Thursday, December 26th - Packing day

The last few days have been pretty quiet; a lot less hectic than it normally is at home just before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to the old souk in downtown Kuwait, then to the Sharq Mall and finished off the day by visiting the Grand Mosque. The kids really enjoyed it, finding the souk pretty different than what we have in Canada, and the Grand Mosque

quite impressive. On Christmas day, we went to the Avenues Mall for a bit then went out for Korean food for dinner - not your typical Christmas dinner! And today, we are all packing and getting ready to leave later on tonight (we fly out at 2h30 Friday morning) to start our trip to Africa and our long awaited safari. Just getting there already seems like an adventure. First we were landing in Arusha, which is where we are going. Then the changed the flight to Kilimanjaro (about 60 km from our final destination). Now they've changed the arrival time as well, from 6 pm to 10h30 pm. Factor in an hour drive to get to Arusha and we won't be at the hotel before midnight. The early morning departure for the safari the next day will come quickly!

Sharq Mall

All dressed up and ready to visit the Grand Mosque

Checking out the Mosque

The oldest Quran

Our family, at our Christmas dinner (the food hasn't arrived yet!)

Monday, December 23rd - Whole family in Kuwait

Julie, Nicolas and Vincent made it safe and sound to Kuwait early Sunday afternoon. They left Toronto shortly after lunch on Saturday; we were very happy to see that their plane took off despite the weather. Their trip to Cairo was fine, then after a few hours between flights, they were on their way here. We didn't do much on Sunday as they were pretty tired (an 18 hour flight and layover, plus 8 hours difference will do that to you!). On Monday, we went to Fahaheel (a suburb near our apartment) for lunch and to walk around. We had lunch in a typical small restaurant and visited a small souk and a mall before walking along the beach for a while. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant, then came home and played cards a bit. It was a very nice day, fun to be all together finally. It is so cool to see our kids here in Kuwait with us. They find it very different than what they are used to (and rightly so!). We are planning on doing more touring tomorrow. The plan is for them to get rid of jetlag before we head out to Africa on Thursday night. They should be fine.

On a final note, we take this occasion to wish you, from far away, a very Merry Christmas.

Friday, December 20th - We're not going back in January

Well here's today's news. Jacqui and I have been talking about it for the last few weeks. We will be staying in Kuwait after the holidays. And it's all my fault. When she came back early December, Jacqui was sure that she was coming back for a month, and that she'd return to Canada on January 7th. I also have a flight booked for that day. Problem is I don't want to go back. I enjoy the adventure I'm on, and there is a purpose to my life here; I am being useful to society while at work. If I go back, I probably won't bother finding a job as we are planning on teaching somewhere else next year. So what would I do everyday, for 6 months? Stay home and go nuts? No thank you. Jacqui couldn't handle it in September because she was sick. She is now feeling fine, and willing to give it another go as we do not want to live apart from each other like we did in the fall for five weeks. So she's contacted a few schools in the last week, got some job interviews and three offers (for now). She has decided to accept a position teaching at the American Academy for Girls, having a grade 1 in an all-girls school. Class sizes are pretty small and the kids' behaviour will be very different than what she had at CBS as all the little "kings" are not there. Girl's behaviour is so different than boys' around here, as they don't have that sense of entitlement. Jacqui's expectations are also lower than what they were when she came in at the end of August, and she knows now what to expect (sort of!). I really believe (she does too) that this is a very good match for her. We'll see what happens. If things work out, great! If they don't, there are daily flights going back to Canada; we'll deal with that if we get there.

So now, in the meantime, we are waiting for our kids to get here for Christmas. We think about our friends back home a lot, and really miss the whole "buildup" to Christmas.

I probably will have another entry on this blog before Christmas, but just in case I don't or you don't have time to read it, Jacqui and I will take this occasion to wish you and your family all the best during this festive season. Enjoy every minute of it, especially the time spent with family and friends. It's when you're away that you realize how much each and everyone means to you.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Richard and Jacqui.

