"Happy Days" (Ramadan fade out: Eid fade in)

Lauren said it best when she referred to this weekend as "Happy Days".
Friday night we did a super rad shoot for Planet Doha in a parking lot with Sri Lankan cricket players. Then Dale and I went and had a 3 hour chin wag about all things "life".
The level of similarities we share is almost insane. (no homo)
After polishing off the rest of the Woodford... we stopped by a party in Ayse and Liz's apartment. We were greeted by a bunch of grown men in women's wigs. (WTF????)
The party was cool but we were most interested in eating all of the food in the place. At 530am we had our fill and called it a night.

We had a reservation for wakeboarding at the Diplomatic Club for 11am on Saturday.
At 9am, a woman from the club called me and said that the wind was a little too hard to do it. That bought us enough time to get more than 3 hours of sleep and also fill our bellies with lovely W room service.
We rallied the troops (Lauren, Dale, Manuel, Christian and I) and headed to the "Mangroves".
This is a fairly secret spot that the McCarthy Clan has frequented for quite some time.
It was about 30 minutes outside of the West Bay and totally off the beaten path.
As we pulled off the road, the vast openness spread out before us. And then BAM... there it was....
our first "wild" camel sighting.
The massive creature just stood there and let us pet it and walk around it with no hesitation. No one got trampled. No one got spit on (although I kinda wish someone would've).
It was a surreal experience.
Christian shot this little video of it:

Of course there had to be a camel toe photo... Manuel volunteered for the comparison.
We got back in the car as a larger "bull" started to come towards us and the female ran away.
After another short drive through the sand....
there it was.
The Mangroves.
One of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen.
Totally secluded.
The high tide rolls in and fills the area with a heavy current and you just float down stream.
As we floated along soaking up the sun and scenery....
we had our first "Brooklyn moment".
GUN SHOTS.
Everyone ducked down and yelled to the person firing the rifle.
Turns out Qataris drive around the area in their SUVs and on quads and shoot birds.
We waved them off and that was the end of that. No harm, no foul (or fowl haha).
We sat in some shallow tide pools and chased fish, played with tiny crabs, and collected shells.
After, we forged back upstream and chilled by the banks until after the sun went down.
It was truly breathtaking.
We all left so relaxed and happy.
Later, after a shower, Lauren, Dale and I headed out to the Souk to experiment with cameras. The outcome will be visible soon(ish).
Ran into the Polaroid Man again and had a few more photos taken for our collection.
When I went home that night, I couldn't help but think that I was in a dream. Everything we did was so great, I didn't think anything could top it.

CUT TO SUNDAY:
10am.... We (Lauren, Dale, Rob, Manuel, Olivia and I....Christian bailed to follow his American roots and watch the Jets beat the Pats) stocked up on drinks and food and a big ol' watermelon (will come in to play later).
Then started our journey to Fuwairat.
This is another one of the McCarthy spots. Its about an hour north of Doha.
You come down a long dirt road, then through the sand, over massive rocks, up around the peninsula and onto this strip of INCREDIBLE beach.
White sand, crystal clear water, perfect temperature.
It was paradise.
We did some swimming, snorkeling (checked out random little fish, coral, sea urchins, sea snails and crabs), had a little picnic of sorts, and totally relaxed.
As the sun began to sink, Dale had a bright idea for the remaining watermelon...


The remaining pieces ended up as being put to use.
First as costumes...
Then as full scale weapons as they were winged at each other while swimming.
Some of us ended with rind slashes all over our bodies hahaha.
Once we had enough assaulting each other with fruit....
we packed up camp.....
And also when we realized that having Manuel apply sun block to your back is a TERRIBLE idea hahaha. Apparently he chooses which parts are most important and leaves the rest to fend for itself.
Then we headed up the rocks for some group photos.

Rob found a makeshift toilet and went to town.
The sun set was beautiful as we raced to get the cameras on timers (not sure that even really worked out at all hahaha)
Apparently the only thing whiter than my chest is Dale's ass. hahaha

We left with giant smiles and drove back talking about Cairo and our plans.
Nothing but inspiration and faith in our abilities.

We got back to the W, took quick showers, and headed out for a GIANT dinner at Majlis.
15 of us sat around on the floor and ate and ate and ate til we couldn't eat anymore.
"Belly full of meat and a head full of dreams".
My eyes got heavy, we said our goodbyes, and back to the W to put myself to sleep.
No dreams could have compared to this weekend.
It was by far the most relaxed I have been in years. (Maybe ever)
Beautiful landscapes, scenery, food, laughs, smiles, and most of all: People.

It's going to be tough to top....
but we'll work on it.