Kuwait: Really good ideas here that we should adopt in Canada.

Kuwait is different than anything I have ever been exposed to...and I have traveled a fair amount. I am trying to pin point exactly how and why it's different, but I am processing all that. When I get it figured out, I will let you know. For now, I will highlight some of the things they have here that are pretty cool.

People here like to smell good. You know those annoying people in the malls,who insist on spraying you with the latest scent that you DONT want to smell like? Well--Kuwaiti people, love those people. They are everywhere..they wander the malls with little sticks of the scent they are trying to push on you. Everyone that passes them, takes  stick. Men, women children--they love the smell stick. At the market, there were scores of these knock off perfume tables. Any perfume/cologne/smelly thing you want--there it is. For cheap. People at my school spray scent in their classrooms. Scented candles are everywhere. People here, are not afraid to smell good. There is no "scent-free policy". I like that. Smelling good is nice.  

Corn in a cup. Corn in a cup is a big deal here. Love that. Nuff said. 

Ok so this LOOKS like Bar-B-Que chicken right? And it is..but here is the rest of the story. So the other day at work, lunch was brought in for the staff. It was probably the best Lebanese food I have ever tasted. Really, really good. Anyway--I was unpacking the containers, and the Shish Taouk ( Chicken chunks on a stick) came wrapped in foil. I unwrapped the skewers of chicken and noticed that they were resting on a very large pita. I said ( somewhat foolishly) " ohhh cool ,they come with a Pita" and my director said " No, that's what they do to absorb the juices; the pita for eating, is in another bag". At the time I thought--"Ok, great idea" and didn't give it much more thought  ( I don't want you to think I spend a whole lot of thought on these burning issues) So anyway, the other day I bought a Bar-b-que chicken..and lo and behold--here it is again. The "pita as absorbent towel" concept. They throw the chicken on a pita and wrap the whole thing up in foil. Isn't that a fabulous idea?? Not only can one consume the pita if one chooses too ( the chicken also comes with a pack of pita bread) but the pita absorbs any juices, so there is no nasty spillage. I love that. 
Great idea, that we should use in Canada for all take out food that has spillage potential. 

Kuwait: The Friday Market

Today I played tourist and went to the Friday Market. This is an enormous covered market that sells everything from nylons to industrial size fridges. I have been in Kuwait for a few weeks now, and thought it was time I played tourist. 

 These large covered circular areas are the roof tops of the market. A protection of sorts from the glaring sun. It was 45 degrees today--but really need to do something besides hide inside and watch Netflix ( how great is Downton Abbey?? ) 

This is the furniture section. As you can see you can choose from a lovely assortment of sectional sofas. "Dewaniya", is the term that is used for those low lying cushion seating arrangements we might see in a Moroccan restaurant.  This term refers to the custom of men sitting around smoking, drinking coffee and discussing all manner of things, from politics to religion. 

Kuwaiti folk really love the whole concept of bling and bedazzled. A lot of their garments are beaded and glittery. This..living room accessory (??) is an example of that. 

The market is a great place to buy an Abaya. I made a horrifying discovery today. Abaya's are not made of cotton, silk or natural fibers. Abaya's are basically made of--polyester. Think...non-breathable, man-made, flame resistant fabric. Think of that in 45 degree heat. I have no idea how these women are not keeling over from the heat.  

A big seller at the market is clothes/shoes and general flea market, second hand stuff. Acres and acres of this kind of clothing. I have no idea how anybody makes a living selling this stuff. If one's mission was to sift through all the hanging garments on offer at this market--they would be there for days and days and days. 

This is my 'carpet guy'. He is Iranian, and his carpets are "antiques" ( she said sarcastically) from Afghanistan, Iran and Syria. I treated myself to a lovely 70 year old carpet from Afghanistan. The colours are amazing. I put it in my bedroom It started off at a price of 200$ but I got him down to 120$. I am sure I could have paid less--but to me, it was a good deal and I was happy with that price. 

This is the 'fitness equipment' area. Anybody need a bowflex?

I was there for 3 hours, and could have spent another 3 hours there--and still not covered the whole market. I just couldn't take the heat anymore. I was literally dripping wet by the time I left. Have I told you how hot it is here? 

The beauty of Kuwait

There are things about Kuwait that are'nt beautiful, but one thing I can say about it is this: They have done the coast line right. 
In a lot of coastal cities (think Cancun, Mexico), the coast line is miles and miles of big hotels, with private beaches and very limited public access; that is not so in Kuwait. Sure, they have their share of big hotels,but none that I can see are up against the beach.  For the most part, the coast is lined with a lovely promenade for walking, jogging or simply relaxing. 
There is often direct access to the beach. The parking lots are interspersed periodically along the causeway--and the parking is free. It is a really great set up, and very user friendly. Granted--its too hot now to enjoy it, but in a few short weeks, that is where I will be spending a lot of my free time. 

