Saturday, August 31st - We are SK ready!

On this beautiful Saturday (every day is beautiful around here), we spent six hours at school finalizing Jacqui's class preparation for tomorrow. Yup, the kids are coming in Sunday am (27 of them in her SK - one of the six SK classes in the school).

That's it; we're done for now!

Bring 'em on!!

The playground between the 6 SK's (left) and the 6 JK's (right) 

Starting tomorrow, will be like Cambridge people working in TO : get up at 5 am and on the road by 6:15 ... can't wait for that! Except that we have to go to bed at 10 pm or so on a Saturday night - not used to that yet. Once we left the school, we went shopping, again. I think I've shopped everyday since I've arrived in Kuwait. Back at the apartment, we had dinner and Jacqui worked a little bit more since she found out she had an extra kid in her class. But now that everything is ready, her stress level has gone down. Time to do what we do best : teach.

Friday, August 30th - Our first "real" day off

Got to love Friday's! We did cleaning, laundry, groceries ... almost looking forward to going back to school!

Jacqui in the hall of our apartment building

But nothing is easy. We tried to locate a "dollar" store when we went grocery shopping ... couldn't find it. We know it exists as we drove by last week (it's very close to the grocery store) but our cab driver didn't know what we were talking about and we couldn't recognize the building, so it reminds me of a popular jingle ... "think of the money you're going to save"!

Our grocery store - food on lower and middle floor, electronics on lower floor and clothing on upper floor.

As for laundry, the washing machine in the apartment is great, but like many places in Europe and the Middle East, there are no dryers. This means that all our clothes are wrinkled, which by default means a lot of ironing. We are seriously thinking of hiring a maid to do the cleaning and ironing (once a week).

It gets so hot in Kuwait that they have water stations along the road. People stop by, grab a drink or refill their water bottle, then keep going. There are even places where there is a cup to drink from ... they all drink from the same cup (not sure I would do that).

Water station in front of our building

We also rearranged our apartment a bit (all 8 pieces of furniture!) We moved the table and the three chairs by the patio door so we can have a view of Kuwait when we sit down. It's a lot nicer than looking at a wall.

Room with a view!

In the late afternoon/early evening, five of us attended a presentation offered by the American University of Kuwait. It was kind of a "Welcome to Kuwait" type of thing. We didn't stay till the end as it was pretty much geared towards americans (we missed the meal but took home two pieces of cheesecake!)

That's it for tonight. We have to go to school Saturday because Jacqui wants to work in her classroom before the students get there on Sunday. 

Have a very good long week-end! Be safe.

Jacqueline's turn ... It has been 1 week since we arrived!! Hard to believe. It is definitely overwhelming, from taxis to the heat and such a different school setting. Lots to absorb, culture shock has set in for sure. Very glad that we are 2 in this adventure! Nice to have my hubby to help ease the adjustment. We have met so many wonderful people also, so there is never a dull moment. As for laundry...the decision has been made!!! As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans....well when in Kuwait, get a maid!!!

I am signing off ... have to get some zzzzz!! Thinking of everyone back home lots. Thank goodness for the internet. So nice to skype and facebook and email to keep in touch!

Thursday, August 29th, TGIT

Thank God it's Thursday! We finished our first week of school. We've only been here a week but it seems a lot longer than that. We have been busy every day. Tonight, we went to the AWARE Centre, a place that gives you a type of intro to Kuwait and their culture and religion. It was very informative and interesting. The presentation was followed by a meal (just like Vince : free food, we go!); it was really good. It was chicken with rice, pita bread, hummus, and a few other things that I cannot name, but the dessert was really good : an ice cream cake with yummy chocolate and some fruit on top.

It's nice to know that we don't have to work tomorrow; we need a break. Time to relax with a Kuwaiti beer (also known as Aquafina water!).

