Never take a sports car golfing

I can say one thing, trying to fit two sets up golf clubs into a Porsche Boxster is a dumb idea. A friend and I woke up at 7am on Friday to go golfing. I told him i'd pick him up so when I got there we loaded up with our clubs in our laps and drove 50kms to the golf course. When we got there the workers ran out to the parking lot to carry our clubs to the clubhouse for us (this is normal and free). We soon found out that we would have to wait almost 2hrs before we could get on the course because it was so busy. We decided to leave. The workers brought the clubs out to the car for us and didn't realize how we brought them there. So I said to my buddy, "watch this" I popped the trunk and the guy took one look in and started laughing, "they aren't going to fit in there!" So we laughed and I said no no sir in the front it's ok. So I popped the hood, he opened it and looked in, "where the engine?" I laughed and replied, "no no it's ok they will fit" so he tried to position them in the front trunk but every way he tried they still stuck out of the hood about a foot. I said, "it's good and I shut the hood, which came down on the clubs and sat about a foot or more wide open. "It's good thank you sir", his eyes lit up, "no no you will drive like this?" my buddy and I both burst out laughing. What a bunch of losers the guy probably thought. But he laughed with us and we loaded them back into our laps in the car and laughed the whole way home. It's one of those times you just had to be there to see how smooth it all went down. Here are some pictures of how the golf course worker thought we were driving down the highway. Next time I will be taking the Honda.

A Weekend of Fun!

Well, this weekend was one many of us Western teaching staff look forward to from the beginning of the year... The Annual Rugby Ball at the Hilton Resort. Everybody gets dressed up to the nines and heads out to party like it's going out of style. What a riot we had! Unintentionally, Ryan and I matched in our black and white ensembles and we danced the whole night away.

We are really thinking about next fall and how excited and jealous we are that you guys have snow right now. We both are really missing the chilly weather of fall. It's still 38 everyday here but we are used to it and it just feels like a hot summer day at the lake everyday... minus the lake and add a REALLY big sandbox.

We had a great Thanksgiving meal for the Canadians on our floor last Monday. It was wonderful and we managed to gorge ourselves with enough turkey to feed an army. Being the little suzy homemaker that I am, I decided to try my hand at making turkey soup. It took forever to boil the bones (who knew real soup took so long??) and it turns out it came at the right time! Everyone, save Ryan and I thus far, is getting very ill even within our teacher building. Ryan's class had only 4 students on Thursday! All of Kuwait is extremely paranoid of H1N1 right now so when their children get even a sniffle they yank them out of school. It's quite ridiculous. So far my classroom on the girls campus hasn't been too badly effected as I still have a full room every morning.

We decided that we needed to book another trip to go somewhere for New Years so we booked tickets to Beirut to go snowboarding for New Years. Some friends of ours have a little chalet out in the mountains and they are going to lend it to our group of people to enjoy for 2 days... how nice!!! We just couldn't give up the opportunity so we booked tickets early.

We also got excellent news yesterday from our friends, Daena and Gabe who work with us and live on our floor of the apartment building. They are 4 months pregnant! They have been married for 5 years and will have the baby here in Kuwait.

Other news... Ryan got the Porsche back to do a bit of engine repair. So he will be car-sitting again for the next few months. Having two cars is Awesome!

Golfing in the Desert....or is it?

Well a friend of mine finally got me out to golf 9 with him last week. We drove for 1/2 an hour and ended up in the middle of the desert, 44kms from the Saudi border, at this amazing golf course. 10kd or $38.00 for 9 holes . That sounds like a lot by Canadian standards but in Canada golf courses are a lot easier to come by. Looks like we will try and get on once a week or every second week for the winter. Here is a look at some pictures I took.

Maldives

Well it is difficult to put this post into words. As you know Kelly and I have just returned from a quick (4 day) trip to the Maldives. It is truly a remarkable place that is unimaginable until you actually see it. Any pictures you may have already seen are exact replicates of this place, no exaggeration. The water is indeed turquoise everywhere you look and the snorkeling is bar none. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort which had all you can eat, all you can drink, and all you can snorkel. So that is what we did! Daily boat excursions took us 15 mins to nearby reefs where we swam with tropical fish and sea turtles. The reef around our island had tons of marine life including black tip reef sharks and many sting rays. We were in the water almost every minute of the day. Already we have tossed around the idea of returning this year. Perhaps a good "last hurrah" vacation as we depart international teaching in June? Here are a few pictures re-sized of course for your quick loading convenience.

