Kuwait and See - the first 90 days

Day 21 - three weeks in Kuwait

Three weeks today, three weeks packed with excitement and education.

Today Lenny did a test for British School of Kuwait, as a possible alternative if necessary.

Then we had a painful, interminable drive back home, which left a both very cranky. 

One day to go before we move, so blogs may go a bit awry after tonight, until we get the internet connected. God knows how long that will take. We are still waiting for our civil IDs, a bank card for me, and various other things, but everything involves the civil ID card, so until this is sorted, we can;t really do anything much.

Long interesting interaction between the mover guy, the Haris, Ahmed (concierge here at the apartment) and Alia as they nutted out our complicated moving requirements - because I have bought furniture privately. You have to wonder whether it is really worth it - might be cheaper but certainly more hassles and less guarantee of quality.

The big news in Saudi Arabia is that women has been given the right to vote and run for local government (I think) in 2015,  but at the same time, a woman was convicted of 1o lashes today because whe was caught driving by herself, which is not illegal, but not allowed by the religious police. Go figure....

Day 20 - True Value Homewares

So I've trawled through Tokyo Hands, a magnificent homewares shop in Tokyo, buying up sponges and cutlery, clothes hangers and bedding. I've wandered through Mustafa's in Singapore, where you can get anything from toasters to gold jewelery to rice and saris. And today, I was introduced to True Value here in Kuwait - a huge homewares mecca, which sells pretty much anything you might need for inside and outside the home. There is a wonderful collection of nic nacs from Morocco - gorgeous bowls, candlesticks, cups - and a special incense shop - as well as a terrific collection of outdoor furniture specially designed for Kuwaiti diwaniyas that the locals love so much. These are gatherings of friends and family, segregated ofcourse, but often involving lots of food, coffee, sweets and conversation. So you can buy all kinds of seating, pagodas, big tables and ornaments.  The Kuwaitis love their conversation so much that out and about in the streets there are seats set up, like park benches  -  some of them have cushions and are very colourful, all ready for organised and impromptu communal gatherings. 

So today I bought a red kettle, and quite a few picture frames, ready to put up in our new house on Thursday. Here are some pics of the kettle, and a lovely mosaic frame. 

The movers have been booked - and are coming on Thursday, then picking up our new furniture I bought yesterday, and delivering it all to our new place sometime on Thursday afternoon.

I am really looking forward to getting in there - the trip to school is getting really tedious. We leave at 6.45am and crawl through horrendous traffic for 30 minutes, I drop Lenny at the gate and then we rejoin the traffic crawling back into town, sometimes taking up to an hour. Then I shop or clean the apartment or go to the club - I've started swimming again - then Amir picks me up again at 1.30 for another long boring trip down to the school, and we arrive - on time at 2.30 if we are lucky - to join the chaos of hundreds of cars honking and spitting and nudging each other, picking up kids.

Today we were late because we had to wait for the Emir to go past with his 12 car entourage. All the traffic was stopped by police for about 15 minutes.  Amir the taxi man then parks somewhere - wherever he can stop, and I walk through the dust and searing heat to the gate to pick Lenny up. We buy an icecream from the old, friendly icecream man who stands at the gate - we are such good customers that today he gave me one for free! Then we drive back to town, either to the apartment or the club.

Once we move into our house, we will be mch closer to school, and Lenny can start catching the bus, so our lives will be transformed.

Today an interesting thing happened. There are men who clean the streets - working hard in the heat all day. Today Amir very quietly called one of these guys over to the taxi as we were waiting at a traffic light, and gave him some money. Nothing was said. I asked Amir why he did that, and he told me that these guys get paid very little by the government, most are from Bangladesh, and so he gives them money - quarter of a dinar in this case - which is about 90 cents, to eat. I asked Alia about it later and she said everybody does this, it is part of the religion to look after the poor. The thing that struck me was how quietly and quickly it happened with no fanfare or begging involved. To me, it was a little experience of another reality going on that we Westerners know nothing about. 

Day 19 - Porsches, eyebrow lowdown and choir

Porsches - Today I met a German guy who is selling both his porsches - a cayenne 4x4 and a 911 classic. Both beautiful cars, but much cheaper to buy and maintain here in Kuwait than in Europe. The Cayenne is 7500KD - AU$25000, and the 911is 6000KD - about $21000. Not bad prices.  He is moving back to Germany, and can't afford to take his beloved porsches with him. He has the 911 covered in the basement, and only drives it in Kuwait on Fridays, when there is not much trafic on the road!

Eyebrows - Intruigued by Kuwaiti women's eyebrows - which in magazines at least seem rather enormous and dark, and very perfect, I asked someone today what they do to them. The answer - many women shave their eyebrows off completely, and have them tattooed on, in an exaggerated elongated shape. Much as I appreciate a well shaped brow, I don't think I'll be following this trend.

