31st Wedding Anniversary.

Living in the Middle East this year has given us an opportunity to celebrate our anniversary in a very different culture. It started off with the choice of restaurant - it had to be local as it was hardly going to be memorable if we dined at Applebees, Chilli's or even the ever present steakhouse or Chinese restaurant. So off we went to Al Khaima, an Arabian restaurant on Al Sadd not ten kilometres from the villa.

It was a pleasant, balmy 32 degree C Wednesday evening, lending promise of the hospitality to come. We left the compound at 6.30pm in an attempt to get an early start on dinner, before the rush that usually develops from 8pm. Astoundingly, we arrived at the restaurant at 7.30pm - one hour to travel less than 10 kms. The hour was taken up in a variety of "pleasant" ways - firstly: by 20 min standstills at a number traffic lights. To explain further - traffic lights are controlled sequentially here, so that each quadrant has 2 (yes 2) loooong minutes to move vehicles across the intersection. If you do the math you will realise that it therefore takes 6 minutes for your row of cars to have their chance, and if you are unlucky enough to be at the back of the queue you will wait another go-round .... or two ....or three. The result - long lineups of cars bumper to bumper, revving impatiently, horns blasting every two seconds, and the real frustrated jumping their 4x4's onto sidewalks and into side streets. We spent the final 15 minutes searching for non-existent parking, in the end electing to drive to a mall parking garage and trekking through the dust and sand on unfinished sidewalks to get to our destination. Oh, and the final indignity in a city with no left hand turns available, you need to spend an extra km or two at an extra traffic light or two, to find an intersection where u-turns are allowed.

So we left all that behind us, still determined to enjoy our evening. We took a deep breathe to relax once again, opened the restaurant doors with a flourish, and made a grand entrance into a hushed silence, head turned stares of patrons, and waiters who stood back hesitantly. The restaurant manager approached us, and with a slight bow directed us to their restaurant next door as this one was for males only, and that being accompanied by a female, he would be pleased to serve us in the family section. On looking around at that point...he was right - tables full of males.

We proceeded next door to have our meal. Quite nice Shish Tawoug for me (bbq'd kebab chicken) and a mixed grill of bbq'd chicken, lamb and koffta (ground beef kebab) for Patrick, accompanied by a mixed salad and muttabal (minced eggplant with tahini (sesame seeds)). We toasted ourselves with a glass of water (no alcohol served anywhere except in international hotels).

Our 31st wedding anniversary will be remembered for its anomalies and peculiarities rather than for the occasion itself.

To many more!!