Random Tid-Bits...

I wasn't sure what exactly to write about this week as my trip to China is four sleeps away and I don't have a lot of spare time between marking 93 grade 9 English mid-terms and attempting to pack for my trip! So, here are a few little tid-bits to post from the past week! Short but sweet! :) LOL

This is Rachelle, Gillian and I getting ready to see Avatar in 3D at the Imax in the new 360 Mall. These are some HOT glasses, eh? LOL Seriously, these are the biggest 3D glasses I have ever worn! LOL After the movie I had indents on my nose for like 2 hours! The large set of special-effect spectacles were definitely worth it though, as I couldn't imagine seeing that movie any other way than in 3D. Great movie, although large amounts of it were cut out......possibly close to 30 mins in total. Any reference to Eywa's (the god of the blue people - can't remember their name at the moment..) power and the belief system of the people was cut out. Good thing we had Gillian with us, who just returned from a quick trip to Canada a week ago! She saw Avatar in Montreal in its entirety and was able to fill us in on all the parts that were cut out. I think the funniest part that was cut out was the scene when they were getting in SEPARATE hammocks and going to sleep - I guess technically they were "sleeping together" although in completely different hanging hammocks. LOL Still makes me laugh, because you could see someone's hand come down and cover the projector until that short clip was over. LOL! Gotta love Kuwait and their random censorship! ;) Anyways, excellent movie - was super skeptical when going to see it, but walked out LOVING it! If you are a doubter like me, go watch it!!!

On to other things....on Saturday I was tutoring early morning in Salwa, a district southeast of Hawalli along the Arabian Gulf, and we kept getting distracted by the loud military aircraft that kept flying directly over the house. It was almost constant for about 30 minutes! No idea what that was all about, but they were heading south so figured it was fine. Had they all been heading north, I would have been a little more on edge about it. After all, Iraq and Iran are VERY close to Kuwait and both are just north of this teeny country! We tried to get a picture of them, but they literally flew directly above the house so we couldn't! We did manage however to video three of the helicopters as they flew by......3 out of about 12 that flew overhead in a span of 5 minutes. We thought they looked pretty cool and they were definitely really loud! :)

Alright, I think that's about it for this week! I need to go start packing for China......my itinerary will be pretty busy for the 12 days I am there. I will be flying out of Kuwait on Thursday evening and into Shanghai for 3 nights, then flying to Xi'an for 2 days, hopping a sleeper train to Beijing for 5 nights, hopping another train back down to Shanghai for 2 more days before flying home to Kuwait! Will definitely have more detailed blog entries when I return. I can't wait to see what my next adventure holds! :) Until then - "masalaama"! :)

Kats of Kuwait

Welcome to the latest pictorial journey through the exciting district of Hawalli, Kuwait! This is in response to the constant requests from my mother to post some pics of the random and numerous wild cats wandering the urban jungle we call Hawalli.

We begin our journey, just outside the doors of the American Creativity Academy Teacher Housing Complex........

Now, here in Kuwait there is an overabundance of wild cats roaming the streets. Apparently, their original and sole purpose was a heroic one - to attack, eat and exterminate the ridiculous amounts of rats that had moved in during and after the Iraqi Invasion of 1991. Well those wonderful beasts imported from Egypt did their job well - one doesn't find rats here anymore! However, it appears the powers that be didn't consider what to do with these heroes once the rat population had been decimated. They continued to repopulate themselves while living off the over-flowing garbage bins and refuse lying around. See Exhibit A......

and Exhibit B..........

From a distance, they may look like cute and cuddly little creatures of delight, but beware - they are feral!!! They carry all types of disease that make them walking beasts of death! No, you cannot pet them or even get close to them because they will suddenly attack you. Here is a story to show you their lunacy.

One night, my friend Gillian and I were enjoying a nice meal sitting outside at a restaurant along the Arabian Gulf. We were deep in conversation when we heard a rustle in the nearby bushes and a low, deep throated growl accompanied by a vicious hiss. Our conversation halted as we looked towards the unearthly sound........there on the ledge, 2 feet away from us sat this angry, mangy cat! It had scruffy, black fur that was missing in places and had a gray patch on its hindquarters that looked as though it was possibly white at one time. Its eyes had this wild, glowing, crazed looked in them and they were unevenly set in its face. We quickly averted our eyes, but it stared directly at us as it continued to utter demonic howls. It stalked along the ledge, back and forth, viciously whipping its crooked tail while waiting for us to toss it some food. It finally passed from our table and went on to another poor, unsuspecting victim, attempting to intimidate them into surrendering their delectable meal. Now, the one rule regarding the wild cats here = DO NOT make eye contact with them!!! Whatever you do, do not look directly at their eyes, or these psychotic beasts will attack, sending you to the hospital for innumerable shots and possibly, even certain death.

