Christmas Spirit

We needed a little holiday cheer in our lives as of late.  Over the past few weeks, the weather in Kuwait has turned cold, grey, and rainy, work has become overwhelmingly busy, and the newness of being in a different county has officially worn off.  So, to brighten our spirits we decided to bring a little Christmas cheer into our lives.  We headed out to our local Hypermarket in search of seasonal decorations.  A few minutes and a couple dinar later we were headed home with cheer in a bag. 

It actually felt a little like Christmas time as we turned on the holiday music station, drank warm tea, and decorated our tree.  Maybe it is not the typical look most westerners would go for but hey, when in the desert ... you can't be too picky.  And, most importantly, it did the trick for us and brought some much needed jolly and merriment into our lives. 

Adam with decorations in hand.  We went for a silver and red theme ... very tradtional.

We did forgo the overpriced fake Christmas tree and decided to decorate our house-tree instead.  Not only was a plastic tree a slap in the face to our Washington roots but it would also be a storage nightmare!

Adam got into the decorating spirit with the help of Justin Beiber and Mariah Carey.  Nothing screams Christmas like overplayed top 40 pop Christmas songs.

In front of our newly decorated tree with genuine smiles of happiness.

Our little pop of Christmas Spirit in all its glory.

And the ugliest stockings we could find.  We just hope Santa got our "change of address" for Kuwait.

MUN

This weekend Adam had the pleasure to take his Model United Nations club to their big conference here in Kuwait. For those that are not familiar with MUN, it is a really cool game of make believe. Over the course of the last three months, 65 students from our school have assumed the role of a country in the world. From the point of view of their given country they have researched a variety of pressing global issues that could be discussed at the United Nations.

This weekend Adam took his group of 65 to meet up with hundreds of other students from around Kuwait who have been preparing as well. What followed was a incredibly awesome display of international relations nerdiness to the highest level. For three days in a row, high school students played the role of diplomats as they debated, compromised, and discussed the pressing issues facing the globe.

As the conference came to a close, there was a "end of summer camp" feeling in the air. Students were reminiscing about awesome speeches they had heard, bragging how they had "totally trashed another delegates resolution", and even a tear or two. It is so amazing to see such young people engage and talk about some very real world topics. I think that if we can keep high schoolers thinking about tackling issues such as human rights, climate change, and nuclear disarmament, the world will be in good hands in the future.

Here is the MUN squad from our school. Part of the deal is that they all must dress up for the conference. Notice the young man in a tux. Classic.

With tons of debating and speaking to happen over the weekend, the organizers did not skimp on the water.

The conference was held at another school in Kuwait. The school had tons of green space on their ground.

Logo for this year's conference.

Day O' Thanks

It is Thanksgiving weekend and to celebrate, our school gave us Friday and Saturday off work.  Oh wait, that is just a normal weekend here in Kuwait.  As our school is a large community of American teachers, many Thanksgiving celebrations were planned.  It seemed that everywhere you turned, people were inviting you to some kind of Thanksgiving dinner or another.  As Adam is away at a Model United Nations Conference all weekend (look for an exciting blog post to come -- oh the anticipation!!), Heidi had to head out to consume too much food on her own.

First stop:  Sri Lanka Thanksgiving Mash Up.  Heidi was treated to a true treat at her dear friend Kira's home.  As Kira's partner is Sri Lankan, the spread contained not only all the traditional foods but also delicious, spicy Sri Lanka delight!!  After too much food and practicing the art of eating with her hands, Heidi had to wrap up party 1 and waddle to ...

Second stop:  Italian-American Thanksgiving.  Here, 55 of her closest friends and co-workers crowded into two apartments (on the same floor) to move through the buffet line to fill up on spaghetti and meatballs and turkey with the fixings, sit at living rooms that had been converted to camp dining halls, visit with friends, dance with kids, and somehow manage to stuff more food in her already crowded stomach.

Despite being away from home and Adam being MIA, Thanksgiving in Kuwait proved to be something to be truly, err ... thankful for.  It was a very strong reminder that while our family at home can never be replaced, we are blessed with a community around us who welcomes us, refreshes us, and who makes sure we leave their homes with a "to-go" box in hand!!

Getting set for the first dinner.  Somehow no matter where you are in the world, Thanksgiving always means TOO MUCH FOOD!!

Heaven in a dish.  This food from Sri Lanka was such a treat.  I am glad we will be seeing more of it in 1 month.

Kira explaining all the delicious food to us and how to eat it.  (Sorry turkey but you came in second, here).

Heidi sad that she was the only Pierce representation at dinner.

Dinner mash up.

