Farewell, Kuwait

 

When we moved to Kuwait in 2016, we never thought we'd be there for 5 years, When we accepted the jobs from our home in Paraguay, we knew that living in Kuwait may be a challenge. We took the risk, hoping it would afford us more options the next time we decided to move on.   Kuwait turned out to be a great place for professional learning and Kristi's opportunity to sign on as the Middle School Principal was too good to pass up.  

Cata with her nanny, Atu. 
Atu has been with us since Cata was born!

It's truly difficult to summarize 5 years of life, especially since the birth and first 3 years of life for our daughter defined so much of the experience.  We're especially grateful for the work-life balance that came from the ability to hire a full time nanny. 

While Kuwait is not a dazzling place on the surface, we did find things to enjoy and make life fun.  We traveled to 13 countries in those 5 years, including many that we may never have experienced had we not lived in the region.  

The MS office crew.  2020 was an insane year to be an
educator and these ladies helped make it a little easier.

Like any place we've ever lived, we made connections to people and that makes it hard to say goodbye, but the amazing thing about international teaching is that those connections have the ability to continue to blossom over thousands of miles.  We have met a surprising number of folks that are from the PNW as well and love to catch up over a beer in the summer.

Moving from the Western Hemisphere to Kuwait is possibly the largest cultural shift we will ever experience. I think we arrived with many of the ingrained biases that many people would bring to the Gulf with them. I don't think we knew any Moslems or many Arabs before arriving. People expressed concern about our safety, although Kuwait is very safe. 

We are grateful for the experiences we had in Kuwait and appreciative of our host country. We learned a lot, but also learned that even 5 years is not enough time to navigate the nuances of a culture and nation based on values that could be mysterious and at times uncomfortable to us. I think it is fair to say that Islam is central to life in Kuwait and I left with an appreciation for the beauty and sense of peace that seems to emerge from the connection of God and  identity, family, language, costume, food and architecture. I also left unable to reconcile feelings about the treatment of foreign workers, the limited opportunity for locals seen as some type of other, and a level of misogny that is difficult not to pass judgment on.

Already we miss our picnics in the desert, boat trips on the Gulf, and taking Cata to the beach.

                            Mudskipper at Sulaibikhat Bay

                                    Farm Stand in Abdaly

                    Getting caffeinated for a trip out on the boat.

This mid-afternoon dust/thunder storm turned the sky dark and the rain to mud.

Gus the Persian cat looked grumpy, but was the sweetest pet we have ever had. He slept a lot, had a very flat face and seemed indifferent to constant toddler hugs.

        The mosque across from the teacher housing in Mahboula.

                Kristi covers up to visit the National Mosque

        The Roots and Shoots club rallies to clean up a beach.

Chasing around the queenfish with a flyrod was one of Matt's favorite pastimes. 

     Dav was really seasick this day, but he reeled in a nice barracuda

                                        Goodbye Kuwait