Choir - Mr White has allowed Lenny to join the junior choir! And the first rehearsal was today. I snuck in to the lobby area in the music department and had a wee listen. Not too bad - a bit shouty but quite enthusiastic. A good balance of boys and girls, and Lenny came out of the class happy - he enjoyed the singing, much to my relief, and sang me the song they are learning on the way home - a catchy Christmas ditty. Things are looking up.

 

Day 18 - A visit to a Persian carpet shop

Once again, Amir the taxi driver came good with some information, when I asked him if he knew any carpet shops to visit. He really doesn't understand much English at all so when I ask him tricky questions he rings his boss, then passes me the phone to explain what I want.  

So there are two places he suggested - a shop in Salmiya where they sell expensive carpets, and a market out near the Avenues shopping mall, where they carpets are cheaper but you dont really know what you are getting unless you are a carpet expert, which I certainly am not.

After my swim at the club, we went to the Persian Carpet Exhibition shop, and because there was noone else there at that time of the morning, I was able to ask the owner lots of questions, and he showed me lots of carpets. 

The first carpet he showed me was a beautiful, 40 year old Heriz carpet, at 2500KD - that is about $9000. A little out of our price range, but a good start nonetheless.

He then showed me a range of Afghani and Iranian carpets and kilims. Carpets are knotted wool or silk, and kilims are woven, and much thinner. They were all in the range of around 300 plus KD - about $1000 - and all beautiful.

The owner told me that he travels up into Iran, and to Azerbajan in southern Russia, down to Pakistan and India to source his stock. He gets taken directly to the villages and the markets where he negotiates the prices. He said the villagers who make these rugs are very poor - I asked what they sit on themselves, to make the rugs, and he said maybe a kilim, or just woven jute, or straw mats.

Here is a link to his very interesting website - the family is Lebanese, and my Lebanese friend Alia, who lived in Kuwait for 30 years and is just back with her husband on a short contract, knows him and told me he is very honest and straight with people. 

www.persiancarpetexhibition.com

Now I hope to go to the markets with Alia, who speaks Arabic ofcourse, and see what we can find. And at some point I am sure we will go back to the Salmiya shop and buy some really good carpets.

 

 

Day 17 - Lenny's blog

Tell me 4 things you've noticed about Kuwait.

We live near the ocean.

It doesn't rain at all.

It's very hot

The weekend is on Friday and Saturday.

What about the people here?

The women wear black  robes that cover their mouths - it's a bit mysterious. And the men wear white robes with a black band around the top. noone talks much. Well at school they do but in the open world, not much.

What languages do the kids speak at school?

Most Arabic, some Scottish, Irish, some Polish, French. In the playground there's a lot of shouting and screaming, and pushing and bumping because there are so many kids in the playground. At the end they make us pick up all the litter on the floor and we cant go until we do that. We just get into lines and act like we've done it. 

What's your favourite subject?

Maths because it is one class I can figure out and think things in, so I can do very well. And if you get 10 housepoints in one week then you get a certificate.

What are the names of some of your new friends?

Ahmed, Abdulaziz and Sulaimin. They all speak English and mostly they are from Saudi Arabia. Sulaimin is a Muslim, so he studies Quran, which you spell with a Q. They study Quran in Arabic. On Tuesdays I go with the grade 3 headmistress up to the library. We study healthy food - I know it sounds unusual for Arabic lessons, on Wednesday, Thursday and Monday and Sunday I go and have a lesson with Miss Vadya. She teaches Arabic for Foreigners. I dont really like her too much because whenever someone's not listening she screams at you, puts you to face the wall and then you're out for the whole lesson until you go to the grade 3 headmistress and then you lose 4 housepoints. That hasn't happened to me, but I feel sorry for the others if it happens to them. 

The fishfingers are horrible, and I'm sorry we've changed the subject, we'll get back to Arabic lessons if any of you take any, but I've been living on noodles and tuna for 4 days and in fact I've been watching many movies from across the world including THe French Leiutenant's Woman - no no no - just joking, I've been watching Modern Family and 30 Rock, and living on those TV shows for a year or two and if any of you are listening we are broadcasting a cake show for anyone who wants to be in our bread factory.

 

Day 16 - Going to Mass

This morning we decided to go to Mass. In a country where people pray five times a day, it seems somehow necessary to spend some time involved in our own religion.

There are four Catholic churches in Kuwait, and Kuwait is tolerant to other religions. The Church here is called the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, and encompasses Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In 1889, the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia was created, so there is a long history of the presence of Catholicism in the Muslim world. The current Bishop, Camillo Ballin, writes in his letter to the faithful "We live in a Muslim world where Jesus Christ is appreciated as a prophet."

There is a cathedral in the city, and then smaller churches in the suburbs. We decided to go to St Theresa's, a tiny church set up originally to serve the Indian Catholic population of Kuwait. I had the address, and I was pretty sure that it wouldn't look like a normal church, and it wouldn't have a sign out the front. We didn't count on it being so very difficult to find, and Amir our trusty taxi driver had a hard time locating the street. Finally we asked someone, who showed us where it was. Just a simple building with no sign at all, and a few metal doors, closed but not locked. I walked around for a while, then found a door, squeaked it open, and I saw a room full of people sitting in pews, and the clergy dressed in the usual garb. It was like a secret meeting, recalling the early Christians meeting 2000 years ago. 

