first week

My first week in Kuwait

this week's forecast

The Weather

Well, It’s hot! I knew that it would be. The high temperatures are not a surprise, but the feel of the intense heat still surprises me every time I walk outside.  Thankfully, it is not humid.  A  friend with experience has suggested that I use an umbrella when walking outside to protect me from the sun.  Honestly, I am only outside when walking from one air conditioned building to the bus or car which is air conditioned as well.  A few days ago I looked at our beautiful playground and asked my coworker a stupid question: “We have to stand outside with them during recess don’t we?”  This is not because I don’t want to supervise my students at play.  This is because a recess at 118 degrees seems like more of a punishment than a reward.  I think our recesses will start in 10-12 minute stretches while the teachers are becoming acclimated to being outside.  By the way, my school’s facilities are incredible.  I will share more about that in a future post. 

Safety and Transportation

I am using universal precautions regarding safety.  I haven’t ventured out alone beyond the block that I live on.  We have been advised to use the buddy system.  My two main locations are work and home.  The school has a full security team and my apartment building has a security guard 24 hours a day.  I didn’t have this much protection in the USA.  I’m more concerned about things like making sure I can remember my building address correctly to tell a cab driver than being mugged.  There are no street names here.  You describe your location with block numbers and landmarks. 

The main form of transportation for me has been a bus.  Everyone in my apartment building and the building next door works for my school.  The school has busses waiting outside for us in the morning for work and brings us home after work.  We have a schedule for going grocery shopping and to the mall. This bus service continues throughout the school year.  We have been given names and contact information of reputable drivers to call when we want to run personal errands or take a trip somewhere.  Taxis are not expensive.  Apparently bottled water is more expensive than gas in Kuwait.  Remember, this is an oil rich country. 

My general impression of Kuwait

After a week, I still feel like a tourist.  I look out of the window during bus rides and stare.  There are lots of high rise buildings here.  It seems that a majority are brown or gray.  I feel like they are designed to blend in with the sand.  I have also seen beautiful homes.  Sometimes we ask one another whether they are single family dwellings are a palace.  The citizens of Kuwait possess a lot of wealth and it shows.  Some of the mosque are beautifully designed as well. Even the homes and mosque seem to fall into this dull color scheme.  I miss color. 

my new city

This house looks like a palace.  I feel like singing "A Whole New World" and waiting for  Aladdin and Jasmine to come out on a magic carpet

nice house. Boring colors.  There are more trees here than I thought there would be.  That makes me happy!

I have not had a difficult time finding the things I need in local grocery stores or the mall.  This is a very modern society. I am adjusting to the many languages spoken around me.  I am adjusting to the sound of the call to prayer from the mosque across the street. Sometimes Kuwait seems to be a study of contradictions.  I had read that it is common to see trash thrown around here, and that is true.  I have approached lovely buildings and seen a field of discarded trash nearby.  It is not an dumpyard.  It seems that passers by have just thrown their empty bottles and cups on the ground. 

  

I have a feeling that my view of Kuwait is just a starting point.  Right now I am in a protective expat bubble.  I live, shop and work amongst coworkers.  Even the native Arabic speakers that I have met are not Kuwaiti, but coworkers who have moved to Kuwait from surrounding countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.  That being said, I am having a really positive experience and look forward to what else is to come. 

Oh, I almost forgot.  I wrote this blog entry around 4AM. I woke up around 3:30 this morning and the call to prayer was sounding outside. Jet lag might be the worst part of moving to a new country.  I rarely sleep for more than a 4 or 5 hour stretch.  That means that I am quite tired a lot of the time.  This is supposed to balance out by the end of a couple of weeks.  I sure hope that is the case for me.