Kuwait Adventure

Our little trip to Kuwait was pretty easy going. I didn't expect a great adventure or anything. It is one of those countries you go to just to say you've been. It was an interesting country to be sure. The first I ever learned about Kuwait was during the war back in the 90's. I remember hearing a lot about it (I was 8 or 9 then) but I didn't really understand it. Even now, twenty years later, the effects of the war are still felt among the population. They are probably the only country in the Middle East that was in favor of the Iraq War which started in 2003. Not surprising since Saddam Hussein tried to take them over (and killed many people in the process).
Here is a map of Kuwait. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. It was weird to think that we were only a few hours away from Iraq by car. When we arrived at the airport things were a little slow. Kuwait is the most similar country to Saudi Arabia out of all the Middle Eastern countries I have been to (hence the slowness). As we left the airport there was a sign saying "welcome to all our liberation partners" - basically a thanks to all those countries who helped them when Iraq invaded.

Kuwait City is the capital of Kuwait. Kuwait is such a tiny country most of the population lives in or near this city. I thought the city was much prettier than I imagined. They have some nice buildings with some pretty cool designs. The above pic is the view from our hotel room window.

Here is another pic. This is near one of the malls (because this is a Middle Eastern country there are a ton of malls!) This mall was along the coast. We went to 3 or 4 malls in this city because there isn't a ton to do. What did we do at the malls? Watch movies of course! Since movie theaters are forbidden in Saudi we had to take the time to see some good ones. We saw Harry Potter 7.2 while we were here which I have to say was pretty good! Much better than 7.1 which I didn't like much.

Sunset along the Persian Gulf. We walked along the Corniche to kill time waiting for the movie to start.

Here are 3 ladies in abayas enjoying the sea. We have a friend who lived in Kuwait during the 90's and she says that more women wear the abaya now than they did in the 90's. I asked here why this was and she didn't really know the answer. Kuwait is less strict and more friendly to foreigners so they don't take on an extreme strict attitude like Saudi Arabia does.

This is a pretty popular landmark in Kuwait City. These are the water towers near the water park. You can also go inside one of them to view the city. Whenever we went to points of interest in the city they had posted in these places pictures of the destruction during the war. These towers were in pretty bad condition after the Iraqis invaded (as well as the rest of the city.)

Inside the tower.

Chris took this pic of Kuwait City while in the tower. Not bad, though the windows were kind of dirty so it was difficult to get a clear shot of the city.

Here is the Grand Mosque of Kuwait.

A nice Kuwaiti man gave us a tour of the mosque. The inside was surprisingly big compared to how it looks on the outside. As you can see it is very beautiful and spacious as most of the grand mosques we've been to tend to be.

Here I am talking to our guide. He was a great guy. He has frequently been to the U.S. and even studied there during the 70's. I asked him if people were nice to him. He said they were not. He lived in a small town in either Oregon or Washington. He lived there during the Iran revolution in 79 when Americans had a pretty extreme hate towards Ayatollah Khomeini. This caused a lot of animosity towards Muslims in America despite the fact that he was neither Iranian nor a Shi'a Muslim. Despite this I think his feelings were more positive to the U.S. as he goes there frequently. He does believe there is a moral degradation going on there as people seem to be less church going these days.

Here are some men doing construction on the inside of the mosque. Our guide told us that even today, 20 years later, there are still cracks and things in the mosque from during the war. I asked our guide if he was in Kuwait when Iraq invaded. He said he was and that he and his family fled to Qatar until the end of the war.

Here is the "Westerners Perception of Islam Centre" which is a part of the Grand Mosque complex.

Here is the Kuwait House for National Works - Not to Forget Museum. This museum is dedicated to the war crimes commited against the Kuwaiti people. It was a very interesting and eye opening place.

