need no training." She is very sassy and I expect she will do just fine in my area if I can train her properly.
I find out almost in horror when she asks if she can bring some of her studies in for when we are not busy, that she is in high school and only 15. Oh my god, no wonder she cannot stay past nine. I've never worked at any games for which any volunteers were younger than 18 years of age. And yet she might end up being one of my good ones. I ask her if her father is ok with her working here? She replies that he is "so so" about it. But not for the reasons I expect but rather because her father and uncle drive her anywhere she wants to go. " I am like a tourist here. I never go anywhere on my own. They just drop me off and pick me up." When volunteers check in the venue they are given meal vouchers but also taxi vouchers to get home. So, she says she'll just go accross to "City Center Mall" and meet her friends and catch a taxi home.
I take her to medical as she has a headache and on the way she sees that the Hair Salon is preparing for opening the next day. "Let's go and have a look". I tell her I'm planning to have a hair cut in the next few days in this salon. " I like your hair as it is" she says to me "but you definately need a color in there." I laugh and ask "what color? black?" She immediatly says: "Oh no, not black, brown, not too dark but light brown." Up until then I always thought my hair was light brown but then she says I need to have a bit darker yet and "you know I can also do your make-up for you if you want."
Anyway, the Press work room as expected is not very busy these first few days so it's ideal to go through procedures with the volunteers and to resolve the few issues with them so they learn. As I run this early morning past Orry, the giant Oryx Mascot of the games, on the Corniche the countdown clock indicates there are 14 days to go, 14 hours, 25 minutes and 47 seconds until the official opening of the games. We will get much much busier but I want my volunteers to be familiar with the venue before it comes to that.
Just a quick note about the White Thobes men wear with the white dishdash and black circular ring which holds the dishdash in place. I've seen some men here in both the traditional wear and also dressed casually. The thobes really makes a person look a lot more important than casual wear and also in some case a lot more attractive. There are few men whose facial features are really accentuated by this garment. At the press conference the other day, one of the official Qatari men was sitting in his thobe on the stage. He wasn't much of a speaker but I thought he had a beautiful face and spectacular presence. And yet sometimes I've seen people at a later time, in casual clothing and they just look very ordinary. The dishdash doesn't hold on the head if you move your head too much so these men just hold their head still and glide along the floor with a lot of grace. It's very interesting to me as I never thought this type of attire was particularly interesting before but just being here two weeks I've notice how much standing it gives to the wearer. Even Abdulqader, my mischevious volunteer had shown up at job specific training in the thobe and looked almost serious and official. But now in uniform I can hardly take him seriously. And who could...
# posted by AdeC @ 8:44 PM 
