17 Things I Miss About Doha

Took this photo on the Corniche in February 2015, right before a sandstorm

Because it’s been exactly a year since I left the desert capital.

1. The sweet, heady scent of grape- and double apple-flavoured shisha, especially enjoyable with a Lebanese feast
2. ATP tournaments and tennis lessons in a tree-dappled university campus alight with birdsong
3. Endless cups of piping hot, one-riyal karak tea, purchased at petrol stations
4. Souqs. Museums. The ballet. Orchestra season. Equestrian championships.
5. Friday brunches and weekday movie nights with my favorite girl next door and the other neighbors
6. Camel processions. Falcons seated behind you on your Qatar Airways flights
7. Blazing tangerine sunsets that always seemed larger than life
8. Cold, gray winter mornings wrapped in mist
9. Baba ghanoush and halloumi – this Cypriot cheese, melting on French toast with marmalade, was one of my great weekend joys
10. Spontaneous road trips to the border
11. That nameless Chinese hole-in-the-wall place and the frozen dumplings to go
12. The soft, luxuriously Arabian scent of oud
13. Moroccan tea poured from brass pots into glinting, brightly coloured cups
14. The gleeful thrill of monthly visits to the Qatar Distribution Company 😉
15. Thursday happy hour at the W’s Wahm
16. Rooftop barbecues (asado Argentino!)
17. The sandbox buddies

You never really untangle yourself from the cities you’ve lived in, do you?