There is rain in the desert! I was dismayed this morning when I woke up to hear that I had missed an ever so brief episode of rain. However, Serena and I were excited to say the least when we heard thunder after lunch today and looked out to see the first drops of rain! It only lasted a few minutes, but we soaked it up ;)
Here’s some video evidence, complete with Serena’s squeals of joy!! Enjoy!
As I’d heard before coming to Kuwait, this is a country that unfolds slowly to newcomers. Thankfully, I’ve met lots of great people here so far who have helped to open up some of the cool experiences Kuwait has to offer. Amongst the best and most recent was a dance party in the desert. My roommate, Serena, and several of our friends rented a bus to drive out into the desert, to a location about 20km from the Iraqi border. We arrived at dusk to a group of buildings that had been heavily bombed during the invasion of Kuwait. It was a surreal experience to stand in a place that had been in conflict in my lifetime. It was also crazy to be standing out in the middle of a fairly decent desert.
The party was complete with a DJ and light projectors (although these did go down for a bit in a short blackout), with a dance floor on the cracked cement slabs that made up the floor of what was once an intact building. One downfall of a party in the desert on a humid, windy night was all the sand. Every time the wind picked up I was invariably caked in sand.
One fairly unusual sight compared to parties back home was the gas plumes lighting up the horizon from the oil fields along the border. This one was definitely a new and very refreshing experience for me compared to all the shopping malls and fast food around me here.
I’ll end with some photos, courtesy of Serena. Enjoy!
The adventure for this week was a trip to the Souk Al Mubarakiya. Basically it’s a big market with everything from fruit and fish to clothing and kitchenware. It reminded me a lot of markets I’ve visited in the Mediterranean with crowded, garage-style stalls, goods stacked to the ceiling, and all varieties of smells mingled in the air. It was a great place for people watching as well. Crowds of men seems to appear around shops and then disperse at random intervals. I never did figure out the rhyme or reason for these curious flash mobs. Five-minute sale, perhaps?
On the whole, there were lots of men (many of them wearing the traditional dishdasha), not too many women (most of them wearing the abaya and/or burqa). I had to be careful where I pointed my camera, as it is considered very taboo to take photos of Arab women in traditional dress. I found lots of other subjects for my photos though. One of the more interesting elements of this souk, which differentiated it from the European markets I’ve seen, was a series of sprinklers at one entrance that spray you with a fine mist of water. Great solution to the heat!
The souks don’t usually open until after 4pm, I’m guessing that’s due to the heat at the moment, so we had a wander through the market before having a delicious meal at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant my roommate had been to previously. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m loving the food here! And this was no exception. Now that payday has come, I expect I’ll be having many more food adventures this week!
I’ll leave you with some parting photos of the Souk Mubarakiya. Enjoy!
McDonald’s is everywhere
Apparently this is the oldest pharmacy in Kuwait (still in operation now)
The sprinklers
The Liberation Tower
The aforementioned “delicious food”
Another week has passed, and another weekend has arrived. It’s been a busy week at work with Meet the Teacher evening taking place mid-week, and finishing the week with the arrival of my first full-on cold of the school year. This weekend will most likely include a visit to the pharmacy to check out Kuwait’s offerings in the way of cold medicine.
Based on this week’s title, you may be expecting a post related to the high prices in Kuwait. However, this week’s story is about a curious little happening at work, and is in reference to another kind of sticker entirely.
In my classes I’ve made charts to reward good behaviour. Everyday I put little star stickers next to the names of students who have been particularly good during the class. The kids are always very eager to get a sticker, and some can get quite upset if they miss out for poor behaviour. At the end of the week, one student who has been exceptionally well-behaved gets to choose a toy from “The Mystery Cow Box” (thusly named for the black and white print on it that looks like a dairy cow, and the fact that only the winners can look inside). The addition of a toy has made for quite a competition amongst some of my students who want to get the most stickers every week and get a peek inside that box.
I started noticing this week that some of the stickers seemed to be missing from names I distinctly remembered putting them by. I figured maybe I was imagining things, and replaced the missing stickers. Today everything came into focus after one of my classes left and I saw that one girl’s name suddenly had a sticker on every day of the week. This was particularly suspect because I hadn’t actually put up the stickers for today so she was the only one with a Thursday sticker. Not to mention the fact that I’m pretty sure she only had two stickers to start with. It also happened that her spot in the line-up order stands her right next to the chart at the end of every class. I had a little chuckle as I was taking down this week’s stickers to start fresh next week. Kids are crafty. And smart! This little girl must have thought this was her sure-fire way to a toy from the Cow Box.
