The Mall

See my daughter's blog at http://breanamulvaney.blogspot.com/ if you want a teen's perspective on this adventure...

Malls here are in a word palatial! For anyone out there who is the consummate shopaholic Doha is your Nirvana. The malls are beautiful, wide and they are clean. The malls are a cultural phenomena over here. Their like north american malls, but on steroids. All my hockey games this season are at the City Center Mall ( above ) or the Villagio Mall, you know the one with the canals and the gondolas.
We went out last thursday to shop at about 8 pm, we figured it would be nice and quiet being first day of the weekend. Stop for a second and think about a large city, say with a million people or so. Now imagine a Friday night. Got it? Ok! Now in your mind, close all the bars, all of them. Now ask yourself, hmmm where should we go tonight to kinda get out of the house. Yes siree bob.... I have never in my life seen so many people in a grocery store at one time! When its 40+ outside and you've been stuck indoors all day, a nice fancy air conditioned mall, where all your friends hang out is appealing.
The prices are comparable to Canada and the US. Some things are cheaper, some things more. You can't get a gas barbeque for less than 300 $ - 400$.
There are sidewalk cafes in the walkways of the mall where men drink coffee, chat and smoke. There are many stores that are local but we also have Marks and Spencer, Gap, Foot locker, Claire's, Body Shop and Carrefour (the French Walmart). You get almost anything in a mall with the exception of Victoria's Secret and Budweiser.
You can also get your car washed for 10 QR while you shop, that's if you can find a parking spot which any night of the week, can be a real challenge.