Wednesday, August 28th

The day didn't start too well; the AC in Jacqui's classroom wasn't working when we got there in the morning. The temperature outside was already in the mid 30's by 7 am, so her room was a little steamy (so was she!). They partially fixed the problem but it's far from being perfect. We can't even use the word cool yet. After school, Jacqui went shopping for school supplies with four other teachers while I went for a walk to a grocery store nearby. The taxi cab that took them back to here used a different route than what we are used to (if I can use that word after 6 days!). They ended up coming home from the side streets and they turned around in circles for a while as we are not used to seeing the building from behind and they couldn't recognize it. But eventually, they all made it back! We're now getting ready for tomorrow which will be our last day of work for this week.

It's Jacqui's turn now .... I have one day left to get ready before the arrival of my students...needless to say, my door is not even decorated, nor is my calendar ready! I am hoping that my EA and I can finish up before the end of the day. However, I am not hopeful, pretty sure I'll be spending part of the day on Saturday at school. That is one thing that is not different than in Canada. I always had to go in on labour day weekend before we started school. Oh well!  It has been very hectic with meetings and just getting used to how things work at a bigger school. Still not used to that! In time. I have not added many entries for our blog, but hope to do so a bit more. Probably not in the near future since  Richard will start with his students only on the 8th, so he'll definitely have more time! I am hoping that by the end of September, I will be a bit more organized and the work load eases a bit. We'll see!

Tuesday August 27th - the day we went missing!

The day at school was busy. Jacqui didn't have much time to work in her class and I basically had meetings all day. After school, we decided to go shopping downtown Kuwait City.  There is a teacher store very similar to Scholar's Choice...just a tad more expensive!!To reduce our cab cost, we took the shuttle from school (there are 2 shuttle buses for teachers) that would take us closer to dowtown, since we live in the opposite direction. We got out at one of the apartment buildings where teachers from our school live, and took a cab from there to downtown. To get back, we took a cab to that same apartment building then boarded the shuttle bus that was taking some teachers shopping in the evening, thinking that someone from our building would be there as well and that we could get back home with our own shuttle bus. After thinking about it some more, we figured nobody would be there and decided to take a cab home from that store. Well, someone was there, kind of looking for us but we were nowhere to be found. We didn't have anyone's phone number from our building, thus no way of letting them know that we were already heading back. After we got back, we heard there had been a bunch of phone calls made trying to locate us. We felt like two 12 year olds that missed curfew! It was all pretty funny. They told us that we might see our faces on the sides of milk cartons. We'll let you know if that happens or not!

Monday, August 26th

I woke up early again today (I've heard the 3:30 morning prayers everyday so far) and managed to take these pictures of a beautiful sunrise over Kuwait.

We spent our second day at school. We are slowly getting ready for the student's arrival. Jacqui will start with her students on Sept. 1st while Richard will start on the 8th. He's being pushed back one week as 9 of their 17 teachers have visa problems and are not here yet.

In the afternoon , we took a few pictures of our apartment. It's not big but does the job.

our living room

Our kitchen mat

We call it home for now. We're glad the AC is working; it's been running 24/4 (we've only been here 4 days so I can't really say 7, can I?). Kuwait doesn't seem to have a weather network; they don't need it as it is very hot during the day and hot at night. You step outside in the afternoon and it is very hot, but dry, ... but very hot (44 - 47 degrees) and it cools down to the low 30's at night.We found a bit of an advantage about starting to go to school; we have to get up early which means the water for the shower is not as hot as it is later in the day. By mid afternoon, you can't really shower because the water tanks are on the roof and the water gets so hot; there is nothing to cool it down!

 After dinner, we went out shopping again. This time, it's for school supplies and cheap stuff for the apartment (kind of a Dollorama store). We talked with all three children today; that was very nice!

Being there - School - August 25th

We went to school for the first time today. It was different than what we are used to. The school is made up of a series of 11 buildings, with the outdoor covered gym in the middle of them (there is also a small indoor gym). They do have 8 portables that are used for the high school kids. We had a chance to meet a lot of new people. The group was split up early in the morning into secondary and primary so we didn't see each other much until the bus ride back home (ya, we get taken to and from school by a small bus/minivan). In all those years of teaching, we've never been taken to school by private transportation ... it's kinda nice not to have to drive.