Sunday, December 15th - Back from Dubai

Our weekend in Dubai was very nice, except for all the delays we had. It started at the airport on the way out Thursday night. We took the slow line for passport control; the guy in the other line was passing two persons to one for our line. But we had time so it wasn't a big deal. Next, our 90 minute flight was delayed by 80 minutes. Nothing you can do as I'd rather have fix the problems with the plane while it's on the ground as opposed to going Oops, in the air! But still, we could almost have been there by the time we took off. Once we got to the airport, we again took the wrong line, this time spending about 1½ hour to go through passport control, while the line next to us would have taken about 45 minutes. Finally, we had to take a cab from the airport as we landed in Sharjah instead of Dubai (it would be like landing at Toronto Island instead or Pearson International); that took about 50 minutes as the driver couldn't find the hotel. We finally checked in at 1 am, while thinking we'd be there around 9 at the latest. Jacqui was starting to get annoyed!

We stayed at the Movenpick hotel, which was very nice. We visited the Mall of the Emirates on Saturday pm; the place is amazing. They do have a ski hill, with tubing and sleding. They also have a lot of stores, with a lot of them that we can't afford to go in (even with my Visa card!).

Back at the hotel, they had a choir singing Christmas carols, as well as a visit from Santa (the real one!); it was really nice as I find it very hard to grasp that we are in the holiday season. We went for a walk along the Marina mall on Sunday. It was very nice. Temperature in Dubai was a lot warmer than in Kuwait (max. temps of high 20 - low 30, as opposed to low to mid teens in Kuwait).

Jacqui's new motto!

Taking a break, in a typical arabian setting

Our hotel in the background

At Mall of the Emirates

Santa's sleigh

What can I say - about $ 55 for two hours.

The ski hill!

Chairlifts, seen through a window

Sitting by a fountain, at Mall of the Emirates

Thursday, December 12th - Christmas trees in Kuwait?

Another week over. We're heading out to Dubai later tonight. We'll spent the weekend, including Sunday; I took my personal leave. We were thinking of going to Oman, but the price was too steep for the amount of time we had.

We spent a little bit of time in shopping malls in the last few days. It really doesn't look like Christmas season. There are a few stores with Christmas decorations, and that's it. We saw some Christmas trees for sale in a few stores; check the pictures below.

It's been a week of running around trying to get my yellow fever shot. It took four days : one clinic on Sunday - they didn't have vaccines but sent us to a hospital that supposedly did. So off to the hospital on Monday, which told us that they do not do vaccines, but that another hospital would. So off to that hospital on Tuesday, which couldn't do it either because they only do vaccinations in the morning and we were there after school. So Wedenesday, I went back to that hospital to be told that they did not do vaccination for travel, but that the Ministry of Health, which was nearby, did all kinds of vaccination. So, late Wednesday morning, I finally got my yellow fever shot. That adventure was over!

We're not too familiar with those colors!

Looks a little more normal

Entering our Christmas section!

Our Kuwait Christmas tree!

Better than nothing!

The place is decorated for Christmas!!!

Monday, December 9th - Jacqui's IPhone = pictures!!

Thanks to Jacqui's phone, you will be able to look at pictures of Kuwait once again. I do have the camera, but don't often take it with me when going for "ordinary day" outings.

Jacqui is slowly adjusting to Kuwait time; she's going to bed earlier than last week (around midnight now, instead of 4 - 5 am) and, by the same token, getting up earlier (around 10 am). We didn't do much last Friday; we went grocery shopping and bought ourselves a small Christmas tree (really small). That will be the topic of the next blog entry! We went to visit the Kuwait Towers on Saturday afternoon. It was a nice day, sunny, around 23 degrees when the sun was out, but it cooled off quickly after sunset (to around 18). We also discovered ... you guessed it, another mall. It's the Souk Sharq. We also started looking for our weekend trip to Dubai; we felt we didn't have enough time to go to Oman (the original plan), which is a little further and a lot more expensive. The trip was finalized on Monday afternoon. Leaving Thursday night  6ish to return Sunday night 8ish. I'm taking my personal leave on Sunday to make it a 3 day weekend. We are looking forward to this little get away.

Jacqui, on Dec. 7th, with the Kuwait Towers in the background

 

Richard, by the water

The Kuwait Towers

At the Shark Mall, overlooking a marina

Taking a break (and a bite to eat!)

Wednesday, December 4th - She's baaaaaack!!!

Jacqui landed in Kuwait on Monday night. It is very nice to have her back here and to be together again. She is in much better shape mentally than when she left; it's great to see her feeling well again. She found it a little weird coming back to "our home" but is adjusting pretty well. She is still not over jet-lag, going to bed at 5 or 6 am and getting up at 2-3 in the afternoon. But then again, it's only been two days. It will take a few days to get back to Kuwait time.

