See, I briefly visited Qatar a few years ago. It was a short visit, just a temporary stop-over made possible by a transit visa. I was on my way to Vietnam in late 2018, and decided to make sure of the transit visa option, to see Doha for a couple of days. I also had family there, so I also used the chance to catch up with some relatives.
Of course, two days is not enough to scratch the surface. But the author spent three and a half years as an expat in Qatar. So this book is filled with observations, from the perspective of a European woman. Some are funny, others are annoying, but all are insightful.
There were parts where I thought that the author was being very Eurocentric. I mean, there's more to the world beyond Germany. And it sounded like she was expecting the world to be just like it is at home. As I have traveled quite a bit, not only by choice but also because of the fact that my father was a diplomat, I definitely knew early on that things can be very different in other lands and cultures. Some remarks of the author suggested that culture shock for her was especially shocking.
There were other points where I thought it was a no-brainer, but apparently for her it wasn't. There was this whole episode about "Pull ma'am pull", where "pull" was how Filipinos would typically say "full", given that Filipino speakers typically have a hard time making the p/f distinction. I immediately knew what it was about, but she apparently had a very hard time with it. This just reminds me of German speakers and word-final devoicing, so when they speak English, and want to talk about "crab salad" they say "crap salat" instead.
Other aspects of the book were very informative, in particular her experiences as a woman in a conservative Gulf state. I admired her open-mindedness when it comes to the abaya. And yes, I can imagine how challenging it would be to be in a society where women are expected to always be hidden from view.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. If one wants to experience culture shock without being in on-location, then this is a good book to pick up. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
See my other book reviews here.
