Friday, September 23, 2016

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.  



Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Fly Fishing in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho 2016





Visiting our friends and family this past July and August also allowed me to spend time fly fishing in some beautiful parts of the Pacific Northwest.





Fly fishing is a great approach to travel and an outdoor-centric life because you can cast a fly to some type of fish just about any place that has water. Our trip to the States provided an opportunity for me to visit me some of my favorite waters and to discover some new ones, including a gorgeous stretch of the South Fork of the Snoqualmie that can be scrambled down to during a nasty I-90 traffic jam.


Last year I got in a lot of Salmon fishing, but this year I got into some species missing from my last visit, like the sea run cutthroat, alpine lakes brook trout, and the common carp.




I also encountered a fish I haven't caught with fly rod before, the catfish.


Some familiar Northwest characters like the small mouth bass and rainbow trout.



Ben on Idaho's Teton river.

Eastern Washington Common Carp

Even Kristi spent a few hours casting a fly. 
Central Oregon Landscape

Surprise Lake Brook Trout
Desert Lakes camping in Eastern Washington

Southern Oregon Rainbow
Ben catches (and imitates) a Snake River system common carp

Eastern Washington Landscape

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Our neighborhood from above!

This video was shot by our friend Kevin. Check his work out at: KO Productions



Mahboula Block 1 from KO Productions on Vimeo.