petrol as far as the eye can see, yet...

My car ran out of gas the other day. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but I had Korky Paul with me - the children's book illustrator the Qatar Reading Association brought in to visit schools last week.

For a country being founded on petroleum, there is a surprising lack of gas stations here. Of course, that is no excuse for running out of gas considering that every day thousands of people DON'T run out of gas. But the point was, I had no idea where to even POINT my dying car during it's last few meters of life.

I did see a cop, though. So I pointed my car at him. I parked behind him, got out and asked where petrol was. "alkfa mura khamsa wafi muk..." was his reply. I let him know I spoke no Arabic, but I soon realized that this was his attempt at speaking English. I knew the conversation was in trouble so I gave up and got back in my car to start driving in the direction he last pointed. Thirty feet later, my Volkswagen Polo wheezed its last breath.

The cop saw my plight, drove up behind me, got out, and started calling someone on his radio. He got off, and said one word - "Wait." So we waited. I kept waiting for the cop to ask for my identification, but he never did. I think my lack of Arabic might have helped me, because he gave me some furtive glances as we waited that seemed to be saying, "Please don't ask me anything in English. If you leave me alone, I promise to leave you alone." At least, this is what I hoped he was thinking.

5 minutes later, a Police tow truck arrives. 5 minutes!!! The truck driver spoke with similar English fluency to the cop to me as he hitched my little car to the towing beams. I told him three times, "Petrol hallas" which means 'Out of petrol' hoping he understood that nothing else was wrong with my car. Iit seemed strange to me that he didn't just bring a can of gas. He nodded as if he understood though, and told me "Brake Down" which I took to mean take my parking break off. So I did. He finished hithching the car up, and beckoned Korky and I into the cab. I thanked the cop with a silent handshake for not arresting me, and we were off. Minutes later, we pulled into the gas station. "Suba pureema?" He asked. I finally realized he was asking "Super or premium". He dropped me in front of the tank, and went to leave. I got out my wallet, incredulous it would be free. He looked at me as if I was insulting him, and shook his head. Korky said, "If this was England, you would have gotten a heavy fine for running out of petrol on the freeway." Luckily, Korky seemed more excited about this new experience than not, so it all worked out.

I found a new affection for this country.