When we arrived at the museum we told them we were from America so they got us some English speaking guides. They were four girls probably around 14 or 15. Their English skills were okay but the best part was that they were competing to say whatever they could in their best English, even when the automated voice was talking they would try to talk over it. Chris and I were impressed that these girls were here working in this museum learning about their country's history. They were born after the Persian Gulf War of course. At one point one of the girls said "I hope you understand what we say" I assured them that we did. It was refreshing to be in a country where we could talk to women (or teen girls in this case) in a competely innocent situation without people being paranoid about it. I often find it ridiculous that men are supposed to ignore women like they don't exist because of some crazy fear that they might do something inappropriate. A simple smile or hello to a woman in Saudi Arabia could be seen as a come on. As we continued the museum had many pictures of those killed during the war and the heroic men and women who fought against the Iraqis. They also had some horrifying pictures of men and children badly disfigured in the war. They were very graphic(sp?). There was one part dedicated to the destruction that Saddam Husein caused not only in their own country, but other countries, including his own. It was pretty disturbing to see it all.

Here I am in front of a toppled statue of Saddam. Throughout Iraq there were various statues of Saddam Hussein. You might recall that famous picture or video of them pulling down one of the statues. These statues now reside in various museums. I think there are 9 or 10. The Americans gave one of these statues to Kuwait and here it is. They absolutely detest this man. It was weird because Saudis tend to really respect him, which I find odd since their own country also helped fight against him during the Persian Gulf War. Many suspect he might have tried to take a part of Saudi Arabia had he succeeded. One of the battles fought during that war was even in a Saudi town.

The cool space needle like tower behind me is Liberation Tower. A very popular landmark in the city.

The above house is basically the Kuwaiti equivalent of the Alamo. Kuwaitis held off the Iraqi troops from this place. This neighborhood was practically destroyed. Though the neighborhood is rebuilt today, they left this house as a reminder of what happened.

Here is Chris and I in front of a tank. I don't know if the tank is Iraqi, Kuwaiti or other. It was a short trip, but very educational. It is always nice to see a new country and a new people. I enjoyed my time there, but a word of warning for those of you who might go there someday -- The taxi drivers will try to rip you off!

Student Life

I just got back from a little vacation in Kuwait but I will write about that later. I've been getting behind in my blog lately. I feel like I have only been writing about my vacations and not as much about life in Saudi and with my students, which is the main reason I'm here right? I have about 7 days left of teaching and then I'm completely finished. It will be nice to get get home, but it will also be kind of strange not to be surrounded by a bunch of Saudis and teaching them. Below is a picture of one of my two very talented classes.

This is my first class. One of the students made a metal plate and hung it outside our class. It says "Leader Class." I had no idea one of my students made it until recently. I thought it was just up from some unrelated teacher or class. I have to say, I do think they are the leader class. They have the highest grades and speaking ability. They are a talented group. Chris tells me that his students are constantly cheating in school but as far as 4 teachers who have taught these guys can tell - they don't (probably why their English is so good). Cheaters never prosper. Not only that but I really do get the feeling they love to learn which makes me happy. They are always pretty energetic even when we are doing work of a more boring nature. They love to cheer for the most mundane things.

Working hard!

The student in the back of this picture is actually the brother of a man I taught last semester. Both great students (except this one comes more often). The one in the middle is the "president" of the class. We don't really have a president, but that is what everyone calls him.

Here is the picture of our Academic Coordinator (manager). He took a dying program and turned it into something pretty good. It is because of him that we have experienced relative calm and peace this semester. Our school has been a dream, especially compared to some of the others!

Some of the teachers in my rotation were gone last week, so here is a pic of Chris teaching one of my classes, while I taught the other. Chris basically said my students are so wonderful because of me and my incredible teaching skills.....okay, not really (but he was thinking it!)

Here is my second class. I don't know why but these guys are so much smaller than my first class. They are pretty funny, especially the guy in the white shirt (center, front row). They are a lot quieter than my first class! The personalities of my two classes are competely different.

Alright, so last weekend my first class invited Chris, Jared, Dan, and myself to their estrahah. My students ask me what the English word for estrahah is but I tell them there isn't any because we don't have such a thing. Basically it is a house that a group of friends will rent together as a hangout spot. This is because you usually don't hang out at your friend's family's house because you might see the mothers or sisters. So anyway, we went. The above picture is Jared playing video game tennis with one of my students.

Here is a picture of the little estrahah. It also has another little hangout room like this, a small swimming pool, and a field for football. Many Saudi guys in their 20s have something like this.

