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The Kuwait Adventure Diary!
-- Keeping everyone up-to-date on our life in Kuwait --
15 September 2007
Shocking! I am actually updating my diary. I wish I had really good reasons why it has taken so long. I think I will just say that I think I have completed the transition and am now at home here. So let the updating begin...
I decided to just put my comments on this page and have a separate page for pictures. That will help me keep things up a bit more since I don't have to do pictures at the same time. So go to the Kuwait Pics page under out photo pages section. There is also a link at the top of this page.
The biggest difference between my last entry and the current one is that we got to move into a different apartment! It makes all the difference in the world. We are on the top floor (we call it our penthouse!) where we have a gorgeous view of the gulf from most rooms.
The next big change was that we bought our own car. We decided on buying a Ford Escape because it is just the perfect size: not so small we will get bumped off the road and not too big that it feels like we are driving a tank. We have underground parking so we never have to think about where to park. It is very nice.
Which leads me to driving in Kuwait...It is an interesting experience and a big part of our favorite catchphrase: "Inconsistent Kuwait". As driving goes, it is not nearly as chaotic as Cairo, but it is the opposite of Germany orderliness. You just never know when the person next to you will follow the rules and when they will decide to drive in-between two lanes or turn left from the far right-hand lane. You just always have to be prepared for that. Most of our "Oh, I wish I had a camera" moments happen in the car. Yesterday on the way to work there was a grater chewing up the asphalt from the road and it was shooting it into a dumptruck. The fun part is that without any signage or direction whatsoever we were just to drive between them as the asphalt flew overhead. That is what we affectionately call Inconsistent Kuwait.
Keith and I have both received very significant promotions this past month. We are much, much happier in our work. Keith is having a direct impact on the entire Southwest Asia area with his responsibilities and I am doing web development and SQL programming again just as I was in Germany. Keith does have to go on nights for the next two months so we will need to figure out how to make that work.
All four Creiglows were together in New Zealand last month. We had an amazing time and it was just great to be together. See the New Zealand photo page for more info.
And now we have entered into our first Ramadan living in a muslim country. So far it just means that there is absolutely no traffic when we come home. The rules of Ramadan are that you cannot eat or drink, or smoke or have sex from sunrise to sunset (with some exceptions for children and pregnant women). So it is illegal to be seen breaking these rules anywhere off post. So we don't drink anything on the way to work once the sun comes up (which usually happens as we are driving). Absolutely no stores or activities are open during the day for the next month. Everything shifts schedules to be open all evening. Basically, people are sleeping all day (while they are fasting) and they get up in time to go to neighbor's houses and eat. Then they shop and do whatever all evening. So if we drive home at 6pm-ish the roads are all clear because it is right at sunset and everyone is inside eating. But Saturday night we came home later and there was a ton of traffic. We hear it gets really interesting during the 3-day celebration at the end of Ramada so we'll see.
Thanks for reading. Don't forget to look at the picture pages.
--L