We walked in together and sat down, for a normal Mass, with the usual long sermon and pretty shonky music. This 11.15 Mass is more for Western expats, and is in English, so there were quite a few Westerners and their kids there. We said hello to the priest afterwards, read the notice boards, Lenny managed to score a chocolate donut. I'm sure there is quite a community there, and if we go often enough we will get to know some people.

And then went out for lunch. Next week we will go to the main Cathedral and check it out.

Oh, saw this today, just incase we are looking for somewhere else to live.

Day 15 - Our new apartment sings the note G

 We visited our new apartment the other day to check the painting - which is so lovely, just the oasis I was hoping for. Here are some pics:

1. Lounge/dining room

2. Hallway

3. Michael's office/TV room

We wandered through the apartment, but when I walked in to the second bedroom, I noticed a very loud persistent low frequency buzzing sound - I checked with my iphone piano and it is on the note G. The whole apartment, in fact the whole building, vibrates on the note of G.

It is OK in the lounge and kitchen area, and in the first bedroom it's OK, but it is so loud in the two back bedrooms. As it turns out, there is a one bedroom apartment above the front of our place, but the back is the rood, and bolted onto the roof, we think, are all the airconditioning units, and the satellite dish. So they connect directly onto our place. It is quite a dilemma, because I love the apartment, but I fear that this noise will drive me mad. I know from past research that low frequency sounds can be very unhealthy to live with, but it is hard to avoid in a city that relies on massive amounts of airconditioning.

We have contacted the owner, Mr Shakir - who seems like a very reasonable guy - and he has said he'll look into it. Any ideas my friends? I'm thinking some kind of insulation in the ceiling, or anti vibration rubber mats under the machinery (if that is even possible). Perhaps once the apartment has carpet and furnishings, the sound will be soaked up. Michael is very doubtful - this is a huge problem in Kuwait - he has asked his colleagues at work who deal with buildings every day. 

Anyway, if anyone has ideas or solutions, please let me know.

On the positive side, there are 3 kids living with their British parents on the ground floor, so they may be kids Lenny can hang with, and also (this is for Zoila) there is another Filipina maid working for the owner's mother - her name is Rose, and it's her first time in Kuwait as well. There is also a one bedroom apartment above us that perhaps we could also rent sometime in the future when the current tenant moves out, giving us the 4 bedrooms that we wanted - self contained guest quarters for when you all come to stay!

Day 14 - School dramas

I can feel my energy coming back after the exhaustion of moving, and aforementioned medical drama. Also, my new friend Alia told me that people often get very tired when they move here because there is actually less oxygen in the atmosphere. She said it takes about 2 weeks for the body to adjust. I find it disturbing to think I am living in a place with this problem. Maybe I should get an oxygen-ator (if such a thing exists) for our apartment. And it means we will all be high as kites when we go home to holiday in Byron Bay! Woahh man, too much oxygen....

Anyway, as I was saying, my energy is coming back and I am noticing more, and feeling ready to get a few things happening around the joint. So my first issue is:

 School - I'm really not sure if we've made the right decision sending Lenny to this school. They demand that their students be weirdly (in my opinion ) quiet. So when I took Lenny up to his class yesterday, we saw all the high school kids going up the stairs to class, in lines, and in silence. It was quite unsettling, and activated my inner rebel. I wanted to giggle and fart and tell jokes, and then scream....it was stifling. The kids looked quite relaxed, and smiling, and were kind of whispering to each other, but the teachers looked so severe and serious. Then we walked down to Lenny's classroom, and one of the teachers was just screaming at the kids - not a good look. And then, I went to the music department.

Most of you know that everyone in my family sings and singing is very important for all of us. Lenny is not exactly a brilliant singer (unlike his big sister, who has never stopped singing since she was 2 years old) - but he should be given the chance at school. I've taught hundreds of adults, so many of whom  were told they couldn't sing when they were at school, and then always wished they could, until they finally joined a community choir in their 50s or 60s. I find this sad and pretty shocking, and there is NO WAY that it is going to happen to my own son. So when Lenny told me they were auditioning kids for the choir (in grade 3) and that he didnt get a letter saying he could be in it, I was pretty ropable. I went to find the music teacher - in a white painted, bare walled building, I found two middle aged pale, grim looking men about to teach primary classes. There was a guitar, and a (silent) class of kids sitting in the room, and then the teacher sang 'Puff the Magic Dragon'. Kids kind of half singing, half speaking along with him.

Now, I could be wrong - let's hope that I am . I might find that the music department is fantastic - full of life, creativity, joy, fun - a life enhancing experience for every one of those children. Don't judge a book by it's cover etc etc. 