The above pic is of my student playing the guitar. He loves the guitar. He is probably the first Saudi I have ever seen play a musical instrument because music is considered evil by some in this society. Even though many Saudis listen to music, playing music in public is still taboo. You never know if the religious police will come and stop you. He was pretty good. My student's guitar hero is Slash by the way.

Here are the guys playing football. They are pretty obsessed (as most Saudis are.....or rather most people who are not from the United States are.)

The guys made us dinner when we were there. It was pretty good. The funny thing is we didn't eat dinner until 1:00am, which is actually pretty normal in this country because Saudis are such night people.

Just relaxing and talking about life. It was pretty fun.

We met at 4:00pm and we were there until 3:00am. Also not unusual for these kinds of things. When Saudis get together it seems like it is a whole day kind of thing.

Good food. Good times. We played football, videogames, talked, ate food, basically the same things we do in the US. Below is most of the group from that night but some had to go home before we took the picture.

Time Games (One Month Left)

Time is a strange thing. I was talking to a friend on facebook the other day and I told her it felt like it was only a week ago that I was talking to her in her house. On the other hand I don't think I've ever had a slower period of my life than the first semester I spent here in Saudi Arabia. Some days are slow, some are fast. Its crazy, but one thing is for sure, my last few weeks are going to fly by (I only have 3 weeks of teaching! I just finished typing my final test today!).

I have to say the summer isn't nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. Sure, it is hotter than what I'm used to the in US, but it's manageable. It is usually 115 degrees around here and granted, sometimes it is hard to breath the air, especially because we've been having a number of dust storms lately which are no fun to walk in, but they've gotten us a few days of shortened school. It almost makes me wish we had them more often!



Awhile back I gave my students an assignment to write about the differences and similarities between man and women in the US and Saudi Arabia. It was pretty fun reading what they had to say. Some of it would be pretty sexist compared to the US, but keep in mind, this is a very different culture with a very different mindset. I'll share a few things they wrote:



"In Saudi Arabia, the men are hospitable which means they can invite people to dinner from the first day they meet them. Unlike the Americans, they don't invite anyone over until they know them very well."



"Saudi men like to get together and go to more than one place, but American men like to stay in one place. Men in the K.S.A. like to get married at a young age, but men in the U.S.A. like to get to know the girl before they get married."



"Most similar thing between women in America and women in Saudi Arabia is about shopping. They love to shop almost everyday, including shopping online and shopping at the mall. I think both of them treat shopping like a job."



"Men help women with housekeeping (making food) in America, but in Saudi Arabia women don't do this. When women turn 21 years old they don't need their parents permission in America, but in Saudi Arabia women need their parents permission until they get married."



"Saudi Arabia women can't work or talk with men but in the US they can. In Saudi Arabia women can't travel without her father or her husband."



"Its okay in US to socialize with girlfriend but in KSA it is forbidden. And the other thing is the drink habit, its permissable in the US but in KSA it is also forbidden."



"When the boy is 18 old he can go out without his parents permission. But in the Saudi Arabia the boy can't do that."



"American women are free to wear any clothes, but women here should wear hijabs (the face veil) and abayas. Women in America can drive cars, but in Saudi they can't."



"Women are smarter than men. How? In my opinion, in the KSA women have a job, and she can take care of her children, and her husband, and she can cook. All this in one day."



Those are just a few of the things. Some were funnier and perhaps a little more offensive (but still funny). The way people understand and perceive the world here is completely different from what we in the US are used to.



So, below are a few random pics of my most recent adventures. About a month ago a new Dairy Queen opened up on the most popular street here in Riyadh. I am extremely happy about this. Its one of the only places I can get peanut butter cups in Saudi from the peanut butter cup blizzard. It was especially nice because it was some of the fastest service I've gotten in this country. It also happens to be the largest Dairy Queen in the world. We learned this when we first went there and ran into one of the head DQ guys from Toronto. He told us all about it.

