Musings

How do I begin to describe this place that I will be calling home for at least the next two years? 

I see skyscrapers and incredible architecture, but my internet doesn't always work, and the chances of me having a land-line for a phone are slim to none.  

The major roads are beautiful and the Gulf Road runs parallel to the Arabia Gulf aka Persian Gulf, but sidewalks are almost non-existent.  I can take a taxi to a shopping area for roughly $3.50, but to buy a head of iceberg lettuce (not shipped from America) I have to spend close to $5.00.  And finding out when I went to use some of my bargain hamburger, 4 for the price of 3, I discovered that I had instead bought lamb.  (The spaghetti still tasted just fine.)

And the dates - I have never seen so many different ways to sell dates.  They are dipped in honey, chocolate, sesame seeds, stuffed with coffee beans, peanuts, almonds, and those are only the ones that I have sampled.  And they are all so fresh.  

I may not be eating my 6 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables, but I can honestly say that I am definitely eating close to 6 servings of fresh fruit.  The apricots and plums are so tasty.  The other day when I was at the mall, I had a cup of chopped mangoes in their own juice.  It was SO GOOD.  My mouth is watering right now as I think of it.  And a side note, in 6 weeks, I have only had ice-cream twice.  We won't talk though about the date cookies.

And the other evening, while walking to the school to catch the school bus to go some where, the local chicken delivery man stopped his moped to ask why I hadn't called for chicken in the last 2 weeks.  I have his number on my phone.  He was adamant that I take his phone number and call him if I wanted a chicken.  This is even though the chicken place is right across from the school.  A small chicken that has been stuffed with a pepper, garlic and lemon, is placed on a spit and roasted.  When you order a chicken, you get it with at least 4 pita bread, two containers of a garlic yogurt, pickles and fries - all for roughly $5.25 - and that's delivered right to the door. And to top it all off, this will do me 3 to 4 lunches/suppers.  Not a bad deal, eh?

Since my arrival here, I have had several people point out that they were Christian - and more specifically Catholic.  At times I feel as if we are exchanging secret signs to acknowledgement, although not being Muslim here is not a big deal.  I have also discovered that several of the people who are employed at the school are Coptic Christians.

And the kids.  I haven't heard a swear word and no one has dropped an "F" bomb.  That on it's own makes this a little piece of heaven.  The students call Miss Mary, Miss Rawleigh, or Miss. I even have students thank me at the end of the class for the lesson.  They are polite, albeit chatty, worry about their marks, or not, and follow the lesson just like kids in Canada.  The bottom line is that they are just kids.  Okay, I must also admit that some of the students do have entitlement issues although I have not really had to deal with this - YET.

I go to a store, and I am waited on, called Ma'am and thanked for making a purchase at their store.  I have been warned that I will find it difficult, when I return to Canada, dealing with the attitude of the clerks in the stores and people in general.

 I also have to admit that I have never had such a busy social life.  During this past week, I ate at the Superintendent's house - he hosted all the administration/directors/heads of departments, went to a supper provided by an organization called AWARE (Advocates for Western-Arab Relations) and had attended a supper club, hosted by my principal.  The theme this month was Mexican and I prepared a Tres Leche Cake - a three milk cake.  The cake was a hit. Not bad for a first attempt baking and doing it in a gas oven. And just an FYI, vanilla extract can not be bought for any amount.  Because it has an alcohol base it is not allowed in the country.

I guess the bottom line is that Kuwait is just like any other country - it has it's good and it's not so good points, but all in all I must admit that I am happy here.  

I think I am still in the Honeymoon stage, so stay tuned for more musings.