Currently Blogging from Bangkok

Huh?

When we got home from work today we were greeted in the elevator by one of the building security guards. He handed us this very nice lamenated notice.

I never would have guessed

Not to be boring and talk about the weather but I just can't help it. Right now it is 2:00 am in New York City and it is 43 degrees and it is 10:00 am here in Kuwait and it is only 36 degrees! I would not have thought it would ever be colder in Kuwait than NYC in December.

The floods of Kuwait

We had a very interesting ride to work this morning. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes instead of the usual ten. Let's just say the drainage system needs a little work in Kuwait. These pictures don't even do it justice. Notice the little bit of the curb that you can still see in the first picture.

Getting in the spirit with our friends' Christmas tree

A Taste of Culture

We got to enjoy a concert the other night. I have to say some live music was a nice change of pace. This type of music was traditionally sung while pearl diving.

Who knew?

A grey, rainy drive to work.

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. On Thursday we had a potluck meal at work and yesterday we had about twelve people over for dinner. Sam, of course, did an amazing job with all the cooking.

I'm a movie star!

Acclimatized

Today it is 70 degrees here in Kuwait and we are all talking about how cold it is! It's funny what you get used to. Just a couple of months ago it was 120 so we are still dealing with a 50 degree drop in temperature. I'm sure everyone back home would love a 70 degree day right about now but I'm actually shivering in my sweater!

Too funny

I love this write up of the Election Night party

In other news

Election Night

The Embassy hosted an event for Election Night. There was a very good turn out and lots of interest in US politics.

Blackout

Today there was a power outage for just about the entire country. A little different than the blackout we went through in NYC last year but it still surprised me that a whole country can lose power and it barely makes the news.

I'd like to see this happen while we are here

There is some real talk going on here about granting women the right to vote. Still no change on being able to run for office but hopefully a step in the right direction. Click here for the story.

Oops

So we had a pretty interesting experience last night. Sam had been out doing the rounds for Ramadan and I had a few people over. When Erica left Sam and I walked on the balconey and Sam shut the door behind us. Normally we always go out on the balconey from our kitchen and you can shut the door behind you but last night at 2:30 am we used the other door, the one we never use, the one that you can't shut behind you unless you want to be locked out on the balconey. So that's what happened, locked on the balconey. Luckily Erica lives right upstairs from us and luckily after about 10 screams she heard us. The first thought was that we could call work and have them come open the door with the extra key but when we lock our doors we keep the keys in the locks so that wouldn't even work. So Erica starts sending tools down tied to string. Then someone realized that Erica has a rescue ladder, that's when things really got scary. Our building manager climbed down this joke of a ladder to our balconey and after about 20 minutes he was actually able to open the door without ruining it in the process. The last thing he said before he left was not to leave our keys in the lock anymore. It sounds pretty funny to me as I am writing this but there were those initial moments of panic where I didn't see how we were going to get off that balconey.

The drop	The damage

Parliament

Sam got to attend the opening session today.

Emotions of the day

It is Ramadan now so things have slowed down quite a bit. Work days seem more quiet, the streets are empty and everything is closed. We are having a much different experience here than we did in Morocco. I feel very out of touch with the holiday here. I remember in Morocco being invited to numerous homes each night to break the fast and just feeling more involved. I won't have that experience once here. The disconnect is very strange. I have felt that way, in a sense, throughout this whole experience but it has definitely been magnified this month. I have to keep reminding myself that we have only been here for four months and that we aren't in the Peace Corps anymore but I really do hope that as time goes on we meet more people and actually spend free time with Kuwaitis. I don't want to be saying the same thing two years from now. Beyond the desire to be more integrated into the culture I actually don't have much to complain about. Kuwait is a very easy place to live and we are settling in nicely.

Since Sam is male his month has been more eventful than mine. He actually goes out most nights for about 5 hours from house to house meeting people so he's tired but in my mind the lucky one right now.

Hmm...

