What am I doing here, travel diary: day 18: then there is nothing more to do and “no” I dedicate myself to alcohol

Says the definition, almost from a dictionary: “A detox diet is a way to eliminate and cleanse the toxins present in our body through a healthy and balanced diet”.

What is this? Was I given to lose a few pounds in full coverage of the World Cup? Was it complicated by the spiciness of the food? Healthy and balanced diet? No no and no. Not yet. Mission (almost) impossible.

And so? What happens is that those of us who are used to having a cold beer to cool the heat or accompanying delicious food with a glass of wine are currently having an interesting experience in Qatar.

According to the definition – which shines in a stellar first paragraph of this daily mailing – we have been around for just over a couple of weeks a strict alcohol detox diet. And we take it literally: zero alcohol.

Not bad, I must admit, because as special envoys we have been working around the clock since November 12 and it is not advisable to drink and disperse. You must be one hundred percent professional. All the more reason with these high temperatures of the Qatari autumn which would make the consumption of alcohol, even minimal, It can be counterproductive if we think about the correct and healthy hydration of our demanding body.

Neither, mind you, you have to go to extremes. Accompanying a pizza or hamburger with a mug of beer would not be a cardinal sin at all. Nor a plate of pasta with a glass of good tintillo. However, as much as we want it, consuming and consuming it becomes very complicated in Qatar.

Though not impossible, of course.

After the local government, hours after the start of the competition, prevented the sale of beer in stadiums without realizing the millionaire agreement that FIFA has with an all-powerful American company, ordinary tourists, those who don’t live in luxury hotels , they only get the chance to have a few glasses of beer at fan festivals.

Over there a pint glass of the golden drink is worth 50 riyals, about 13 dollars – about four thousand pesos converted into Qatari dollars – and each person can consume up to four glasses. Even if you can make a sleeve and cross the line…

I said the supporters on foot because even the tourists staying in the big hotels have the opportunity to drink alcohol. There, for example, beer costs about the same as at a fanfest e A drink, such as an amaro with orange juice, is available for around 5,000 Argentine pesos.

The same goes for restaurants that pay for a license to sell alcohol. Those gastronomic establishments that do not pay the licence, on the other hand, offer versions of well-known drinks, but all without the presence of ethanol.

Outside of licensed hotels, restaurants and fan fests, the only way to obtain booze is through a permit issued by the Qatar Distribution Company, which also has only two outlets in and around Doha. .

Getting the license is not easy. Bureaucracy is everywhere, of course. To get it, you must meet a number of requirements and have authorization from the company you work for. All of this should be loaded into a form. It is a sort of sworn declaration in which one must ensure and demonstrate that he receives a salary exceeding 4,000 riyals, that he is married and, moreover, indicate the religion he professes and leave a cash deposit.

Obviously it cannot be consumed in public or offered to those who profess Islam or to a minor. This is crime. Anyone who dares to drive a vehicle with alcohol in their blood risks a hefty fine, jail time of up to three years, and even deportation. Zero tolerance.

As you can see, everything is very complicated. The fresh one to beat the heat or the wine with meals will have no choice but to wait until their return to Argentina. There is nothing more.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.