Fridays are the day of worship in Islam, so everything is closed until after services. We thus had the morning free, so several of us spent it wandering to Box Park (an influencer’s dream due to its Instagramability), to Flag Plaza, and along the Corniche. We then went to the hotel pool -- which was absolutely stunning -- and lounged while we ate lunch, chatted, updated social media, and read books. After our free morning, we headed out of Doha again — this time north, almost to the tip of the peninsula — to Baladna Park. This was an interesting place, largely because it is both a massive dairy farm as well as an amusement park. I know, right?! Baladna supplies more than 95% of Qatar’s dairy products. Its business quickly boomed in June 2017 following the blockade on the country. (This “diplomatic crisis” was when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt banned Qatar from using land and air space — and blocked Qatar’s only land border with Saudi Arabia. They claimed that Qatar violated an agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, and they were critical of Al Jazeera and Qatar’s relationship with Iran.) Because Qatar had no access to their normal trade routes and could no longer rely on other countries, they had to develop other options, and Baladna was the first step in them becoming a self-sustaining nation. Qatar Airways flew more than 4,000 Holstein cows from the United States and the UK to Baladna, and this started the massive operation. While the blockade ended in 2021, the push for self-sustainability has continued, and Baladna now has more than 20,000 cows. Check out this excellent documentary for more information: The cows on the farm are all female and are artificially inseminated after they mature, and they give birth once each year. They are led three times a day to the “rotary milking parlor” in these photos and are automatically milked for eight minutes. I’m not going to lie: I didn’t love seeing this, and it made me almost want to go vegan. While it is an absolutely incredible and meticulously organized system, it was hard seeing sentient beings going through such a mechanical process. It’s similar to how I feel about petting zoos (also on site at Baladna Park), pet stores (like at the souq), and camel rides (at the desert). I also recognize that this is super hypocritical since I eat meat and cheese, drink milk, etc. Simultaneously, I recognize how important Baladna was during the blockade and how it continues to be a necessity in self-sustainability. I clearly have some more reflecting to do. Like I said before, Baladna is also an amusement park. It's so interesting. Next, we headed to Purple Island, just east of Baladna. Despite its name, the space is not at all purple and is instead green, green, green. I am really glad we visited here because it helped me understand that Qatar is much more than just Doha and that rural Middle East is not all sandy desert. I mean, check out the gorgeous mangroves, the lush green flora, and the crystal clear water. (Can you spot the crabs in this photo?? And yes, that photo is looking into the water!) Purple Island got its name because it was a production site for purple-red dye (from shellfish) a long, long time ago. It has likely always been uninhabited — by humans at least — but has served as an important trade post with Bahrain as well as a site for pearl divers and fishermen. Now, it’s a great spot to see nature, have a picnic, hike, and spend time outdoors. On our way back to the hotel (I almost just wrote "home"), we stopped by McDonalds. It sounds weird, but it was really cool. It’s a GIANT Mickey Ds and is shaped like a Bedouin tent. (It’s right next to Al Bayt Stadium, the World Cup locale that also looks like a traditional tent, which you can see in the distance in the last photo below.) It was an experience: there’s a massive outdoor space: families were gathered about, and kids were playing across the lawn. I tried the McArabia — chicken in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and garlic sauce. It was DELICIOUS. I also tried the cheddar jalapeño poppers (YUM) and the McShaker fries, which were way too spicy for me. I don’t eat much fast food, but this was awesome. And because of that aforementioned FOMO, I went to the souq again this evening -- and then enjoyed the most delicious sorbet ever with two of my besties. I'm sure going to miss them when our program ends.
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