The Return of the Dreaded Winter Wear

I am taking my winter wear from the cupboards, and airing it out, even though it is only October.

No, winter hasn't struck Doha yet. I have until January or so to dread the inevitable. I am preparing my luggage for my upcoming long weekend in London.

My concept of winter is perfectly transposed with my friend's. As a year-long resident in Doha, and a staunch anti-winter type, winter constitutes temperatures which fall below, say, 16C. Winter, then, was an infinitely long 3-week span which fell in January last year. During this time, I wore wool jumpers and wool-blend socks to work, as well as a light jacket. I never thought it would end. My friend, as a born-and-bred Dane, undoubtedly considers 16C temperatures to be the 3-week-long heat wave which hits the Scandinavian countryside each July.

To put this in a different perspective...
I checked the weather this morning at 10.30am (7.30 am in London). Doha had temperatures of 31C, and only because there is a light cloud cover today. London, on the other hand, was 5C.

Yesterday I splashed for trash, and came home with a red face from too much sun. In London, I will come home with a red face from freezing outside...

If you want to find me in London, look for the short lady who resembles the Michelin man, and has to go through doors sideways.

Splash for Trash

Yesterday I went to OCR (imagine that... me going diving on a weekend...) to participate in Splash for Trash. There were scores of people on the beach, and the event was remarkably well-organised. My dive buddy, Brodie, and I picked up a huge bag of trash in a 40-minute dive. Brodie found the most interesting item-- a dive torch that had been underwater for a good long time but still worked.

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Volunteers clean up beach

By Ramesh Mathew

Some of the participants with Minister HE Abdullah bin Mubarak Aaboud al-Midhadi. PICTURES: Jayaram

SCORES of volunteers turned out to remove trash from the Sealine beach in a major clean-up drive yesterday.
Organised by the Ministry of Environment, Qatar Divers and Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Association (Qatar), the event, called ‘Splash for Trash’, had the attendance of several nationalities.
Minister of Environment HE Abdullah bin Mubarak bin Aaboud al-Midhadi and senior officials at the Ministry of Environment were present at the venue. He lauded the participation of many nationalities.
Many divers, mobilised by the local group of Qatar Divers, took to the sea to remove trash.
Steve Tewdenar, who was among the 50-odd participants from the College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q), said that though a first-time participant in such a campaign in Qatar, he had involved in similar initiatives elsewhere before. Tewdenar, a Canadian national, said that his colleagues’ participation in the clean-up drive on their holiday was to highlight the importance of keeping nature, particularly the beaches, clean.
“Through our participation, we would like to send an important message to people around us on the necessity of preserving a clean environment, at least at the places where we live,” he said.
CNA-Q was among the sponsors of the event.
The Qatar District manager of Carrefour, Christain De Nale, was among those actively involved in the clean-up. De Nale said he and his staff considered it as the duty of everyone to do his bit to keep the environment clean.
The Frenchman said he had mobilised a team of different nationalities working with him for the day’s activities. “We engage in beach cleaning activities at least once in three months. Our next campaign will be at the beginning of 2009 and the event is going to be a big surprise for people of Qatar.”
De Nale recalled the “nature-friendly” activity near the Landmark area, which the Carrefour staff had carried out with the support of the Ministry of Environment. “We planted at least 300 trees in the locality and they will provide shelter to people during the summer.”
The Carrefour manager said that while keeping the environment clean, he wanted to convey a message of awareness to Qatar residents. “It is the importance of reusable eco-friendly bags.”
Speaking to Gulf Times, the director of media relations at the Ministry of Environment Khaled Saleh, said the ministry had planned a series of activities to highlight the importance of removing trash from the beaches and sea. There would be involvement of more nationalities and more non-government organisations in coming months, said Saleh.
Qatar Divers’ spokesman Abdul Latif al-Naemi said that many people considered beaches as dumping places for trash. “They do not realise the harm being done to beaches, especially during high tides when they push the whole trash to the sea in its full fury,” he said.
“Through the campaign, we would like to highlight the harm being done through our casual and indifferent attitude,” said al-Naemi.
He said that along with 40 Qatar Divers, almost the same number of men and women divers belonging to different nationalities too were involved in cleaning operations yesterday.
The sponsors of the Splash for Trash were the College of North Atlantic Qatar, Pearl Divers and Carrefour. The Ministry of Environment, Qatar Drivers (www.scubalatif.com) and Alpha Phi Omega were the organisers.
Its participants included Bemco & Almabani and Filipino Community Organisations Alliance (Filcoa) and Guardian Philippines Incorporated.
The ‘advocates’ of the campaign were Protect Aware and Ocean Conservancy.