This afternoon at the park, my daughter was playing tag, climbing, and laughing with some sweet girls here for the summer from Qatar. I'm always happy when my daughter finds nice kids to play with.
The four sisters were ages five, four, three, and two, and they all looked just alike, with long dark curly hair pulled back in pony tails, tan skin, long lashes, and big smiles. They were all dressed in t-shirts and leggings, park play clothes.
A fair skinned woman was with them. We talked a little, because that's what moms at parks do. She told me something funny, and I asked if she was the girls' aunt. She said no, their nanny. Then for some reason she mentioned they were from Qatar, here for the summer, because of Qatar's heat.
There were two other adults, with darker skin, who were also with the girls, but not as involved as the woman I was talking with. Not as mom-like. They seemed like maybe they worked for the woman I was talking with.
She called two of the girls by name, Nora and Moza.
A while later, they were getting ready to leave, I noticed that there were actually a total of six adults with the four girls. And then I overheard them discussing where the drivers were picking them up.
Now, I knew a woman who worked as a chauffeur for Saudi royals, so I wondered if my daughter had just been playing tag with real-life princesses.
I googled.
The answer? Yes. The girls were granddaughters of Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, the former emir of Qatar, and father to 24 children.
Just another day in Santa Monica...
No comments:
Post a Comment