Catching Crabs

We went to the beach this weekend. We had a picnic with some of our colleagues, mostly Arab ex-pats. It’s funny how dramatically different socializing is among the various immigrant groups here. No Qataris were present at this event, the people were mostly Jordanians, along with some Syrians, Egyptians, and north Africans.

Men and women spoke and mingled freely. There was still a general tendency for people to form conversation groups consisting mainly of their own gender, but more so out of interest in the topics discussed than any sort of social protocol, much like in the west. It seemed quite “normal” from a western point of view.

Several people brought musical instruments. One guy played the Oud, I guess you would call it a “lute” in English, but it’s the fore-runner of the guitar, and an essential component of Arabic music. He played amazingly well, mostly Andalusian style music. People were drumming as well. Most Arabs we have met can play the frame drum exceptionally well, even Gulf Arabs, despite the dim view so many take of music. The songs were very interesting, and everyone sang along. We couldn’t sing with them, due to limited Arabic and not knowing the songs well enough, but with a little practice perhaps we can soon keep up.

Music seems to be an important part of socializing among many of the ex-pat Arabs we know. Even in private homes, it’s not long before someone is breaking out the instruments and everyone is singing. Music from a stereo as “background” is less common when people have guests over, …most folks would rather make their own. This is in sharp contrast to the Qataris, who seem to reserve music for rare, formal events, like weddings and so forth. The Wahabbi theology of the Gulf discourages music in general.

The food was great, and quite different than Qatari food. Qatari dishes tend to revolve around huge portions of meat, with rice, spiced in many different ways. The food at the picnic was mostly Jordanian, and the dishes utilized a much greater variety of ingredients, lots of different types of pasta and grains, and conspicuously less use of meat. That aspect might reflect the relatively more modest economy of Jordan. It was all very good, and was followed by the obligatory smoking of the nargile.

The nargile is a huge water pipe. People of my generation would call it a bong, but a much larger version than what we may have seen before. Tobacco is smoked from it traditionally, often from several different mouthpieces. These are passed around, so one nargile can serve a lot of people. The tobacco is pretty mild, and often flavored. Tea and coffee are served at this time too, and the smoking, drinking, and of course, more singing go on for quite a while.

The beach itself was a developed area, with playgrounds and restrooms and so forth. As such there were quite a few others around as well, mostly non-western ex-pats doing the same things we were. In many trips to the beach I have seen relatively few Qataris. If they go at all, it’s usually just for walks on the beach near sunset, or perhaps for a beachside fire and tea after evening prayers.

One of Qatar’s greatest untapped resources is it’s miles and miles of completely undeveloped beach. If you don’t mind a lack of facilities and a short hike, it’s easy to find beautiful beaches without another soul around for miles. The water is an amazing turquoise color, and crystal clear in shallow areas. The sand is coarse and light brown in color. I am told that Qatari women do swim, but typically in places like these, where no one could reasonably see them.

There are no seagulls at the beach here. Not one, it’s very odd. The climate is too harsh to support them. It’s not for the lack of food, as the waters are full of fish, crabs and shellfish. Cranes and other large fishing birds are here, and many other species, including flamingos, stop here as they migrate through to Africa or Asia. The year-round species are all tough desert birds that can handle the lack of fresh water and the high summer temperatures.

There was an amazing number of crabs in the water. I suppose because there are so few seabirds that they have fewer predators than normal, and no competition in the pickings as scavengers. The water is crawling with them. Hermit crabs were the most common, I had never seen them wild before. There were hundreds in every field of vision. Most were pretty small. There were also fiddler crabs in holes along the shore, and then large green crabs on the bottom of the tidal pools and bays.

My kids had great fun catching the smaller crabs…. They are too small to pinch for the most part. Our maid was amazing to watch. She completely comes alive in the water, you can really sense that she’s homesick when she’s at the beach. She dove in and was catching large crabs with her bare hands. I am not sure exactly how she did it, but it involved a scooping motion and a handful of sand, and then she would toss them onto the shore. She never got pinched. She was also digging out large clams. She was very quick and efficient, and I can see that it wouldn’t take her long to collect a meal.

The oysters here look more like clams, they are very symmetrical, and have a dense coating of mother-of-pearl on the inside. They look nothing like the oysters I am used too. This is pearl country, but we haven’t found any yet.

The water is warm and great for swimming. The bottom is sandy. Crabs aren’t nearly as common in the surf, but there are stonefish… a bottom dweller that can carry a nasty sting… just shuffle your feet to avoid them. The waves are small in the Gulf, and there are few storms. A fair number of people were swimming, but the beaches are never really crowded.

Some of the beaches here would be world famous if they were located anywhere else. The fishing is great, the water seems healthy, and the scenery is beautiful. Qatar is mostly pretty flat, it’s a limestone peninsula with very little topsoil (topsoil hell, it’s SAND!). There are many large limestone rock formations in the country, especially along parts of the coast, so these add to the scenery.