I went into the next class to have a chat to the choir teacher, telling him I really want my son to sing in the choir, and he looked him up on a list and said, ahh, yes, I did hear him, and he wasn't terrific..... red rag to a bull, I'm afraid - I had to take a deep breath and gently suggest that Lenny be given a chance. He kind of mumbled a 'yes, alright'  I think. I even offered to help out, which was greeted with a resounding silence! Then I turned to the still silent class and said, 'Hi everyone, what class are you' "Class four', they mumbled. I said oh, such a lovely quiet class, you're so kind to your teachers, or some such, because the silence - this is a music class - was making me nervous.

Choir is on today, and Lenny will be there. And I will be in the foyer listening carefully, have no doubt about that.

Day 13 - Medical drama

When I was in Sydney I had a routine health check up which included a mammogram. As it happened, a letter arrived telling me that further investigation was necessary, as something had been detected in the xray. This was completely unexpected, ofcourse, and very disorienting on my 7th day in Kuwait. 

What to do? It's a small jump from this to images of full blown cancer, treatment in Kuwait, or return to Sydney - all these things went through my mind. Firstly though, I had to find a place that did mammograms and ultrasounds, in English. 

After some prevarication - to be honest I just wanted to forget about it, but Michael and my mum kept on my back - I found a clinic and rang. The message was in Arabic (and a man's voice). I had already tried another number and got an irate woman who snapped at me in English 'what do you want' - i guessed it was a wrong number.  I soldiered on, and left a message, and the next day someone rang me - the Filipina nurse, Jenneth - (called Jenneth because her parents thought she'd be a boy and already had all official forms filled out as Kenneth) - and she was lovely.

So, I went there yesterday, had xrays and an ultrasound - Dr Nour, who owns the practice - was great. She detected two small cysts that she thought should be checked out. Tonight I went back, and after a local anaesthetic, Dr Nour probed the cysts with a needle, and, most fortunately for me, they were able to be aspirated  - I watched the ultrasound screen and they just suddenly disappeared. 

I consider myself incredibly fortunate, and thank God for my good health. My cousin, aunt and sister-in-law's sister have recently been through breast cancer traumas, and I can only imagine what a long and difficult road it is.

Apparently breast cancer is as big a problem here in the Middle East as it is anywhere else, but is rarely spoken about, and I can only imagine that Dr Nour sees her fair share of difficult cases. She did say she gets accosted in supermarkets sometimes by women fully clad and covered, who remind her that she helped them at some point, but she never knows who they are! 

 

 

Day 12 - Traffic and Kuwait

Traffic 

Today's lesson is Kuwait and traffic.

There is no rhyme or reason to traffic flow in Kuwait. Today I went to pick up Lenny from school and there wad a huge traffic jam. I kept thinking it would clear, maybe an accident or breakdown. We passed a 4 x 4 that had just stopped in the middle of the road, but that wasn't the problem, then someone had stopped a taxi and was getting into it, but that wasnt the probem. I want blâme Amir the taxi driver who has assigned himself our personal driver, but thats not really fair. Desperately looking for something else, but I had a sinking feeling this is just afternoon peak hour traffic. And it was now 2.25. There is no way I'll make it in time for school's out.

This is my mental and physical state in Kuwait, tension and stress then realising there's actually nothing I can do, followed by  a miserable acceptance, hence the well used phrase in shallah - God willing.

Finally we do pass an accident- two brand new 2012 BMWs have smashed into each other- completely written off after driving over 160kmph along the motorway. Not at all uncommon here along the 3 lane highways. Amir (who is from Pakistan) says the locals have got too much money, and they don't care if they total their cars! 

Today, Michael FINALLY got his civil ID card, which means.... we can buy a car! Coooooool.

Here's a picture of Gulf Road traffic this morning (nope, it's not a car park), and in the background you can see our new house - the huge yellow villa. Not all ours, just apartment number 3, at the back. Great view of morning and evening traffic, come to think of it.

Day 11 - Muezzin in Kuwait

 

Day 10 - Shopping Malls in Kuwait

Across the hall on the 11th floor, we have met an American couple, Sue and George. Very nice people, George works with Al Shia, a huge Kuwaiti company who own about 65 franchises (franchisees?) of various brands - Mothercare, Starbucks, H&M Clothing, Shake Shack - and puts them in many different countries in the Middle East and up into Russia and Turkey.

We went and had afternoon tea downstairs in the little cafe under the serviced apartment, and got to talking about malls in Kuwait.

Now, so far I've only been to two malls - Avenues (which, when it was built a few years ago, was the largest mall IN THE WORLD!!) and Marina Mall. There are others that I havent been to, but malls are big business here in Kuwait. I think I mentioned before that Marina Mall is like a small town, and Avenues is a rather large town. There are 6 Starbucks in the Avenues alone. I know that is shocking to all Sydney people reading this blog - Starbucks shut down in Sydney a few years ago, but is huge everywhere else. When you are alone and confused in Moscow or Kuwait or Beirut, you can rely on a Starbucks being somewhere close by to offer some mediocre coffee, familiarity, and a comfy spot to check your emails and chat to your mum on skype.