Back in Kuwait

Well we have settled back into our home here and everything is going very well. We spent the last 5 days at school in meetings and unpacking/setting up our classrooms. Because the end of Ramadan is this coming Monday the Gov't has made all next week a holiday to celebrate the new moon and end of the holy month of Ramadan. Suits us just fine. So after a very stressful week of unpacking 4 boxes we have 10 days off before the school year begins with students. As I mentioned before Kelly and I are off to the Maldives for 4 days. In fact our flight leaves in 4 hrs. To anyone who is interested the Maldives is an island country consisting of a group of "atolls" about 700 kms south-west of Sri Lanka. The 26 atolls encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets of which 200 are inhabited. It is also the smallest Asian country in terms of both population and area. With an average ground level of less than 5ft ASL it is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world at just over 7ft. It is commonly referred to by many as "Paradise on Earth" with its crystal clear turquoise water and abundance of coral and marine life. As a popular get a way for many celebrities we may have a chance to tip a few back with who knows who? We will be staying at the all-inclusive Summer Island Village Resort taking daily snorkeling and diving excursions to different islets. Here is a picture of the water villas that you can rent.

We're going baaaaaaack!

Well the summer is quickly wrapping up for Kelly and I. We have had an awesome summer dividing our time between Winnipeg and The Pas. We fly out of Winnipeg Sept 11 so we have an action 'packed' week ahead. Kelly flys to Orlando tomorrow morning for a "Zumba" fitness convention until Sept 7th. I am heading out west for a bike trip with Mom and Dad to Grande Cache to visit the McLaughlins and will return to The Pas Sept 9 to make finishing touches on packing then head to Winnipeg.

Upon arrival in Kuwait Sept 12 we will spend a few days unpacking boxes and getting our rooms set up. We luckily have a nice 5 day holiday from Sept 17-21, before school actually starts, so Kelly and I have booked a little get-a-way to the Maldives Islands. We will see our first teaching day Sept 27th.

The only other 'carved in stone' trip we have is to Uganda on a trek with the Silverback Gorilllas of the Impenetrable Forest National Park. This is a 4 day Gorilla Trek which starts in the Capital of Kampala. We will embark on two separate Gorilla Treks over two days to try and find these highly endangered animals. Once we (our group with a guide) locate them we cannot come within less then 5 meters of the family and can only stay for a max. of 1 hour. The cost......... Priceless.

Be sure to check back for photos and stories from our first few days back in the Desert.

Last trip for the 09 school year is now over.

Yes Kelly and I managed to escape for a nice 3 day weekend in Dubai.  We accompanied our 6 Canadian friends from Kuwait to support them in the 2009 "Dubai Mighty Camels" Canadian Hockey Tournament. The rest of the team met in Dubai.  Two professional female hockey players came from Czech and Russia to join the team.  Both girls are actually Canadian, one from Regina and the other  from La Duc, Alberta.  4 other guys flew in from Edmonton to join the team and a couple drove down from Abu Dhabi.  It was a nice reunion as all these folks played together as kids and many played together up until university but have since gone their separate ways.  Kelly and I went along for the ride.  They lost the first two games on Thursday then re-grouped and won both games Friday, which was the rubber-match with the Dubai team.  Today they lost in a shoot-out but were all very happy with their performance.  The Edmontonians will fly back Monday as the rest of us made our way back by Saturday evening.

Luckily we were able to make it to the Harley dealership this time around.  Clothing options were minimal as the dealership was more geared towards bike sales and the "brother-dealership" across the city has all the clothing and apparel.  Regardless we got our meat-hooks into a couple nice t-shirts to bring home and use as rags........I mean give to some harley owners.  

We painted the city red both nights we were there and had a wonderful time meeting many new faces all from our "back yard" .....W.Canada.

School will be wrapping up soon as we only have about 25 teaching days left and course work is to be completed by May 21st.  Ok with me!  All our students will write final exams which soaks up a week at the end of the year.  The last exam will be written June 4 and that will mark the end of the year, however, we have administration work to deal with and our rooms to pack up before departing. 

Kelly and I fly out June 13 and arrive in Winnipeg June 13 at 14:30.

See you there!