Our building is the light colored one on the left
An average house
Another one near our place
a small section of the downtown area
Panting to stay cool
Chocolate MousseWhat does one do on the Holy day in Muslim society? Apparently they shop... the malls are very busy during the day on Fridays! Today Ryan and I took our first journey out on our own. We took a cab with a driver named Waheed (he is the taxi driver of the teacher’s of ACA). He always looks out for us and makes sure we get where we need to go safely. He’s this hilarious Syrian guy who has been in Kuwait for 24 years and knows it like the back of his hand. He loves teaching people about the city when they are new. So we not only had a ride to “The Avenues” mall but also a lesson in navigating and dealing with Kuwait’s transportation systems.
The Avenues is basically a huge shopping mall with all the designer labels. Versace, D&G, Anna Sui... you name it... it’s there.
We ate at the Applebees in the middle of the mall and found ourselves yet again wondering... Is this really Kuwait? It seems so similar to home...
After our mall adventures the bus came to get us at our apartment and a pile of us headed out to Souk Mubaraak. A Souk is basically a traditional open air market where people sell anything from Fendi purses to carpets to food and Abayas. I bought my first Abaya... and for those of you thinking... ha ha ha... she has to cover her head... you are wrong. The women here are very smart to dress as they do. Their clothing breathes very well so I picked up a beautiful abaya for CHEAP by bartering with this East Indian man for a good 5 minutes. It was a fun experience.
What was best about the Souk was the food. It’s outside and +45 so you’d think it would be unpleasant. Don’t get me wrong... it’s hot as hell... but they have fans that blow mist at you while you eat. It’s Cheap to eat and you can try many different kinds of food. We ate FAR to much Iranian bread, hamsa, Karachi (or something like that!!), and assorted other middle eastern dishes. Our table was filled with food and 15 of us managed to eat for 30 dollars total!
After the Souk, we got to experience the closest thing to a night club that you can get in Kuwait. There was a house party at the house of an Australian fellow and his Canadian Wife. What an experience. They basically made their entire upstairs into a nightclub complete with black lights. It was truly an amazing experience. We were out until 4 am partying with not only teachers but some pretty cool people from all walks of life. The US, Australia, South Africa, India, Singapore, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon... there were people from over 16 different countries. It was so cool to meet so many new people.
Reidwaan (A fellow teacher from Johannesburg, South Africa) and I kept looking at one another and laughing because we both couldn’t stop saying the same thing: I can’t believe this is Kuwait! So we have now been introduced to the underground party scene that we’ve heard so much about and we’ve only been here for 5 days.
The house was a typical Kuwaiti style mansion. Big, beautiful and well decorated. Ryan was rather intrigued by the vehicle covered up in the driveway. He asked Danielle (the host of the party) what was under the cover and she informed him it was a Lamborghini Diablo. Apparently their Aussie friend, who used to live in Kuwait, bought many cars here and shipped them back to Australia and sold them for a six figure profit. This Lamborghini had been in their driveway for 2 years and she told the owner if it wasn't picked up by October she was putting the battery in it, tires on and hitting the streets. This was his deadline. She promised Ryan a ride in it in October.
August 21st, 2007
Today the bus picked us up at 10am once again but today was called “recreation day”. The orientation committee thought it would be a nice end to such a "tough week" . Just a reminder that our work week runs from Sunday to Thursday since friday is the holy day for Muslims. We went to the Crown Plaza to workout, tan or swim by the pool if we wanted. We were there for 5 hours and it was one tough day at work. I now have an even better tan than before and I had to go to Aerobics class. Tsk tsk... a tough day!
Went for dinner at “Divas” which is a very popular restaurant. The few Celebrities that come here to Kuwait always go to Divas. What I find most interesting is that when you go out for dinner in Kuwait, you get served as if you were a King or queen. They literally wait hand and foot on you. I have never experienced anything like it. They don’t give you your bill at all until you ask for it. By the time we were done we had been at dinner for 3 and a half hours, were slightly lightheaded and had just experienced a truly great first night out in Kuwait.
What we found most interesting is the Sheesha and the men who serve it. In pretty much any restaurant you can order Sheesha which is basically flavored tobacco. Ryan hates smoking in any form so I fully expected him to turn up his nose at this... but he surprised me by trying it. You basically put this syrupy flavored tobacco into this huge traditional sheesha smoker thing with a hose connected to it. Then you put some hot coals on the top and you inhale the flavored smoke. To be honest, it tastes like candy. The smoke tastes like pixie dust or fun dip (lic-a-maid) dust.
SHEESHA IS NOT A DRUG!!! It is against the Islamic religion to alter your mind and take focus away from god... hence the fact that Booze is illegal! I told Mom and Dad about Sheesha and they seemed sketchy. To put it in perspective, sheesha is (for comparison sake) equivalent to smoking a small cigar. You are not meant to inhale the smoke, just to taste it. There are many different flavors but we tried a few different kinds including Strawberry, Apple, Grape and Orange.
The day at work on the 19th consisted of sightseeing. We were to go to the Kuwait towers, the Grand Mosque and the Dhow.
The Kuwait towers have been symbols of Kuwait for many years and they were directly attacked by the Iraqis during the invasion. It gives you a great view of the coastline of the city and is quite beautiful. It actually rotates. The trip to the towers really gave us a chance to visit with some of the other teachers as well as enjoy the sights of Kuwait City.
