Still no Camels, but I am feeling more comfortable here in Kuwait! I have been here for 10 days now and am finally starting to find my feet and am happy and accepting the challenge I have in front of me. I have started to get out a bit more and thankfully the work that I came here to do is actually really fun!
So what is it that I am actually doing here? Ok The Little Gym is a centre designed to assist kids in developing sporting skills, coordination and self esteem in a non competitive environment. The classes we have are Gymnastics, Karate, Sports Skills, Swimming and we also hold birthday parties. My job is to take the classes! It's actually really fun and I know what your all thinking me doing gymnastics!! Ha I know I thought the same but it's only the basics and the lesson plans are all set out for me by the company so I just need to follow them. The kids are really cool, and of course all want to know where I am from and I have had one child tell me "Welcome to Kuwait Miss.....Your going to die in the summer!" Ha, thanks very much! The children are aged from 3-12 however we also have parent/child classes where the parents come in with their babies! It's a mixed bunch of nationalities. Lots of spoilt Kuwaiti children, the ex pats from English and American families and I have meet one Aussie mum and her two Kids. She has been in Kuwait for 3 weeks after a year and half in Dubai. She tells me that Dubai is amazing and a fantastic place to live but Kuwait is a shit hole! Ha! At least I have one person who is going through the same experiences as me!
Everyone I work with has English as their second language so I have found my self already speaking in broken English like they do, hehehehe it's crazy! There is Sadgede from India, Solage from France, who is the other instructor. Then their is two swimming teachers one from Bulgaria and one from China and then of course The owners who are Kuwati. Oh and Howard, I have learnt his name is actually Awad but pronounced as Howard! Everyone is really nice and have all been here for awhile and have been very helpful in making me feel welcome. Awad actually took me out for lunch the other day we dined in a Yemen restaurant. The food was really nice but we had to sit in this blocked off area from everyone else because he was dining with a Western woman! The next day Awad and Sadgede took me to an Indian Restaurant and I have to say it's nothing like the Indian Restaurants we know! It was divine though I loved it we had this vegetarian thing called Masala Dosa and traditionally ate it with our fingers!!
So I am starting to get out a bit. I've seen more "nice" parts of the city so I don't think it is completely a dumb after all. Although I have started to understand how all the immigrants feel that come to Australia. Things are so different and all you want to do is be around familiar things and people. I can understand why each race tends to stick to their own when they come to OZ it makes the different culture not seem so challenging and you have people who are experiencing the same things. I have yet to find any Aussies or even American friends, except for Victoria the one Aussie mother. I have the contact details of an Aussie guy who is living here who did email me and said it was ok to drop him line when I arrived so I did so today and fingers crossed we can meet up and he can introduce me to some westerners here! Even if it just gives me a chance not to speak like so "To much Cars Awad!" Instead of saying "Wow the traffic is really bad today isn't is Awad?" hahaha!
Well Tomorrow Ramadan starts and so this means that I can not eat or drink in public. All Muslims will be fasting which means they do not eat from sun up to sun down but go bananas at night time eating until 3am! This all so means many businesses close during the day so I guess next month is going to be a new experience once again. Work should be fairly quite I imagine with the Kids not being able to take water during or after the classes. But who knows maybe they are used to it! I have my fingers crossed I don't faint. I am going to try it, dunno if I will last though but I have gained quite a lot of respect from everyone here because I am keeping an open mind and willing to try it! But don't fear I am not converting is Islam!! hahah I probably won't even last a day....But you can be sure I will keep you posted!
Friday, September 30, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
First Week In Kuwait
I have yet to see a Camel! However what I have seen and experienced has left me in complete and utter Culture Shock!
I arrived on Tuesday night and felt like the most naive person on the planet but it was fine, it was all straight forward and just like arriving in any other country. However there were so many different nationalities that I was unsure at first as to where I had arrived.
Howard, who is to become my driver, picked me up and drove me to my temporary apartment, (they are still trying to find the perfect place for me to move into). The first things I noticed was of course the warm weather but it's not as hot as I expected it to be, next was the Arabic symbols every where, thankfully English is written underneath every sign, the next was the god awful smell of sewage! Ok I have since learnt that this is only in the areas where there is road works but still makes me dry reach every time we pass by! However generally the city has this strange stale smell which I am yet to get used to. There are a lot of things I am yet to get used to!
The next day I went straight to The Little Gym to start work and meet my work mates. And pretty much that is all I have done since is work!!! The gym is great and I will write more about that another time but first let me concentrate on the strangeness that is Kuwait!
One of the things I will have to get used to is the lack of freedom, at the moment I am picked up and driven to and from work. And that's It, although I did convince Howard to let me come to an internet cafe today!! Bascially if you don't have a car you don't go any where Women just do not walk around on their own! A few times I have ventured out because I need to buy food. On the way to the shopping centre I was honked at by several cars then when I brought some lunch and sat down to eat 3 Arab men stood close by and watched me eat as if I was some sort of freak! Then on the way home one man asked me if he could walk me to my car, but I just ignored him and kept walking then another, while I was waiting to cross the road pulled over and asked me how I was I just turned and walked away! It's just really uncomfortable! I have been told that in a few months I will get a car and that will give me a lot more freedom but at the moment I feel very trapped.
