Thrill and excitement are all over Qatar, especially in Doha, its capital as the country looks forward to the largest single-sport extravaganza, World Cup 2022, which will be held Nov. 20 – Dec. 18.
The euphoria is felt not only by Qatar nationals but also by expatriates, who dominate the country’s demographic profile.
Ironically, foreigners outnumber the natives in the Qataris’ own country, comprising at least 85 percent of the total population of almost 4 million.
Three countries – India, Bangladesh and Nepal – each have more people than Qatar’s total population of 300,000, figures which are not far more than the number of Filipinos there – at 276,000.
Yes, there is great anticipation here, said my niece, Pam, who has been working as a medical technologist in Doha for 10 years now, after a long stint in Saudi Arabia.
“There is a sense of pride as host even among us foreigners here,” Pam said in our online chat last week.
To demonstrate the anticipation, the sports-loving Pam and her friend, Bryan Xavier Macariola, a Quezon City native, imposed a challenge upon themselves to explore during their weekend off-duty hours all eight tournament venues before the Nov. 20 opening.
They started their exploration last weekend as they documented three game venues – the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Education City Stadium and the Khalifa International Stadium.
Ahmad Bin Ali (capacity: 40,000) is located in Umm Al Afael, which is 20 kms. from Doha while Education City (also 40,000) is 13 kms. northwest of the capital.
Khalifa, also a 40,000-seater, dubbed as a “Re-energized Sporting Center,” is in Aspire, 5 kms. west of the central district of Doha.
“We take the train and walk to the venues, it’s hot but it’s fun,” Pam said.
Khalifa is the closest to Doha, while Al Bayt Stadium at Al Khor is the farthest – at 35 kms.
It has the second biggest crowd capacity (60,000) and is the venue of the opening ceremony, including the first match. Lusail Stadium, 20 kms. north of central Doha, has 80,000 seats.
Reports show that the costs associated with the new stadiums are between $6.5 billion and $10 billion.
Overall, however the amount reportedly reach the estimates of at least $220 billion, including total infrastructures built over the past years, making the Qatar games the most expensive World Cup ever.
In contrast, WC 2018 in Russia had a budget of $11.6 billion while the 2014 edition in Brazil cost $15 billion.
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As usual, 32 teams are seeing action in the soccer quadrennial which are divided into eight groups. The groups competing teams are led by France, the 2018 champion, and runners-up Croatia Belgium and England.
The complete list of qualifiers:
Group A – Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands; Group B – England, Iran, USA and Wales.
Group C – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland; Group D – France, Australia, Denmark and Tunisia.
Group E – Spain, Costa Rica, Germany and Japan; Group F – Belgium, Canada, Morocco and Croatia.
Group G – Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon; Group H – Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea.
Pam promised to update me with the rest of their exploration – something I will continue sharing with you.
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Social media messages and images posted particularly by U.S. friends show their anticipation of the Halloween, a celebration on Oct. 31 which has spread to this part of the world.
Halloween is an evening of fun for all ages highlighted by spooky costumes and surprises, party games, booze and the trick-or-treat tradition wherein children move from house to house asking for treats.
The treat packs of sweets and other goodies never fail to include the Candy Corn, considered the staple candy of the autumn season.
Candy Corn is a small pyramid-shaped sweet that has three parts of different colors – yellow, orange and white – which are said to represent the colors of the fall harvest and the corn kernel.
Its wide appeal, especially to kids, is its waxy texture and flavor based on honey, sugar, butter and vanilla.
My first encounter of corn candies came early – in my pre-school days when my family received monthly packages from church groups in the United States. The boxes contained an assortment of goods – from clothes to toiletry, canned product, home items and, yes, corn candy and other sweets.
My siblings and I always searched for the tasty candy first and occasionally got disappointed whenever it was not included in the parcel, because at times we found out that the boxes had been ripped open on the corners when we picked them up at the post office.
As expected, I sought out the product many times in the candy store when I had the opportunity to study in the U.S. Midwest.
I just realized that the sweet item is annually honored in the United States with the National Candy Corn Day celebration on Oct. 30, a day before Halloween.
Although I am diabetic for years now, I recently longed for it that I attempted to order the product this week to celebrate the day only to find out that the only online item available is of a U.S. brand name based in Chicago but that has to come from Thailand.
That means a long wait for me that I aborted the idea of ordering it, consoling myself with the thought that I’m diabetic anyway.
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He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31) – NWI
