Decorating Ideas

In an earlier post I mentioned some of the less common furniture and clothing styles that you find in various locations. So to all of my decorating divas out there: Yes, you Joyce! I thought I would share these with you just for inspiration.

Ready for the weekend...

The ladies above are friends of mine from school. From left Tehmina a Pakistani American. She is a US Citizen and has lived in the US for the last 30 years. The lady in the center is Nazren and she is an Iranian American, and the younger girl to the right is Sasha and she is from Minnesota. They are all very nice ladies and a lot of fun!

The work weeks here are Sunday through Thursday and I still really have a hard time with that. I'm always on the wrong day

We had professional learning days the last two days, and they are all the same the world over apparently. My goal is to get what I can out of them. My problem at this point is that it is usually too much information, and I am still trying to digest all of the newness of everything else.

I have been putting in some heafty days and usually don't get home until the evening and work at home until about 10:00. It's a good thing I don't have a tv, or I would probably get less done. My goal is to get things under control now so I don't get back-logged the entire year. Good luck right? Anyway, I try to keep some balance.

A group of us went to the Aware Center last night. It is a non-profit organization that has the goal of promoting positive relations between Westerners and Arabs by organizing social activities and information services related to Arab and Islamic culture. It was started by a woman and her husband . She is American turned Muslim and he is a Kuwaiti Muslim. The Aware Center hosts tours and arabic classes and trips etc. I'd kind of like to go to the camel races just to say I went. While I was there, I was talking to some of the women volunteers and it is interesting because you can ask them questions that you wouldn't just go up and ask someone else.

We got to play dress-up. Yes it was me in the photos, and yes I was smiling. Let me tell you, I am happy that I am not a native of some of these countries. I wouldn't do well with the clothing! I could be a woman in black in this climate for about 2 seconds. In a way though I see why they choose to dress the way they do. No plastic surgery, who cares what you are wearing, bad hair day, put on a few pounds? and sometimes anonymity is nice. From what I can find out, the Abaya and the clothing style has nothing to do with Islam. There is nothing in the Quran that says women must dress this way. It does say they expect women and men to both dress modestly. It is strictly representative of their culture. I believe it's roots are actually in early Byzantine, Christian culture. The traditional dress of nuns of course is very similar.

Muslim women from different parts of the world dress according to the culture in their countries.

One of the girls there was telling me that the sign of beauty in the Arab culture is in the eyes. Maybe that is why that is all some of them choose to show publicly. She was also showing us a lot of the natural cosmetics and natural applications used for various things such as deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes, hair color, coloring for the eyes etc. It was really interesting. They have had thousands of years to be able to discover these uses from a fairly limited environment.

Time Flys When You Are Having Fun!

October 13, 2009

Obviously since I haven't posted for awhile I am either lazy or busy. Rest assured that I am busy! It's pretty hard to get homesick because you have so much that you have to accomplish here at the school, but then when you have a break from school and nothing planned that's when time seems to drag.
It has been a chilly 100 degrees here all week. It is weird because you do get acclimated. It really does feel cooler to me from the insane temps a month ago. I haven't been checking the weather much but I looked today and I was surprised that the temps were still that high! My kids at school ask me to turn the ac off because they're freezing!
More later

I am into my second week back at school

Ramadan is over, Eid is over and now we are back in school until Thanksgiving. Here of course it is some other holiday, but it works out for everyone. The school and work weeks are Sunday-Thursday which takes some getting used to. I am glad to be back at work, because I had too much time on my hands the days we were off. If I had known of other opportunities I am sure I could have filled my days in more interesting ways.

The head of my department who is going on his 8th year here and another lady teacher going on her third year and myself went to four different furniture stores/antique markets on Saturday. We had a really good time.

The things in these stores were really nice and more ethnic. It is fun to see things that are not common at home. I really enjoy looking through the stores and markets that carry items from Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Tibet, India, Afghanistan, etc. While everyone else is at the malls I enjoy looking at things that someone mady by hand. Some of these items are really remarkable!

On the other hand I have also seen some very uncommon furniture, clothing and fabrics at some of the shops and the friday market. I personally find them unfathomable, but someone must buy them or they wouldn't sell them. I will try to include some photos. They look like something out of "Alice in Wonderland".

The girl in the photo is from Africa. I have forgotten her name, but I thought she was really pretty and had an interesting hair style. She of course is trying to get a visa and find her way to the US so she can join up with her brother, but it is very difficult for immigrants to get visas. I guess that is why so many come illegally.

Language classes

Ok so maybe it's time I learned a little Arabic. Who knows, it couldn't hurt could it?

There are a lot of people here who speak English well and some who only speak a very little bit of English, but I speak no Arabic and I am living in an Arab Country, so when someone doesn't clue me in to all of the details I might need to accomplish a particular task then I become frustrated. They speak English don't they? They should tell me everything I need to know ahead of time so that I won't encounter any potential problems. right? Wrong...

I find myself falling into this trap because there are so many people who speak English and there are signs and menus and information in English, but when something isn't spelled out for me then it is like someone else is falling short of the mark instead of me not being able to ask the right questions and to double check everything before I assume all is well.

Today, I take what I belive to be my residence card for Kuwait to the Western Union to wire some money home. The guy smiles and shows me his residence card which is different and tells me I need one like his. I don't know how to get one like his, and by the way, what is wrong with mine? He's pretty tolerant but tells me in his limited English that I have to come back and bring my passport with my work visa or wait until I get a card like his before I can wire money.

So I leave the mall trying to figure out what my id really is. For all I know it is an Insurance card or a fishing license or knows what, because it is all in Arabic and I can't read it.

You really find out what trouble making assumptions can get you into when language barriers are in place. Anyway, the guy at Western Union is probably still laughing because I show up with some ridiculous form of ID and think I am completely official and will be able to accomplish anything I wish to accomplish.

These are the trials and tribulations of living in another culture. Sometimes I am aghast at what I believe to be insensitivities on the part of someone else, but relizing that maybe I myself have been insensitive without even knowing it. I have had to reassess and realize just how grateful I am to that person who went out of his or her way to help me out when they didn't have to, or to the little girl in the mall who seemed to be interested in watching me and rewards me with a big smile amidst a sea of neutral expressions, and the young muslim, girl who strikes up a conversation with me to discover that we have very similar histories, and interests and values, or to the grandmother probably my age, playing with her grandchildren who connects and gives me a nod and a smile, and the cab driver from Bangladesh who tells you over and over America and Americans very good, very nice. You find that you become extremely grateful for these seemingly smallest gestures of kindness. You see you are a stranger in a strange land and it is very important to find the common threads that we share, and focus on experiences that make things ok.

It's probably not a bad thing to remember when people from other places come to my home and my country and they are at a loss for how to navigate the newness of an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar language, and unfamiliar culture. A smile, a kind act are small gestures, but they have huge importance at least for me.

The Corniche

I caught a taxi to the Marina Mall. they have a skywalk that crosses over to the waterfront so I walked along the Corniche to the Scientific Center. It was quite a walk.

When I got there, there were a lot of locals enjoying it. They have several theatres with an Imax and an aquarium inside so it is a good family outing.

It was almost sunset, so it was a good time of day to take pictures. I wish I had a viewfinder because I think I could compose pictures a bit better than looking at the screen in the back.

More Heritage Souk Snaps