So Kuwaitis love the malls. They shop, they meet, they eat, they even exercise at the mall. We saw a woman the other day, completely clad in her blacks, with her running shoes on, power walking around the air conditioned streets of Avenues. When it is 50 degrees outside, the mall is the only place to be.

 

Interesting websites - local t shirts

via www.local-tees.com

Hamish this is one for you, for your original t shirt fetish

Day 9 - Kuwaiti School kids

Schools started again last week, and I was reading a back to school type magazine that I picked up in Starbucks (which, by the way, are absolutely everywhere in Kuwait) - had some interesting articles about and for high school and university students. I thought I'd quote this from one article:

Few high school students can go back to school in September honestly saying they had a productive summer. On the first day of school, most (note most!) Kuwaiti highschoolers sit together at lunch talking about the shopping they did in London, the clubbing they did in Beirut, the assortment of activities they did in Dubai, the guy/girl hunting they did in Spain and ofcourse, the endless hours of sleeping they did in Kuwait.

Ahhh, to be a Kuwaiti schoolkid!

 

We went to a paint shop today and bought paint for our new house. Took a taxi all the way out to a suburb called Fahaheel, down south of the city, and found ourselves at a tiny hole in the wall paint shop - all the guys are Egyptian, all very helpful, discussing in broken english how much paint we needed. Lucky I had got Michael to draw a map of the apartment so they could work it out for us. We paid for it (cash only, 45 dinar) and then our trusty taxi driver Amir (the one with the plastic covered taxi and the flags on the roof) took us to our new apartment where we dropped off the paint. We heard faint sounds of laughing children coming from behind other apartment doors, which is a good sign.

Here is the plan.

 

Day 8 - Souq

We went wandering around one of the older souqs, or markets, this evening, and it felt like we really were in the Middle East, instead of some super upmarket anywhere in the world mall. Dates are popular here, there are mounds of them everywhere, and olives, lots of cheap clothing stalls, and dishdasha stores - that is the name of the long white robe that the men wear.

We ended up in a new funky restaurant where we had the most expensive hamburgers in the world - US$42 each. Let that be a lesson to us. No more new international style funky restaurants for us. I just have to figure out what to eat in the local outdoor restaurants, and more to the point, what Lenny can and will eat. At the moment he is eating a lot of McDonalds hamburgers - a Lenny special is a cheeseburger without cheese, lettuce or anything but the meat and the bread. 

Day 7 - signing the lease

Decided to take the apartment we saw in a suburb called Rumathaiya, after much deliberation. it's quite close to Lenny's school, close to the gulf road so easy for Michael to get to work, has a lovely garden and is in a rather lovely European style villa. Now I'm excited - it has a beautiful balcony and good big spaces, and a lovely cosy kitchen, so it should work really well. We can choose what colours the walls are painted, so I've gone for a gentle earthy light green - guacamole, I think it's called. Something interesting and cooling, calming.

We move in on October 1.

Here are some piccies.

1. This is the kitchen

2. This is the outside view - our place is the second floor 

 

 

 

 

Day 6 - Michael's job

I'm sure some people are interested in knowing more about what Michael is doing here in Kuwait anyway, so I am writing and he is dictating whilst lolling around on our bed in the serviced apartment.

My job title is Managing Director, head of real estate, Boubyan Capital Investment Company. In Kuwait all banks have investment companies and these invest the banks capital as well as other investors who are clients of the bank. I specialise in real estate, and because we look for Sharia compliant - ie: Islamic principled investments - real estate is a very important part and Middle East invesotrs also love real estate. Sharia compliant means the bank makes investments that do not attract interest but share in the profits of the enterprise.

We have investments in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and the US. At the moment I am restructuring the assets we own, and planning the set up of some new investment funds. I also get involved in the day to day running of Boubyan Capital which involves things like working budgets, and the future training requirements of my team.

We are also working on investments in Kuwait where there is an active real estate investment and trading market.

I work with a great bunch of young people who are all very enthusiastic and capable. The bank is quite young having been restructured two years ago after a number of poorly performing years. We are 47.5% owned by the National Bank of Kuwait which is one of the largest banks in the Middle East.

Just for interest you might like to know that 50% of the population of Kuwait is under 18 years of age - this means it is a big growing dynamic society. The population is 4 million, of which 3 million are guest workers from places like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Lebanon and Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, plus a few Westerners mainly from the UK, the USA, Europe and a very few Japanese and Australians. There are 1 million Kuwaiti nationals who basically own everything in Kuwait. Kuwait is a Muslim country, where most people pray five times a day, and it is a very tolerant society, much more outward looking than some other parts of the Middle East.

Mr Dowling in work mode.

www.bankboubyan.com

 

 

 

 

Day 5 - second day of school, by Lenny

My second day at school was really good - probably the best day of school I've ever had.

The day at school was a good day for me to start liking school. I dont have any homework tonight, but I earned two housepoints today, which are worth a penny.

