A lovely day in Kuwait!?!

After a week of insomnia, I finally feel rested and rejuvinated. I made a conscious decision to commit to nothing for the mornings of the weekend, so I was able to relax, do lots of yoga, listen to music, play guitar, bake focaccia bread, clear my head. It's been great.

Wednesday night was Folk Club and a few guys did a rousing rendition of Abracadabra on ukulele. Hilarious. Here is a caption of an earlier song (cannot remember the title, but it was beautiful)



Today, I played badminton with some friends, walked along the corniche, ate ice cream and sat on the beach. It was gorgeous! Mostly, it was awesome to be outside all afternoon. We drove with the windows open and sang along to Take a Load Off, Annie. I love the feeling of wind in my hair on a sunny day. Nothing makes me feel more alive or at home. It is such a sense of peace.


Elie took me to see the site he is working on. I did not take photos there, but wish I had as it was pretty cool. This villa his company is working on is a huge seaside property with a marina and heliport out back. The wealth here, as I just wrote to my mom, amazes me. It does not impress me, but it amazes me. And I feel bad for getting new shoes...

peace out...

better already

Just so nobody has to worry, I am feeling better. I had a little bit of time to work things out and am fine. My mom sent an e-mail saying the 22 or 23 January was the most "down" day of the year. I am not sure how this "downness" is measured but apparently I was not alone in feeling bummed out. And so it goes.

I went to bed at 10:30 last night, like usual. This morning when my alarm went off to tell me it was time for yoga practice, I turned it off and went back to sleep. At 6:19 my phone rang. It was my friend who I ride to school with and we were to leave at 6:10. By 6:30 I was downstairs ready to go. My head hurts and I am tired but feeling okay otherwise. Think I will make coffee....

Last evening, I had friends over to eat leftover perogies before going to band practice. Rehearsal was good this time- we played lots and didn't talk much. Fun times. I played piano a bit too, which felt pretty good. Very much out of practice, but still fun!

Life is good...

that lonely sinking feeling

I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I always seem to get a little down...or at least go on a rollercoaster of emotions. Does anyone else feel that way? I have been doing well and staying happy and positive then over the long weekend I crammed too much in and by the end was in a bad mood because I had spent barely any time alone.

Good things:

1. I cheered up by making perogies last night. They were so good (and I have heaps left). Thanks for the recipe and inspiration, Mom!
2. I have been a productive insomniac for the last couple days- baking muffins, cleaning the kitchen, reading. I used to just get angry and frustrated.
3. I got to hear live music on the weekend- cover tunes- but it was pretty fun.
4. High school finals are on this week and since I don't really give finals, I am only teaching a bit. This is nice but at the same time, the kids give me so much energy...
5. I finally got a Kuwait drivers' license

Not so good things:

1. I find most parties quite boring. What is wrong with me?
2. My insomnia is making me tired and giving me a headache.
3. I attempted to video my friend's band performance on the weekend but did not realize the camera was on pause for 10 mintes. Oops!
4. I have heaps of work I cannot motivate myself to do right now. I need to be busy to get stuff done.
5. It's really expensive to lease a car at this point in the year, but I really want to have the freedom.

Here's me with two of the other girls who live on my floor. We ordered Thai food from a local restaurant one night in November and I am addicted to the Pad Thai. Yummy!

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I guess there's more on my mind/ heart but it's too complicated to explain right now. Plus I am hopeful that I am perceiving things differently than they are and all will be set straight soon. Because...everything always works out perfectly, right?

Who said that?

After a lovely after school massage, I went for dinner with Caroline this evening. I know, it's all very luxurious but such is life in Kuwait. We decided to order cheesecake for dessert as I have had a hankering for it all week. It came with a scoop of delicious vanilla ice cream. Unconventional but yummy.

So as we had almost finished devouring the tasty treat, Caroline informed me I had slopped ice cream on my shirt, which happened to be my pastel pink sweater set. My response: that's okay, I have a load of pinks to wash already... then I thought- WAIT! Who just said that? Oh, me...

I don't know why I find these things so funny, but I cannot help it.

My belly hurts from too much food...and it's bedtime.

Another Day in Paradise

I should consider retitling this entire blog to the above...but I like the romantic image of myself as a tree hugging traveller evoked by the Granola to Go title.

It has been raining frequently and excessively here. It's not quite like the stormy weather you are having at home in Canada, but odd for Kuwait. I like the rain, I could not wait to get home from work today so I could go for a cold, damp walk. So refreshing.

This morning was a different story, though. I got a ride with my friend, as I normally do, but we left at 6:30 instead of 6:00. The thing is, it normally takes about 25 minutes to drive to school, but if you get caught in traffic, it's a problem. Due to the rain this morning there were a couple of accidents and traffic was extremely bad. It took 70 minutes to get to school. That's right, an hour and 10 minutes. I was actually late for work! Crappy! But so were many people so it wasn't that big a deal, plus I did not have a class first thing. Perfect.

