Three weeks in....

So three weeks in and still learning every day, the first thing that I was relieved to find out was that the road I walked along on my first day in kuwait was in fact the "arabian gulf road"; the road that the local residents of kuwait use as their "pick up point"..... as in this is how they find girls to date! Here in kuwait of course there are no bars etc (excepting secret bars run by european architects and their kuwaiti sponsers, places in which an interesting mix of expats hang out with some more western minded kuwaiti locals and their "girlfriends", a story for another time.) and therefore no place to really meet new people, the highway is used as a place to meet girls!!!! Most expats that drive- and those who dare to walk aka me- tend to avoid this road at the weekends. I have also learned fast not to make eye contact with men out of the window of taxi cabs too as they will take this as a come on! I do not know whether the reason this is happening a lot to me is because men here have a somewhat misguided sense of how western women behave or because this is how they are with all women! I get stared at a lot, in a way that makes me feel like these men have never seen a women before,like I am an alien, never the less in the street I do not feel threatened in any way, most men are in fact very polite and I feel at ease; the teenage boys/younger men are a bit more annoying however I have developed a glare that seems to shut them up pretty quickly!

I am enjoying Kuwait! There are things to busy yourself with and everything is a new experience. What I dislike is the fact that 85% of the people are so negative! Everybody is like "oh there is nothing to do", "oh you must be very careful" oh this oh that....in fact I have joined a dive club with socials every Tuesday-I have not attended one yet, but I shall, I have been busy finding a flat- I will be learning to dive,I will take Arabic classes on Thursdays, there are many many restaurants, you can smoke shisha on the water front, I am going to an embassy party this weekend, I will be visiting a Bedouin camp in mid feb for the day,I shall go Camel racing some time soon, there are frequently cultural events on at the national museum of Kuwait, I attended a Spanish music concert- music from the north of Spain which in fact has a Celtic origin and so involved a lot of bag pipes.....not exactly dub step but educational none the less! I have also been invited to a "rock Mary Poppins" exhibition this weekend.....I may go in order to exercise my laughing muscles! I think there is plenty to do, you just have to want to get involved!

Not speaking Arabic is driving me crazy, my classes start next Thursday and I intend to be the perfect student! Next week I also think I will attempt to run a long the water front, early in the morning though....everyone gets up late at the weekend so I think that will be the best time....I may also try fishing as I see lots of people fishing! I have heard of so many markets that I want to check out but I think I will need to persuade Lise- my new flat mate- to come with me as they may be a little bit intense! I feel here like there is a patch work of cultures.....much like many big cities, there are lots of people for the Philippines, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and more American than British I think.....but everyone seems to stick to their own, although most people are friendly....although I DESPISE getting cabs here- minimal Arabic is not great for directing cab drivers in an Arabic country- I have learnt lots about different cultures from cab drivers sharing their stories with me, lots of people are stuck here, they cannot make a living at home, so they work here and send money home. I have met a few people from Syria that are allowed to stay as long as their residency but no new residencythis needs to be renewed every 1-3 years-will be made, I have heard stories of people that have no choice really but to be apart from their children because of this, so basically many people come here from neighbouring countries to make a living in their countries there is war or few jobs .......for this reason few people seem to want to be here, they just here are to get by! This attitude I find hard, maybe I will be worn down in time but I feel as always I will make the most of my time here, I am in the middle of the world :-); of course it is different for me because of my job etc I can live differently but it is hard to except that many people around you are thoroughly miserable!

I have a lot more to say but I think this is enough for one post so I will post a few photo's and say toodles for now :-)!!