Today also I did very well in Arabic for Foreigners, which was my favourite class of the day, because it's good to learn Arabic if we're going to be here for a long time. I knew a word in Arabic that the other kids didn't know, and the teacher pinched my cheeks, and she said woooah, good job!

Maths was hard today, but I passed it, and that's when I got the two housepoints.

I played with my new friend Ahmed - he lives in Salwa, Street 1, and he walks to school. I had pizza for lunch, which I can buy for 1 dinar at the school shop. 

My teacher, Miss McGoo, called me a superstar because I finished all my work.

Day 4 - First Day at School

11.9.11

School motto - 'The aim makes great the life' - discuss.

We took Lenny to school this morning - got stuck in a massive traffic jam, so we were late, and anyway, who goes to school on a Sunday? But we got there finally, and Lenny was ushered into maths quick smart.

School starts at 7.30 and finishes at 2.30, and at 2.30 I was in a taxi stuck in a HUGE jam again, as parents, helpers, drivers made their way towards the school (which is in a small street in Salwa)  - they must do this twice a day, and the picking up dropping off situation is pretty crazy. Methinks Lenny will be catching the bus sooner than later. The taxi couldnt move and I was forced to walk 2 blocks in the searing heat to get Lenny. 

He seemed fine, but as the afternoon wore on, he became less and less happy about it, even though he told Yilpi it was 'exciting and exceptional'. I think 3 months off school has taken it's toll...

'And mum, whatever you do to get me out of this house to school in the morning is not gonna work' Lenny has just proclaimed, with Michael responding, sotto voce 'I think I'll be leaving early to go to work.'

Somehow, I don't think so.

 

 

Day 3 - apartments, desert and bikinis

  1. Apartments - we've started the search for a good place to live. All rather familiar, since it is the fourth time we've done it - Tokyo, Singapore (twice) and now Kuwait. I must have learned a thing or two about what we want and like, and what works for us.

So Basab, the agent, took us to see 3 places yesterday - one of them was almost perfect, so that is a good start. If he can find us something like this, but a bit further away from the massive highway, we'll be very happy. In the photo it is the second floor. Please take note - trees! And I even saw flocks - yes flocks - of birds this morning.

And the view from the rather huge balcony and living area. A little bit of Paris in the desert!

 

2. Desert - After house hunting, we hired a taxi for 3 hours and went for a drive south, down towards the Saudi border. The further out of the city, the more flat and brown everything becomes, and gradually houses disappear and we are in the desert where the most important Kuwaiti activity takes place - oil production.

 

 

3. Bikinis - OK, so day 3 I got a bit confused and experienced another level of culture shock, when we went for the first time to the club that Michael joined for us. We've never joined a club before, although it's pretty common in Singapore. I just never felt the need. But this club is fabulous - I mean seriously upmarket - pools, beach, spa, restaurants, gym, yoga classes, classes for kids - and I suppose we'll use it quite a bit.

The thing is, whilst women out in the street are mainly clad in black from head to foot, here at the club there are women everywhere in tiny bikinis, just wandering around - with men! All in together! I was quite shocked, it was like Bondi Beach but in a more confined space.

 After agonising about what to wear, I was suddenly surrounded by people wearing practically nothing. And buff men playing volleyball on the beach, surrounded by women in burqas having picnics with their families,  smoking shishas.

And then Lenny didnt want to go into to the mens changing room by himself to have a shower after swimming, so we snuck him into the women's changing room, under a burqa of towels, and, giggling like school girls, we scooted into the shower, quickly dressed, walked out of the small change room....and there was another boy the same age, with his mother! 

So I am utterly baffled.

Lenny with Californian lemonade. 

Day 2 - School

There seem to be many expat and English schools in Kuwait. Not as many as Singapore, but still, I was surprised when I started researching schools for Lenny.

In Kuwait, unlike Singapore, local kids can go to International schools. I always disliked this about Singapore, so one of the schools I was most interested in was the Kuwait English School, which has about 60% locals, and the rest are expats from all around the world.

Anyway. with Lenny on the waiting list for 4 schools, I didnt like our chances of getting a place anywhere quickly, and thought we might be hanging out together for a few months (which is good and bad!)

But then we got an email from KES asking us to go in, and lo and behold, someone had dropped out and they were offering us a place. So we're in, Lenny will go into third class -not sure how that will go but they seemed confident enough.

Here he is in front of the new school.

Day 1 - Dressing in Kuwait

Thursday 8 September 2011

Many people asked me whether I would have to wear the veil or even the burqa in Kuwait. I knew from my reading that women can vote in Kuwait, and that some women in parliament refuse to wear the veil, so I assumed that there were not too many restrictions. However, when it came to my first outing, on the evening of our first day, to a huge elaborate shopping mall called Avenues, it took me a while to decide what to wear. Could I wear a tshirt, showing my arms? And shoes? Did I have to wear stockings or covered shoes? 

Before I go on, I've just added some information about various types of veils, from Wikipedia.