The Grand Mosque was a great experience. It is a beautifully huge mosque that holds over 20,000 people. During Ramadan people will line the streets and pray in the streets by the mosque. We saw pictures and will be a truly amazing sight to see. Women must wear a full hijab in order to enter the mosque so I got to dress up for the first time. If felt really cool... like I fit in a bit better for the first time.
Later on we went to visit the Dhow. A Dhow is a type of handmade wooden boat that the Bedouins used to use for pearl diving. However, the Dhow on display in Kuwait is the largest in the world and holds the record in the Guinness book of world records for the largest handmade wooden boat ever created. It is so large that is contains a ballroom and 3 different levels. It’s beautiful as well as huge with fine linens and gold throughout it.
Kuwait "water" Towers 
East view
South View 
South View
North view looking down at the waterpark
Inside the Grand Mosque in Kuwait
Compulsory full coverage for women
The stern of the famous Dhow in Kuwait
Inside the Dhow
Waiting room before entering
Top Deck
Stairs going to the top deckThe arrival:
After 54 hours in transit, being rerouted midair, having a flight cancelled on us and flying standby twice and three ten hour layovers, we made it! We arrived in Kuwait city at 6:00 pm on Sunday, August 17th. Many others who have now arrived fared similarly in their journeys and arrived late. This is not to deter anyone else’s potential journey over... they say it doesn’t happen often. But I must say, all things that “don’t work out” seem to bring unexpected gifts with them. For example, flying Emirates Airline, the most prestigious and luxurious airline in the world. It even has a night sky emulated on the ceiling of the plane so that you begin to adjust to your new schedule. They have a menu you order from for dinner, free drinks, Silk blankets and Individual computers for everyone to use that contain hundreds of movies and music.
The first class, although we unfortunately didn’t fly first class, has fully reclining beds for passengers and a spa service. We knew the UAE was rich... but this was amazing!
At the Winnipeg airport we met up with 3 other Manitobans who we would be teaching with; Shawna, Erin and Merike. They were great companions to have during our 54 hour transit. Much to talk about and we all became fast friends which has continued as we have gone through our first week of orientation.
We arrived with our VISA's in hand in Kuwait and when unsure of where to go I approached a security guard to ask a question and he checked my passport and stamped it allowing Ryan and myself to go straight through and avoid the long line up of 75 people... what a nice start.
To collect your baggage is like any other airport but you have these little men called porters who try and carry your baggage for you for a fee. They are great but very in your face. If you don’t want help you have to be very up front and yell “laa laa laa laa. Shukran wa La” which translates to “no no no no. Thank you but no”.
I am glad I took on some Arabic before I got here because it really helps you to understand the sounds associated with the language. Otherwise it can come across as an abrasive language. It really is quite beautiful sounding once you know the sounds that are associated. But then again that could be my traveller ears... it may be different once I’ve been here for awhile.
Once we got our luggage we made it through security checks for alcohol (since it is a dry country) and arrived to a smiling grey haired man with an ACA sign. That’s Bill Blanton, a veteran teacher with ACA in charge of Orientation. There was another group with him that had just arrived sitting at the Cinnabon coffee shop and we quickly sat with our bags and made some friends.
We managed to make it to our apartment alive... the highway from the airport to our home is the deadliest in the world according to Bill. In fact, fellow teachers saw an accident there yesterday.
We arrived at our apartment in good spirits even though we only had 5 to 6 hours sleep in the last 54 hours. We quickly unpacked our stuff and went to bed. What a journey! But we had finally arrived and it felt great!
Day 1-
We fell asleep at 8 pm last night and woke up at 9 am this morning. A 13 hour sleep was seemingly deserved after such laborious travels.
We went to school for 10 pm. The bus picked us all up at home and we all went together. Apparently this is something we should get used to because this is how we will travel back and forth to school. There are about 40 teachers in our building but right now only newbies are here.
It is amazing how everyone is so friendly. If only the real world was like this. We are all in the same boat so everyone is always excited to meet new faces and share their experiences. As soon as you see a new face it seems so natural to introduce yourselves and it’s like you’ve made an instant friend.
During the evening, we headed to the AWARE center. It ‘s an organization made to bridge the serious gaps between westerners and the Arabs. It hosts, Arabic classes and Islamic information festivals. We went to find out more about Ramadan since it is coming up right away.
Ramadan is the most important holiday of the year for Muslims. It’s like our Christmas. Lots of gift giving and lots of eating... but only at night. During the day Everyone Fasts... no water or food. Which is quite difficult to do in 45 * heat!
It has been interesting experiencing the culture first hand. As westerners we are ingrained with this fear of the traditional Muslim dress and we have this misconstrued idea of what the world is like over here. Everyone seems to think that men treat women like dirt and it’s one-sided and blah blah blah... it’s not really like that. Things are just different. Women are EXTREMELY respected. The reason they cover up is so they don’t have to deal with men hissing and catcalling. In the west, far too many young women thrive on negative male attention... not the case over here. Obviously customs vary throughout the middle east but I can speak for my experience so far. Kuwait seems to hold women is a very high regard.
For example, if I go into the local Iranian bread store and it’s filled with people. All the men must move aside and let the lady go to the front to be served first. If I get on a bus, I, because I am a woman, will always get a seat. If I am walking through the shopping mall carrying bags and Ryan is with me, he will receive dirty looks for not carrying at least some of the baggage.
Here are some pictures that we took of our journey here. Click on an image to enlarge.
Enjoy!