There is definitely not a shortage of strange things to see here in Kuwait. Today we went out for dinner and this is what we found in the parking lot, Red Bull, a biker and a huge TV screen. There were even a couple of people standing on top of cars, I felt like I was at a rumble!

The finer things

Greg the Grill Master	Ribs, YUM!

Arab Organizations Headquarters

Ghosts

Apparently there is a prison here in Kuwait that has a few ghosts, click here to read the story.

Destruction

This is a product of the first Gulf War, The Kuwaitis rebuilt most things but left this oil gathering center as is. Sam will be putting more pictures up on his site soon. Give him a few days and then click here.

The desert

For those of you out there who are wondering if we see a lot of camels over here.
Actually we don't where we are, these are the only ones I have seen in three months.

A really pink house

For the most part there isn't a lot of color in the housing here, but every once in a while you see an area like this.

I made the newspaper

I love that I am part of "the accompanying delegation" and that a woman I just met that night has her arms wrapped around me.

Arab Organizations Headquarters Building

Sam went to a meeting at this amazing building. For more information about the building and its handiwork click here.

You can click on each picture for an enlargement.

Our doom

This is the dreaded camera that catches those who speed. I must admit that we have seen it flash at us once or twice. The rumor on the street is that each ticket is around $100 and that you get your bill when you try to leave the country. Not a bad system for collecting money, you have to pay your bill if you want to leave the country. I'm curious to see what happens when we go to India next month...

Fountains

All over the city they have public water fountains. They are all very decorative and I have been trying to get pictures of all the different kinds that they have. I've only been able to get these two so far.

Around town

	It's really cooling down, only 108 degrees at 11am!
	Our grocery store

Not what I expected

Before coming to Kuwait everyone told us it was a lot greener than one would expect. Even after hearing that I still ended up being surprised, especially by how well maintained it all is. It still makes me laugh to see this kind of thing in the middle of the desert.

Hard Rock Cafe-Kuwait

I've never been one to get too excited about a Hard Rock Cafe, actually I don't think I have ever even been to one. That being said Hard Rock is coming to Kuwait. I think the building looks pretty cool and will probably go just to see what it's like to eat in a glass pyramid right on the Gulf.

Hmm...

Today when we were just driving around we noticed these two cars. They are not the greatest pictures since everyone drives so fast here but you get the idea.

"Women like simple things in the man life"
Can anyone tell me what that means??? I also love the decals of the Amir.

"No women no cry" I like how they made it women

In the news

I feel a little bad about putting these types of stories up about Kuwait because I should be focusing on all of the positive aspects of the country but they are just too funny for me to pass up.

In the news

Olympics

We've been able to watch some of the Olympics on one of the Arabic channels we get. And despite the call to ban women's gymnastics we've seen that the last two nights. Phoebe especially has been enjoying the men's gymnastics.

Another favorite sign

In the news

Sam took a trip up to the border

When you can't get to Coney Island

When Sam and I were living in New York we had a summer tradition of going to Coney Island to play games, especially skee ball. I would have never guessed that we would find skee ball here as well.

In the news

In the news

Update

I'm in my third week of work now and I'm very happy to have more of a schedule to my life. They keep me pretty busy so the days are flying by right now. Working has definitely cut into all that free time I had before so that is taking some getting used to. Sam still works a lot harder than I do but it's nice now that he isn't at work all day while I'm relaxing at home. Seems more fair this way. I haven't had time to start working on my stained glass but I'm hoping once I get back in the swing of a 40 hour work week (remember I haven't worked since the end of March!) I will be able to start some projects.

All in all things are going well for both of us. We continue to enjoy trying all the different restaurants Kuwait has to offer. Eating out has definitely been the summer's number one leisure activity.

Sight unseen

It was interesting to see the Iraqi and Kuwaiti flags flying side by side this week for Allawi's visit.

Waiting for the DVD

Although Farenheit 9/11 was posted as 'coming soon' to theaters in Kuwait looks like it's not going to happen, click here for the story.

And click here to read an interesting article in The New Yorker about documentaries.

Just driving around