ezmé

so today i got invited to go to an embassy party (aka happy hour aka ALCOHOL!)

so i set some plans into motion that we were dilly dallying about…

1. the boy’s going to rent a car… 110kd/mo (yes it’s expensive, but it’s kuwait…) and 22kd/year for insurance.

2. i needed black dress shoes b/c i forgot to pack a pair… and i was worried about getting an interview/job and not having an essential part of my wardrobe.

3. i got my mo.visitor and, of course, for got to pack pads for morning wear.

4. mouthwash. after seeing so many f*ed up teeth here, i’m all about the dental care.

5. i needed pants for shirts i got in bahrain =)

- - - 

so i remedied everything.

1. i told the boy to go and get a car today. it’s good to not be so dependent upon taxis, cost wise and time wise… but it will cost us 110

2. i got black nine west shoes… “on sale” for about 16.6 KD (again, multiply by 4 for USD)

3. i bought pads. but OMFG did i feel like a dude looking at a wall of ’stuff.’ apparently ‘ultra sensitive’ means ‘ultra thin’ and apparently no one give a crap about thin. a new friend i made told me the quality stinks even if the name brands are the same, so i might get some female friend/relative to buy me my stuff.

4. yay for mouth wash. went for the american product on this b/c the non american ones scared me. they have mouth wash for smokers…and the other ‘mouth wash’ looked more like ’stuff you rinse your mouth with’… i didn’t see any benefits… so i went with american (not listerine b/c that was expensive, but colgate plax)

5. i got pants from the gap. EXPENSIVE AS ALL GET OUT! little less than 20kd (80 usd) for pants. 

i’ll post pictures later. i’m tired, it’s dark (too lazy to turn the light on).

more of them anyway…

go to the sidebar and click on “eca pics” =)

special thanks to red for MY/our very first care package =)

or less…

we were supposed to be in bahrain from saturday to thursday; however, a foul up with aaron’s passport is forcing us to vacate bahrain immediately.

apparently aaron submitted his old passport while we were in the process of getting to our passports updated/renewed.

when he resubmitted his passport, the HR represenative didn’t forward it to all the right people - and since his old one is now replace - his visa is expired.

so we have to go back immediately to kuwait to get it all sorted out.

we were supposed to leave tonight, but aaron said he didn’t want to leave tonight, and preferred tomorrow. so we’re leaving…the plane is at 0940!!!!

then we can’t leave kuwait for atleast 3 weeks (until everything is okay again) and we’ll go back to bahrain.

BLAH

but i IMMEDIATELY like bahrain better than kuwait.

1. driving, and all things car related, is civilized - if you’re Bahranian, not so much Saudis

2. outdoor photography is probably not illegal

3. there’s much much more to look at

4. there are TONS of post offices! there’s even one in the mall!

5. i actually found clothes that fit me…unfortunately they were 30 BHD (BaHrain Dinar) which is basically like 90 bucks LOL…so much for saving.

and i found a ring i liked! 959 BHD but the guy mentioned he’d discount it to 640 or so. it was pretty…real diamonds, real gold. the setting was quite high, but it was oh so pretty! they had a white gold one and they said it would take 2 days to size. and aaron will get paid by then hehehe

it was ovular bezel set diamons… basically a bunch of small ones made up the ‘oval diamond’ they were surprisingly VERY VERY sparkly for being G/H in color.

i’d wear it on my right hand =) either index of middle finger.