Down Right Chilly

Winter has arrived in Kuwait.  Honestly, we did not believe all the hype when people warned us about the impending cold.  Now though, we are wishing we heeded the warnings.  Grey, cold, rainy days are upon us which means boots, scarves, coats, and tooks (aka beenies) are out in full effect.  Do not scoff.  This weather would seem frigid to you, too, if the "norm" was 110.  Come back, summer.  Come back!!

Updated report ... Tuesday is cold, rainy, and very windy with so far, a high of 61!!  Wah, wah.

 

Typical

Kuwait is not a pedestrian friendly city.  Cars drive way too fast and drivers create their own rules of the road.  Why would we have only 2 lanes of traffic when the freeway can fit 5 cars across?  Why would we stop at a red light when our destination is so close?  Why buckle a baby into a car seat when the baby could be hanging out of the skylight? 

We have decided that walking in this city can be even more of a challenge than HCMC.  The lack of sidewalks, the cars whizzing by at over 100 mph, and the police who do nothing but sit in their cars checking how many "likes" their last Facebook post received has made us realize that if you can stay off the roads on foot, it is for the best.  It is a sad realization for two people who's idea of a great past time is lacing up the sneakers and heading out for a walk.  So, instead we lace up our shoes, curse the Kuwait traffic, and head to the safety of our gym!!

This is a common sight.  One of the only sidewalks in our neighborhood has become a parking spot.  TYPICAL!!

Truth

This is a little post-for-thought for those that think anyone can be a teacher.  This is a post for those that have claimed teaching is easy.  This is a little note to those who have ever quoted, "Those who can, do; Those who can't, teach."  This is commentary for those who make statements like, "I think I will just become a teacher because it is easy money and hey ... you get paid year round for working 9 months of the year."  To all those who feel that way -- here is the truth:

Teachers are magicians!!  They are masters at keeping 25+ students in their seats, excited for learning, participating in their education for 7+ hours a day.  They balance parents -- helicopter ones and disengaged ones -- with pizazz and grace.  They can somehow eat lunch, make photo copies, and calm a crying student over their 20 minute lunch "break."  They find a balance between talking and listening.  They don't drink nearly enough water each day because the only time they can use the restroom is on 5 minute breaks every 50-90 minutes or during their prep time (50 minutes 1 time a day).  They have 27 ways to bring 2nd graders to perfect silence and just as many to make them laugh.  They can make a 10th grader reading at a 6th grade level just as excited about reading as the 10th grader reading university texts.  They leave school to come home to lesson plans, research, and grading.  They sneak in a little time for dinner only to return to lesson plans, research, and grading.  Teachers challenge thinking while never telling a child how to think.  They enforce rules but also allow mistakes.  They find time to coach, mentor, and facilitate extra curricular clubs after school because teachers realize that a student's connection to school is the number 1 predictor of academic success.  And, when you figure out how much a teacher actually makes per hour ... they would be better off as an employee of Starbucks!!

So, by God/Allah/Buddah or whomever else you turn your beliefs to, please remember to respect teachers and say "thanks" every now and again.

If you truly want to thank a teacher in this era, you bring them a coffee -- not an apple.  Thank you, Mr. Pierce for working from 6:30 am till 9:30 pm the last few days to do planning, grading, and report card writing.  You rock.

Dinner Spread

We decided to splurge and do something that we rarely do ... EVER.  We went out for dinner in the middle of the week.  We were tired after a long day of work dealing with grumpy students and even grumpier staff so we thought that treating ourselves to someone else doing the cooking would be perfect.  As we headed out to our original destination, we realized that we really did not have much of an idea of where we were headed.  We knew we needed to go downtown and the place we wanted to end up was by the communication tower.  Yup!  Those were all the directions we were working with.  So, many times around the block, 20 minutes, and two grumpy adults later, we decided to abort the original restaurant and hit up one we had driven by 8 times in the last 20 minutes.  We ended up loving our dinner choice and decided that it would be a keeper on the Kuwait dining list.

We stumbled upon Vegetarian Indian.  We were nervous as we were the ONLY people in the joint but it was delicious (and also super early for dinner).

The only thing that could make this yummy, spicy food better?  Beer in that glass instead of water.

So much delight on one table.

Hopefully we can remember how to make it back to Green Land Indian Goodness.