While talking to her, she mentionned that a lot of people were under the impression that I was struggling with the whole thing as well. Nothing would be further from the truth. I didn't like being apart from Jacqui, but as far as being in Kuwait is concerned, I absolutely love it. I find it so neat to live in a different culture, it's really cool. So if some of you are worring about me, don't; I'm really enjoying it.

We're looking forward to the weekend, so we can start touring this place again. There is still stuff to see, and pictures to take (yes, I know, it's been a while since I've posted some).

Saturday, November 30th - Doesn't look like December around here!

Things got a little shaky again on Friday night - a 5.7 earthquake in Iran was felt here as well. The building didn't move like last week, but you could still feel it.

Temperatures have warmed up for the weekend, which caused traffic problems by the beach. I went for a walk down towards that area on Friday. The parking lot for the beach was full (it was a beautiful day for the end of November, 28 degrees), so people started parking on the sidewalk and in the first of the 3-lane street. This caused people to stop in the second lane to unload their stuff, meaning that traffic that wanted to get by only had one lane for it. People here are masters of Honking the Horn; you shoud have heard it. New York City doesn't even come close to this place! They honk for everything. Drivers slow down, they honk. A bus picks up someone by the side of the road, they honk. It's even weirder when they stop at what would be equivalent to our corner stores. Since there is no place to park, they stop in the first lane or pull up on the sidewalk, and honk their horns. Someone from the store comes out, takes their order, goes back in to get what they need and brings it back. Obviously, if it takes more than a few seconds, they honk again.

The rest of my weekend was quiet. Waiting for Jaqui to get here on Monday night. It'll be nice to be together again.

Wednesday, November 27th - Tutoring - first we eat, then we work

Since I have a fair amount of time on my hands after work, I started tutoring a grade 10 student in math (a lot of students in Kuwait  hire tutors to help them with their school work). I worked with him on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I go to his place after school; his driver picks us up at school. When we get there, we eat what looks to me like a full meal (he's still a growing boy, I guess). I've had rice everyday, with chicken or beef on top of it, and salads, and desserts. It's all very tasty! The maids (there are two that work solely in the kitchen and two more who take care of the house) bring us food, juice and water; they bring out more rice after 10 - 15 minutes because the other batch got cold. When we are done eating, we go to the other end of the table (it sits 12 people) and start working on math while the maids clean up the end where we ate and bring tea while we work. When we are done, his father brings me back to my apartment. He's a very nice man and fun to talk to.

Weather wise, I guess it's "very cold", according to the kids at school - ya, it was 12 degrees the other morning (got up to low 20's in the afternoon)! I must say that they find 40 - 45 degrees quite comfortable, while we die from heat, so it's all relative. I've even seen a few people wearing ear muffs!

The end of November means that the start of December isn't very far, which means that Jacqui will be back in Kuwait pretty soon (Monday,the 2nd). And yes, I'm looking forward to it! It'll be nice to be a couple again. Just a few more days to go ...

Saturday, November 23rd - The building was swaying back and forth

We finally had kids at school on Thursday. It still made for a pretty easy week - two days off plus one day without kids!

Friday started out  like a lot of uneventful days, but finished quite differently. We felt the aftershocks of two earthquakes that happened north east of Bagdhad, Iraq (5.3 and 5.5 on the Richter scale), which made our building sway back and forth for a few seconds. I had experienced tremors back home, where you feel the vibrations - mostly because we lived in a two storey house - but never felt swaying like this before. I guess living on the 7th floor of a nine floor tower building will do that. It also makes you think : if this thing sways to much and crumbles, ... no more blog I guess. Oh well, for now, we just "ride the wave"!  

Saturday was a beautiful day (I should have worn shorts to go outside). I went for a walk to buy ink cartridges. I wrote a few weeks ago that Jacqui and I had found a mall nearby that was within walking distance. Well, around that mall are 5 other malls - not huge in size but still big enough to be a mall. Two of them are very much like the malls we have at home (they both have 4 floors for your shopping pleasure) while the others seem to have two floors and more local shops. It's kind of bizarre when you have to walk through two malls to finally get to the third one to buy what you need. This could be shopping heaven for some people (I'm not one of them!)