 

A variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women in accordance with hijab (the principle of dressing modestly) are sometimes referred to as veils. Many of these garments cover the hair, ears and throat, but do not cover the face. The khimar is a type of headscarf. The niqāb and burqa are two kinds of veils that cover most of the face except for a slit or hole for the eyes.

The Afghan burqa covers the entire body, obscuring the face completely, except for a grille or netting over the eyes to allow the wearer to see. The boshiya is a veil that may be worn over a headscarf; it covers the entire face and is made of a sheer fabric so the wearer is able to see through it. It has been suggested that the practice of wearing a veil - uncommon among the Arab tribes prior to the rise of Islam - originated in the Byzantine Empire, and then spread.^[11]

So I finally decided on a long black dress, with a blue long sleeved sheer shirt over the top, and my black muji scarf, which is silk chiffon and huge enough to wrap around me. I also wore my nice Charles and Keith sandals from Singapore.

Well, when we got there, I was amazed at the variety of clothing. Yes, there were many women in some kind of burqa - and there are so many types, including a very stylish, perhaps more expensive style - beautiful swishy fabric - probably some kind of silk or light cotton/linen - and a chiffon black scarf that seems to have a basket or something holding it at the back so it sits high over the back of the head. Some women had their face covered, others not, some women just wore a veil over their head but western clothing - trousers and shirt. Some women were in western dresses, showing their knees even. The only thing I didnt see were the embarrassingly tiny short dresses that I saw on young women in Singapore all the time, and bare midrifs. 

So there is clearly a tolerance for all kinds of dress, and I am much more relaxed about what I can wear. However, last night we went out for dinner to a restaurant about 5 minutes walk from our apartment. There was a horrible hot wind that stirred up the dust, and I was very glad to have my trusty muji scarf to cover my head and face. So I think I'll be using it often. Lucky I bought two of them!

 

Welcome to Kuwait

Stopped off at AbuDhabi for an hour and arrived at a busy Kuwait airport at 7.30pm on Tuesday evening. The view from the plane was so amazing, especially as we swung into the gulf (see previous post), and I was intrigued by the way humans create straight lines if given half a chance - ie: an expanse of flat sandy desert. What happens in these places? 

 

And early morning in Kuwait. The view from our serviced apartment.

Flight from Singapore part 2

17 pieces of luggage, $600 in excess baggage, a quick glass of champagne in the lounge, and off we went!

 

A slender Michael adopting his usual pose! Me in my best Kuwaiti blacks.

Lenny slumming it in business class. The fish or the chicken? He had a bit of both.

 

 

 

Return to Singapore part 2 - Wessex Estate

Then we also met up with Tanusha, and Lenny's friend Yadav and Leisha, who joined us for breakfast at Traders Hotel on Tuesday morning. Vijay came along as well, and we had a long meandering interesting conversation ranging from cats to karma to medical technology to Canada. We are so lucky to have such great friends in Singapore, and I will miss everyone terribly. We also saw Sanjana, Kiran and the boys at Wessex Estate, and helen and George who had been collecting our mail  - although we only lived there for 3 months, it feels like years - it is my kind of place and if we ever move back to Singapore, that is where I want to live. It is a great community, and a gorgeous place, and it took me three years to find it. There MUST be something similar in Kuwait, and I'm planning to dig deep to find it. Maybe Old Kuwait? 

Here is a photo of our party, where the Ukuladies played in the afternoon honey sunshine at Wessex Estate.

And here is a photo of beautiful Vijay looking pensive!

 

And the boys of Wessex Estate playing on Katharine's trampoline.

Return to Singapore

It was great to spend a couple of days in Singapore at the Traders Hotel. We caught up with some good friends, Bridgette and Mark and the kids around the pool for dinner at Ah Hoi's Kitchen - always great to see these guys and have a good old laugh about everything.

Then saw Zoila, our wonderful helper who is coming to Kuwait to live with us. She is hanging around Singapore waiting patiently for us to organise our residency in Kuwait so she can join us soon. She took Lenny out for the day, to his old favourite places - Time Zone, the movies.

And then, miracle of miracles, our cat Ramona, who ran away into the wilds of Wessex Estate before we left, made an appearance, and we were able to reclaim her - skinny, tired and frightened but apart from that, OK after 2 months living rough. But then I left the door open, and she ran away again. I felt terrible, but luckily she came back and she is now safe at the Pet Hotel in Pasir Ris, where she will be vaccinated and kept for a month before she is sent up to join us in Kuwait. Thanks to Zoila, who hung around waiting for her to re emerge from the jungle, and somehow got her into the cat cage and off to holiday at the Pet Hotel. Hope she packed her cat sunnies.

 

 

Flight from Singapore part 1

Traveling over Oman, great views as we swung into the gulf of Oman, huge creased ancient mountains(like a beanbag said Lenny) the colour of dung, morphing into dark hills and then becoming wavy endless desert. Looking down I can see a few roads winding through massive dry caverns and pockets of townships. I can't help comparing it to the Australian desert, which is entirely different looking, more scrubbed than creased. This is what I imagine the moon must look like, kind of washed out mono colour unlike the rich reds of central Australia. But texturally totally different, and ofcourse the ancient tribes of our very own culture wandered across these lands which somehow make them closer, familiar? Makes me want to read the bible, and ancient stories, and then TE Lawrence and Freya Stark.

