Daily Life in Kuwait

We have been in 4 months now and time seems to be flying.  We are headed to Oman this week for our Winter Break and I can't seem to remember how we go to December.   As is to be expected, we have settled into our daily lives in Kuwait and things that once seemed so strange like the calls to prayer, or that smell in our neighborhood, or watching ladies with a veil eat, now just seem normal.  It's amazing to me how different our life is here, but so similar at the same time.  I think that from afar, our life may seem glamorous in some way because our families and friends don't see into our routines, but our life here is actually pretty typical. We go to work every day, but instead of driving, we take a bus.  We teach, then we go home to eat and relax.  Instead of a house, we live in a high rise apartment building filled with other teachers. Typically, we both fall asleep (sometimes on the couch) around 8 pm if we are lucky to make it that long.  The next day (so early!!) we get up and do it again.  We've made our home comfortable (thanks to Ikea) and we even got a cat.

This is Gus, who is the sweetest animal to have ever lived.  The only thing he wants in life is to have a soft lap and to be petted.  He was a street cat and had an infection in his throat, so he can't make any noise.  My favorite part about him is that he loves to follow me around the house like a puppy.  He sleeps on our bed every night.










There are some things about our new home that we are loving!  After living in a food wasteland for the last 3 years, we are overjoyed to be living somewhere with food from all over the world.  There are at least 5 Indian restaurants on our block-all of them delicious. We live within walking distance of good Thai food and we've been out to breakfast to at least 4 different legitimate breakfast joints. (My friends in PY can appreciate how amazing this is!).

Homemade Ramen with crispy duck skin from AlMakan

Kuwait can be a little boring, so we are realizing we have to learn how to make our own fun and that has to include other kinds of fun besides eating or we'll be in trouble.  One thing that is exciting is that there is a running community here.  I ran my first race with some other teachers in November and made my best 10k time ever!

A HUGE benefit to our lives here has been purchasing a car.  The adventures began very quickly after we bought it and we got stuck in the wet sand at the beach.  We've driven to the border with Saudi Arabia just because. We then took it camping over night in the desert, which was definitely one of the most fun things we have done here so far.   It was freezing at night, but we were able to build a fire.  It was nice to see the stars after not seeing them for several months living in the light polluted city. 

 

There are many herds of tame camels out in the desert. These ones were very curious about us!

Of course, one of the best things that we have going for us here is the people.  We work and live with people from all over the world, who make us laugh, challenge us, and commiserate with us on the bad days.  Our colleagues are hard-working, sincere, adventurous, and fun people.

 Dressed up for Halloween

    

Shopping at the fabric market

 

There are many challenges that come along with moving to a new country, a new home, new friends, and a new job all at the same time.  We miss "home" which means a lot of things, depending on the day.  We miss the comforts and ease of living in the US at times, but love living away from the political disaster that is happening as well.  We miss our families and we miss our friends in the US and those who are now scattered around the world-literally.  Some days, I just wish for things to be "easy" (like how on Earth does it take 6 months to get a driver's license!?!?) while other days I'm grateful for different ways of doing things.  I miss the mountains and green things, but I also appreciate how amazing it will be to see those things again while traveling and I'm looking forward to the sense of gratitude I know I'll feel in those moments. Now, four months in to our 2nd international teaching post, I can also truthfully say that it is much easier this time around and that I'm looking forward to the challenges and adventures of the next few years living in Kuwait. 

Doha, Qatar

 We finally got out Kuwait residency, which means we have our passports in hand again.  We immediately booked a weekend trip to Doha.  Doha is not a place we may have visited if we didn't live in the Gulf region, but we're so glad we did.  It is similar to Kuwait in many ways, but much smaller.  It has a beautiful coastline and city skyline, which we enjoyed from the corniche.  Doha is a quiet place, but construction is in full swing as they prepare for the World Cup in 2020. 

We visited the old market, or souq.  It has been remodeled to resemble the traditional market and it is a beautiful maze of traditional handicrafts, food, fabrics, and imported goods.  It is the place to be on a Friday night.

I've never had henna before and was amazed at the skill of this woman in the market.

Training and keeping falcons is a long-standing tradition in Qatar. It is continually fascinating to see the mixture of tradition and modernity in Arabic culture.

Markets around the world are often full of strange things, 

including this taxidermist shop.

We enjoyed several glasses of real wine, some of it from Lebanon.  It was nice to sit in a cafe and enjoy the great weather with a class of Sauvignon Blanc in hand!

We also went to the Museum of Islamic Art and saw some beautiful artifacts from around Arabia.  We also had the chance to see the Terracotta Warriors, on tour from China. 

We ended our trip with an extravagant buffet brunch, which is a popular activity among Qataris and expats alike.  

life as an expat

Click here  to read an interesting article about life as an expat.

Weird shit seen in Kuwait part 2

I'd like my Mary
grilled, thanks.

This does not make anyone want to buy a wedding dress.  She looks like she's in pain.  Or constipated.

I have no idea why anyone would want to drink potato juice or sauerkraut juice, but you can buy it here!

Not sure why these sweet little chicks were dyed, but it was very sad.

               

Our ride to work

Our friend Kevin, narrating our morning commute.  Click the link to watch.
Our morning commute

Weird shit seen in Kuwait

Living in another culture provides many opportunities for laughs at things lost in translation, so I thought I would continue our series of weirdness...

Our first month in Kuwait

We have been in Kuwait for a month and are starting to accumulate some photos. We just finished the week long Eid Al-Adha holiday which afforded us some time to explore our neighborhood and Kuwait City. Right: the sunset view from our 11th story apartment. 

After living in a country with a fairly limited national palate, we are definitely enjoying the variety of awesome food options. We have had lots of great Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Southeast Asian food. Above: a Benedict from a trendy breakfast restaurant and the dregs of a thick cup of Turkish coffee.

We were told there are about 1,200 mosques in Kuwait City. This is the one across from our building and one of several that we hear regularly from our apartment. Our building is the taller of the two on the right.

Left: Iranian Carpets for sale at the Friday market. We picked out one similar to these to put under our dining room table. We also found a set of small tables from India to use in our apartment. Slowly our place is becoming less like a hotel room and more like an enjoyable living space. Below: wheelbarrows waiting to schlep goods from vendors to your vehicle.

This is our local beach, a 20 min walk from our place. It's fairly dirty but still popular with the immigrant workers who live in our neighborhood. 

This little bakery is just a block from our house and makes a flat bread similar to pita that is really nice with local hummus. 

Kuwait Towers: Originally for water storage, they are now one of the city's popular tourist areas.

We just finished our Eid-Al Adha (festival of the sacrifice in Arabic) break. A goat or sheep is often sacrificed and shared with friends and the poor to honor the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son.  

Another popular place to visit in Kuwait City: The Scientific Center

Sunset on the Corniche

Small fishing boats in the Fahaheel neighborhood

One of many local fish markets

We have a lot more to learn about our new city, but great sunsets are something we are regularly excited about.

An odd Italian Circus we happened upon in the Salmiya neighborhood.

We toured the Grand Mosque in Kuwait City which is capable of holding over 100,000 people. 

The mosque had many beautiful mosaics and hand carved stone.