Like this:

You’re probably expecting a predictable post about the camel races. Perhaps you think I’ll write about how fast they ran, how funny the robot jockeys were, and how great it felt to cross the one remaining activity off my Doha to-do list.

But I didn’t see a camel race. A few friends and I got to the race track around 1pm because I was told the festivities began around then. Except for a few camels, the place was essentially deserted.

Luckily, one of the friends I was with speaks Arabic. He asked a man on a camel when the races start. Three o’clock, the man said as he rode away. Then we asked another guy. Four o’clock. Finally, we questioned a Qatari guy in a Land Cruiser. He offered to drive us around the track so we could be neck-in-neck with the camels. Our new friend’s name was Esa, which, according to my Arabic speaking friend, means “Jesus.”

Esa, who spoke about as much English as I speak Arabic (read: essentially none) drove us around the track and called one of his friends to check out the racing schedule. “La Al Yom, Bukra,” he told us. No race today, but tomorrow.

Today was my last chance to see the races, as I have work tomorrow, and have had work all of the other times friends have gone to see the races. I was pretty disappointed, and was ready to go home until another friend asked if we could please go through the desert to find camel bones.

At this point, you may be confused. Perhaps you’re re-reading the last sentence. Let me explain.  My friend is a teacher, and has wanted camel bones for her classroom since she arrived in Doha. She thinks the bones will help her students understand anatomy.  It took about five minutes for us to figure out the Arabic word for ‘bone.’ After that, Esa was on a mission.

He took us through the rocky backyard of the racetrack, scouring the barren landscape for any sign of a carcass or bone. We saw wild camels, a group of men who seemed to be Bedouins ( they let us ride their camels), a lizard and a fox. And finally, we struck gold: huge camel bones. And even a camel skull.

Our friend Esa cleverly making the symbol for poison.

Look at those teeth. Are you grossed out yet?

He was inches away from eating my camera. I got away just in time.

Today was strange even by Doha’s standards. I only have five days left in this country…I’ll certainly miss the unpredictability when I’m gone.

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