Lovin the Life

Within 52 hours of landing back in MN, I have seen an eagle, deer, wild turkey, fish leaping right in front of me, loons, and lovely GREEN grass and pastures and BLUE waters. All of the things I missed while in the desert.
Thanks to ME, I also got a chance to canoe on wonderful Spirit Lake.
Ahhh, it's good to be home!

PS It was a little cold this day, but after 10 days of over 120 F weather, I am also lovin' the "cold"

Safe and Sound in Otter Tail County

We're BAAAACK!!
Arrived safely after about 24 hours of travel. All flights on time, all luggage accounted for. Met at the airport by good friends who made it ever so much sweeter to walk off the airplane!
Will write this summer, but hopefully I'll be able to see my North American readers in person!
Love to you all
Life IS Good!

Winging our Way home for the Summer

Well, most of the tough goodbyes are said, most of the packing is done and now we're on our last 17 hours in Q8 for this school year. Anna has spent all night playing risk with friends, so she'll be a riot in about 17 hours when the plane takes off.

It's been a good year, and as much as I miss home, I still feel at "home"here. Life is good.

Pray for good flying weather and safe landings

I'll be reporting from Pelican Rapids in about 31 hours.

Published Author

Do you remember the story I published here that Anna wrote about the Family Monopoly Game?

Well, she got the article published in a local magazine, Bazaar. AND she made $150!! We're impressed. If you're interested, I'll be bringing multiple copies home to share with all.

PS..arriving at Minnesota on June 10th.

Coffee at Riverside 9 am Friday, June 11th

Be there...I'm buying (don't tell David)

A Fun Farewell

Each year, the High School at AIS has a farewell Toast, where you say nice things about people. AND a ROAST where you get to "let it all out". Here are a couple shots from the roast. As you can see, a good time was had by all.

This is TK and SJ singing a fond farewell to JL, (blue Shirt) the Author who is returning to Canada. SJ (in green and white) is also from MN...and he actually is the only one I've met who can match my "Minnesotan Accent". We have a good time yelling at each other down the halls.

Here's David and the Babes...CB-our FABULOUS Assistant Principal who's off to Japan (left) where she will get to be a stay at home mom and tutor; HL, my fun fabulous Canadian friend, wife of JL the Author; AH-the Wacky too much fun Australian and Davey. Good times.... Good Times

Little Scenes from Kuwait

Courtesy of my friend DU's blog, here are some shots of our life:This is the big mosque near us at sunrise. It's a beautiful place, even if it is LOUD at 400 am
A real "Duster"--can anyone say "Mars"?
Two men bartering-or talking-or gossiping, can't really tell. I've wanted to get a shot like this since we moved here and was so excited when I saw it on DU's blog.
Three boys and a tree. This actually makes Kuwait look like a vacation spot!

9 days boys and girls...9 days until I am back to my own beaches, sunsets and gossip!!

Save a deck chair for me!

Through someone else's eyes

I stole this from my friend HL's blog. I like her take on Q8. It's all true...

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Entry #39 Observations

Here are just a few random observations about our life here in Kuwait.

While not as bad as Japan for its wacky signage and labels there are a few good ones.
 On a box of pencils: "Educational Healthy Pencil; Easy to Hold"
 A sign on a barber shop for kids: Virgin Kids
 On a barber shop for men: Saloon for Men (Jamie thought he could get a drink here)
 Sign reads, Ministry of Justice: Department of Experts (not sure what they are experts on but it sounds like they know what they are doing.)
 Sign on the side of the highway: Speed leads to Death (unfortunately, no one really follows this advice)
 Sign on a laundry mat: Future Hope Laundry
 Sign on car rental store: Rent: Top Secret Cars
 Sign on car rental store: Exotic Rentals: Cars for Rent (I am glad they have the second part of the sign to clear up any confusion. I wonder what they include in the rental to make it exotic?)

Cost of living..
Expensive
Groceries
Going out for a coffee or tea

Inexpensive
Cars
Tailors (to get a pair of dress pants lined it will cost me around $5.00!)
Nannies and Maids
Pedicures/Manicures
Gas

As you can see this gas run cost us 4.75 KD for a 73 liter fill up. That equals roughly $16.00 to fill up our SUV. The workers at this gas station thought I was nuts taking this picture.
Sadly, the items in the inexpensive list are often services offered by the Pilipino, Indian or Bangladeshi workers. If we paid our nanny what some families pay their help, we could afford two live in maids.

Our Address
Our address here in Kuwait is a bit of a mystery. There are no street addresses as we know it. When we order food for delivery the conversation can go two ways...
Conversation 1
Resturant: Where do you live?
Jamie: Do you know the teacher buildings?
R: For AIS
J: Yes, we are in the blue building.
R: Okay sir.
Conversation 2
R: Where do you live?
J: Do you know the teacher buildings?
R: No
J: Okay, we are in Salmyia, in Madian Hawally near the police station and traffic place, across from the blind association in the blue building. There is construction across the street from our apartment.
R: Okay sir.
And no matter the conversation, the driver usually calls to say he can't find it. However, we always get our food.

Zoe’s Observations
Zoe is starting to notice that she is a minority in her class. She does not articulate it as such, but there are a few little things that she says that surprise us. She wants dark skin and dark hair and when I ask her why she says that it is beautiful. She is also noticing that some women cover their hair, or their hair and clothes, or everything all together. On night we went to Kim and Blair's house for dinner and she insisted on covering her hair. She has only been a minority for a year and a half and already she feels she is different and her skin and hair are not good enough. It makes me wonder how minorities feel in Nova Scotia who live there for their whole lives!!

Temperature
For the record I felt cold on November 17, 2009. I think it was 23 degrees. It will start getting cold now in our apartment since we have no central heating. When we complain about the cold we always hear the comment "but you are from Canada!" Which we answer with, "yes but we have central heating!" We will soon get out the four little heaters we have to try and keep us warm.