S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Even today, my first vision of the Arab world still hasn\u2019t left my mind. It was a sunny day on June 2005 and the Qatar Airways plane was landing in Doha. After going from Brazil to South Africa and, from there, taking an airplane to Qatar\u2019s capital, I was arriving at the so called Arab world. From way up, we could see the desert\u2019s sand with its noticeable waves. When the plane got closer to the ground, I could also see the Gulf Sea, of a dazzling greenish blue.<\/p>\n
I still have a special fondness for Qatar \u2013 as well as for other Arab countries \u2013 for being the first place in the region that I had set foot. I had been hired by ANBA a short while ago and that was the first opportunity to the entire staff to travel to an Arab country. There were no direct flights and the opportunity to travel came after an invitation by the Qatar government to cover a G-77\/China summit.<\/p>\n
That was a very exotic world to me, one that we, ANBA journalists, would write about, but from afar, from Brazil. Everything was so unique, it had a different smell \u2013 maybe because of the region\u2019s so distinctive spices and perfumes. Everything was so beautiful and wealthy \u2013 Qatar holds the world\u2019s highest per capita income. The places in which I spent more time \u2013 convention center and hotel \u2013 had a lot of marble and shininess.<\/p>\n
I was able to do my job pretty well, and even slipped away to some of the tourist and traditional attractions, such as the gold market and Doha\u2019s most ancient parts, later writing about them to ANBA. I also visited the TV network Al-Jazeera\u2019s headquarters and local trade organizations. I wrote about the summit and had the assist and camaraderie of journalists from across the world that were also covering the event.<\/p>\n
I went alone \u2013 not without some uneasiness, but I was very well-received by the Qataris. Everything went right and that was the first of many trips that the ANBA staff made to the Arab countries. From an exotic place, the Arab world became a place that is also ours. Not that we know them fully \u2013 every day and feature written we learn something new \u2013 but now we\u2019re a little more at home.<\/p>\n
I hope to always hold on to that vision from the plane\u2019s little window, with the desert and the Gulf Sea down there, silent and imposing, in a beautiful design that nature gave to the Arabs \u2013 and to us, who, from time to time, go over there to snoop on their lives.<\/p>\n
Translated by S\u00e9rgio Kakitani <\/strong><\/p>\n