Back to Business

Okay, time to wipe the tears and move on with the blog. Kristi, David and I attended a speaking event of former Secretary of State,Madeleine Albright hosted by The American School of Doha the evening before he left. She proved to be an interesting and witty speaker. Afterwards, since we were "all dressed up and nowhere to go", we checked out the new Macaroni Grill that opened up at Villagio Mall. I vote that it was the best meal since we've been here. There is something to be said for good old American Italian food. Our waiter was even more entertaining than Secretary Albright. Nikola was his name, and he was from Macedonia. He wowed me when he asked if we had ever been to a Macaroni Grill in "The States". If someone over here asks where you are from and you say the United States or the U.S., they have no idea what you are talking about. You must say, "America", which sometimes sounds quite awkward rolling off my tongue. So, to hear Nikola refer to home as The States was quite refreshing. He pointed to his mouse clad tie proudly telling us that he was from the Mickey Mouse generation, and so he knew all about us, including our crime rate....hmm. That's sort of sad. I'm not sure why I include the picture of Krispy Kreme. It just humors me for some reason. The Qataris are wild about it. There was a huge countdown to its grand opening with posters all over the city. The Krispy Kreme campaign was as big as the current 2016 Olympic bid that's going on. The last pic is of Kristi at Macaroni Grill carving out a birthday message for her friend Emily's 18th birthday who is from....drum roll....you guessed it, The States.