 | MESPA Home > MESPA Division News > Central Division > Member News and Division Resources | | Checking in from Kuwait
Friday, November 26, 2010
Marhaba! (Hello!)
I can't believe it has been over a month since I have last communicated with most of you. Time slips by when one is busy at work and socializing!! I will start this epic note with memories of my 60th birthday, on October 27, in Kuwait. My friends, Cleo and Jeff (administrators on the Boys' Campus) wanted to rent a convertible to take me out to the desert to explore camel farms and oil fields. When that proved too expensive they opted to pay the cab driver we use regularly to guide us for the day. That proved to be a wonderful idea! Before we went on this adventure . . . my staff, organized by my assistant principal, gave me a surprise birthday party at school. So much fun. Nice to know I have made some positive connections with them. For those of you who don't know . . . half of my staff are from USA/Canada and the other half are Muslim/Arabic. The children, grades one through five, spend half of their day learning in English and the other half learning Arabic and Islam. A very interesting combination. There is supposed to be a LEAD Arabic teacher to communicate and observe the Arabic/Islam staff, but unfortunately they haven't hired one yet . . . so I have become the Lead Arabic/Islam teacher. This has been quite a challenge to be able to communicate with them and help them grow as professionals. But . . . with the help of translators, sign and body language I seem to be able to work it out! Though we have had some good laughs at our miscommunications! So, back to my surprise party at school . . . lots of fun with Arabic and English "Happy Birthday" songs. Plenty of hugs and well wishes along with beverages and delicious carrot cupcakes and beautiful flowers. Steve sent me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, too! Now . . . back to the cab tour adventure for my birthday: We left around 10:00 in the morning. Anwar is our cab driver. We headed to the Saudi Arabian border and stopped off to have a McDonald's hamburger on the way. YES . . . McDonald's! Tasted just like back home. After we saw the border and took some pictures we headed north to the Iraq border. Along the way saw a few camel farms, oil wells, and plenty of desert for picture taking. We finished around 5:30 P.M. and then went out to dinner at a wonderful Italian Restaurant. Little did I know, my friends had arranged for about 27 of the staff and friends from school to join us! Was I surprised or what?? At first it didn't make sense why so many people I knew were seated at a long, long table. Then it dawned on me . . . Dah, Surprise!! It is very rare to surprise me . . . and I remember disctinctly a great 50th birthday party that my secretaries at Trailview gave me which included ALL the students and staff. I tell you . . . it warms ones heart to know that so many people are thoughtful and caring.
We finally got our Civil ID's which allows us to bank and do many other things. It only took 3 months, but now I am legal in Kuwait. I opened a bank account, along with Jeff and Cleo. Let me tell you about the banks in Kuwait . . . there are two sections: one for the men and one for the women. Of course the men's bank is a lot bigger than the womens. But . . . in the womens bank, after you take a number, they serve you tea and chocolates! Anyway . . . Cleo and I weren't able to open our banking accounts that night and I said, "It will be interesting to see if Jeff gets to open his (being a MAN and all). Guess what?
He was able to open his! When we told him of our dilemma, he marched right back into the men's section and talked to the personal banker he used. He then came out into the lobby and said to Cleo and I, "Follow me and DON'T say a WORD!" So, like baby chicks, following their mother, we followed Jeff - looking down at the floor as we did. (I peeked a little to the side and saw about 35 men sitting in chairs waiting their turn to do their banking needs.) I am sure you can imagine their thoughts when they saw 2 WOMEN come into their bank and get in line ahead of them. We sat down with the personal banker in the men's section and he got us all registered and ready to go. We then left . . . the same way we came in . . . marching behind each other with our eyes on the floor. Oh, my, was my heart pounding!
At school we must check in each day using a finger print machine; that also takes your picture each time. The machine is a little taller than I am, so I must stretch my finger to reach it . . . lifting my head up to see. I teased the Superintendent one time and said, "I sure hope you can recognize me by my nose hairs as that is all I can see after it takes my picture." She replied, "Oh, Wendie, we know it is you, as surrounding your nose is a fringe of RED hair. You are the only one on staff with red hair" Funny!
The girls in the school are 99% Kuwaiti, therefore, everyone has dark, black hair. The girls love the fact that the American/Canadian staff have blonde, light brown, or red (only me) hair. And that our eyes are different colors instead of brown.
The girls wear uniforms (white top, black or navy pants/skirts) daily. Teachers/staff need to wear long dresses/skirts and tops with sleeves that cover at least about 3/4 of the arm. If we wear slacks (no jeans) our tops must cover our hips. We have had a couple of days at school whereby the girls can have a 'free' day and wear most anything with in reason. Recently we had an Arabian Dress Day and my girls wore some beautiful and colorful clothing.
I found a place to cut or trim my hair only 3 blocks from my apartment. The cost was only 3 KD (one KD equals $3.47). I was very happy with the results. I dye my own hair which saves some money. Many of the women that work in the local Salons (on some of the signs they spell it Saloon - so I was wondering what they might serve to drink while I was getting my hair cut. They mispell many words in English, but we still understand what they mean.) are from the Phillipines or India. They do this cool thing called, "Threading" in which they use thread to pluck eyebrows, take hair out of ears, or off your face. They hold the middle of the thread in their mouths and then using both of their hands they 'whip' the threads together and magically pull out the unwanted hair. It is a very interesting technique and very ancient.
