Tea time

Your 23 hour journey from Seattle to Doha nears its end with a brief stop in Damman, Saudi Arabia, 30 minutes flying time from Doha. As you descend into Damman, you watch the flight information tick on the screen imbedded into the seat in front of you.

Altitude: 500 ft
Time at destination: 9:30 pm
Temperature: 104 degrees.

Huh.

A quick ascent and descent later, and you touch down in Doha. With a short taxi after landing, the plane comes to a halt. Leaving the plane, you descend an air conditioned portable staircase to the tarmac. Twenty feet from the base of the steps, a bus waits. Those few steps prove to enlighten you of much of the water consumed from the small airline Dixie cups, and you are amazed at how sweaty your palms have become upon quickly hopping onto the bus.

Quick checks out both sides of the bus fail to reveal an airport. Urban planners must be enjoying themselves here, with an utter lack of obstacles such as vegetation, rivers, elevation, or anything else that might conspire to place a landing strip within a 15 minute bus ride of an airport.

You quickly learn that life here, at least during this part of the year, consists of very quick transitions from one climate controlled area to the next. Leave the bus and sprint for the cool rush of air behind the automatic doors of the immigration area. Reside is said areas, perhaps not so much to perform the official formalities of immigration, but instead to store up energy for the next sprint, this one more confused as you search for your host’s automobile while struggling with luggage. A short ride through town, a quick check of house numbers, and once again rush from the cool comfort of the car to the (thankfully) pre-cooled villa that will be your home for the foreseeable future.

Your co-worker observes that it feels as if one could stand outside, scoop a mug full of air, and brew one’s favorite hot drink with the mug’s contents.

Anyone for a spot of tea?