When visiting Kuwait, Don't be surprised if......

When visiting Kuwait, people from the United States might encounter a bit of culture shock.  Next week, I will be hosting 2 ladies visiting from the USA. One of them is my mom and the other is a family friend!  Consider this my warning in advance about what NOT to be shocked by when visiting Kuwait.

Horn honking

In the USA, horn honking is considered rude and reserved for times of anger and to warn others of danger.  In Kuwait, the horn honking means hello, goodbye, get out of the way, do you want a taxi, and a host of other things. You will hear horns honking constantly.

this is a typical neighborhood scene

 Trash is all over the place

If countries were houses, and you looked at Kuwait, you would turn it down for lack of curb appeal.  Open fields seem to be the spare garbage dumps of the country.  In the US, we pay taxes for garbage trucks to take away our trash.  Kuwait has not taxes.  Although the country is quite wealthy, the government does not seem to invest much money into keeping streets and fields clean.

3     Malls have revealing clothing

Kuwait is a modest Muslim country.  You may find people dressed in a variety of ways from casual jeans and t-shirts to traditional abiyas and disdashas.  Women who cover only do so when out in public.  In the privacy of one’s home or among female friends, women can wear anything they like. 

4     The Nanny

The presence of nannies in Kuwait is much more prevalent here than in the USA.  Many of my students have one or more nannies who live in their homes.  Expats are allowed to have 1 per household.  Kuwaiti families are allowed to have one  nanny per child in the family.  Nannies often walk alongside parents wearing scrubs and tending to the children in public places. 

5     You might not meet any Kuwaitis

Kuwait has a huge population of expats.  Native Kuwaitis make up only 30% of the population here.  The other 70% comes from other countries like me and the 13,000 other Americans working here.  According to Wikipedia, there are over 500,00 Indians, 450 Egyptians, and 140,000 Filipinos working here among the larger populations.  In the USA, working at fast food restaurants and in retails shopping stores is a teenage right of passage.   In Kuwait, these jobs appear to be reserved for expat and immigrant workers. 

6   Personal Hygiene is NOT universal

I have gotten into some taxis that reek of body odor.  Read the paragraph above.  There are huge cultural differences amongst the people who live here.  Some of these folks don’t use the perfumed fragrances, soaps, and even daily washing habits that we are accustomed to.  Some people are in basic survival mode.  When your basic priority is making enough money to feed and provide shelter for your family, your grocery cart is less likely to contain Dove body wash and deodorant.

7

      Taxis will overcharge you

Drivers often ask wear you are from.  Some of them just want to make conversation and hear your thoughts on Barack Obama.  I have learned that many of them are just deciding how much to charge you.  The meters are usually the best way to get a fair deal.   Don’t brag about being from America.  It drives up the price.  Don’t say that you have been in the country for less than a year.  Anyone who is new and foreign is assumed to be wealthy enough to pay $3-$6 more than the actual price.   Also, you are not expected to tip taxi drivers. 

Ask for a biscuit in America, you will get the item on the left. Ask for biscuits in England or here in Kuwait, you will get the items on the right that Americans call cookies.  Throw in accents when asking for your items, and there is no telling what you will get. 

8     English is widely spoken, but you won’t always understand it

Lots of people here speak English, but it is not a first language for a majority of people that you encounter.  You can ask people to repeat themselves.  I often say “are you saying……” and repeat back what I think they said. Sometimes you will not understand at all.  Just be patient.  We native English speakers are in the minority.   We can hear lots of different accents and languages on any given day.