The airport: A window to the life of the elite
September 30, 2016No other airport is quite like the Hamad International Airport in Doha. Unlike its counterparts, Doha is not only an enormous complex of multiple terminals, dozens of gates, and hundreds of stores or restaurants. For me, Doha was first and foremost an outrageous display of technological progress and human vanity.
Built only in 2014, the airport is truly forward-looking. It claims to be "an architectural masterpiece where innovation and beauty combine" - a classic PR phrase, which, however, does come close to reality. Architecture of the airport is simple and modern, and designed so smartly that finding the right terminal is fool-proof.
Architectural finesse is not the only aspect making Doha special. The introductory video of Qatar Airways welcomed passengers on the plane by saying that Doha is the most technologically advanced airport to date. And as I entered the giant place, my skepticism vanished into thin air.
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| High-speed train inside terminals hall |
Technological innovation reeks of literally everywhere. Free WiFi has become a standard of international airports, but Doha offers more. Internet machines (just like those telephone machines) providing quick access to the internet through a built-in tablet are abundant. For those who prefer more comfort, Internet corners feature several Macbooks with free access for anyone.
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| Internet corners at Doha |
The enormous wealth was also perpetuated by an extremely large density of high-end boutiques. While the rich are finding the right items to purchase and Japanese tourists enthusiastically taking pictures in the stores, I look at the scene with some sadness.
While Doha reeks of wealth and prosperity, some impoverished parts of Qatar - and of other country in the world, for that matter - house people who struggle to find food and live a decent life.
***We are boarding. I enter the aircraft with a 2-4-2 seating pattern and find a group of four Slovaks sitting in the same row as me. We don't interact much; I sleep, watch some movies, and occasionally talk to the nice Tunisian man next to me. However, they did catch my attention eventually. Using swear words in every sentence, calling the stewardess by "cica" (literally "pussycat"), getting drunk, singing, and shouting "what the @#%& are you doing" when a child on the plane would not stop crying as we were descending, these four middle-aged men with big beer bellies and dirty mouth represent the living embodiment of the trashy working class of sexist, racist, and backward Slovak men. And the reason why I am sometimes ashamed of Slovakia.But we landed, and I immediately forgot the experience. Dana, welcome to paradise. I guess.
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