3 weeks in Kuwait
By : Glenda Cunningham
Glenda was here with us @ Joint operations in Wafra for about 3 weeks for doing training. Herewith an e-mail she sent to her friends back home in Memphis, Tennessee, USA about Kuwait. Glenda used to live in Morocco and her job required her to travel a lot, she's been in South America, Europe, Asia and other part of Middle East before. 
I promised to send a message that tells a bit about what it's like to be here in Kuwait so I've tried to write about different topics so you can choose what you would like to know. It's a great experience to be here learning about the country and the culture.
Traditional Dress
I wish I could take more photos to show how they dress but I can't take a photo of anyone without permission. I'm hoping before I leave that I will be able to do so. The men wear crisp white long linen type robes and wear either a red or white headdress of sorts. I asked someone why the difference between the red and the white and it's many reasons. The red is heavier and worn often in the winter more than summer, the white gets soiled quickly in the very hot weather and they must often change it during the day. This means have several clean ones because they are determined that they look fresh and clean. Sometimes it's a matter of personal preference. The women wear a long black robe that drags on the ground, with a black veal that barely makes their eyes visible. The fabric is something that doesn't wrinkle and drapes and flows. The have some with embroidery or even rhinestones along an edge of the front and/or sleeves, but most are plain black. The most interesting part as I understand it is that they have very, very expensive designer clothes, shoes and jewelry beneath. They buy 'brand names only" and there are huge malls here with brand clothing at very expensive prices, and some buy designer clothes.
There are so many foreigners here that there are lots of people dressed in jeans or slacks with shirts so there is a mix everywhere you go whether it's in the street, shopping, or the hotel. Most foreign women like my self cover to the ankle and the wrist for politeness. You don't see tank tops and shorts, but you do see tennis shoes and jeans. We had dinner with one of the people I work with and he brought his wife to dinner. She is Lebanese and her dress was beautiful. She wore a headdress but her face was not covered, but she wore a beautiful white flowing outfit with the most beautiful necklace of rope and beads. She was also very pretty and very, very nice.
Landscape
There are only a few places that have 'green' trees, grass, or an effort at flowers. When you ride down the road there is flat land of nothing but sand. There are huge, huge refineries that you see as you drive down the road. In some cases that is the landscape against the sand. At night they are all lit up and it is quite pretty at that time but during the day it is very industrial looking. They also have large power towers with power lines along long stretches of the road to move power from one isolated area to another, so this is the landscape in the sand along the road as well.
I did see brown and white camels on the side of the road last week, an entire herd with a shepherd, but I didn't have my camera. I've taken it every day since but they've not come back. Also, this is their winter coming, just like us and they are beginning to set up camping places on the side of the road in the sand. It's a huge flat area and they purchase permits for a location on the sand, mark it off with fencing of some kind, and up one or more tents. I understand they stay their for a month, but many bring generators so they can have all the comforts of home such as a TV. They told me that some people move their furniture, rugs, and everything so it's as if they've moved their house. Over the next week there will be more going up so I'll get pictures of those. I would love to see inside but that is not likely to happen.
Food
Initially I was eating in the hotel because I was working so hard, but this last week another woman was in and I had an opportunity to eat some Indian, Lebanese, and Kuwaiti food. It's all very good, but not like Moroccan food I know. I even tasted Arabic coffee (not a brand but a method they use for making it) and I didn't like it at all. It is served in a small glass cup without a handle from a brass or copper pot with a long spout. They pour so the coffee spout is some distance from the pot below so you see the stream of coffee pouring out of the pot and into the cup - very artistic. The coffee looks like tea and is very bitter. I heard I should have eaten dates, then drank the tea so the sweetness of the dates would help the coffee.
Work
The work is quite difficult. The first week was so hard I wasn't sure I would make it through. But like all things, I stuck with it and kept working at it and it's become a bit easier. Now that I have 2 weeks under my belt, I'm much more comfortable with the content, but to meet the needs of this audience I am adjusting the presentations and must make major changes to another module this weekend. Some of the students asked what my name meant and were surprised that I didn't know. It is an important factor here. One even came up to me and said quietly, "I'll tell you what my names means if you don't tell anyone else." His name means 'Clinic" and I found out later that everyone gives him a hard time about it. One guy who was quite funny and insistent that I know what my name means decided it was Greek for 'flower' and called me flower all week. Then decided it was definitely a 'red flower' so that added some humor to the class. He came in to class with the white long robe and red headdress one day and I wish I had asked to take his photo, I know now he would have said yes, but didn't know that at the time.
One of the most interesting things I realized once I arrived is that there are very few Kuwaitis who work. All the positions in the shops, hotel, taxis, maids, etc are held by people from countries like Egypt, Philippines, Srilanka, because they can be hired for very little. Although the country is rich, the working people are paid very little. They leave their families and come here to work and send money home and go home to visit only every year or two years.
Shopping
I met an American woman who works here and is being assigned to Kuwait for a 3 year assignment. She needed to shop for her house so I went with her. We went to True Value and it look just like the US only the prices were MUCH HIGHER. They even had Christmas trees and Christmas decorations.
