International Day at AIS Kuwait

Each year at our school we have an International Day.  This year's was on March 15th.  The purpose of the day is to showcase the various countries and cultures that are represented at AIS.  It was incredible to see the costumes, taste the food and watch the various dances and demonstrations.  I was able to help out the Canadian booth by sharing my Canadian toque and T-shirt. I will definitely be looking at bringing more Canadian things back with me this summer.  

The picture below shows the tennis courtyard which is in the center of the Middle/High School area.  Following that picture are individual pictures of some of the booths as they are setting up.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the diwaniya that was set up in the auditorium.  The two dancers are students at the school dressed in the traditional Dishdasha. It was fascinating to listen to the music and also to watch the men/boys dance.

The Elementary school paraded through the Middle school area so that everyone could see them in their traditional dress and/or clothes in their country's' colours.  I would like to show more of the students, but I do not want to intrude on the students' privacy.  I have to say though, that the little kids were so sweet all dressed up.  Makes me want to teach Elementary at times.  (That feeling soon passes though when I think of the runny noses and teaching ALL the subjects.  I will stick to High School, thank you kindly.)

 

Okay.  You have heard of the term whirling dervish - well I have actually seen one.  I wished that I had a video camera this day.  I have lots of pictures, but they don't capture the full experience of seeing a whirling dervish.  In doing some research on this custom I found out the following.  It is more correctly called  Sufi whirling (or Sufi spinning).  It is a form of Sama or physically active meditation.  I was mesmerized, as were most of the people who watched the whirling dervish.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

A group of boys doing a traditional Kuwaiti dance.

A small selection of the food that was available to try out. 

My small contribution to International Day.  Teachers at AIS were to send me pictures of where they had traveled.   Only 3 teachers sent me pictures.  You may notice that there seems to be several of me on the board and you would be correct.  I had to fill the empty spaces up some way.   

Arab Fund Building - Outside Kuwait City in Shuwaik

On March 3, MW took us to the Arab Organizations Headquarters Building.  It is considered to be one of the most acclaimed buildings in the Middle East.  I certainly can't remember all the names of the various rooms that we were taken to.  What I do remember is the incredibly beautiful craftsmanship.  I am including a link if you are interested in taking a virtual tour of the building.  This building has to be one of the most beautiful buildings that I have seen to date.  I would definitely go again given the chance.  At the start of the webpage it states:

 

From the cool tranquillity of the Moroccan water wall to the intricate woodwork of the majestic Egyptian Mashrabiya, the building represents a celebration of traditional Arabic artisan skills.

http://www.arabfund.org/aohq/tour.htm

The pictures that I am including here I will label if I know what they are.  Otherwise please just enjoy the beauty of the building.

Front Doors of the building.  The pieces are fit together without the benefit of metal nails.

One of the centers of the door panels.

The Moroccan waterfall in the entrance of the building.  The tile work is just incredible.

 

Art work in main foyer

Above and Below:  Spiral staircase and chandler in Library. 

The next pictures, the one above and the two below, are taken in the Tunisian Room.The picture above is a carving in the wall.  The picture below is the same design, carved in wood, that is used as a window covering. 

The Atrium

The Prayer Room

A glass table that was in one of the meeting rooms.  I couldn't get over the designs that were on the bottom of the table, and the table legs.  It was a unique piece of art work in a building full of unbelievable examples of art.

One of many butterflies on the table legs.

 

These next few pictures are from the Al Sabah collection.  The Al Sabah's are the Royal Family.  Some of these pieces are the original items, but I believe that some of them are replicas of the originals since the originals were damaged and/or destroyed when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq.  

 

 

In one of the rooms the door had beveled crystal inserts.  I was playing around and took these shots through the crystals.  I think they made for an interesting end to the tour.