Irony and Intrigue

Things are going well- have lots to do and have been rearranging furniture in the classroom instead of other things which may be deemed more important. Purchase orders to sift through, music to choose...it will be fine.

Today (and everyday) there are men working on the grounds and buildings at the school. If you read my last post, you may recall the lack of "human rights/safety" issue here. Two men were WELDING some poles together just out on the open sidewalk which is my usual pathway to the library. They were welding right outside of buildings, beside trees and WITHOUT safety glasses or coveralls. I said to one of the American girls on staff "You know, in Canada, we generally wear protective eye convering when we weld." That's Kuwait for you.

One word you should know if you ever go to a Muslim country is insha'allah (God willing). Today I heard one of the secretaries use it like punctuation. "Yes, and the test scores should be ready tomorrow insha'allah."

I signed up for home internet today. It will be nice to do all my personal business at home on my own computer.

I cannot believe I forgot to write about Friday market last time. On Thursday night, we went to Friday market. Friday market is a huge area with roof covers but is otherwise open. There are people selling all sorts of things, generally pretty cheap like a flea market. Some is new and some used. Furniture, shoes, fabric, coffee and teapots, electronics, craftwork, jewelry, and so on. There are aisles upon aisles of people trying to convince you to buy their merchandise. It's very aggressive! There are also men in yellow coveralls who follow you around with a wheelbarrel and want to carry your stuff around and to your vehicle for you, then charge you for doing it. These men are very assertive and will follow you around until you are very firm with them ("la" is no in Arabic). The wheelbarrel men also are known to help merchants understand how much their customer will pay for an item. Since they follow people around, they listen to the bargaining and tell the vendor what the people have been offering for specific goods. Interesting.

If you cannot picture this event for yourself, I recommend watching the movie version of Jesus Christ Superstar, the temple scene, and then multiply the number of people there by about 500. And to feel the heat, remember to set your hair dryer on high and blow it in your face or turn on your oven for awhile and open the door, letting the breeze warm you.

In other news, I got my delivery of pure water last night. It's good because I think the tap water here, although safe, was making me a bit sick to my stomach. Not fun, but I'm fine today.

School starts on Sunday (yikes) so it will be a while until I write again. I have much to do in the way of preparation for now, and the first couple weeks with students are always so draining.

Well, friends, be kind to eachother.
All good things,
R

It's all about the food, baby!

Salaam!
I have now been here in Kuwait for 8 days and it does feel like a lifetime in many ways. I like it and am becoming accustomed to the heat. The first 5 or so days here I couldn't believe or understand that the actual temperature was as hot as is is. I guess that one of the tricks they have here is to cap off the reported temperature at 49 celsius because at 50 plus degrees, people are not permitted to work outdoors. (sort of like a snow day) Half of the city is under construction or repair and the workers (or slaves, if you will) don't contest the reported temperature, nor do they demand appropriate working conditions. Human rights isn't a big thing here. Many of the workers are immigrants who work long days and are housed in tents for sleep. They are paid meagre wages and are relatively destitute.(coworkers' input in the previous statements, but also based on personal observations). Reminds me a little of the Chinese working on the railway in Canada.


One thing about this town: it very much comes alive in the evening. Grocery shops are busiest at 9:00pm and most are open until midnight or later. It's sort of bizarre. The grocery store situation is pretty good, incidentally. There is one about 10 minutes by foot from the apartments.

The food situation:
There are heaps of delicious produce to be found. Much of it is imported from the region and some from America, Australia, New Zealand and Holland. The further the food travels, of course the more expensive it is. Some of the regional items are fresh Saudi dates and figs, Jordanian guava and melons, Lebanese plums, Turkish nectarines, Indian avocados (quite different from American) and squashes, eggplant, and so on. Very delicious and I am finding great things to eat.

There is also pretty easy access to all things North American, especially if you're willing to pay, although most items are not as high-priced as I expected. The new Sultan Centre(think Safeway) in the new Al-Kout mall has a fabulous organics section plus a sushi bar and a juice bar.

