What am I doing here, travelogue, day 8: from dog heat to dogs nowhere to be seen

Saturday 19 November 2022, one day before the opening of the World Cup that we have come to see and tell, will go down in the list of unforgettable ones for me. An unprecedented achievement. It was the day when Lionel Messi It was first seen in Qatar, but mostly it was the first day of my short stay in Doha. completely sweat free. I was having a tough time because, I have to admit, it’s not too hard for me to get hot. But there had already been a sign. In the morning I attended the abrasive press conference of Gianni Infantinopresident of FIFA, and his crusade against the “double standards” of the West. The thing was hot and I came out unscathed.

To be extremely honest it was the first day since we arrived that the heat was bearable. I even dare say it was a nice warmth. Has the fresh air finally arrived to stay as promised by the Organizing Committee?

The weather was so pleasant – we had already noticed it while attending the training of the national team at the University of Qatar – that with one of my cover colleagues we went to dinner once the day closed, after midnight on Sunday, and we not only we met to eat on the sidewalk, but we even enjoyed the caress of an intense breeze that hours later became a strong wind.

It was another day with lots of finger action in front of notebooks. A dog’s day. However, the expression is overused and should not be used to describe troubled days. First, because dogs are not guilty of anything -greetings to China-. And secondly, because the expression should be used exclusively for days of excessive heat, like all those in Doha until Saturday.

Where does the phrase a dog’s day come from? was used as expression from the ancient Greeks to speak of the nuisance which caused the abrasive heat that occurred from the disappearance in the sky of Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major and one of the closest to our planet. Because it could not be observed, it was believed to join forces with the Sun and together they were a powerful source of heat. It coincided with the hottest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, from July 15th to August 15th. Y it is known as canícula. Although global warming has long since broken everything.

Canis Major, like Canis Minor, are constellations that complete the constellation Orion. Those who read the heavens, the first astronomers, put them together because Orion, the great hunter of Greek mythology, had a dog who accompanied him everywhere. He accompanied him so much that they ended up together in the sky of stars.

Others say Canis Mayor is the stellar representation of lelapsthe dog that Zeusthe father of all gods, gave to the princess Europe act as guardian. This same dog (no ícula) came from Minos a procriswho in turn gave it to mulletand so it passed from hand to hand. Nobody wanted it, it seems. I was more alone than a mean dog…But in the end it ended up in the firmament.

Speaking of dogs, there is an interesting little theme that is perceived here on the streets of Doha. In reality it is not perceived. no dogs seen. Bah, for the sake of precision: I haven’t seen any dogs so far. Cats we have seen a lot. But we didn’t see any stray dogs or leashed dogs.

Are there dogs in Doha? Or do they just not leave the house?

Doubt has grown because supermarkets sell dog food. This suggests that they exist. They won’t sell something nobody buys, of course. It’s like they sell kryptonite in gondolas. So that? If Superman doesn’t exist.

Of course, even if we don’t see them, the dogs are always there. And indeed they are. Asking you to get to Rome and googling, bloody highways, you arrive in Doha. In the capital of Qatar there is the Animal Welfare Society, where several pets claim to take care of abandoned dogs to be able to give them up for adoption. I’ll have to go see. It won’t be that they’re putting the dog in it.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.