Eid al-Fitr

Ramadan is officially over.  Today marks Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival which signifies the end of the holy month.  I did what all good  people do to mark the end of Ramadan - I went shopping.  From what I have read Eid, as it is also referred to, is like Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one holiday.  For the malls, it marks the last day of sales.  Apparently Ramadan is a good time to purchase things such as TVs stereos, clothes as well as other things, as almost everything is on sale.  I do know that some of the things that I purchased at IKEA were specially marked down because of Ramadan.  
I had not been food shopping since the18th, and I was in dire need of food.  One of the High School teachers has a vehicle, and she drove myself and another teacher to one of the big malls here, The Avenues.  It has an IKEA, a Body Shop, 3 or 4 Starbucks, an H & M, a La Senza and several other stores that you would see in Canada and the US.  If you would like to see what all there is and what this mall looks like just click on the pink name above.  The place really is quite something. Since Ramadan is over, the first thing that the three of us did was to go to Starbucks, buy a coffee, and sit and drink it.  I must admit that it is nice to not worry about drinking and eating in public.  I can totally accept the fact that as a foreigner, I need to obey the laws of the land, but I think that all the staff is very happy to be able to eat and drink without going into one of the "special" classrooms that had been ear-marked for us without fear of offending someone.  Just to let you know how seriously the people of Kuwait take this time of Ramadan, if you are caught eating or drinking or even chewing gum in public, between sunrise and sunset, you will be sent to jail AND you will stay in jail until Ramadan is over.  I must admit that the Muslim staff is very understanding but you still don't want to rub it into their faces.  It is their country and religion and I certainly want to be respectful of that.

As I sit here and write this latest musing, I am listening to firecrackers going off.  Apparently that is also common to hear at this time.  I went out on my balcony and could see what I think might be a family, lighting and tossing firecrackers into the empty lot and watching them explode.  I did notice that after one of the children tossed a firecracker rather close to the vehicle, that the vehicle got moved.  Um, I wonder why?  :)
I realize that some of you may be wanting to see what my apartment looks like, and very soon, I will let you know.  I did want to get a few things set up and organized so that the place actually looked like someone lives here.  I picked up frames today, so am hoping to get pictures hung soon.  The walls are cement (?) so I need to talk nice to someone with a drill so that I can hang pictures.  The upside to having walls such as these is that I don't hear any of my neighbours, beside or down below me. I guess having to drill holes in order to hang pictures is a small price to pay.   

My First Iftar

Last night, the owners of the school, invited the staff to the Sahara Country Club, here in Kuwait. (Just in case you can't tell, if you click on the Sahara Country Club, you will be taken to their home page, and you can get an even better idea of where I was).  We joined the Al Reyes family for Iftar.  Iftar, refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan.  It was quite the meal.  If you went away hungry, it was your own fault.  There were all sorts of salads, vegetables, breads, soups, meats, appetizers, and desserts.  I did my best to sample them all. :)  Although my pictures of the event probably don't do it just, I hope that you can get an idea of all the grass that surrounds the club house, and the size of the room and staff here at AIS.  I believe that there are over 100 teaching staff for Pre-kindergarten through Grade 12.  I will be lucky to remember half of those names!!

My First Cooked Meal

I realize that this may not look like the greatest meal in the world, but it is the first meal that I cooked in my kitchen here in Kuwait.  I also realize that this meal was not cooked on the second day that I was here.  It was a process.  The first full day that we were here, we were taken food shopping.  I bought the ingredients for the meal then, but of course, I had nothing to cook a meal in.  The next night we were taken shopping and I bought pots and dishes at Ikea, so I now had the means to cook my meal.  The next time that we were home and I needed to cook my supper, I discovered that I couldn't get my stove to work.  I wasn't sure who to ask about what I was doing wrong, so that meant another night of not being able to cook.  The next night I was able to find out that I was actually out of propane, and was able to get my tank replaced.  Now, I could finally cook a meal.  You are viewing the results.  My first meal, using my new dishes and cutlery, on one of the place-mats that my sister, Caroline, made for me.  AND  it tasted wonderful.  Bon Appetit!!!

 

Pictures taken of and from the Kuwait Towers

Friday Night the Newbies travelled along Marine Road (?) to the Kuwait Towers. I really liked the way the windows reflected the lights from inside and created such a unique look - almost like looking at the eye of a fly. It was interesting to see the night sky from up high. Almost all the buildings that are in the skyline pictures are new since the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Safe Arrival in Kuwait

I arrived in Kuwait last night at 11:00 p.m. Kuwait time.  By then I had been up 32 hours.  Of course by the time we were dropped off at our apartments, I was wide awake, so decided to unpack then.  Today we go grocery shopping.  I am looking forward to seeing what is available here for produce, especially the fruits.

According to the computer, the temperature at the moment is 43 degrees.  Last year for orientation, the temperature was 10 degrees hotter.  My apartment is airconditioned, as are the classrooms at the school.  I certainly am counting my blessings about that.

I am not sure when I will be able to post pictures on the blog. Presently, I am using the school's computers. To get an internet hookup, I need a residence's ID number, and I am not sure when that will occurr.  My principal was saying today, that after an entire year, she still doesn't have a Kuwait Drivier's License.  She keeps running into road blocks.  (Sorry about the pun there.)  I hope that is not my fate.

I will close for the moment.  I just wanted everyone to know that I am safe and sound in Kuwait, although etxtremely hot.  Will keep you posted on how things are going.  Until then, take care.

Counting Down

As of today, I can actually admit that I am just a bit nervous.  Still very much excited, but the nerves are beginning to kick in.  I have packed 2 suitcases and have partially filled one Rubber Maid tote.  I have purchased another tote, just in case I need it, and of course I will.  I didn't think that I would have that much to take, but I do - and it's not all books!!!!

I have been downloading CD's onto my MP3 player, enough to last me for the year I am hoping.  It's been fun listening to various songs as they are downloaded, but the actual process of downloading and then placing them on the MP3 player has been rather tedious.

Aurora's birthday is on Saturday, and I am realizing just how much that little girl has become part of my everyday routine.  I will miss her so much.  Susan and I did a practice run on SKYPE and Aurora did very well with it, although she couldn't understand why we would be talking on the computer like that, when  she knew I was upstairs in my den. (She had come up earlier to wake me - just in case I needed some help, so she knew where I was.)

These past couple of weeks I have been taking pictures of family and Southern Alberta so that I can download them onto my digital frame.  I'm sure that there is more than one person that was questioning my sanity as I took oodles of pictures of the windmills, south of Fort Macleod.  Of course, the foothills and mountains were part of these pictures.  For me, it will be interesting to find out how much I miss the Prairies, foothills and mountains, after a year living in Kuwait.  With Kuwait being as close to so many different countries, I think that I may be able to find some adequate substitutes for each of these.  That's my story and I am sticking to it.

I am looking forward to taking my first pictures of Kuwait and posting them for people to view.  Until then, you are just going to have to put up with my "writing".

Until later.