Snow Day

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the constitution of Kuwait.  The country planned a party to rival all parties.  For weeks we had been hearing about the epic events to come:  laser shows, guest appearances, and fireworks -- oh the fireworks!!  Yesterday a large portion of the gulf was shut down for the 8 hour celebration.  People and families came out in droves with McDonalds and lawn chairs in hand to post up and wait for the ceremonies to begin.  As the time for the fireworks drew closer the speculation and rumors over the celebration became rampant (Kim Kardashian dropping in from a hot air balloon happened to be a personal fave).  At 8 pm, the show began.  1 hour, 77,828 fireworks, and 4 million KD (15 million US) later, the show was over and the Kuwaitis were saying, "Take that Queen Elizabeth.  Our jubilee just set 7 Guinness Book of World Records.  Yours just ended with your husband catching pneumonia!!"  We all set to bed contented but already noting that we had stayed up WAY past our bedtimes.

Flash forward to this morning when we got up at our normal wake up and set about getting ready for work.  About 20 minutes before heading out the door, Adam sat to read the newspaper (and check if Kim ever did make an appearance). There, on the front page was an announcement that as of late last night His Honorable Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah declared all schools and universities to be closed today in honor of yesterday's festivities.  After a few phone calls and an emergency phone tree later, we officially had the day off of work!!  It was the equivalent of a snow day in Kuwait -- little notice and so much excitement.  It did not matter that we were dressed, fed, and fully caffeinated -- we had another day to our weekend.  Thank you HHS Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah!!  You made our day just that much better.  We bet Kim would agree!!

This is what over $15 million looks like.  That's money going up in smoke.  Literally.

What do you do when school is canceled with less than 1 hour notice?  Since we were up and at'em at 5 am, we decided to celebrate our "snow day" with a nice morning coffee treat and a walk in the cool weather along the gulf.  (Note:  holiday cups have arrived in Kuwait!!)

We enjoyed the cool morning weather.  The news announced a warning that weather was going to be "unstable" today with a chance of rain.  We could not help but laugh as we cruised in 80 degrees and sunshine.

Next stop ... the mall which just opened a brand new wing.  We were hungry so we stopped by the grocery store in the mall to pick up a "Delicious snack" ....

... of Punjabi Samosas.  Whomever invented spicy mashed potatoes and peas deep fried in a crispy corn-meal crust -- may Allah bless you.

Heidi in the new wing of the mall not so sure what all the hype was about.

Yes, there are palm trees inside along with fake store fronts.  Adam commented how amazing it would be if they tried to keep the real Kuwait as nice.

This is a Starbucks INSIDE the mall.  With the new wing open that brings the grand total of SBUX inside this mall to 10!!

Finally you finish off a snow day (filled with coffee and fried foods) with a trip to the gym. 

"Wait," Heidi says. "We only have 3 days before another 3 day weekend."  Awesome!!

Car Show

Kuwaiti people have a lot of time and an even larger amount of money.  So, we were not surprised to hear that a few guys got together, pooled some money, and brought an exhibit of cars from the James Bond films to Kuwait for a week.  That's right ... all it took was some phone calls to a variety of museums, securing a show-room in an upscale mall, and a few sponsors and BOOM -- James Bond in Kuwait.  Of course when we heard about "Bond in Kuwait" we put it on our "free fun to-do list" and quickly headed out to the swankiest of malls we have been in yet to check out the exhibit.

The exhibit was a great way to spend 15 minutes of our day.  Not only did we see a few cars from a few different Bond movies, we were also served fresh squeezed lemon-aid in cocktail glasses, given matching Aston Martin ball-caps, and encouraged to, "post, tweet, or blog about this so your friends come see the display."  Well, here you go Kuwaiti multi-millionaire men with too much time on your hands .... Blog complete!!

Yes, this car show was inside a mall.  However, outside the mall there were plenty of Aston Martins in the parking lot.

Adam was mortified to learn that Heidi has never fully seen one of the new Bond movies.  Nope, she stopped after Sean.

This was the car featured in Casino Royale.  It was crashed during the movie and they played the scene over and over by the car.  Heidi still could not figure out why men would pay a LOT of money to bring a crashed car to Kuwait.  Adam said she "missed the point."

Adam asked to sit in this car.  They said only with a tuxedo on.  Darn it!

Could you add this option if you wanted?  Electric windows.  Electric locks.  Hood guns?

All in all, it was a cool thing to check out and another great way to not spend any money!!

This Guy is Everywhere

Seriously!?!?

We were amazed when living in Vietnam to find products from Bobs Redmill, a very cool grainary located just outside of Portland. It felt like a very special treat and a little taste of home. We would laugh and say that Bob and the Vietnamese governenment must have some sort of special agreement. Otherwise, why would a grainary from Portland ship their stone ground goods around the world? Don't they have a big enough market in Oregon?

 So the other day when we swung by the grocery store after the gym you could imagine our excitement and surprise when we saw him again. Bob, from Bob's Redmill, smiling at us from a package of quinoa. This is truly unbelievable. This guy is everywhere. For a older gentleman with a small dog and a red/pinkish Cadillac, Bob has some worldly connections.

