wherever you are, FRIENDs make your world

We were given a going away dinner last night by our closest friends last night. It was delightful, tearful and very special.

Move over MOA...you have met your match

We have QUITE the mall in Kuwait. It is the Avenues and over the five years we have lived here we have seen it expand and develop into an amazing opulent place. Kim kardashian was flown in to open up a milkshake place here ( tacky), some of the stores have "guards" so that if you don't meet criteria you can't enter, and the items in the high end stores easily cost more than I make in a month ( we are talking shoes and handbags here people). It is definitely part of the Kuwaiti culture. For sheer entertainment value, I will miss this place.

Celebration dinner

We have a tradition here at AIS when the end of the year comes. We gather for a nice meal, and talk nice about those that are leaving. I coordinate the event as a part of my job. I enjoy it, but this year was bittersweet as we are leaving. Our friend Lori gave a very nice speech for us. Here is a couple photos of the night.I am short on words because I can't quite describe what I am feeling now.

Hanging out at the beauty salon

Kuwaiti women have amazing makeup. They are always put together. Recently I asked a young Kuwaiti woman to take me to the makeup store. This is the result. it was fun, interesting, maybe a bit much for my taste, but I had a blast.
David's response when I got home was " now go wash your face". It's comforting to know he loves me for my inner beauty.

Last class

Here are some pictures from our last teaching at AIS. Bittersweet doesn't begin to describe how I am feeling.

Mohammed, Hussein and Ali

These are the famous rug brothers of Kuwait. I met them five years ago and have been enthralled by their stories and rugs ever since. Many of their treasures will brvgracing my floors in Minnesota .i stopped down today to pay my final bill and was lucky enough to catch all three of them at the same place at the same time. thanks for the memories and stories. You made my time here much richer and my pocketbook much poorer :-)

A Bedoun, a Saudi and a Pakistani...

Sounds like a joke right?....
It's note...
From the Arab Times

A Saudi, Bedouin And A Pakistani To Be Hanged To Death Today
KUWAIT CITY, March 31: Three people — a bedoun, a Saudi and a Pakistani — will be hanged to death Monday, April 1, 2013. This is the first time hanging takes place in Kuwait after a lapse of five years, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The men were sentenced to death by lower courts, the verdict was upheld by the Court of Cassation and ratified by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

According to reliable information, the gallows have already been prepared in the Central Prison.
Earlier all death sentences were carried out at the Nayef Palace now they are carried out at the Central Prison.

The bedoun was sentenced to death for killing his wife and five sons, the Saudi sentenced to death for killing his friend and the Pakistani for killing an unidentified woman and her husband.

If I had to work this weekend...

I am thankful it was at the gorgeous Dead Sea Resort near Amman, Jordan

One last trip before I go

Oh damn, have to take another work related trip...to Jordan...to the Dead Sea...Movenpick Resort...someone has to do it ( sigh). Feel free to express your condolences here ;-)

Packing it up

We are closing in on our last thirty days here. Doesn't see possible, yet as I walk around my almost empty apartment, reality is beginning to hit. Our shipment leaves for the US tomorrow. Packing has been interesting, so glad we started early. When the initial quote was over $3500, I was in shock!
Tomorrow I get to finish itemizing all items, assigning a value and ( cough) forking over the money. We will get about 1/3 of the cost provided to us by the school ...which would not happen in the US for sure.
Seems like so little, yet it represents five years of our lives, travelling and collecting. I am thinking of my mother in law who would have had to pack up an entire working life in their final shipment back to the US.
The only time I cried( just a little) was when the magnet collection came off the fridge.
It's like life...we enter the world with nothing and we leave with nothing.
Inshallah we will meet up with all our treasures in 60 days or less!

Just some crazy shots from Kuwait

As we are wrapping up our time here in the desert, here are a few photos of images we ave seen over the past five years.