If you're out there...

Greetings Friends and Family! (surely you fit in one or both of these categories)

Yesterday I learned, while reading my friend's online journal, of a tragedy that happened on September 20th in Afghanistan. I say a tragedy because there was likely more than one tragedy that day. One of my classmates from BJM, who was both a member of my graduating class and my circle of friends, was killed by a suicide bomber. If you keep up with local news in Saskatoon or Canada, you will know it was Corporal Shane Keating. Although I have not kept in touch with him, he was the kind of person you could run into every couple of years and pick up just where you had left off.

In 11th grade, after there was a death in my family and a death in a friend's family, he advised me to think of other things, happy things like babies. At that time, I thought he was right and agreed to focus on the positive. At this time, I realize he was mature and gentle beyond his teenage years. Luckily I received some photos of a friend's new baby yesterday. It was a reminder to focus on what is good. According to the media, he was delivering school supplies and food to children.

I am again reminded that life is too short to hold grudges (ich grolle nicht). Life is too precious to squander in activities you do not believe are correct. Integrity is living your life with meaning and consistently following through on your beliefs.
I am but a work in progress.

I am feeling a little bit isolated at the moment and would appreciate words from home. I know we are all busy. By the way, I am well and have a very full plate at the moment. I think of you all fondly and often.

Please remember, life is good. Be kind and gentle to those around you. If you need a positive role model, find my grandfathers and spend some time with them. Two great examples of lives well lived, filled with integrity and love.

I sign off with a healthy amount of sadness and a sincere appreciation for life,

R

big parties and small pleasures

To begin, the small pleasures:

1. Practicing guitar (I am becoming one of those people who turns down social invitations to practice, though I'm not that good yet)
2. Joining a jazz band, playing the trumpet again! And meeting other adults!
3. Kids coming to tell me they miss band because they couldn't take it this year.
4. The Blues and B.B. King who celebrated his 81st birthday this Saturday
5. My lovely colleague who performed in guitar class today, some of her own material. She is a fabulous blues singer, a decent guitar player and a Canadian to boot.

And now for the Big Parties:
This past weekend was the annual "Masked" Rugby Ball. Most folks who wore masks actually just put them on top of their heads instead of over their faces. I kept mine in my handbag most of the night. The Rugby Ball is a fundraiser for the (you guessed it, rugby team) and is one of those ridiculous parties I may have mentioned before. You pay heaps of money for a ticket then you get all gussied up, perhaps consume too much contraban of varying quality (I refrained from this) and hang out in a fancy ballroom at the Hilton. You get a fancy-ish dinner and then there is usually bad music and bad dancing. As with any high schoolish seeming party, many people get together at this event. I also refrained from this.

I had a fun a time and danced despite the bad music. I met some new people and had some good laughs. I also realized that I have quite a few nice friends here, and I do like to get dolled up every little once in a while.

Since most of this dribble is not that exciting to many of you, I will attach a couple photos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

My friends and me. The one on the right is my summer travelling partner. The one in the middle is one of my floormates in the apartments.

Captain of the Rugby Team, one of the wittiest people I have met. He is a great friend and oh so English.

One week down...

I am recovering from the madness of the first week at school. It was a great week- as always, I have awesome students and colleagues. I have had a fun time, and remained calm despite things not going as planned. Photocopies not completed on time, supplies not delivered on time, it's all good. We all learn to deal with these inconveniences and inefficiencies in our own way. I just keep on keepin on.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day shopping with some girl friends. Today, I spent several hours at work and then went for a manicure/pedicure with my friend Caroline.

I have several favourite places in Kuwait.

One of them is the N-Bar, where we go for our nail treatments. The decor and staff uniforms are all brown and pink, and it is a big open room, so you and several friends can go at once, if you make the appointment well enough in advance.

Another favourite place is the Chocolate Bar, which I reckon has the same owners because their colours are also, appropriately, chocolate brown and bright pink. Incidentally, I have started to wear more of these colours since moving here.

Then there is Le Notre, a trendy little bistro-style restaurant that has a lovely salad bar and good breads to accompany the salads. And let's not forget the Lebanese chain, Paul, with excellent desserts and coffees and nice bistro food as well. My absolute favourite restaurant is the Indian vegetarian restaurant, Greenland. So good and so authentic.

The fabric souk is inherently fun for all the crazy fabrics you can find, and for the great bargains you can get on getting clothing made.

One of these days I'll take my digital camera along with me so you can all get a better idea of this crazy place I call home.

My newest favourite place, however, is a music shop where I purchased my first real six string. As I am teaching guitar this year, I thought I should probably get a decent guitar for once. My friend Paulo helped me, and we spent nearly two hours at the shop. We were trying out different guitars, plus the salesman was being really helpful and actually convinced me to get a less expensive guitar. The salesman was so nice and he played some decent flamenco-style guitar. We had a good chat with him and he might come, with his band, to perform Arabic music at the school. He is from Alexandria, Egypt. When Paulo told him he has a recording program called "Power Tools" you could see this man identified Paulo as a deity of some sort.

The good news is I have been diligently practicing guitar and developing skills and calluses alike. It is a good feeling. I'll be singing and playing the blues before you know it. What is the slogan for the blues, anyway. Country music is "Three chords and the truth", Rock is "Three chords and an attitude." What is the blues? "Three chords and ???" Help me out, please, people.

And one last weather report. The heat is not as intense as last year, or when I left in June. The humidity on the other hand, is insane. I feel like I am living in a sauna most days. The sky is constantly hazy. When we arrived last year, there was not a single cloud in the sky until perhaps October, and even then it didn't really last. It was November before there was any storm action. It would be nice for there to be a good thunderstorm, but it seems pretty unlikely at the moment.

I should go, I ahve more school work to do.

hugs and kisses to all...masalaama (And I have decided this year I will learn Arabic)