6. they have a dolphin park (we’ll have to go next time)

7. pork

8. alcohol

9. less conservative (clothing wise) than Kuwait

10. all cabbies are Bahranian, so they’ll more than likely know anywhere you need to go (and b/c i needed to add a 10 in there LOL)

- - - as an afterthought - - -

11. the cabbie told us Bahrain treats all its visitors nicely, unlike kuwait. there are natural prejudices, but if you’re nice, then they’ll be nice…be you filipino, saudi, kuwaiti, etc…

wow that rhymed…lol i hate it when i do that. okay i don’t ‘hate’ i just find it annoying

so, other than the ones i’ve repeatedly mentioned (i’ll list them for you at the end) i’ve discovered two more reasons this place sucks

1. they rip out/take a black magic marker to pages in a magazine deemed inappropriate. i picked up a small UK hair mag, and the back cover was ripped off. i didn’t think too much of it. I caulk it up to ‘just something kwuaiti stores do’

well i was flipping through, and saw these weird black marks. no one else had marks on the page, so it obviously wasn’t apart of the photo layout. you know how hair/fashion magazines sometimes have themes to page layouts?

nope, these girls were blacked out over the chest, and i can’t figure out why. one, i can tell is revealing too much cleavage. but the other isn’t. oh, and they don’t block out flat girls, just the ones with boobs.

so the lady with the DEEP V top that’s flat, and is obviously not wearing a bra… no problem. let the imaginations roam wild.

the girl with the boobs that are covered up, oh…mark her out! i can see the top crevice of her breast.

2. we saw some cheapo dvds. one was a van helsing cartoon (30 min) with hugh jackman’s voice, the other was cheaper by the dozen…split up into 2 dvds in a cd case.

the van helsing didn’t play but the cheaper did. 

it had arabic subtitles that you could not remove, there’s no chapter skipping or whatever… but that’s not the worst. those are annoying, but understandable… the worst is THEY REMOVE SCENES! I was watching cheaper by the dozen and you CAN NOT SEE A WOMAN IN HER BATHING SUIT! WTF! It was a one piece!!!!!

But you could see Carmen Electra (I didn’t know she was in this movie) with her boobies hanging out.

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so let’s see

negatives about kuwait

• censorship - black magic markers, missing scenes from DVDS, ripped out pages, etc
• the prayers on loudspeaker outside, inside, etc at multiple times a day. 
• being non-muslim but having to abide  by ramadan rules, but getting non of the benefits (like being able to leave work early when the muslims do so you can eat)
• no craft, hobby, knitting stores
• ONE POST OFFICE for the ENTIRE COUNTRY - and the lack of actually having your documents make it out of the country
• getting gipped EVERY TIME you take a cab! and then having to argue with the cabbie that they’re ripping you off.
• the shopping (1) because they don’t carry anything smaller than a size US8/UK6/EU 38 or whatever… (2) because it’s expensive b/c they have nothing but name brands
• there’s NOTHING to do here other than eat
• PHOTOGRAPHY IS ILLEGAL
• groceries are expensive! I bought 2 kinder eggs (consider it me buying 2 kit kats), 1 magazine, 1 small bottle of water, 1 mug, and 1 bag of candy - and it cost me $50 USD.
• jobs are who you know, not your merit
• women in positions of power (like manager, supervisor, etc) are non existent
• when you rent an unfurnished apartment, you buy the stove, fridge, washer/dryer, dishwasher, microwave, etc.
• the international clinic is almost impossible for taxis to find, not to mention those that need to run there. the private western hospital (London Hospital) is SUPER expensive. The state owned hospitals are basically free clinics, but Kuwaiti nationals get priority and I hear to avoid it all together.
• people leave the country for their dental work, hair cuts, and sometimes eyebrow waxings
• it’s so dry here you don’t sweat
• there is no PDA. the boy can not touch me at all. no kissing on the forehead, putting his hand behind my back to guide me through a crowd, hand holding is like seeing people kiss in public in the US … “Ewe that’s gross!”

Positives about kuwait

• you don’t really sweat (hey dude, humidity sucks. pit stains are gross…but the trade off is, it’s SO DAMN DRY you don’t sweat)
• cuban cigars (we’re gonna buy some at the duty free shop!)
• the food (YUMMY!)
• NO TIPPING! i don’t know why, but they look at you like you have a 3rd eye when you tip.
• ZDF - german channel on satellite.