That's another great thing here:there juice bars everywhere and you can get a full sized glass of fresh juice, or a shake-style drink with milk and honey for 500 -700 fils (this amounts to about $1.75-$2.75 Canadian).

Some of the very common foods I've been eating at social gatherings include: tabouleh (very much a parsley-based salad here, very little bulghur), hummus, baba gannouj, pita, salad (usually lettuce and tomato), potato salad made with a yogourt and herb dressing, a lovely corn salad made with a light dressing and minimal spices, and cheese bread (pita with a delicately flavoured cheese melted in it).

There was a big poolside potluck on Friday (known here as "virtual Sunday") night for all the staff. My friend Caroline and I had a great time making 12 rolls of sushi (two large trays) and we were the hit of the party! The only pieces left were those 3 token "I don't want to take the last piece" pieces. I learned in the process that Indian sesame is somewhat different than Chinese sesame in scent and flavour, but because India is closer than the "Far East", it's also considerably less costly.

Other information tidbits: The Middle East is known as the Near East here. In the last week I have learned a bit of Arabic vocabulary although I cannot spell it in English. I can say: hello, good-bye, yes, no and thank-you. The centre for Western and Arabic relations offers classes so I may go-it's twice a week, though and will be a bit of a nuisance to go home afterwards. At the same time, I think it would be worth it to meet other people and to be able to speak and UNDERSTAND some of the language. There is a word that sounds like my name and it confuses me every time I hear it. Very interesting, I am sure.

Masalaam (go in peace)

Current location: Q8

Greetings friends.

I hope that you are all well. I know many of you will be curious about my adventures so I will give a a quick briefing on "the latest".

First of all, my work visa arrived on Monday, August 15 so I was able to get on the plane. That was good. I packed and repacked and now wish I had brought a few more items such as cooler clothes but I didn't really have anything else to bring so I guess I did what I could.

The day in transit was long and I did not sleep as much as I'd hoped to sleep (about 3 hours in 24) so I was quite overtired when I arrived in Kuwait. Then two things went wrong after we went through customs. My French horn had not arrived and then my luggage was left on the delivery truck overnight and I was worried I'd never see it again. So I slept about two hours that night even though I was horribly exhausted. The next morning, I browsed through a rummage sale in our lobby where I got several inexpensive household items (good) but still I had no luggage of my own. Eventually I learned that my luggage had been delivered at 4:00am to the apratment next door. Then I was able to change my clothes and that was nice. My French horn also showed up that night, on the next flight as promised. So life is good.

Now to the interesting stuff. Our apartments are quite nice and I rearranged furniture so that I could have my entire spare room clear of everything but a small desk so that room is dedicated to yoga and peacefulness (and at the moment, ironing). From my apartment, I can see the Arabian gulf which is just a 5 minute walk from our buildings.

Because I hardly slept on Friday night I was able to experience the sunrise and morning prayer. It was peaceful and beautiful.

Many people do wear the traditional Muslim dress here- women in literally head to toe black and men in white with the gingham cloth on their heads.

The weather here is (you guessed it) HOT! 49 degrees celsius during the days and fortunately everything is air conditioned. I think it cools down at night to somewhere in the 30s but still extraordinarly warm. Some people have accurately described the heat as a hair dryer turned on the hottest setting and blowing in your face. It's not always that windy, but it is a close approxiamtion. I highly recommend trying it out! I have been drinking even more water than usual!

Some friends and I walked to the mall last night. There were many people out along the seawall. Lots of families were out picnicking and many folks were out playing basketball, beach volleyball, walking and jogging. There was a group of men in traditional dress sitting on the beach and drumming. Very nice.

At the mall, we found: a movie theatre, a food court that had some western fare, some shops selling traditional Arabic ware, jewelry shops, La senza and an even more risque lingere shop. An interesting expression of diversity...

IT is hard to believe this is only my third day here. It feels like so much longer, in a pleasant way. It is also odd to be the foreigner when in public. It's been fine so far and I have experienced no harrassment unless you count leering. I try not to pay too much attention to that, and really it's less annoying than the Italian men yelling "Ciao bella" every thirty seconds.

I think I will sign off for now. Check in again to read details about the school and other goings-on.

All good things,
Ramona