One of my students went to pet one of these beasts that live by her house and it bit her. She quickly came down with a raging infection and was rushed to the hospital where she was kept for 5 days! When doing a "My Biggest Fear" writing assignment, over 20 students stated that their greatest fear was the wild cats that roam the streets!

So the moral of today's frightening tale......beware of the Kats of Kuwait as you never know what dangers lurk beneath their fuzzy exterior.......

Now, on to a rant.......we seem to have a problem with the cats in our specific block due to "some people" (I will avoid using names at the risk of sounding "catty" hahahahah........) feeding them everyday!!!!

Please!!!! For the sake of everyone's physical and emotional health - stop feeding the wild cats!

Because of the constant food supply, these beasts lurk around the building and stand watch for anyone who looks weak enough to give in to their deceivingly sympathetic looks. I have seen up to 6 cats outside the doors at one time! **shudder** The other day, we pulled up to the building and as I got out of the car I was confronted by 3 of these rufians giving me their devious look. My scream somewhat startled both the cat gang and my friend, but alas my fear of them was greater than their fear of me and they stood their ground. Finally, by dashing around 4 parked cars I was free of their glares and safe in the foyer of the building. A tragedy was narrowly averted that day. Tomorrow, I or some other unsuspecting victim may not be so lucky........

My New Toy!

Yay, for fun new toys!! :) My girls at school were extremely happy today as I unveiled my latest purchase and apparently the key to being "cool" in Kuwait youth society - owning a Blackberry. LOL I had expressed interest in buying one of these during the last couple of weeks and was met literally everyday with "Have you got one yet?" "Miss!! When are you getting your Blackberry?" and then when I brought it to school today, squeals of "Oh my goodness Miss, you finally got one! So nice and cool!" and "Oh Miss, you are so Kuwaiti now!" I just laughed, because even though I did indeed think it was a cool little mobile device, I really only wanted one to be able to instant message for free my friends and family who have Blackberries back home! The added "coolness" factor actually surprised me. When I took it out and showed the girls, they were very excited and had to check it out and was asked, "Miss, can I have your PIN!?" the entire day. Obviously, I had to say no, but it was super cute and meant a lot to see them so excited for my new purchase and to "add" me to their network. LOL :) I love these girls! :) They have made sure I know the locations of the best Blackberry accessory stores in Kuwait and some have even offered to take me there whenever I need to go. :)

Now, as you can see in the pic below, almost EVERY girl in my school has one of these little beauties. We thought it would be fun to take a pic of us and our Blackberries! :) Mind you, this is just ONE class of grade 9 girls. The other 3 classes of girls all have their own as well.

There are 19 girls plus me in this pic.....I should have bought stocks in

Blackberry, that's for sure!

I have discovered that it truly is a status symbol over here. I recently had them write a journal entry on what distinguishes a Kuwaiti girl from say a Saudi, Iraqi or Bahraini girl. Almost all 97 entries (I teach 4 grade 9 English classes) mentioned that the way to pick out a Kuwaiti girl in a crowd is by seeing their decked-out Blackberry attached to them, as well as their RayBan sunglasses and A&F shirts. It was shocking really! Then when I did a poll in class of who actually owned these new mobiles (they don't refer to them as cell phones over here), almost every hand in every class shot up. Apparently this is the biggest must-have item in a Kuwaiti girl's accessory bag. This of course just makes me laugh, because for those of you who know me, you know very well that I am not and have never been "cool", "trendy" or owned anything that was "hip" and "cool" at the right time. LOL :)

Alright, with all that said about the importance of these to Kuwaiti youth and the discovery of my instant new notch on the popularity pole, I absolutely LOVE my new Blackberry! I can see very easily why they have the nickname, "crackberry" - I literally can't put it down. The best feature about it is the Blackberry Messenger. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's a sweet instant message feature that is specific to Blackberries and is also known as "pinging". It's free between Blackberry owners, no matter where in the world you are! Definitely a plus, as some of my friends and family back in Canada have them, therefore the text messaging costs will not require the sale of my arms or legs! :)

So really, the only question that now remains is...........why did I not get one of these things sooner!?!?