Katara International Hunting & Falcons Exhibition

It was Alexander who saw the advertisement for the Katara Falcon Exhibition on the metro. He tried to tell me about it on the train but sometimes the train is just too loud to hear him speak (not because others are talking but simply because the metro is moving fast and that creates a lot of noise). So when we got out of the metro he gushed out all the information with syncopated, breathless excitement: "Falcon festival! September 8 through 12! At Katara! Free admission! Can we go?"

As it turned out, we needed to be out at Gewan to sign one more document for our apartment (and we got to take the kids through the apartment and measure for curtains and things as well). The falcon festival was right on the way home, so we stopped by to see what it was all about. 

It took us a while to find the registration booth—we had to do a combination of online and in-person registration to get tickets for everyone. They're free, but anyone over the age of 12 has to be registered. And then we went into the exhibition center.

We were in a sea of white dishdashas and ghutras and felt rather underdressed and out of place, but that feeling soon wore off and we began to enjoy ourselves.

There seemed to be an auction—of some very expensive falcons—going on in the first room:

The next room had many gun and knife displays, as well as various off-road vehicles and tents and things. And then we saw the booth Alexander had his heart set on...

...the "hold a falcon" booth!

We each got to take a turn holding the falcon, which was much lighter than any of us expected.

Phoebe thought it was great:

And everyone else got to take a turn as well. Here's Zoë:

Benjamin:

Miriam:

And me:

Andrew took a turn while also holding Phoebe for the family picture the guys at the booth insisted on taking of us:

Nearby was this beautiful falcon, who is 28 years old, according to her sign:

Here are some other falcons that were on display:

Phoebe was particularly happy to stumble upon this hunting dog with her litter of seven puppies—only a week old, still wandering blindly around:

She was even happier when we found this other hunting dog that she was allowed to pet for a few minutes:

Dogs aren't very a very common pet around here, so Phoebe is always thrilled when she gets to see one!

There was all kinds of art on display (and for purchase)—sculptures and paintings and taxidermy. Oh, and this life-size komodo dragon made of crystals:

There were several cages of Asian houbaras, a type of bustard that can sometimes be spotted in Qatar in the winter. It's a favourite bird to hunt using falcons, which is unfortunate given its status as a vulnerable species.

Andrew had a meeting this evening, so we soon had to head home. Finding the exit was quite the trick—we were directed in so many circles and followed so many signs!—but we eventually found it and headed toward the metro. The Katara station spits metro riders out into a rather fancy mall. There is a security guard at the top of the escalators directing all the metro-riding rabble (including us) right out of the building (and he's probably right to do so because from the look of the displays we weren't likely to buy anything at that mall).

But I really liked the façade of this building. I used the cedilla so that Alexander could see what that looks like because we came across the word facade without the cedilla and since it breaks the rules of English pronunciation, Alexander pronounced it with a hard c, which is correct according to the rules of English, but incorrect according to the word, which is borrowed from French. 

Quel dommage! 

The cedilla tells us that the c will be soft, regardless of what vowel comes after. 

Anyway, I really liked this façade on a building by the mall:

It was a fun evening! 

And the excitement was just beginning...