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Wednesday, November 20th - Major rain storm in Kuwait on Monday

Well, who would've thought! We didn't have school on Monday as the governement was closing the roads close to our school for security reasons for the African/Middle East summit. So I stayed home and watched one wicked storm go by. It was windy, raining very hard (the rain was coming down sideways!) and we got lots. I didn't think it could rain this much, in "the desert". I've included a few photos (not mine) to show you a bit of what we had to deal with.
 

 


We had some more rain on Tuesday, which had been declared a National holiday. So I stayed home again. This weather wasn't great if you wanted to venture far away from home! I got a text from my principal at night saying that we had to go to school on Wednesday, but the students would not be there. Again, they are trying to minimize traffic for security reasons and there is water damage to a lot of schools. So I spent that day at school working on two of the three different projects that the school has going and that have to be completed before the Christmas holidays. We had to leave school early (1h15 instead of 2h40) as they were starting to close some roads. Well, we left to late. We ended up having to take a major detour and got home 75 minutes later (normally a 20-25 minute drive). It was however kinda cool to see the security that was around the airport. There were army trunks with machine guns on them, soldiers just about everywhere, ... and traffic, lots of it. It would be like closing, all at the same time, the 401, Airport Road, the 427 around the airport and all the smaller roads close to it as well. It makes for a mess!
Will things be back to normal Thursday? Not sure.Because of the water damage, students might be asked to stay home one more day. We probably won't find out until later tonight (it was past 9 pm last night when we found out that kids wouldn't be there today).

Sunday, November 17th - Start of another weekend!

Gotta love this job. Like everyone, we had our weekend on Friday and Saturday. Going in on Sunday, we already knew that Tuesday had been declared a national holiday, and that the school would be closed. There were also speculations that Monday or Wednesday, or both, would be a holiday as well, because they would close the road leading to school. Well we were told just after lunch that the school would be closed Monday as well. No word yet on whether it will be open on Wednesday or not. I guess we won't find out until Tuesday, sometime. So I had a weekend, worked one day and get another two day off. Kinda works for me! We'll see what happens later on in the week.

Saturday, November 16th - End of my weekend

Another quiet weekend alone in Kuwait. Did some school work and some stuff around the apartment and went out for dinner with friends on Friday. We had parent-teacher interview day at school on Thursday. It was nice to do it during the day as opposed to doing it at night like we normally do back home. It was very much like any other parent-teacher night that I've been to, except for some of the clothing; it's kind of weird to talk to mothers when you only see their eyes. But basically, they're just parents wanting to make sure that their kids are OK and that they're doing the best they can. Despite all the problems that we have at school, it was a very nice day and everyone was very nice!

I'll have another short week this week. Tuesday has been declared a national holiday because of the African Summit that's taking place in Kuwait City. So everybody gets a day off. There are still rumors that our school (and another one nearby) might also get Monday or Wednesday, or both, off for security reasons as the road leading to school (Airport Rd) would be closed to traffic. We should find out tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed!!

Tuesday, November 12th - Not much going on!

It's been a few days since my last post. Not much happening these days. Report cards are done and over with. We have parent-teacher interview on Thursday, all day, which means we don't teach that day. I'm OK with that. And for next week, the rumor of Kuwait hosting the African summit seems to be coming more and more of a reality (it's still not confirmed by anyone) as we are seeing different african country's flags along the highway, close to the airport. Rumor has it that our school might be closed for 2 or 3 days; the country might even declare it a national holiday, so everyone gets time off. Just got to love politics!! We should find out soon!

Wheatherwise, it's cooling off (just like back home - it dropped around 20 degrees from the average high temperatures of mid-summer days); our daily highs are in the mid 20's and it's mid to high teens when we leave in the morning. Mohammed (our building supervisor) can be seen washing cars outside the building in the morning wearing his thick fall jacket and a tuque. He is however the exception, as most people now wear long sleeves, and a light jacket (canadians and irishmen are still wearing short sleeve shirts, as the temperature is now quite comfortable!)

On the lighter side, you would think yoga is good for relaxation. Well maybe not in Kuwait. My principal decided last night to go to a yoga class; she had done yoga in Toronto for years, but never went to this place in Kuwait. She had all the info from their website, so she took a cab to get there. Getting to the neighbourhood where the class was offered was easy (we are getting very familiar with the various neighbourhoods and blocks); however, finding the specific place is a different story. The cab driver got lost, called a bunch of other drivers to find out where this place was, got answers from everyone, but never found the place (no street names, no house numbers is the norm here). After 45 minutes of driving around, she decided to come back, really pissed off. So much for relaxation!

