To say that the last two days have been exciting yet hectic would be an extreme understatement. As always, I have so many things to blog about, but when I finally get the chance to sit and reflect, I hardly remember a thing. I need to start a little tablet of things to help me remember stories. I'll do my best this time. Bare with me...it might be a long one with very few pictures.
I had so many things planned to do the weekend before I headed out of the country. Friday I went to one last Wylie football game to see some students that insisted on me going. I got to see a few of them, but not nearly as many as I wanted to see. After that, I headed to improv where I was called up on stage and they did a 30 minute improv of my life. It included Tom Bean, cowboys, grimlins, Full House, Kuwait and who knows what else. It was quite entertaining! As soon as I get the video, I'll share it with you guys. Saturday I enjoyed one last brunch and headed off to a birthday party. I had so many other plans Saturday and Sunday before I headed out, but instead I took a nap after the party and slept until Sunday morning around 9. I normally don't allow sleep to ruin plans, but this time it was completely out of my control. I had officially overworked myself. I ended up waking up only to get food and finish packing up. I headed to the airport around 1:30 for my flight at 4.
When I got to the airport, my parents were there to help me get everything in the airport and checked in. I ended up having to move a few things around to make one of my bags under 50lbs. I sat and visited with my parents for a bit before I had to go through security to get this trip started. I boarded the plane for my flight to Chicago. When I got there, I had a 4 hour layover. I spent most of it trying to get in as much internet/call time as possible before I left the states for 10 months. I had no idea what my situation would be when I got to Kuwait, so I wanted to take advantage of the time I had.
For those of you who know me, you know that being nervous, worried and scared are things that seldomly happen to me. I'll tell you that when I boarded the Turkish Airlines plane in Chicago, I unknowingly was at least the first two. It was one of those planes with a middle row and I was smack dab in the middle of two very much grown men who had not yet discovered deodorant, or at least failed to acknowledge that they were in need of some. I started wondering if this middle eastern world was really for me. I have a perfect life in Dallas - great friends, close to family, something to do any minute of the day, a comfortable life that I'm use to and a currency that I relate to. A part of me wanted to take the money I set aside for this trip and buy a return flight back. Instead I took the complimentary eye covers, put them over my eyes and cranked up my "home" playlist on my Ipod. I fell asleep off and on for the first 8 hours of the flight. The last two and a half were spent nibbling on breakfast that was served (I didn't have much of an appetite at this point), and watching the movie 127 Days on the screen on the back of the seat in front of me. It was really cool. It had about 50 movies you could choose from, music, email, texting, video games and more. It even had a map that you look at to track the flight, and a video camera to watch from the cockpit. That was new to me. I watched us land from the screen. When I landed in Istanbul, there were no tunnels for the planes to pull up to. Instead they bring a ladder to the back door and you get out and jump on an overpacked bus which took you to a terminal after dodging a few luggage cars driving on the tarmac. My ticket for Kuwait didn't have a gate number on it and I wasn't completely sure if I needed to get my passport stamped if I was just flying through, so after a few conversations with major language barriers, I had my questions answered. I had another 4 hour layover, but this time I was in a country to which I had never been. I ventured off to some duty free shops, sat down at a starbucks, checked some emails and of course updated my facebook.
When it came time to board the plane, we had to all go through security. I had never seen individual security stations at every gate, so that was new. We boarded at 10:30pm and it was only a 3 hour flight. I sat next to two pretty interesting people. One guy was from Iraq but has lived in Los Angeles for the last 20 years and was going to Kuwait to visit friends, then go to Iraq to visit family. The other guy was from Columbia and decided to try to work overseas as an engineer about 30 years ago and has been doing so ever since. He has worked in several places, but to name a few - Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, France, Egypt, Dubai, Venezuela and now Kuwait. He was on his way back from a month vacation in Spain and Greece with his son who goes to Baylor! He gave me his card and told me to contact him if I ever need anything. He gave me some pointers and showed me a map to help me understand how to get around Kuwait. We both got a glass of wine on the plane in honor of not being able to have any over here at all. It's funny how you end up by the most interesting people. Never pass up an opportunity to meet someone. You never know who they are.
When we landed in Kuwait, I helped my new friend with some luggage and headed to the baggage claim area. There were 3 other teachers on the plane with me, so we stuck together when we landed. I started loading up my things on a cart, but couldn't find one of my bags. Like I've said before, I don't worry much. I was calm, probably mostly due to 27 hours of traveling, and walked to the counter to declare my lost luggage. It was nowhere to be found, so I just went through customs and headed out. My uncle was there to greet me along with some people from the school. It was great to see a familiar face in such an unfamiliar place. After we all introduced ourselves, we loaded up on our bus and headed to our apartment. When I got to mine, it was stocked with some food and water to last a few days. I took these pictures the next morning to give you guys an idea of my living quarters for the next 10 months.
