And you think your job is tough!

Dhow are the traditional boats that Qataris used for oyster and pearl fishing, the main economic driver for Qatar before intense Japanese pearl cultivation and the discovery of oil and natural gas in 1939, made the business obsolete.  Doha hosts several events aimed at reminding the country of its roots.
Pearl diving, sounds romantic, right? Well...a few bits of information:
     † only 1 in 10,000 naturally occurring oysters has a pearl
     † dhows, in large fleets, were typically packed full of divers working 
         frequent shifts on tours lasting 40 days to over 6 months.
     † If you survive the constant stress of dehydration, malnutrition and 
         illness due to close quarters and limited access to food and fresh 
         water, you get to do multiple rapid dives to depths of up to 200 feet.
     † here's your equipment list:
           - a weight attached to one rope that you tie around your ankle for decent
           - a second rope, tied like a harness around your waist for the ascent
          - a nose clip, finger covers and an oyster bag
     † if you don't drown from getting tangled in your ropes and you avoid 
         getting attacked by barracudas, sea snakes or sharks, your two minute 
         round trip will reward you with a bag of oysters with a very small 
         chance of having a pearl.

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All in all, this was a fun cultural outing, even though all the signs were in Arabic and I almost got run over riding home!

Coming up:
     Looks like someone has a case of the "Sundays", or Learning to enjoy a Tuesday hump