Enjoy your week.

Friday, November 8th - Morning blog

Another week gone by. It was kind of nice to get a day off in the middle of it. On Tuesday, I went for a nice long walk along the seaside; it was beautiful. I sat on a bench for a while and looked at the gulf, taking time to reflect on this whole situation, sitting in the sun at 28 degrees, and thinking of all of you back home, probably scraping the frost from your windshields! I must admit I don't miss that part! My week was quiet. We were supposed to have a presentation at school on Thursday morning, only to find out  about 30 minutes before the scheduled time that it was cancelled. I should have expected it; not much here goes according to plan!

My weekend looks pretty busy (sic) : laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning the apartment. Wow, almost looking forward to going back to work on Sunday! (not).

Bad news on the home front. Julie rear-ended a car on Wednesday in Ottawa. Everyone is fine (no injuries), the other car doesn't seem to have too much damage on it but the Honda seems to have taken a beating (front bumper, hood, front fender, radiator, AC?, and maybe more). As I write this, we are still waiting for the adjuster to look at it. Jacqui was planning on going to Ottawa for the weekend, but finally decided to go on Wednesday instead. She'll spent quality time with Julie. They were planning on having dinner with friends on Thursday night. They'll have fun.

Monday, November 4th - Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone! Tomorrow is the islamic New Year. We get a day off from school! On our school calendar, the holiday was scheduled for today, Monday. Two to three weeks ago, there were rumors that we might get the Sunday off as well to make it a 4 day weekend (that would have been really nice). But a few days later, the rumor was now that the holiday would be on Thursday the 7th, giving us a 3 day weekend. Then finally last week, the government decided that the holiday would be on Tuesday, dead smack in the middle of the work week. However, this wasn't really official until Sunday, at least that's when they guaranteed us that we wouldn't work on Tuesday. I find it amazing that they can change the date just like that. We are certainly not used to that! The arabic staff at school treated us to a nice lunch after school to celebrate the New Year. They brought something that looked a bit like pita bread stuffed with chicken and cheese, or veggies, or fish. It was really good. A few of our arabic staff members were saying that they use this day to gather with family and reminisce about the past year and talk about their faith. They supposedly eat a lot as well!

Meanwhile, back in Canada, it's only November 4th. Jacqui did supply teaching today at a school close to our old neighbourhood. She had gone to Chatham to see her mom on the weekend. She seems to feel a bit better (she's sleeping better) even though she finds it hard that we're apart from each other. We skype everyday. She's planning on going to Ottawa to see Julie this coming weekend. I'm sure they'll have a good weekend.

Saturday, November 2nd - The weekend - Fall has started

It's our first weekend apart, separated by the Atlantic Ocean and some land on each side. Who would've thought? The rest of my week was good. I went out for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday night. Friday was a quiet day, worked on report cards most of the day. Did groceries and ironing on Saturday; real exciting day!

Jacqui saw her doctor on Thursday, did supply teaching on Friday and will continue this coming Monday. She's planning on going to see her mom in Chatham sometime this weekend but I don't know which day since I haven't talked to her yet today (it's still pretty early for people back home!) But I know she's glad to be back in Canada.

Fall has started in Kuwait. Temperatures are now in the mid 20's for our daily highs and in the 15-18 range at night and in the morning. We now get cloudy skies; there's even a 40% chance of thunderstorm for tonight. I still haven't seen rain though. I turn off the AC once in a while in the apartment - you can't let it get too cold as there is almost no way except outside heat to warm it up. There is no furnace in the building but we do have an electric space heater. Not really looking forward to using that, but I guess that it will have to come at one point.

Enjoy your weekend. Mine is almost over.

Wednesday, October 30th - it's been 3 days

It's been three days since Jacqui went back to Canada. Her flight was fine; she got back to Kitchener/Waterloo on Monday the 28th. She was back at her old school the next day, having a half day of supply teaching, followed by a full day on Wednesday. Her return there was very nice, like going back home (literally). Everyone was very happy to see her.