Hey, I know that guy! Please note. Heidi's sweat is from the gym and not from pure excitement over stone ground grains.

The quinoa is listed for 5KD. That is almost $20 for a small package of quinoa. Quality comes at a price, a price that we passed on.

UN Day

It is funny how things can work out. The other day Adam was having a conversation with one of his students about a upcoming project.

Adam: So are you feeling ready for our project? Do you have someone to interview yet?
Student: Yeah, I feel ready. I am actually pretty excited. I am going to interview someone that works with my mom
Adam: Oh yeah? Where does your mom work?
Student: At the United Nations
Adam: Wow! That is amazing!
Student: Hey, it is UN Day this week. Do you and your wife want to come to a party at the UN building here in Kuwait to celebrate?
Adam: Are you just trying to get a good grade?
Student: No
Adam: Does not matter anyways. We are in!

And that is how this evening we ended up at the newly constructed UN House here in Kuwait. We did not know what this event truly entailed. All the details that we had came from a 16 year old, and bless their souls, but they sometimes can be light when giving detailed explanations. All we knew was that we needed to dress up, and that some food would be served.

After getting severly lost trying to find this "house" we finally came across this amazing, newly constructed building. After layers of security checks we parked the car and made our grand entrance. If we had known that we would be walking a red carpet, we would have showered. But there we were, strolling down a red carpet, people taking our pictures, and us shaking hand with many people who must have been very important in some way or another.

We had suddenly been transported from our day to day lives into the crazy world of diplomats, Chinese military officers, and Kuwaiti Foreign Secretaries. We did our best to blend into the party and not make it too obvious that we were way out of our league. In the end we held it together no problem and even schumked it up with some of the fellow party goers. Oh the life we live.

"Look Heidi, we got an invitation! The UN emblem in on the cover".

"Hmmmmmm. The UN is having a party. I will believe it when I see it".

Seeing is believing

Birthdays and Braais

Although it was an abbreviated work week, the past three days of work felt longer and more exhausting than any other days so far.  We had a lot going on both personally and professionally which led to long days and long nights filled with too much sugar and not enough sleep.  What might have been taking us away from our normal, scheduled life routine?

1)  Heidi's birthday.  Yes ... Heidi celebrated another trip around the sun this week.  Since her birthday fell in the middle of the week, the celebrating was a little more relaxed.  In fact, it did not even really register that she was one year older till she went to the gym and had to punch in the number "32' on the elliptical when it asked for her age.  Aye!

2)  Halloween at AIS.  Okay -- make it Hell-o-ween.  Put together 1,800 students with crazy, ornate costumes and parents who try to show their wealth/"wasta" through the food they bring to a classroom party (subway sandwich platters, Krispy Cream doughnuts, full pizzas, and cakes in the shapes of spiderwebs that cost US $300, anyone?!?) and any sense of sanity goes out the window.  Also, allow said 1,800 students free reign on aforementioned food and see how many students throw up -- go ahead.  Just try it.

3)  A Rugby BBQ fundraiser at the British Embassy.  Now you are probably thinking, "Wait ... they just went to rugby fundraiser at the British Embassy."  True but that one was a ball this one was a BBQ!  One of our co-workers coaches this team and so he got a handful of friends from school (42 of us to be exact) to purchase tickets to eat Braai (look it up) and drink for the kids.  It was a wonderful night to be outside in nature, with friends, hotdogs (all beef of course) and chilled white wine. 

We are now glad it is Saturday and we are transitioning back into our normal weekly routine.  Maybe some would call it boring but we like the life of groceries, gym time, and cooking dinners in.

The best present was this card from our favorite little guy named Elliott (the 3 year old son of some friends).  It came with "sugar free gluten free" muffins made especially by him.

Adam gifted Heidi with some new perfume.  It was so fancy that the box was made of red-velvet.  It would have been even better if the box was made of red-velvet cake!

After work, Adam took Heidi down to the marina for a coffee and a walk.  So pleasant since it is now in the low 70's at night.

Heidi was hoping for a birthday sighting of the Whale Shark who makes his way into these water quite often.  No such luck, this time.

Our little friend Elliott in the AIS ES Halloween parade.  He was the best pirate out there.

Some-bunny did not like having to stay off the big kids playground.

Yes, this is a costume.  Yes, it is worn over a child.  Yes, it did have to get dropped off in two cars and assembled on campus.  Yes, it did take 4 people to get the child inside of his costume.  Yes -- BRILLIANT!

Heading out to the embassy for some dinner, drinks, and dancing.  Not a bad life.  Not a bad life, at all.