I woke up this morning and cooked some eggs and toast. My stove runs on a propane tank, so I have to light it every time I use it. I prefer gas stoves, so I'm ok with it. I just have to remember to turn off the tank when I'm done. :)
I made eggs and toast. I had poorly planned and failed to realize that my kitchen was not equiped with a spatula or a toaster. I flipped these eggs with a large spoon and a fork.
I cooked the toast in the pan... It didn't turn out too shabby considering the circumstances.
This is the most uncomfortable bed I've ever encountered. It's definitely going to need some work. It's a pretty small room, but it works.
This is a view from the corner. I went to buy hangers today and they're so expensive! I'll be folding a lot of my clothes.
My apartment is on the 9th of 10 floors in my apartment building. Notice there's not a window in the way here. I can open it up all the way without a screen. It freaked me out at first.
You can see hwy 40 here. I was really impressed on how nice the roads are. On that note, the bus filled up on the way to the airport to get my lost bag and he paid 4.500KD (approximately $14) for 74 liters. Now we know why they're all rich here. They're totally banking on America's demand for their oil.
My humble kitchen. Pay attention to the detail. I have marble countertops. There's a water filter on the wall and a key on the refrigerator...just in case I want to lock it up. It's ridiculously small also.
This is a view from my kitchen looking at my dining room and part of my living room.
These are the outlets here. The first thing I bought at the mall today was a converter. You also have to flip a switch on all the outlets for them to work.
...and this is my living room. This is before I went to the basement and rummaged. I got a little laptop stand to use while sitting on my couch. In fact, I'm using it now.
I turned the tv on this morning and 30 Rock was on. It was in English with Arabic subtitles. It made me laugh.
After breakfast and a little nap, I met up with a few other teachers to go to the mall to get a few things. We took a cab to the Avenue Mall. Side note: if you're a female and ever cab it in Kuwait, never get in the front seat. It's not allowed. My Uncle David met us at the mall and was a ton of help! He helped us with questions about internet, where to find the cheapest groceries, what to do about cell service, and he gave us a ride back to our apartment. He also met me at the airport with a cell phone, which helped so much. He's been such a blessing these first couple of hours in Kuwait. Thanks Uncle David! We got hungry while we were shopping, so where did we eat? Yeah, that's right...Applebees. 90% of the restaurants at the mall were American. I also got some much needed Starbucks at one of the six that are at the mall.
We were leaving a grocery store in the mall and my Uncle David told us to take the carts down this escalator flat ramp thing. We eventually trusted him when he said the wheels would lock in the ramp and the cart won't move. It was awesome! In the back is a couple I met today, Krystal and Nick. Alexis is pushing our cart. We have been talking on facebook for a few weeks, so it was good to finally meet and put a face to the name. Getting off the ramp was kind of like getting off an escalator for the first time...kind of awkward. The ramp led right into the parking lot, and off we went!
As soon as I got home, I immediately plugged my computer in and connected to the world. It's great to be back! I skyped with my mom for a while. If you have a skype name, add me! My skype name is on facebook. After that, I went downstairs to meet up with the welcoming committee to hitch a ride back to the airport to get down to the bottom of the lost bag situation. On our way to the airport we hit some really bad traffic. A city bus had been severely rear-ended by an SUV. The entire engine was gone from the SUV and the back of the bus was pretty smashed. The culture shock for me was that there was nobody directing traffic. There were about 4 cop cars that were surrounding the scene and the cops, who had to be no older than 18-20 were all standing around. Everyone just had to find their own way around it. As soon as they did, they were going 120mph to make up for lost time. The people on the bus told me that they always just push the cars to the side and let them sit there for a while to serve as a lesson to everyone in Kuwait. Nobody drives with caution here and wrecks always are fatal.
One conversation that I had with the welcoming committee is if we had sports at the school. I just happened to be asking the athletic director and I am officially coaching track next year! It's not as intense as track in America. I train them for a month and there is one track meet. It will be a great experience. She also wants me to start up a running club for the kids, which would be fun. I'll keep you guys up to date on all of it!
As soon as I got to the airport, I went to the baggage services desk. Luckily, the guy remembered me from the day before and he was super helpful. I was able to leave with luggage in hand! I also left with some leftovers from a chinese stand. It made me laugh when I was eating it. He asked if I'd like it spicy, and I said yes. It had absolutely no kick to it at all. Coming from Texas, I love spice, and I'm learning that that is a relative term.
That brings me up to date. Its past 7am here, the sun is up and I'm hardly tired. I think I'll sleep a few hours and try to deprive myself of sleep tomorrow to try to get over this jet lag. It's not a problem now as I have nothing going on during the day, but as soon as we start all of the orientation stuff on Thursday, I'm going to be wishing I didn't have jet lag.
It's been great so far. I've had so many new experiences. Some have been challenging, some have been absolutely awesome, but all of them have forced me out of my comfort zone and served as a lesson. I am so glad I decided to tough it out between the smelly men and catch my flight to Kuwait. I can't wait to see what God has in store the next several months!
