In November, I was listening to the audio book recording of “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s search for happiness” by Eric Weiner while I was at the gym and driving around. I was very amused by his reflections on various countries and their levels of happiness. He described the rich country and its shopping mall culture and wondered whether wealth really brought happiness.
Little did I know as I was sweating away and flexing my muscles that I would soon go to Qatar on a trip to promote my books from late December 2008 to early January 2009. I sort of ended up on an all expense paid trip to the desert kingdom for two weeks by accident with the help of the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar.
I never thought that I would spend New Years in a Muslim country, where alcohol is haram, or forbidden. So, I didn’t spend Dec 31st drinking champagne, but one of the other publishers and I went to our hotel bar on January 1st and I had a glass of wine. (Alcohol is permitted for foreigners and is quite expensive.) The cocky waiter at the rooftop bar had a very Slavic face and strong Slavic accent and told us he was from Macedonia. When I told him that I was from another Slavic country, a big one to the northeast of Macedonia, he couldn’t figure out that I was originally from Russia. He wasn’t all that bright! He stayed in my mind because he was the first person I had met from Macedonia outside of the Balkans and because he seemed kind of stupid.
On Monday, I got an email that I am going to Macedonia as an election monitor in two weeks.
It seems as though I meet messengers or get messages about my next country to visit in strange ways.
Incidentally, I am returning to Qatar next month for the Cultural Fair.
What message will I get there about my next country to visit?