It felt really weird when we got home after school as we started checking the golf scores for the Barclay's tournament : we had already done a full day's work this week and the leaders of the tournament hadn't teed off yet. It will take some getting used to (just like when I saw the other night a baseball game in San Francisco starting here at 5 am the next day!).

In the evening, we went to another beautiful (and very big) mall called the Avenues (http://www.the-avenues.com/about-avenues.html). We didn't have much time to shop but we will surely return to explore that place a little more. Jacqui's life might also have gotten a little bit better with that visit as we found out that they just opened a Tim's in the mall; the first Tim's in Kuwait. We also got phones at the mall; guess who got which one! Also note the letters on the smaller phone; kinda cool, isn't it? You won't find that in North America!

All in all, it was a good day!

Being there --- August 24th

Today is our final day of summer holidays as we have to get to school tomorrow  to start our week of orientation (ya, we work on Sundays but not on Fridays). Our day was kind of quiet : sleeping until 1 pm kinda shortens the day a bit. But it was much needed rest! We went shopping for phones all by ourselves, and we even made it back!

Being there ... August 23rd

Friday, August 23th

Our first full day in Kuwait. We're jet lagged a bit but still managed to go grocery shopping after lunch. The store was huge (three floors) with everything from food to electronics to clothing. Our 7th floor two bedroom apartment is fine; we see the gulf from our living room window and from our small balcony (I mean very small - no room for chairs). Here are a couple of pictures of what we see from our balcony.

Looking towards the gulf.

We're close to a highway. You can see the gulf in the background.

Tonight, we went out to our first restaurant for dinner we some fellow teachers; a lebanese place in the Al Kout mall (http://www.alkoutmall.com). The mall was very beautiful (what we saw of it) and we finished the evening sitting by the water fountains, that we briefly see at the start of the video (if you want to watch it).
 We came back home by 9 pm, dead tired, as we are still adjusting to a 7 hour time change.

Getting there - August 21st

We will be leaving for Kuwait on Wednesday, August 21st 2013. Our adventures will be posted here for you to follow! Enjoy!

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Monday August 19th.

The last few days have been pretty hectic. There seems to be so many little things to do before leaving. We have also been spending a lot of time saying good-bye to family and friends. We must admit that this part is not always easy.

Tuesday, August 20th.

Packing our bags to get ready to leave is a challenge. What do you bring when you leave for two years but are only allowed one suitcase per person by the airline company. We figure we’ll take three bags altogether and pay for the extra one; there is no way we can fit all our stuff in two bags.

Wednesday, August 21st.

Wow, it’s time. We’re off to Toronto to have dinner with Nicolas, Vincent and Darcy (Vince’s girlfriend) and then we’re off to the airport. It feels weird to leave this area that we call home.

Wednesday night, August 21^st. Sitting at Pearson International. Our flight leaves at 9h45 pm. Saying good-bye to the kids was hard. The boys  and Darcy came with us to the airport (they helped us with the reshuffle of stuff in our suitcases so we could match the allowed weight per bag), and Julie gave us a call in the evening. Pretty soon, we’ll be going. We’re flying to Frankfurt and then Kuwait City. It will be a long day as we don’t get there until 4h30 pm EDT (11h30 pm Kuwait time – don’t even know what the time zone is called!).

Thursday, August 22nd

We have a five hour stopover in Frankfurt. We’re trying to catch up on our sleep, and update this blog. All the running around is now done, and I think we’re too tired to be excited, but I’m sure the feeling will come back when we get to Kuwait.

We arrived in Kuwait at about 11h30 pm, local time. Met a few teachers at the airport as well as the high school principal, the primary school VP and two school administrators who really helped us throughout this whole hiring and coming here process. Everyone was super friendly and gives the impression that there will be a lot of team work. We are excited to be in Kuwait and are looking forward to a fun two years. 

And now, the adventure begins ... after we get some sleep!