Seeing Some of the Sites Around Kuwait City!

I have learned the importance of having patience in this country already! LOL One really must be able to go with the flow and let things roll off the ol' back in order to make it here. It's funny how much North America is governed and run by "time". Granted it makes for structure and solid schedules, but over here there doesn't seem to be a lot held to "time". And maybe there's something to be said for the more laid-back approach to life! Perhaps we are too caught up with time....

Yesterday, we had to begin the resident visa process by getting finger printed, have our work visas approved and then get more blood tests and another chest x-ray. We were told to be at the school by 10am to begin the process and we were going to be done in a couple hours. Well when we got to the school, no one was there to meet us and after waiting an hour and a half, someone finally did come and off we went across the city to get finger printed at this shady looking place (I think it was actually a police office) that we entered through a sketchy back alley entrance. After that we then drove back across the city to the government visa office and waited in line for awhile before being issued a stamp. We were then rushed off to get blood tests done. Next we needed to go to yet another building and have our chest x-rays done. All-in-all, we got home at about 3:30, making the adventure 5 1/2 hours long! To top it off, there were three people who didn't get to finish the process because the airport visa desk forgot to stamp their passports, therefore making them invalid for this whole registration process! I was thankful that my passport did get stamped. :) Here is a good shot of us sweating it out in a very sketchy and dirty bus. We wanted to take a pic to remember how smelly it was in there! LOL

After we were able to rest for a bit, we were off to the world's largest Dhou to take a look. It was pretty big! It was right on the Gulf, so again the view was beautiful and the woodwork inside was stunning. They had some interesting pictures on the wall. This one is of all the past Amirs (Kings) of Kuwait.

Today was a lot less exhausting.....we actually did some touring around and saw a few sites! Our first stop was The Grand Mosque. It was quite beautiful! As women, we had to don abiyas (long robes) and hijabs (head scarves) to enter the mosque. Our tour guide was quite informative and spewed out loads of facts while he intermittently talked on his cell phone! LOL The interior of the mosque was quite cool and the interior architecture was beautifully crafted. We had fun attempting to take pictures of the inside of the dome by laying on the carpet and looking up. Don't worry, the guide told us we could do it! We had a lot of fun wearing the traditional coverings and taking pictures. This one is of Addie, me, and Stacey. :)

The next stop was The Kuwait Towers. These are one of the most famous symbols of Kuwait. There are three of them. The main one is the viewing sphere with a two story observation deck that has a rotating deck on the second level. It also houses a restaurant and many pictures of what the Iraqi Military did to it during the Invasion. Sidenote, they refer the the Gulf War over here as "the Invasion". The second tower is a water tower and the third is for electricty/lighting. The view from the top was breath-taking as you could see a lot of the Gulf coastline and all the buildings along it. We could even see a bunch of sheep in what we assumed was some sort of slaughter house. It was pretty hazy today so you couldn't see very far out into the Gulf. Looks like a possible sandstorm trying to roll in!

The third point of interest today was the famous Souq Sharq - a really nice shopping mall. There were MANY Western stores and places to eat in this mall and a really neat fish market across the street! I finally had time to have my first Starbucks coffee in Kuwait. I even have photographic proof! LOL It didn't cost quite as much as I thought it would. 1.2 KD, which is equivalent to about $4. Granted I had an iced coffee and those are usually less than $2.50 back home! Ah well, it was definitely worth it! :)

Anyways, that's what has been happening these last few days......busy, busy, busy! I am looking forward to getting into a routine and starting school. Tomorrow is the first day of actual school meetings where we will finally get to see the curriculum and the classrooms. Can't wait!