We also went to the old souk, or market. I bought a couple of things but had more fun just experiencing the place. I took 1 long shot photo and one vendor photo to try to capture the scene but not sure if they came out. I was in a prayer bead store when two Kuwaiti men came in to shop for prayer beads, it was a great experience and have the image in my mind, but could not take a photo.
Value of our Money
I'm going to the "Friday Market" this afternoon and see what they have to sell. They said this is more like a flea market which is good because everything here is very expensive. It's expensive because the Kuwait's have so much money that the prices are normally high, but the US Dollar is weak right and it takes 4 US Dollars to equal One dinar. For example, I went to the grocery store to get some things to keep in the fridge in the room. I bought a few yogurts, a small amount of fruit, some bread, cheese, olives and lunch meat. It was over 13 Dinars which is equal to more than $55 US. Of course the gas is cheap. I asked the price and although I don't remember exactly it was something like $1 for 4 liters. I'm going to ask again and write it down.
Most interesting experiences so far
The day I arrived I exchanged some money at the hotel desk to tip the driver. Later I received a call from the front desk that was so confusing that the desk manager came to my room to explain to me. It turns out that one of the $20 bills I gave him to exchange had a date on it of 1999. They will not accept a bill that is this old. I had to give him another bill with a more current date. I believe I used it later at an exchange place and they took it without a problem, but it was interesting.
At the end of the first week I was walking on the street right next to the hotel in the afternoon. It is very safe with lots of people around, lots of traffic going by and a policeman 10 feet from me. A small Kuwaiti boy in the white robe came up and extended his hand and said hello. He obviously wanted to talk to an American. Unfortunately, he really didn't speak any English. His father came over and I spoke to him because he had some English. He said he was in the city for the day from Saudi Arabia doing some shopping. The border is only 45 minutes away. We talked about the age of his son and where I was from. Then without any preamble, he asked me if I'd like to go to Saudi Arabia with him, even more casually than would you like to have coffee. I said no thank you which he accepted as though it was nothing. We spoke another minute or two and I said good bye. I was astonished as the casualness of the question and the subsequent exchange.
CAMELS
Along the side of the road away from town where there is nothing but large expanses of desert, there can be wild herds of camels. Sometimes there are also herds with a shepherd. However, my driver knew where there were some wild ones and took me out there to take photos. It was great fun. I'll show you lots of photos and tell you the story of how one came right up to me, but in the meantime here is a photo of me on the side of the road and you can see the desert, the oil pipeline and a camel in the background behind the pipe. This was one big camel from the herd that was walking past, with a leader up front leading the way.
I also stopped to have my photo taken with a shepherd of sheep and goats and I'll show you that one when I return as well.
RAIN
Last year there was little or no rain. In the past week or so there were 3-4 days of hard rain and everyone was very, very excited. During my class it started to rain hard enough to hear it inside. One of the students got up, went to the window, opened the blind and when he saw it was raining told the entire class. They were so happy, I had to give a break so everyone could go out and watch it. We also opened all the blinds in the room so while class continued they could see the rain. I have new appreciation for watching the rain.
The not so positive aspect of the rain is what it does to the roads. The sand here is very, very fine and when it gets wet it forms a slippery mud like surface, the effect is similar to black ice. People have to drive very carefully. Their tires dry out over the months of hot weather and when they try to break on the wet roads with sand they skid. They talk about pumping the breaks like we do with ice and snow. The young Kuwaiti boys however, like the fact that you can slide and they take their cars out on the road, drive fast and hit the breaks so they can skid all over the road. It's the scariest thing because it puts everyone in danger. All the other drivers slow down, put on their flashers and try to remain back from them while they do this. I heard that the police finally went down there to try to keep them from doing it.
GULF BEACH
I walked along the beach in the water's edge of the Gulf. I couldn't swim there unless I went in fully clothed, so I settled on rolling up my pants to my knees. The water was very warm and clear. I was walking with one of the male trainers here because I shouldn't walk alone, so it was nice to be able to see it.
CAMPING
This is the 'cool' season and the Kuwaitis go camping but it's not the way we think of camping. First, they go back to their roots by camping in the desert, or in this case, the desert land on the outskirts of town which runs along the sides of the roads. They purchase permits and put up their campsite. The campsite consists of multiple tents, a water tank, a generator, fencing, some have tall poles with lights, and bathroom facility. Some even have camels or sheep/goats. I've heard that many move their rugs, furniture and TVs out there and they stay there for anywhere between 1-3 months. The season began when I arrived and each week there have been more and more tents added along the road. It's quite a site and I'm talking thousands of tents!
You know how I love to take good photos, and I'm very disappointed because my regular camera is too big so I brought John's small camera. It isn't very good so most of the photos are poor quality and some just didn't come out at all. But I've got some and I'll share them so you can get an idea of what many of the things look like. I have not been able to take a photo of the women and men in their traditional dress because they do not like their photos taken. I've tried to get some and will continue but do not have good solid ones that i would like to show you.
Take care, and I'll see everyone soon!
Glenda
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