Here in Kuwait, things are quiet, except my students! Had a fight in class on Monday and a teacher ask me on Tuesday afternoon if I could take the kids to the gym to have them do push-ups or something to burn up a bit of their energy; my answer was obviously "I don't teach those guys at this time of day, and don't plan to, therefore ... not my problem". I must admit that Monday's class with the grade 7's was the worse class I have ever seen in 32 years of teaching. It was mayhem everywhere. I couldn't turn around fast enough to stop every situation; it was really out of control. So yes, they are that bad (at times). Didn't have much fun that day.

As for Jacqui and I, we figure we have about 50 days to be apart before she comes back before Christmas; today is day 3. We'll be fine. What happens after Christmas remains to be seen.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone. It doesn't seem to be a big celebration here in Kuwait. But we do have costume day at school tomorrow.

Sunday, October 27th - Our last day together (for a while)

I went to work this morning but came home early. Jacqui and I went for lunch, then for a walk. We had some colleagues visit after school then we went out for dinner - our last one together for the next two months. After we got back home, Jacqui tried to sleep a bit before taking a cab to the airport. Her flight was on time. So now that she's gone back home and that I'm still here, the redaction of this blog will slow down quite a bit, to maybe one or two entries a week (unless something really exciting happens). I expect the next few weeks to be pretty quiet on this side of the Atlantic.

But before I go, I must tell you that we lost another teacher today : he hit a kid. It's a bad move anywhere on the planet. So needless to say, he's not with us anymore. Jacqui might be gone, but the adventure at CBS continues!!

Saturday, October 26th - Our last Saturday

Our day started like a lot of other Saturdays: grocery shopping (even though this time we bought a lot less as there will be one less person in this apartment as of Monday). We went for a walk in the afternoon and four of us went out for dinner at night. The place we went to served "special water", which was very much appreciated by all.

It was a quiet day, as both Jacqui and I realize that the next two months probably won't be too much fun. We simply enjoy each other's company, while we can. We'll take it one day at a time. Things will be fine.

Friday - October 25th - Our Failaka Island trip

We did a tourist thing: a group of 18 of us took a boat to go visit Faikala Island, an island located about 20 km east of Kuwait City. It used to be a vibrant community before the gulf war, but has basically been abandonned since. It was weird to see a bunch of buildings but nobody around, or to see, buildings falling apart due to the war. There is a hotel on the island, but I'm sure you can find a better location for your next holiday! It wasn't a very exciting tour; kind of disappointing.

On our way to Faikala Island, Kuwait City in the background

Parts of Kuwait City, seen from the gulf

On Faikala Island

Old air pump - I guess it still works

Richard, holding up the fort!

Sunset on the Island, shortly before 5 pm!

Thursday, October 24th - Decision has been made (aka Read this one!)

Well it is my turn to do some blogging!!  Richard has been doing a great job, but I think that this time, it would only be appropriate that I share this message.  He shouldn’t have to do my work!!  Well, it has been mentioned only a bit, but I have really been struggling with the whole teaching  in Kuwait thing!  I developed anxiety when I started at CBS and then because I took too many sick days, my contract was terminated.  This was not a huge problem, because there are sooo many teaching positions in Kuwait.  I tried 2 other schools and my anxiety was getting worse.  So… we have made a decision.  I will return to Canada and do some supply teaching with my school board.  There are enough schools in the area to keep me pretty busy.  I will stay with my brother and sister-in-law in Kitchener.  Thank goodness for a wonderful family!  Richard will stay here in Kuwait and I will return in December for our trip to Africa with the kids.  I hope to try again at a teaching position here in January, but not sure yet.  One step at a time….

While it is not an ideal solution, it should work.  We will miss each other terribly, but there is skype!!  Thank God!  It has been a real struggle as I feel very guilty…like I failed in this adventure.  But as my daughter Julie was saying, if it was appendicitis or some other physical ailment, coming home would be a non- issue.   Mental health is always kind of misunderstood and somehow I felt that I should just be able to suck it up…but that was not working for me.  I started to feel like I was going crazy…not much fun!  I kept saying that I made a huge mistake and did not know that it would be like this.

We certainly did not think that it would come to this, but there was no real way of knowing what it was going to be like until actually getting here and living the experience.  When we were in Canada, Richard and I would be talking about the whole teaching experience and how we were so excited to be doing some travelling and living in a different country.  I had said that it would be just like being on holidays and he did not agree…saying that it will still be work. Boy was I wrong!  I have eaten my words very often! 