Over the Eid Break (November 12-21) my huband, Steve and oldest son, Dan, came to visit. So good to see them. They arrived late on Saturday, Nov. 13. We had left over Thanksgiving Dinner from the Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner we had in October. We also had a bit of home brewed beer and wine to celebrate. The next day we just relaxed at the SPA/Resort Club I belong to. I had rented a Cabana on the Gulf to stay in for the day. We enjoyed good food, beautiful weather, and each had a hot stone massage in the afternoon. Just a little bit of heaven. Each day after that we were busy site seeing, shopping and eating at restaurants. They got to travel to Failika Island on a Catamarn. Dan and I each rode a camel. Yes . . . I actually got up the courage to ride a camel! We spent time walking the island and looking at all the terrible destruction left from the war with Iraq. We rented a battery operated, four seater bike. Once it was rented the guy told us . . . "If the battery dies, then you can pedal!" We had so much fun with that bike, laughing as the battery would slowly die and we would all try to pedal our fastest to give the battery more power. Dan said, "Oh, he knew the battery would die. He shouldn't have said . . . IF, the battery dies, he should have said, WHEN the battery dies . . ." Anyway it was lots of fun. We thought for a bit we would have to PUSH it, but we didn't. I ended up driving it back while Steve and Dan worked their little hinders off pedaling as fast as they could. Spent some time on the beach also. On their last day we went back to the Club where we laid in the sun or read in the shade. Ate lunch and smoked some Sheshas. I think Dan had 'apple' and Steve had 'grape'.
We visited the Kuwait Towers and had dinner. I invited the cab driver to dinner, too. Went to Hard Rock Cafe for souveniers, shopped at the "Titantic" (an expensive Mall that is shaped like the Titantic). We also had the opportunity to shop at the Old Souq (Market) and also Friday Market. Fun for them to see the locals and how I communicate with them. Friday Market is a place to barter for the price. It is fun and everyone has a good time. When we were out and about we saw people dressed in all different fashions. Many had the traditional Abayas (women) and Dishdasha's (men). Sometimes the women are covered from head to toe - gloves, face covered, too. You can only see the slits of their eyes. We found all the people very friendly and helpful.
Went to see the biggest Dowh (boat) in the world, saw the Scientific Center/Aquarium, a couple of museums, and ate in a dowh boat our last night with Cleo and Jeff. It was nice to introduce Dan and Steve to all the great people I have met and made connections with in Kuwait. We also toured my school which houses a beautiful, Olympic sized pool, that is very impressive. The maids were at school cleaning the rooms, scrubbing the floors, etc. We even discovered a stray cat on second floor eating someone's left over lunch! Stray cats everywhere. Since our playground is mainly sand and portions of cement or cobblestone, many cats use the sand as their litter box. I have removed my share of cat poop this year. They will replace the sand with a rubber matting sooner or later. And in this culture . . . it will be later!
A few days before Steve and Dan arrived, I was cleaning the apartment and I heard some water gushing. I discovered the hose under my kitchen sink had come loose (It was a rubber hose attached by caulking). The dirty water (as the hose had built up a yucky residue) filled pots and pans and other materials that were stored under the sink. So, I needed to remove everything and clean it up. Then I called the school's maintenance man and he came over to repair it. But . . . before he arrived, I was trying to make sure the faucet was turned off . . . and the whole mechanism came OFF . . . shooting water all over and drenching me from head to toe before I could shut off the water souce. Just then, my doorbell rang and it was Najeem, the maintenance man. When I opened the door he could see that I had just had a 'shower'. We laughed, when I said, "Najeem, you have come JUST in time!!"
I was able to attend a British School Concert that highlighted their Senior Students who were accomplished musicians. i was amazed at how talented the students were. That night I was treated to opera, jazz, tap dance, quartets, etc. Almost brought tears to my eyes when I realized how lucky I was to be able to witness such talent. In a couple of weeks I will attend a Christmas Concert by the Ahmadi (pronounced: Akk ma de) Music Group. They will sing many familiar Christmas songs including some fun songs like Elvis Presley's , "Blue Christmas." I am looking forward to this evening and know it will be emotional as it will bring back wonderful memories of Christmas back home. I am grateful for all the 'English' types of entertainment that are available to us to enjoy.
Well, need to sign off now. Happy Holdiays to all. I will send you many pictures following this e-mail. Take care, love to all.
Wendie ( MOM, Grandma, Wife, Friend, and relative)
Image Gallery:
Pictures of some of my adventures
Enjoy the pictures. I am having the time of my life. I almost cry when I think I could have missed this most amazing adventure had I not had the courage to come to Kuwait. The people I have met and the growth I have had to go through to do my job effectively have been wonderful. Keeps me young. I am also learning how to use the bus transportation as it saves a lot of money or I walk. The bus is very interesting as women sit in the front and men in the back. Since there isn't alcohol (publically) in Kuwait, there is no fear of being harassed or listening to swearing (that is illegal). I would never take a bus in Mpls. at night for fear of what I might have to incounter. One must be very agile, though, in Kuwait, as the buses barely stop when you try to get on. You must be fast on your feet and be able to jump on the bus, hang on tight as they leave at full speed while you pay the 200 fills (1000 fills equals a KD; One KD = $3.47) You can also get off the bus whenever you want - even if it isn't at a bus stop. You just stand up and he opens the door for you. Must be careful because sometimes it is amongst other traffic. A very interesting experience and one I will do more and more. I always wear my tennis shoes when I am out walking as I need to be sure footed! Take care, love to all.
Wendie :)
   See all 29 images.
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| Update from Wendie Anderson | - Retired MESPA member
- Principal at Trailview Elementary, Mora, 2000-2008
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MESPA National Distinguished Principal, 2004
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| Scroll down for photos. | "I am having the time of my life. I almost cry when I think I could have missed this most amazing adventure had I not had the courage to come to Kuwait."
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