They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions and while that may have very little to do with what I am trying to say right now, I like it ( in spite of having been said by the insipid "They" who are always busy saying things). With regards to good intentions...I have had so many since I got here. One of which was to post on this blog regularly. I'll spare you the I've been so busy excuse because frankly it is true so it has ceased to be an excuse and just flat out reality. Speaking of flat...the plethora of amazing flat breads here is torture for a Gluten-free individual but I digress. As promised in my last post here are some of my first impressions from week one.
Kuwait is:
Hot. Yes I know..."No surprise there Einstein" but seriously. I remember thinking as I was checking the temperatures in Kuwait safely from the weather app on my iPhone whilst sipping coffee on Larchmont Blvd "120 degrees Fahrenheit? Good Lord that's hot!" In fact I'm fairly sure I exclaimed just that to my Mother as she daintily took sips from her cold gazpacho. What I also remember thinking was "How different can 120 be from 105? Anything after 105 is just hot."
Oh how I laugh at myself now. Let me tell those of you who have never been in extremely hot weather-- There is a HUGE difference from 105 and 120 and on days like today where it was 118 in the shade one prays for the dulcet coolness of 105 degrees. The thought of a blissful day spent cavorting around in 95 degree weather has become a fantasy. I'm sure anything under 80 degrees will have me putting on a light sweater.
The very surrealness of being in an environment where the breeze off of the Gulf fills the air with sand instead of cool air prolongs the period of acclimatizing. For those of you still reading I will tell you in a veiled attempt at mystery that I did spend one eventing on the yacht of a person of royal liniage and took an amazing cruise around the coast of Kuwait at night (which is strikingly beautiful when lit up). There I discovered that being on the water here does not bring an escape from the heat with cool ocean breezes. When the boat is moving it is amazing. Warm breeze drys the sweat on your skin and salt water doesn't just kiss your hair...it invades it, turning all women into wild sirens. Once the vessel anchors and sits for awhile rocking back in forth in the wake of larger ships, the heat makes everyone glisten. Both men and women, shiney and wild haired, beautiful and surrounded by darkness as the stars are blotted out by the tremendous lights of Kuwait City at night.
Sandy. Again, not shocking. I expected it. I knew I was coming to the desert. I didn't know though that on sandy days the air gets positively thick with it. My first night here I stepped out onto the balcony of my hotel to snap a picture and when I came back in (5 minutes later due to the heat and wind) my skin was covered in a light dust as where my teeth. Washing hands and brushing teeth the water washes down as beige as the buildings.
Kuwait is a very extreme place. It is extremely wealthy and yet there are people here living in the most horrendous conditions. Unlike places like Dubai which goes to great lengths to hide poverty, Kuwait has it all out in the open. The contrast between wealth and poverty are prominantly on display. The buildings are either brand new, crumbling down, or some strange combination of the two. It is a world where you definatley can't judge by the outside. New buildings that look quite nice on the outside maybe sparse on the inside. Or they may be crumbling outside but beautiful once you venture inside. All of the things I researched about Kuwait have turned out to be correct but all of the research didn't really prepare me for it. Here are some other observations that now go beyond first impressions as I have been here now for a whopping 8 days (which have been very full).
Sounds: Everybody honks. Arabic is loud and expressive. The building I am in is never quite (someone above me is dragging furniture across the floor constantly). Construction is a 24 hour job. Calls to prayer are 5 times a day and while it kind of freaked me out the first time I heard it I am quite fond of them now.
Smells: There are outdoor food stalls everywhere. Spices, incense, trash, bodyodor, salt water, roasting meat. Good, bad, and everything else in between.
Beige: I never knew how many shades of beige there were. While I get that the color of the buildings mirrors the color of the desert floor for a reason, the color here really pops when you see it. The old Souq and all of the hanging fabrics and rugs are quite marvelous.
Villas: The size of single family homes here can be quite impressive. They get really, really big. Certain parts of town seem to be made up of palaces.
Price: The Kuwaiti Dinar is the strongest currency in the world. As a result it is beyond expensive for anyone else. The money is pretty though (and starting to make sense).
People: Talk about a diverse city! This is a subject I want to talk about further so I will wait.
There is so much more I want to say about this place. When I first got here I didn't think I would make it very long. Around day 5 I started enjoying myself. Now I find I am kind of falling for it. It is extreme. I miss everyone back home and I miss cool breezes. There is a sort of beauty here I can't explain just yet. Perhaps it is because it still feels so foreign but I am settling in. Now I am off to continue setting up my classroom. But first a trip to The Avenues Mall for some small luxuries. I will also provide some before and after pictures of my classroom. I am pretty excited to get started with the students.