Here is Chris and I in front of the largest DQ in the world. It doesn't look as big from the front, but it is. It can hold over a hundred people (I think over 200) The top floor is for families (single men are not allowed to eat with families for fear that they will hit on the women).
This is Najd Village. A traditional Saudi restaurant. It is very cool and designed like old buildings from a century ago. The inside is also designed like old Saudi homes. We went here with some of our good friends here in Saudi.

My pics didn't turn out too good on the inside but here we are all sitting on the floor eating camel and lamb kappsa (kappsa is some kind of meat with rice).

Some more shots of the other people in our group.

This was kind of like our farewell dinner. They got Chris and I a card and signed it. Its nice to have friends! The food and the company was excellent. That is all for now.

The United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi

I remember as a boy watching a particular episode of Garfield where he mailed a cat he hated (Nermyl) to Abu Dhabi. I remember thinking as a boy how silly a name that was. It couldn't possibly be a real city right? Well, it is. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and a pretty nice city as well. It isn't quite as impressive as Dubai, but definitely well worth a visit. The first thing we did when we arrived was go to Sheik Zayad Mosque. Zayad was one of the Shieks who unified the Arabs in this country. The Mosque they built is pretty incredible. It is hard for me to decide what mosque I like the most - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque or this one.

Here is a picture of the mosque. It is fairly large. This mosque has many garden and flower designs which is kind of unique for a mosque, or at least the mosques I've been to. Mosques usually don't have much in the way of pictures.

Another view of the mosque. We had to go in the morning during tourist hours. We also had to wear long sleeve shirts to be conservative and respectful. The women who visit much cover their hair.

Here I am in front of the mosque.

I love getting pictures of the women in the abayas. It gives you a nice picture of how people live in this part of the world. However, unlike Saudi Arabia, women are not required to wear these if they don't want to. The Emirates is an interesting mix of very modern, and what many Westerners would consider old fashioned.

Here I am in front of the Mihrab. I love the wall because it contains the many different names of God. I think there are 99. You can see the flower designs on the carpet. This picture doesn't really give you a good idea of how large the room is.

Here is Chris and I. You can see the awesome chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

For all you Mormons, there was something about the design of this mosque that reminded me a lot of the temples. It is very impressive - again, I think it is one of my favorite mosques. I'll have to go and look at the pics of the other mosques I've been to and compare.

The outside court. You can see the flower designs in the marble and an Arab family coming to pray.

After the mosque we drove around the city for awhile looking for a place to pay Chris's fine for his car wreck. We couldn't find a place so we had the car rental company pay it by taking it out of his security deposit. The above gateway leads to the Palace hotel. It is very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it really was a palace in the past or if it is just a name.

Just a random view of the city. It was a pretty hazy day so a lot of my pictures didn't turn out very well.

The above picture may seem kind of strange. It is a picture of Ferrari World. Ferrari World is an amusement park based on the cars. It is very impressive looking. The park itself is very much for little kids. Most of the rides are kiddie rides but there are many Ferraris scattered throughout the park for car lovers.

Entering Ferrari World!

I wish I could take one of these home with me.

Despite the many children's rides, Ferrari World has the fastest roller coaster in the world. I'm not kidding when I say it is pretty crazy!

Here is a picture of my hair after going on the world's fastest rollercoaster. Chris and I went on this ride twice and we were lucky enough to be in the front seats the second time (they made us wear goggles that time). The roller coaster goes from 0 to 150 miles per hour in 5 seconds (that is very very very fast!). It is a very intense feeling. When the coaster takes off you can't even make a sound. I remember trying to make some kind of noise but I wasn't able to do so. The ride is only about a minute and a half but it is a rush.

Chris and his girlfriend above. Our trip to the Emirates was pretty good although the car wreck did kind of put a dark spot on some things. We drove back to Dubai after this (only a little over an hour) and headed to the airport. Usually when Chris and I go back to Saudi we brace ourselves for the welcome back at the airport. However, this time we were very fortunate to run into some of our good friends the Hansens, who we know from Saudi. They were coming back from Ohio and happened to be on the same plane as us! Its a pretty small world. That made coming back to Saudi kind of nice.

It is hard to believe I only have three and a half weeks of teaching left! Yet we still have one more trip to go. Soon we will be going to Kuwait so stay tuned for that.