These kids can definitely be a handful, but they can be very sweet and they sure do make me laugh at times. Who knows what my little darlings will have in store for me next week! Here’s hoping this cold clears up so I can enjoy all their quirky moments! Until next time :)
As I’m getting to know Kuwait, I’m finding many highlights along the way. And one of the definite perks is the abundance of great food! For such a small country, the range of restaurants available is surprising. The recent favourite in the apartment is Lebanese. On average, the prices at restaurants here are higher than I’m used to, but very little is produced in Kuwait and the prices likely reflect the cost of importing goods. Despite the cost, my roommates and I have been making a weekly purchase for take-away. In particular, I’ve been enjoying the range of Lebanese salads, such as fattoush. Although the apartment comes with a great kitchen (a bonus after my miniature kitchen in Japan), and it’s been fairly easy to find all the ingredients for home cooking, I’m looking forward to exploring more of the culinary offerings of the Middle East.
One of my personal highlights this week was another trip to the waterfront in Salmiya for shopping, and lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe with my roommate and her friend. Although the afternoon heat is still a little too intense to go walking along the waterfront, I got a sneak peak of the beach and a great walking trail that I will no doubt make good use of when the Fall weather arrives.
And of course, here are some photos as promised. Enjoy!
Hard Rock Cafe, Salmiya
Salmiya waterfront
Jet skis
More waterfront
The beach
Streets of Kuwait
Good morning from Kuwait! It’s officially the weekend here and I’ve finished my first week of work with the kids! I have 3 lively groups of kids who rotate hourly between my English class and their Maths and Arabic classes. I must say I was surprised and excited when I learned that Reception classes are capped at 18 kids, after my time in England where most classes topped out at 30 kids, but 18 kids, in a completely ESL environment, keep me on my toes just the same!
Although this isn’t my first year of teaching, it is my first time having my own class and I’m definitely enjoying that. My classes are adorable, even the naughty kids are ridiculously cute and tiny. One of the more rambunctious boys in one of my classes reminds me daily, “Teacher, I love you!” Of course there are challenges inherent in teaching abroad and teaching ESL, but I love a good challenge!
Unfortunately I don’t have any new pictures to share today. My free time this week has been filled with many dips in the pool, watching a ridiculous amount of TV with my roommates, and several trips to the local Starbucks. I’ll try for some photos next time. Until then, chao for now!
Well, the first week of work is finished! And although my kids don’t start until this coming week, it was a busy one. My biggest task of the week was setting up my classroom. I was a bit overwhelmed at first, walking into a fairly bare classroom and trying to figure out how I was going to make it presentable by the end of the week. But thankfully, with the help of my classroom assistant (and a lot of creative thought), we managed to get all the necessary bits up and even make things look half-decent in the process.
The other part of my week was doing cover work for a Year 1 class. This being my first experience with Kuwaiti kids, I had a few observations. First, some of these kids are super-cute and obviously get away with absolutely everything at home. That ended pretty quick, with the help of the broken-record approach. Also, kids here seem to have a much smaller personal bubble than back home and in England. On several occasions I noticed a child playing with another child’s hair, or at one point patting another child’s face. In each case, the child being touched was usually sitting nicely and paying perfect attention to the lesson. I can’t help but recall numerous occasions where I’ve had students screaming bloody murder because someone simply sat too close to them. Despite the fact that I obviously won’t be hearing those same cries from children here, I still put a stop to the distractions.
And now I’m anxiously/excitedly awaiting the arrival of my own classes next week!
Now to the pool business… there is indeed a pool in my building! One of my roommates took me on a quick tour of our building to see the outdoor patio/pool area the other day. During the afternoon on the weekends it’s usually filled with screaming and splashing children. But I managed to have a relaxing swim the other night, once the temperature had dipped below 40C. I have a feeling I will be making good use of the pool in this hot weather!
Before my swim, I went on a rather adventurous walk to find the seaside. Those of you who know me well will know of my love for oceans, lakes and all things water. A visit to the water was inevitable. However, the area around the water is fairly built up with hotels and such, so I took a little detour down a side road and between some buildings (probably not where I was supposed to be…) and finally found a little slice of beach. I snapped a few photos, and here they are. More to come next weekend! Enjoy!
The outside of The Springs (my apartment building)
Building on my walk to work
The walk back home
Interesting building along the water
A little slice of beach!