We've just arrived in Singapore, where we are staying for 2 days, seeing friends and organizing a few things before we leave for Kuwait on Tuesday afternoon.
So while I'm sitting here at 1am in Changi airport waiting for Michael and Lenny (who were put onto a different flight from me thanks to Qantas bungling), I thought I'd just list some things I have read or heard about Kuwait so far.
1. It is a tiny country in between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
2. There are 4 (or is it 5) women in the parliament.
3. There are a lot of American soldiers there.
4. The money is called Kuwaiti dinar.
5. it gets hot in summer!!
6. it is desert mainly.
7. There are a lot of non Kuwaitis living there, doing a lot of the manual work -not unlike Singapore really.
8. It is a very wealthy country.
9. The language is Kuwaiti Arabic - a dialect of classical Arabic. If I learn classical Arabic, I should be able to communicate in most of the Middle Eastern countries that speak Arabic.
10. Women do not have to wear the veil or hijab. Women can also drive.
11. there are a lot of expats, judging by the number of international schools - British, American, French and possibly others.
12. Most expats join a club where they can hang out together.
13. There are no trains! There are buses, but public transport doesn't seem to be as accessible as Singapore.
14. There are very few birds. This is going to difficult for me. I loved the bird calls in the early morning at our house in Singapore, and the rain on the roof, and the verdant surroundings and gardens everywhere.
15. There are lots of big extravagant looking malls.

Hmmm, I really don't know much.

books on my bedside table

any other suggestions??

Shops and Shopping

Here are some interesting observations from Michael about shopping and shops in Kuwait.

Retail/shopping in this country is different from the parts of the world we usually shop in.  At the lowest level you heave the corner shop which stocks largely the local brands and one or two global brands.  No real difference there.  Given the size of MENA (Middle East and North Africa), the region of the world in which we now live, there are plenty of brands copying the major global brands in everything from soap to silverware. Then there are the local shopping complexes.  These cater to the middle class and the foreign lower class workers.  The stores may still be family owned and stock largely locally produced products.  Some may even pass as department stores but the complexes are a little more like a souk, more market like though in a shopping centre.  Finally, there is the upper end.  This is  shopping centers like Avenues and 360.  Now when you get to this level some of the differences show up.  Many of the global brands that show up in these places, everything from Gucci to Boots are owned in this country by a large group called Al Shia.  That company leases the space for the various brands for which it has franchises and there are lots.  From fashion to food.  Then Al Shia hires Filipino Staff, sometimes directly and sometimes through manpower companies to be the store assistants.  These people are brought out on contracts for 1 to 2 years, maybe longer and they work in the shops.  It is unheard of for you to go to a shopping centre and be served by a Kuwaiti.  The Filipinos and some from other countries come out here and are accommodated in apartment bulings.  The employer takes huge number of leases over different quality buildings, dormitory style, and puts the staff up there.  

Brushing teeth during Ramadan is a challenge.  Kuwaitis on the whole and the young in particular have good white teeth.  Dental I am told is also quite expensive in this country.  But during Ramadan an observing Muslim may want to keep their teeth clean but be worried about ingesting tooth paste during fasting hours.  The solution is a stick.  A special stick from a special tree that was used by the Prophet.  It is about 6cms long and the end is flayed a little by the user to create a type of hort bristle.  It clearly still looks like a twig or a stick with the nubbly small branch growth removed.  This apparently keeps the teeth clean.  And the breath fresh?  I am not so sure.

 

Ramadan, Kuwait 2011

This is from an email from Michael, about Ramadan, which started at the beginning of August and goes for about a month.

We are at the end of the fifth day of Ramadan.  Ramadan Kareem is what is said but not as often as I would like.  The Muslim population gets a little grumpy and the driving deteriorates to an even worse standard as the lack of food from 3:30am to 6:45pm takes a toll.  Abdul Rahman  went to do Umrah yesterday.  That means headed to Mecca to pray and circle the Holy Kaa'ba. Umrah is when you do that outside the Hajj time.  As Khalid was explaining to me today Mecca is such a Holy place for Muslims that when they go to pray there it is considered 100,000 times more prayerful than anywhere else.  This came up in the context of discussing our investment in Mecca, where to put it simply we own a time share overlooking the al-Haram Mosque, where the Kaa'ba (the black box on the site of the first prayerful place that the prayerful circle, seven times) is placed in the central courtyard.

  Of course we can never go to Mecca as infidels.  People can live in Mecca but Khalid tells me it is very dangerous because based ion the Muslim points system anything good you do is 100,000 times better than if you do it anywhere else in the world and anything bad is likewise multiplied.  Truly a double edged sword for those living there.  Most nights you can turn on the satellite TV and have a live broadcast of Umrah from Mecca.