Things to note:

• do not wear anything shorter than short sleeves
• do not wear anything higher than right above your knee
• do not hit a white camel with your car
• apparently you can’t hit a tree with your car either
• NEVER get in an accident with a kuwaiti national. it’s your fault b/c you’re in the damn country. if you weren’t here, the kuwaiti wouldn’t have been in an accident.
• KNOW PEOPLE. omg. i can not tell you how much of a ‘it’s all in who you know’ society this place is. i am lucky as all get out that the Consular General of the US Embassy here likes me.
• DON”T COME HERE UNLESS YOU HAVE A JOB
• DON”T COME HERE W. A JOB UNLESS YOU HAVE NO HOBBIES. DON”T EVEN BOTHER VISITING. Make it a stop along the way to see oman, cairo, and dubai…but that’s it. STOP AND THEN MOVE ON.

i found out last night that photography is illegal and bro-in-law found this post as i was talking to him.

let me bring your attention to some key sentences from this post:

It’s not easy being a photographer here, especially since photography is technically illegal in Kuwait. 

Strict Muslims do not accept pictures of people, or anything besides quotes from the Quran that are hung on their walls. 

Not a lot attention is given to cultural activity either by the Kuwaiti community or by expatriates.

I’m trying to show the “real” Kuwait, a country where rich Kuwaitis speed along the expressways in their expensive sports cars while Bangladeshis work twelve-hour shifts, six or seven days a week. Many work outside on construction sites throughout the plus 50°Celsius summer months, and earn about $200CAD/month. That’s well below the poverty line living in a place where a fifteen-minute taxi ride costs about $15.

Kuwait’s landscape is flat. There are no mountains or hills, in the entire country. There are not even sand dunes which always make nice subjects for photographing. This leaves little to be said for wildlife or landscape work.

- - - 

after this area i pretty much stopped reading.

oh and did i mention, it’s so dry here you don’t sweat?

+ my cell died, i got another sim card.

- sim card is with a company that *used* to be big. it got taken over by MTC-Vodafone, now called Zain. But Zain has GREAT marketing. Anywhere you can buy a recharge card for your pre-paid minutes, there’s a Zain sign. There’s no Watanyia sign.

+ Watanyia has a longer expiry date (90 days as opposed to 60).

+ lunch with the Consular General, the GM of Crowne Plaza (Hassan), and Elizabeth (a marketing chic) was fun. 

- HORRIBLE TAXI EXPERIENCE! the CG wanted to share a cab with me, so I called my cab. Unfortunately it would’ve taken him a too long to get to me. The CG hailed a cab at the hotel and told me to cancel mine. So I did. But, OMFG. The ride back cost me ~3KD…so I knew is shouldn’t cost more than that.

The new cabbie tried to tell me it was 10KD! 3 to get from the hotel to the Embassy and 8 to get to the Embassy to my house. So we argued back and fourth. My first argument being 3+8 isn’t 10. My final argument being ‘you didn’t turn on the meter.’

Fucking liar.

I gave him 5KD and asked for change back but he refused to give it to me. 

So I walked out. A bit more drama happened, but hey.

- - - - 

I can’t handle it. I swear. It’s driving me insane here….

- - - -

- THERE’S ONE POST OFFICE FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY! And even though it’s small it’s still the size of New Jersey.

I asked the people at lunch about the post and they laughed at me. There’s only one post, it’s in the city (like driving to DC just to mail an envelope), it’s got really SHORT hours, you’re lucky if it gets past the person you handed it to.

You’re also lucky if your mail gets to you. I only get mine b/c I have them go through the boy’s work. and apparently, we’re lucky if shit doesn’t get suck in customs.

- - - -

so yeah. 

no knitting stores.

no craft stores (apparently there are no hobby stores and Kuwaiti’s and ME’s don’t have hobbies)

no discount stores (like target, macy’s, etc)

EVERYTHING here is about name brand. EVERYTHING.