I ate two grilled cheese sandwiches and a big bowl of tomato soup for dinner. (I am REALLY full now) Perfect rainy day food. Of course, I did not have any of the ingredients for grilled cheese and canned tomato soup so I bummed them off my neighbour. Excellent.

Now I am listening to the Indigo Girls and wondering if I will ever be a decent guitar player. I relinquish all comments on how anyone can play guitar. Sure, most folks can play some chords if they so desire but to play WELL, that's an entirely different story.

Did I already say I have decided to stay one more year here? I am really happy with the person I have come to terms with being and feel like a huge change would not be the best thing for me at this stage. Plus the reality of it is- I LOVE my job and think there is still room for me to grow in the position and make the program bigger and better. I love my students and colleagues and many of my friends are staying on at the school. I also have a little bit of a social life outside of school (jazz band, folk club, random friends) and am quite content at the moment. This could, of course, all come to a crashing halt at any time but I trust that I have made the best decision for me at this time.

This weekend, I will go watch camel races, make and eat perogies with some prairie friends, go to a couple parties and relax. It's a three day weekend, thankfully.

I thought I had more inspiration but apparently I am out of things to say. My henna from India has faded away, so I will leave you with some pictures of the process...



peace be with you

What I should be doing...

is so often different than what I am doing.

It's about 11:00PM on a school night. I had a typical day of work followed by a meeting, then I stayed to do some work before jazz practice in the evening. I made the mistake of getting a coffee with my friend/band mate at about 6:30 and am still totally wired. It was very strong coffee!

So, what I should be doing now:

1. Sleeping
2. Working on school stuff
3. Organizing my CDs
4. Home pedicure
5. Yoga

What I am actually doing now:

1. Evidently I am writing this blog
2. Eating cereal because coffee speeds metabolism- so hungry
3. Thinking I really need a haircut, my ends are all split up
4. Wishing I were tired enough to sleep
5. Surfing the net and hoping for a new e-mail message from anyone at all

Here's a happy little greeting from the Taj Mahal.

Inner peace will have to wait

This is the first chapter in my trip to India. It is probably the only chapter to appear on the blog, as it is the only chapter that appeared in my personal journal of the trip. I had a fabulous time, as I always do, while travelling. I decided to opt out of the cold Rishikesh trip as a nice man at the government tourist agency convinced me I should go on a tour of Rajasthan instead.

So I had a driver and stayed in acceptable places and avoided most crazy methods of transportation. No trains, no jumping on and off moving buses, no motorcycles...not quite as exciting and life-altering as last time, but I met some amazing people (locals, not foreigners) and went to some good yoga classes.

In Jaipur, I went to yoga in Central Park at 6:45am- it was chilly like a spring morning in SK... There were two groundsheets layed out- one for men, one for women, and two instructors on stage, conducting the class in Hindi. Being the only foreigner at the class, I was elevated to celebrity status and had some nice conversations with other pupils afterwards. WE could have organized translation if there were enough English speakers...but I was it. It was good and I knew what was going on.

The next place, Pushkar, was as predictable as Paris. Typical Indian tourist town- folks who've been on the road varying amounts of time and wearing corresponding looks of enlightenment or disenchantment. The whole town is a market of miscellaneous goods- from books to scarves to jewellery to clothes to veg. restaurants and guest houses. It is a pilgrimmage town for Brahmins who I managed to avoid. Apparently, many people get cheated by these holy men. I suppose into all organized religion a little corruption must fall...

But I stayed at a guesthouse that was outside the town and it was the best accommodation of the trip. The guys working at that place were really cool and I talked and ate with them. There was also the most delightful yoga teacher who was so happy at my enthusiasm for the subject. I could have spent more time studying with him, and he didn't even want me to pay for the classes. This is rare in India- everyone wants a tip. If you drop something and someone picks it up for you, they expect a tip. Okay, slight exaggeration but not too far from the truth.

Rajasthan is a lovely state. It is mostly rural (small towns and much farming) and desert. There are many forts from the time of the Mogul empire and some palaces and of course, many temples. It was breathtaking and amazing, though...sadly, I did not take streetscape pictures of people and modes of transit sharing the same road. Camel carts, old Massey Fergussens, cows, goats, herders, bicycles seating 1-3 people, motorcycles often occupied by a whole family, small cars...all on the same road.

The traditional dress (women in bright saris and scarves, men in turbans) pop out against the beige of the desert and compliment colours the farming areas.

I guess I will have to tell more stories later, as I want to add a couple pictures then sign off to head to bed. School tomorrow...