Regardless of the situation, we still have no regrets whatsoever about our adventure…we have learned so much and it has been very enriching!  I have to accept my limitations and make the best of it.  I am so thankful for my friends and family who have spent so much time skyping and emailing with me and listening and sharing so many encouraging words!  I really don’t know what I would have done without you!!!  Richard has been fantastic and is so supportive!  I so wish that it could work for me here, but….for now, it doesn’t. We’ll see what happens after Christmas. 

I’ll be arriving in Canada on Monday October 28 at 1:30 pm!  Can’t wait!

Tuesday, October 22nd - Our bus ride!

We've been here for two months already. We've seen a lot and learned a lot. So many things are different than what we're used to. For example, the bus ride. We took the bus to go to dinner. On the way back, the driver drove for a while with all the doors open (and he was motoring down the road); doesn't seem to be a problem! I don't think you'd see that on King St in Kitchener/Waterloo! The same driver had a shouting match with a passenger and kicked him off the bus (I guess the guy was planning on getting off anyway, but it was an animated discussion!). At our stop, Jacqui was delayed in getting off because a lady had fallen out of her seat. Ya, that's how fast they drive, turn corners and stop, or should I say slow down.

The meal was good. The rest of our day was quiet and peaceful!

Monday, October 21st - Discovery of another shopping mall!

My day at school wasn't too busy; it was kind of nice actually. Jacqui and I went for a walk after school, going to a nearby mall (a 15 minute walk) that we knew existed but that we had never visited. We didn't expect to much, as it seems to be build in a pretty residential area. Well, what a surprise. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you get inside, it has four floors of shops, a skating rink (fake ice, though), a big area for kids to play, and your typical food court and movie theater. There are more shops outside the mall. Too bad we're not big shoppers; someone could spend a lot of time in that place and all the other malls around this city. The rest of our evening was quiet; we watched TV for a bit then called it a day.

Jacqui starts tutoring tomorrow; we'll see how that goes.

The museum we visited last Friday.

There is vegetation in Kuwait (as long as you water it!)

The Al Bairaq mall, 15 minute walk from our place.

Same mall!

Sunday, October 20th - Back to work

Getting up at 5 am was slightly painful. Back to school was OK. We went for a walk on the waterfront after school, and I did marking in the evening. Pretty boring day when you think about it.

Saturday, October 19th - End of the holidays.

Our week of holidays is over already. Today is our last day. We basically just went for a walk looking for a specific store. We knew on which street it was, just not how far! After a 75 minute walk, we got there, bought what we needed and took a bus home! Forget this "I think it's just around the corner" BS (we were both guilty of that, by the way). It was actually a nice day to walk: a little breeze blowing and temperatures around the low 30's. The rest of the day was quiet. All in all, we've had a nice relaxing holiday.

Friday, October 18th - Public transit in the Middle East

Jacqui and I had taken the bus yesterday to go to the Palms Beach Club and found public transit to be very effective; it did not take much longer than taking a taxi, as the bus travels on the exact same route as cabs do, and for 10% of the price. So we hooked up with two fellow teachers from our building today to go, by bus, to the Tareq Rajab Museum. None of us were very sure of its location, but we found it no problem. It's a museum that holds very old artifacts (some 1000 years old) from all the Middle East countries and Northern Africa. Fortunately, the museum wasn't touched during the Gulf War because the Iraquis didn't know it was there (or so they say). Yes, it's just a door with a little sign above it. Very easy to miss!

So back to this public transit thing. In Kuwait (and the Middle East, I imagine), women sit at the front of the bus while men sit farther back. I could sit with Jacqui while the bus was pretty empty, but once it started filling up, and more women came on, I had to move back. So I travelled about half the day by myself (well, with a bunch of other men). But this wasn't a surprise, as I had been told about this, even though there are no signs anywhere stipulating this (but men do give up their seat freely). Dubai, on the other hand, was a little different. We only used the subway and no buses. Their subway system is great, riding sometimes underground and often above ground. They have 2 - 3 subway cars at each end of the train reserved for women and children only, at certain times of day. And signs are posted: "Women and children only in this car". There are no men in those cars, regardless of how crowded our cars are. There is a yellow line on the floor separating the two sections, and nobody dares step on the line. I'm not sure what would happen if someone did. I'm not willing to be the one to find out the hard way. Women are however free to go on any car. So next time you take public transit or see a bus go by, look at the seating arrangement, and think of us!