- - - 

so i told the boy i can’t take it. i want to go home, but i have no job! WOW! and then he proceeded to tell me that it’d be best if i went back to jobless b/c it’d be easier to find a job if I’m in the country. Gee, where did i hear that crap before?

Oh yeah, he told me that as an incentive for me to get here.

i could probably have my old job back, but let’s face it. i don’t want to go back. i don’t really care for any of those people except for my boss and he should be in retirement. i don’t really want a high stress job.

now as far as going back home

- i sold my car, that i owed NO payments on since i’ve had it

-/+ i sold my piano, but it went to someone who is actually going to use it frequently. it’s in a very happy family

small - i told my vanity set which was a gift from my dad for valentines day when i was 14

- i sold my kitchen table set

- we sold our bedroom set

small - aaron sold his car, but it was a guzzler anyway

so yeah. i’d go back, with even MORE bills b/c of the moving expenses and no car to even get to the job interviews. Bills = returning on the stuff waiting to be shipped; canceling our storage contract; going in debt b/c of a car; start up fees for tv, tivo (yes it’s an essential), house phone; movers…

BAH!

but here’s a positive… 

we finally cleaned the house LMAO. 

In those 50 boxes coming to Kuwait, it’s probably everything we need. Most everything else is our furniture (desks, office chairs, some book cases, our couch set, a big dresser, etc). Of course, our winter clothes.

part of what’s sucked so much is my lack of communication to anything… i had no phone, no means to find someone to get me out of trouble just by a call…

so monday we went to the mall and i bought a phone. tuesday morning, i got my sim card from a coworker of aaron’s. *note, you can’t get a sim card w.out a civilian id, which i won’t have one b/c i don’t have a job… and aaron hasn’t gotten his yet b/c he’s still in processing*

so yeah, things were working fine. i got calls from people… then, took my mid-day nap.

i woke up, as usual, because aaron rang the bell and what happened…

the phone f*ing stops working! the ’sim card failed registration.’

grrr… i’ve done TONS of turning it off, removing the battery, removing the sim card all one by one and in various combinations. i even shut it off and left it alone for a while…

but nothing.

this is a major mental set back to me, as i’m supposed to be going out today for lunch and i ride via taxi…but i almost always call someone to pick me up…but oh wait! i don’t have a cell phone!

score!

i’m a bit, i’m a lot a bit, unhappy and frustrated right now.

it wakes me up in the morning. i can’t sleep through them… so out of curiosity, b/c i don’t pay attention to them when i’m awake… here are the prayer times:

315

345

1155

1212

1831

1954

2003

now the first two and last two times i think are the longest prayers. like signing comes on, mediation, more singing…  but that’s when i hear them.

it’s like the whole country is on loud speaker. i wonder how loud it is outside… they even have it in the mall.

saw this on red’s blog… made me giggle b/c aaron calls me ‘birdie’ and my screenname for one of my chat clients has something to do about birdie. oh and we collect mugs. if i win, it would be my first mug in kuwait =)

this one is my favorite

HERE ARE THE RULES

Yes!! A new giveaway!! And this time to win your own Birdie Says mug 

So, what do you have to do? Here are the rules on how to win your favorite one!!

1. Write a post in your blog about this giveaway, linking you readers to this post so everyone gets to participate.
2. In the post, let people know which one (1) of the mugs below is your favorite! For that you have to use the images I am leaving under here -copy/paste the code as it is- (click on “Read the full story” to see the available mugs)
3. Once you have done this, leave me a post to your blog’s entry in here (in this post), and I will shuffle the winner!! (maybe two).
4. Deadline is the Friday August 29th!! Good Luck everyone 

Note. If you are wondering where to get the mugs yourself, I’d suggest mydeviantArt store. The quality of the mugs there is awesome.

://communication

i just bought a cell phone, but after playing with it, i don’t like it. yes, i research like a mama jamma. it was between the nokia 6500 classic and sony ericsson k660i. the nokia was 87 kd and the sony was 66 kd. 

now i use my phone for dialing, pictures, and texting. none of them had a querty keyboard. both hold 1000 contacts, the menus are fairly intuitive, both play music, and both are quad band.

