The Pearl and Gymnastics Class

The Pearl is a new area of Doha, still being developed, where the restaurants, hotels, and shops are made to mimic The Riviera.  The building is along the gulf and the avenue is lined with flowers, palm trees, restaurants, shops, and even a dock for yachts.  Right now, the area is fairly empty. We ate at an Italian Restaurant with Jimmy, Mia, and Veronica and took a brief walk along the water--the weather is getting very hot, so it is no longer pleasant to be outside. This is where one might see European sports cars parked along the street and women in abiyas carrying shopping bags from designer shops such as Hermes or Gucci. There seem to be more expats in this area and a less rigid dress code, also alcohol is served in the restaurants.

The pictures of Mia in gymnastics were taken at The Qatar Gymnastics Center, where Mia has been going twice a week for gymnastics. The children in the class vary in ability and age, but the coaches seem to do a good job of keeping them all challenged and happy. Mia has made friends with some of the girls (she especially likes an Egyptian girl who is next to her in line). The coach uses Arabic, English, and French when speaking to the children, depending on the nationality of the child. He is very dedicated and puts so much effort into each class. He seems to really like the children and has excellent rapport with them.They all appear very enthused about coming to class.

 There is a Qatari team which practices after Mia's class;they come every day for several hours and have Romanian and Russian coaches hired specifically to prepare therm for competition with other nations.  The Russian coaches have a very austere style and are very harsh in the way they speak to the gymnasts. I was told that when a Qatari has a child that shows talent in an area, the parents will hire the best teachers possible to teach their children.  So, it is likely that each child on the team has a private coach from Russia sponsored by a Qatari parent. I suppose this is a good job for a Russian gymnast since I'm sure the Qataris pay quite well.