Photo taken from my car, the palm trees are lining the ocean promenade.

The promenade. Off in the distance is Kuwait City. The promenade goes all the way to the buildings off in the distance and just as far in the other direction.

The other direction away from Kuwait city, the promenade goes as far as the eye can see. 

The parking area. 0cean/Promenade to the right, city to the left.

Life in Kuwait: Musings on the way home from the gym.

So I joined the gym. It's about a block up from my house, I figure the closer proximity will encourage me to go. We shall see. 
The gym experience was another interesting one--but that's another post.
For now, here are some photos on the way home from the gym to my apartment. 

Thoughts/Musings are shown below:

Where's the door?:

Where is the door? Businesses in Kuwait that are newer, are often located in an apartment building. The business owner rents or purchases an apartment and refurbishes it for their shop. To get to the shop, one has to go into the apartment building. Here is an example of how store fronts are designated--which makes businesses very hard to find. The door is initially quite invisible to me. I am looking for AN ENTRANCE.

Lets take a closer look:

Ahhh there it is. Can you spot the door handle? Sometimes, looking for businesses is like playing "Where's Waldo"??!!

IS bigger better?

Kuwaiti people like big cars. Really big cars. I know why---but that's another post. I find this quite curious, since the streets are very small, and parking is complicated. Smaller cars would be more economical and easier to get around in, no? Apparently not...Plus considering, I filled my 50 L tank up for 14 dollars the other day--why go small, when you can go big? Kuwaiti drivers also think, that to drive, you need to be talking on your phone at the same time. 

Subway, In Arabic:

Isn't this cute? I just like knowing its there....odd how familiar is so reassuring. If I can get a sub, the way I like it--all is right with the world. 

More on the 'big" theme:

This gym is five full floors....really? Notice the large trucks outside the entrance..can you see the entrance? Me neither. 

Oh.....if anybody cares, I took a kickboxing class. Don't mess with me, man....I can now kick your butt. One class will do that. Ha ha.

Some random photos for my friend ( and so she will stop bugging me about it)

This is for my friend, Debbie.

This was from inside the mall 'The Avenues" truly the most amazing mall I have ever been to. This area is called " The Souk" where they attempted to recreate the Souk of old time Kuwait. 

I have no comment on this, for fear it will sound offensive..I just found this sign interesting.  It was posted by the escalator and is warning of safety if one rides the escalator. 

This is the view from my living room window. 

This is an example of the miles and miles of developed cobblestone promenades that lines the beach. When it cools down, I will enjoy jogging there ;)  Inshallah.

Life in Kuwait: Things I didn't realize before.

The value of my Language:
If you have a passport that is issued by an English speaking country, and you are an English speaking native...that is a big deal. You, my dear, have a commodity that a lot of people want. 
You speak English. People want that. People will pay big bucks for that. If you are a native English Speaker and know another language, you can probably work anywhere in the world. If you are reading this, and English is your mother tongue, you are lucky, 

The value of my nationality:
If you have a passport from a country that speaks English--you can travel anywhere in the world without hassles or the nasty complication of a lengthy visa application. People from other countries are not so lucky. The only countries a lot of "non-western" ( read middle east) people can travel to, without a complicated and lengthy visa process are: Turkey, Syria and Iran.  
Some countries, they will never get to.
A lot of people go to a lot of trouble to get that desired passport, marriage is only one way.  
On the world stage,  I am privileged because I AM CANADIAN. My kid, and nephew are lucky.



The Value of my Education:
I appreciate having an education. Because of my education, I get stuff.
A lot of people working in Kuwait ( most people working in Kuwait) have to work very hard to earn a living. Very hard. 

Some jobs are excruciatingly boring: standing at a pillar in an underground parking lot all day pointing drivers to the exit ( because drivers cant read the EXIT signs, I presume? ) or standing by the escalators all day long, making sure people ride the escalator properly (???) 

Some jobs are excruciatingly painful: working outside in the heat tending to the gardens in the median of the highway. (Today the temperature registered 55 degrees F.) 

Some jobs are just ridiculous: wiping the toilet seat in the bathroom, before I use it.  ( really??) 

We are not treated equally:
If your skin is white, you are treated differently ( read better). You might want to think you aren't, but you are. It's there in the subtleties..the deference, the attentive service, the engaging smiles, the eagerness. There are a lot of whitening creams sold in the stores. 


I have to wonder: If you hold a North American passport, speak English, have white skin and an education... are you golden? 
And if you are lucky enough to be born having those criteria--and aren't grabbing that brass ring..why? 

My trip to the grocery store.

I messed up my first trip to the grocery store. I went when I had actual shopping to do. I should have gone just to observe, with no goal in mind. Next time.
Here are some random observations from my trip.