+ for nokia

• size (super super slim!)
• color (bronze!)
• multiple themes (7 vs 3 of the sony)
• games
• flash on camera
• converter applications (mainly money, temperature, weight)
• world clock (set to dc, denver, and manila)
• 1GB storage in lieu of non expandable keypad slot

+ for sony ericsson

• camera
• expandable memory
• supposed sound quality
• thicker (aka you can feel you have something)
• buttons
• landscape view for web browsing
• 3G

now with the obvious pluses, you could be wondering why i’m regretting my choice. obviously this is a world phone. so why am i disappointed?

1. sudoku sucks. easy is a 6×6 while hard is 9×9. i wanted everything to be 9×9 and the levels to vary by how many hints they give you, ya know, like a normal game

2. snake sucks. the reaction is slow

3. the keys are funny. i push on the silver/chrome parts of the keys

4. for 340 USD, i pretty much just use it to dial. now yes, that’s expensive, but over here, you buy the phone unlocked at market price…just like you would a digi cam. but, you’re on your own to find a phone provider…well there’s only two here LOL (Zain, which was MTC-vodafone and Watayana or something). But yeah, you can get the phone YOU want with the service YOU want. like, you don’t have to have ATT to get the iPhone. anyway 340 is like a loan payment, so it sucks. i don’t even have a sim card, and i don’t even have anywhere to go…and even if i did, i don’t have any money to spend b/c i’m not working.

://dental.care

so we went out with basim (i’m assuming that’s how you spell his name… it could be bosim, bossom…). anyway, he’s fluent in arabic, has lived all over, was born in kuwait, grew up in cali i think, was in the northeast, was in the army…so you get the point that he’s well travelled.

anyway, we ate indian, and he told us how to eat those grain things that are given to you after the meal. well it got stuck on ONE MOLAR. i brushed like 3 times and it didn’t come off. i have no toothpicks, and there’s no 24-hour farmfresh… (and i’m not going to take a taxi for a box of toothpicks). so what did i do?

picked up my cutter bee craft scissors and scraped it off.

that may not have been the brightest idea. the ones i have are for scrapbooking - so nothing sticks to the blades. their pointed like all get out and sharp as hell. i took the side of the blade and scraped off the spot stuck in the crevice of my molar…however one SPOT (literally) was stuck. it was like a brown tiny hole or something and i didn’t like the way it looked. (it wasn’t a hole, it just looked like one). anyway, i OPENED the scissor, took ONE pointed blade and scraped out that spot.

yes, i could’ve cut my gums, mouth lining, corner of my mouth and looked like joker, tongue, tonsils, etc… but it got it out. but now… my teeth feel funny! i HOPE TO GOD that i didn’t scrape out my sealant or something, that would suck ass.

://mens.gymnastics

why the fuck can’t they land? i watched men do the floor and the vault… and they keep falling on their asses. are men that uncoordinated? i mean, i doesn’t make sense. it’s not like women’s gymnastics where they wobble, this is like… falling on their butt - taking huge steps type of landings.

://knitting.exists

so here’s a culture lesson. aaron’s a manager and there’s a senior analyst who knows kuwait very well. so he asks her for advice on things for me. apparently, b/c he’s higher than her, she’s super helpful. but she’s not so nice to her subordinates…

oh wait, that’s not a culture lesson, that’s just life LMAO

anyway, she said … now follow me here … that she remembers seeing yarn and crocheting in a store closer to kuwait city. (here’s a map for you…i live in salmiya) but, she doesn’t remember the store. and she’ll take me when she hangs out with aaron and i on he saturday AFTER we return from bahrain.

*note, we leave for bahrain this saturday

now, i’d pay money  to go to kuwait city and sit in a knitting store…or at least scope it out during the day.

please, cross your fingers that there is good yarn. PLEASE. imma have to kill me some camels or something.