Week One in the Desert

Well it's hard to believe but we have already been here in Kuwait one week today. It has gone faster and also slower than expected. Strange I know, but in some regards time drags on because we are living in a hotel and trying to fill our long days. And of course in other ways it goes quickly because we are taking care of details such as registering with our individual embassies, etc. Nothing goes quickly here with regards to business.

So we arrived on Monday and made it easily enough through the airport. A bit of a blur for me really as it was shuffle from one spot to another to complete the visa process and collect your bags. But I have to say from the very moment you step off the plane you realize you are in a totally different world not just because of the way people are dressed and the heat but because you are immediately surrounded with people that want to do everything for you. They bring in people from all over the world to do the jobs that they prefer not to do themselves. Most of the workers come from India, Egypt and the Phillipines. Even simple tasks like getting your luggage off the conveyor belt is done by someone else. We never touched anything from leaving the plane until we were put into the Hilton's Mercedes by our driver.

We are staying in a seaside chalet which I know sounds very nice but I have to admit after living in hotels for the last six weeks it really just feels like a big room with a nice view! They delivered all sorts of nice things to us on our first day like flowers, fruit, chocolates and oh, yes, a gold fish. We named him Gil and thought what a cool thing. Unfortunately, when we woke up the next morning Gil was on the bottom of the bowl and apparently fish don't sleep?! A bit sad for me because I was actually looking forward to having a pet for a little while.

We arrived very early Monday morning so when we got to the hotel and rested a little I decided I would venture to the hair salon in the hotel to have my roots done. It was rather nice as I also got a manicure and pedicure at the same time, literally. I had all three of them working on me so it was a little overwhelming not knowing which way to look. It took them two goes at my roots to get them to blonde but they think now they know how to do it for next time! So, when it came time to pay I thought that I would be able to charge it to my room but the salon was not actually included in the hotel. They called Andrew and asked him to bring cash down to clear my account. Unfortunately, Andrew didn't realize that the salon is one place that the women here who wear a burqa can relax and take it off. So when he walked through the door they all started getting upset because a man was seeing them uncovered. I'm sure if we could have understood arabic it would have been a very animated conversation. We considered it a very eventful first day.

The rest of the week has been filled with registering at the embassies, getting our vehicle and just little things day-to-day. We are both trying to get to the thalasso pool everyday for exercise and relaxation. It feels really weird to me not to have a stitching project to be working on but all of my supplies are in the shipment we sent from Texas. It is here and cleared but too big to have delivered to the hotel. But a bit of a switch for us, I now get to sit and watch Andrew stitch his needle point. We went to the shop in Burford, England and bought him a needle point pattern that is a beautiful hound and fox hunting scene. I think it will take him a while as it is 2 foot by 4 foot. We are hoping to be able to start the hunt for a place to live in the next week or two. As I said, nothing happens fast here.

Our week starts on Saturday and ends on Wednesday so we have already went through our first weekend. Not really too much different from a week day. It is the summer vacation time here for the kids so most of the people have left the country to go on their holidays. Everyone keeps saying how quiet it is here and how empty the roads are right now. I think I am lucky to come at this time as it might have been very overwhelming to arrive when things are much busier. The roads for the most part I think just like our highways in architecture. The difference is that everyone drives how they want to instead of what we would be used to. It appears that rules are more of a suggestion than a strict rule!

Oh yeah, if you're curious to know about the heat. It has reached 140 but it really doesn't feel any hotter than Texas to me as the humidity is only about 5-10%. I told Andrew it really reminds me of Arizona. A lot of sand and palm trees and of course sun.