Thursday, October 17th - A day at the pool

Our morning started out slowly, watching TV and relaxing. We then decided to take a city bus to go to The Palms, instead of taking a cab. Not wanting to do the same thing as yesterday when we got there, we decided to spend the day by the pool instead of the beach! We went grocery shopping after that and had two fellow teachers over for dinner in the evening. It was our first time hosting someone for dinner since we've been here (having only three chairs with our kitchen set, one of them had to bring hers!). We shared a good meal, had some laughs and all of us seemed to be a bit re-energized by it.

The "lane pool" at The Palms (with one pool left of it and another one on the right - not shown)

Coffee by the pool.

Wednesday, October 16th - A day at the beach

We headed out to The Palms Beach Club around 11am and spent the whole day laying on the beach and talking with fellow teachers who were already back from their short trip to Dubai (like us) or that just didn't go away for various reasons. We realized that everyone misses home to some degree, whatever the definition of home is. For the young teachers, home is still pretty much the same way it was when they left : the house, the neighbourhood, the friends, .... For some of us older teachers, the definition of home is somewhat different. It is more of a concept, or an image of a place that doesn't exist as such anymore. The definition of home as we normally understand it is changed, as there is no house to go back to, and maybe no job waiting for us (but friends are still there). Getting used to this idea is probably what makes it so hard for some people to adjust to this life away from what we've all been used to for years. Hopefully, time will take care of that.

Tuesday, October 15th - Back to Kuwait

We had a very quiet day. Went for breakfast at the hotel then waited to go to the airport. There is still a lot of things to do and see in Dubai, but we know that we'll be back. We got to our apartment after 6pm and watched a bit of TV before calling it a day.

Monday, October 14th - Tour of Dubai

Unfortunately, the alarm woke us up at 9 am (yes, it’s self-inflicted!). You sometimes forget how good sleep is! We were on the go by 11 am to meet our friend Sandy (she’s my VP and also lives in our building in Kuwait). We had planned on taking a “hop on, hop off” bus ride to visit the city of Dubai but ended up taking a driver instead. We toured the city, all three of us, in a Lexus, with AC, stopping wherever we wanted, and for as long as we wanted. It was great (and cheaper than the bus tour!). The driver even suggested a place for lunch (he was hungry! – well, it was1h30 and we had been with him for a while) so we ate at a local restaurant  which was very good and not expensive at all (68 dirhams for the four of us; equals about 20 $ CAD). We drove around all day and visited a lot of places that the regular tourists on the bus tour wouldn’t go to. We got back after 5h30 pm. We then invited Sandy to our room for a final drink (she’s leaving today, back to Kuwait; no more booze). That  will be our situation tomorrow.

Our car for the day

Part of downtown Dubai

By Dubai Creek

Jumeirah Beach, with a "7 Star" hotel in the background

Sunday, October 13th - Playing in the big sandbox

So nice to be on holidays. We slept in, had lunch in our room (so we could have wine with our meal) then took the subway to go meet a friend to go on our desert safari at 3 pm. It wasn't really a safari in the way we normally understand it, but more of a wild drive in the desert. The desert is really cool to see; there is sand everywhere you look. We took a joy ride on and between sand dunes with a Toyota Land Rover. It was a lot of fun. We then went to a camp where we rode camels and had a barbecue dinner. The dinner was good, but the belly dancers show was cancelled because of the religious holiday (today is the Hajj celebration, which is something very big for Muslims). We got back to our hotel around 9 pm, skyped with our three kids and called it a day, a very nice day.

We're obviously thinking of everyone home on this holiday weekend, especially when Vince was telling us that aunt Jackie will have ham, pork tenderloin and wine for dinner, all things that we cannot have in Kuwait. We miss all of you, but the adventure is worth it (any of you ride a camel lately?)

The picture isn't clear because of all the sand in the air; we're close to a sand storm

Drifting snow? No. Drifting sand!

Our "dune buggies"(and there are lots of dunes!!!)

Top of the sand dune?

My footsteps in the sand

Our "joy car", and yes, it says Dubai - which is very cool (not the temperature)

A sand dune; one side exposed to the wind (left) and the other side is not

Jacqueline, and a "mountain" in the backdrop

We've made a friend?

I guess we did!!!

Our arab look!

Sittting in the shade

Entry to the camp

Camel ride

I wouldn't cross the desert on one of these.

Going down!

Break time!

Our dinner table