Grocery stores are the same world wide. Food is arranged in aisles, one walks up and down with a cart. Fairly simple...except when:

                             A) One does not recognize the food:

Fresh Dates--I asked 

B) The store does not seem to be organized in any fashion that makes sense:

Why is the tuna next to the pineapple? ( is this an aisle devoted to canned goods?)

C) One doesn't know what size to buy:

The jar on the right is normal size..the jar on the left..I truly don't know what that is about. Its the size of a large toaster oven--or, the size of a bread box. Who needs that much Nutella. Ever? 

D) Food names are switched up:

No wonder we cant get along!! We don't call our squashes by the same thing! Perhaps unity should start by common squash names? ie Butternut squash ( left)  and Spaghetti Squash ( right)

E. One does not know one's countries:

The photo does not show the lettuce, but it's below the sign. If one didn't know that Jordan was a country--chaos would reign.

F. One does not comparison shop:

The Squash on the left, would be about 2$ a kg. Probably about 4$ for one  squash. That's probably because they are from Egypt. 

However, if one buys local squash, you can get a whole BOX containing about 5 squash for 5$ish.

I know right?? Exciting stuff!! 

                                                                                                                                                               

First Impressions and Random Thoughts

I have finally arrived in Kuwait. It's been a crazy week, but all in all, the process has run fairly smoothly. Considering.

My thoughts are running around my brain like crazy, and I am slowly trying to make sense of it all. I keep thinking " oh I have to write about that" but if I wrote about all that I have thought and seen and experienced, I would be here forever and its just Day 2! 

So, I will condense the brain activity into a few sentences. I have some photos--but will post more later. I am sure you are all on the edge of your seats. ( she said sarcastically)

Plane Ride:

Plane from Toronto to Frankfurt was great--I had an empty seat beside me...the odds were in my favour. 

The plane from Frankfurt to KW left on time. Kinda. We had to keep stopping because the Kuwaiti people that were on the plane would not sit in their seats. They kept popping up and changing seats, getting something from the overhead bins, sitting back down ( somewhere else) and just generally causing melee. It was pretty amusing at first, I just observed in awe. However, when the pilot of the plane refused to leave the airport dock until they were all seated and fastened...it became my problem. :) I rolled my eyes a lot, I fear. 

When we landed, we had barely touched down, before the same thing happened--people popped up and started unloading luggage from the overhead bins. It was kind of rewarding to listen to the Lufthansa stewardess give them heck and tell them to sit down. She had to do this 5 times. Finally, the pilot just stopped the plane until they all sat down and then we proceeded to the airport dock. 

What's that about? 

I wonder if these folks had somewhere important to go?

Fixers: 

I cannot underestimate the importance of these people. These are people that "fix" things in your arrival country, they are the ones that deal with all the red tape/getting tickets/working with the system etc, to smooth the way for you. Kind of like....a really good wife! 

I have had 3 fixers so far. They have sorted my visa process upon arrival, got me to my apartment, arranged a KW mobile phone with data, got my cable/landline sorted, stocked my fridge with food,took me to the car rental place, and drove me around town to orient me to the area. I can contact them 24/7 ( apparently).

I highly recommend this service. Makes life so much easier. I want my personal fixer all the time, forever. Usually its ME doing the fixing for others. This was a very welcome treat. 

Driving: 

Driving is not bad here at all. All the hoopla about it, I expected it to be like bumper cars. If you can drive in Toronto, you can drive here. Navigating is also not bad, since Kuwait is on a point, you have the sea on one side...and the desert on the other...how lost can one get?

The U turn:

Kuwait has a lot of roads that are one way. Like...mini highways. However, no worries--they have perfected the art of the U-turn. If you are driving down the wrong way, no worries--just turn around. They have U-turn areas every few hundred feet. It's fabulous. Going the wrong way? Just turn around. Wish life were so simple.

It's hot.

Words cannot express how hot it is. Like...its crazy hot. Imagine the hottest that you have ever been. It's not that hot here. It's hotter.

Picture...turning the oven on to 400 degrees, and crawling inside. That's how hot it is. When the car is parked outside a shop, things in my car, melt. Sunglasses/gum/lipstick all melts. Steering wheel even gets kind of soft.

Now, you might think that at night when the sun goes down, the heat is less intense. 

You would be wrong. It's just as bad. Ohhhh alright--it goes from 50 degrees to 46 degrees. My bad.

My apartment is very near the ocean, and there is a lovely promenade that one can take a stroll on, if one is trying to get heat stroke. I will enjoy that promenade in September, when it cools down. 

The help.

Actual Kuwaiti people that you might encounter are few and far between. Most of the people that you meet in the shops stores and establishments are Indians, or Fillipinos. I love those people. They are warm friendly and I feel most comfortable communicating with them. Arab folk I am less sure about. Will keep you posted on that score.