Ma'salaam
Michele
Kuwait is:
Hot. Yes I know..."No surprise there Einstein" but seriously. I remember thinking as I was checking the temperatures in Kuwait safely from the weather app on my iPhone whilst sipping coffee on Larchmont Blvd "120 degrees Fahrenheit? Good Lord that's hot!" In fact I'm fairly sure I exclaimed just that to my Mother as she daintily took sips from her cold gazpacho. What I also remember thinking was "How different can 120 be from 105? Anything after 105 is just hot."
Oh how I laugh at myself now. Let me tell those of you who have never been in extremely hot weather-- There is a HUGE difference from 105 and 120 and on days like today where it was 118 in the shade one prays for the dulcet coolness of 105 degrees. The thought of a blissful day spent cavorting around in 95 degree weather has become a fantasy. I'm sure anything under 80 degrees will have me putting on a light sweater.
The very surrealness of being in an environment where the breeze off of the Gulf fills the air with sand instead of cool air prolongs the period of acclimatizing. For those of you still reading I will tell you in a veiled attempt at mystery that I did spend one eventing on the yacht of a person of royal liniage and took an amazing cruise around the coast of Kuwait at night (which is strikingly beautiful when lit up). There I discovered that being on the water here does not bring an escape from the heat with cool ocean breezes. When the boat is moving it is amazing. Warm breeze drys the sweat on your skin and salt water doesn't just kiss your hair...it invades it, turning all women into wild sirens. Once the vessel anchors and sits for awhile rocking back in forth in the wake of larger ships, the heat makes everyone glisten. Both men and women, shiney and wild haired, beautiful and surrounded by darkness as the stars are blotted out by the tremendous lights of Kuwait City at night.
Sandy. Again, not shocking. I expected it. I knew I was coming to the desert. I didn't know though that on sandy days the air gets positively thick with it. My first night here I stepped out onto the balcony of my hotel to snap a picture and when I came back in (5 minutes later due to the heat and wind) my skin was covered in a light dust as where my teeth. Washing hands and brushing teeth the water washes down as beige as the buildings.
Kuwait is a very extreme place. It is extremely wealthy and yet there are people here living in the most horrendous conditions. Unlike places like Dubai which goes to great lengths to hide poverty, Kuwait has it all out in the open. The contrast between wealth and poverty are prominantly on display. The buildings are either brand new, crumbling down, or some strange combination of the two. It is a world where you definatley can't judge by the outside. New buildings that look quite nice on the outside maybe sparse on the inside. Or they may be crumbling outside but beautiful once you venture inside. All of the things I researched about Kuwait have turned out to be correct but all of the research didn't really prepare me for it. Here are some other observations that now go beyond first impressions as I have been here now for a whopping 8 days (which have been very full).
Sounds: Everybody honks. Arabic is loud and expressive. The building I am in is never quite (someone above me is dragging furniture across the floor constantly). Construction is a 24 hour job. Calls to prayer are 5 times a day and while it kind of freaked me out the first time I heard it I am quite fond of them now.
Smells: There are outdoor food stalls everywhere. Spices, incense, trash, bodyodor, salt water, roasting meat. Good, bad, and everything else in between.
Beige: I never knew how many shades of beige there were. While I get that the color of the buildings mirrors the color of the desert floor for a reason, the color here really pops when you see it. The old Souq and all of the hanging fabrics and rugs are quite marvelous.
Villas: The size of single family homes here can be quite impressive. They get really, really big. Certain parts of town seem to be made up of palaces.
Price: The Kuwaiti Dinar is the strongest currency in the world. As a result it is beyond expensive for anyone else. The money is pretty though (and starting to make sense).
People: Talk about a diverse city! This is a subject I want to talk about further so I will wait.
There is so much more I want to say about this place. When I first got here I didn't think I would make it very long. Around day 5 I started enjoying myself. Now I find I am kind of falling for it. It is extreme. I miss everyone back home and I miss cool breezes. There is a sort of beauty here I can't explain just yet. Perhaps it is because it still feels so foreign but I am settling in. Now I am off to continue setting up my classroom. But first a trip to The Avenues Mall for some small luxuries. I will also provide some before and after pictures of my classroom. I am pretty excited to get started with the students.
Ma'salaam
Michele
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