Howard did drive me around the city a little so I could have a look. There is very very little grass instead lost of sand and dust. The city is very spread out and is rather strange in that you have huge beautiful houses between slums and poorly kept apartments. Kuwait is half modern, half traditional and a lot of it is half hearted with many places run down, half built and not looked after at all. The main shopping area has all the shops that you would find at home but I am yet to go and see what they sell. The shopping area runs along an esplanade, however the beach side mostly deserted. In any other country you would find people laying on the beach and swimming but here it just looks out of place with no one enjoying it! It's hard to describe really what this place is like but I hope to get some photos up here for you soon.
Most men dress in a white Kaftan with a white head dress or in western clothes, the women are a mixed bunch with half of them in western clothes with a head scarf the others in the black robes with a head scarf and the others are completely covered up with only a slit for their eyes. They kind of looked creepy at first, like black shadows moving about but I am getting used to it. I am getting used to lots of things!
I am trying to keep an open mind but every morning I wake up and go "Where am I again?" "What the feck am I doing here?". I have felt lonely, over welmed, scared, and in awe of what's going on around me but not yet excited and I hope that changes as I make friends and get settled in. I really miss home though and appreciate the way we live. But I was looking for a challenge and a new experience and that is exactly what I am getting!
There is so much to tell but I am running out of time so I will write some more as soon as I can, please let me know how you all are I miss every one so much!!!
Till next time......
I arrived on Tuesday night and felt like the most naive person on the planet but it was fine, it was all straight forward and just like arriving in any other country. However there were so many different nationalities that I was unsure at first as to where I had arrived.
Howard, who is to become my driver, picked me up and drove me to my temporary apartment, (they are still trying to find the perfect place for me to move into). The first things I noticed was of course the warm weather but it's not as hot as I expected it to be, next was the Arabic symbols every where, thankfully English is written underneath every sign, the next was the god awful smell of sewage! Ok I have since learnt that this is only in the areas where there is road works but still makes me dry reach every time we pass by! However generally the city has this strange stale smell which I am yet to get used to. There are a lot of things I am yet to get used to!
The next day I went straight to The Little Gym to start work and meet my work mates. And pretty much that is all I have done since is work!!! The gym is great and I will write more about that another time but first let me concentrate on the strangeness that is Kuwait!
One of the things I will have to get used to is the lack of freedom, at the moment I am picked up and driven to and from work. And that's It, although I did convince Howard to let me come to an internet cafe today!! Bascially if you don't have a car you don't go any where Women just do not walk around on their own! A few times I have ventured out because I need to buy food. On the way to the shopping centre I was honked at by several cars then when I brought some lunch and sat down to eat 3 Arab men stood close by and watched me eat as if I was some sort of freak! Then on the way home one man asked me if he could walk me to my car, but I just ignored him and kept walking then another, while I was waiting to cross the road pulled over and asked me how I was I just turned and walked away! It's just really uncomfortable! I have been told that in a few months I will get a car and that will give me a lot more freedom but at the moment I feel very trapped.
Howard did drive me around the city a little so I could have a look. There is very very little grass instead lost of sand and dust. The city is very spread out and is rather strange in that you have huge beautiful houses between slums and poorly kept apartments. Kuwait is half modern, half traditional and a lot of it is half hearted with many places run down, half built and not looked after at all. The main shopping area has all the shops that you would find at home but I am yet to go and see what they sell. The shopping area runs along an esplanade, however the beach side mostly deserted. In any other country you would find people laying on the beach and swimming but here it just looks out of place with no one enjoying it! It's hard to describe really what this place is like but I hope to get some photos up here for you soon.
Most men dress in a white Kaftan with a white head dress or in western clothes, the women are a mixed bunch with half of them in western clothes with a head scarf the others in the black robes with a head scarf and the others are completely covered up with only a slit for their eyes. They kind of looked creepy at first, like black shadows moving about but I am getting used to it. I am getting used to lots of things!
I am trying to keep an open mind but every morning I wake up and go "Where am I again?" "What the feck am I doing here?". I have felt lonely, over welmed, scared, and in awe of what's going on around me but not yet excited and I hope that changes as I make friends and get settled in. I really miss home though and appreciate the way we live. But I was looking for a challenge and a new experience and that is exactly what I am getting!
There is so much to tell but I am running out of time so I will write some more as soon as I can, please let me know how you all are I miss every one so much!!!
Till next time......
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Farewell Cork..boy ya like langer!
This is it! This is My last day in Cork!! I depart for Kuwait at 6.50am tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to the next stage of my overseas journey yet I am also sad to say good bye to Cork. Cork at first seems like any other town/city but once your amongst the people you start to see Cork as a truly unique place. Even other Irish people will agree that Corkairians are a breed of their own. For a Corkairian believes that with in the Island of Ireland there are 3 boarders. Northern Ireland, The Republic of Ireland and then there is the Republic of Cork! Corkairians are very proud people and very patriotic, if you happen to say anything bad about Cork you will receive plenty of death stares and be prepared to drink alone. However if you do mention how wonderful Cork is, (especially if you mention how great it was that they won the all Ireland hurling final) then you will be greeted with open arms and many pints will be brought for you! Although be sure not to have too many pints as the Cork accent is hard enough to understand sober let alone after a lashing of drinks. Once you do crack the sing along tune of the Cork accent you soon realize that between every second word is a "like" for example;
Alison says: So what did you do on the weekend (another thing a Corkairian would say AT the weekend not ON the weekend)
Corkairian says: Yeah like we found the craic like at like the like you know that place on Patrick St, like the one like near where all those like langers hang out like.
I must say like that I have found my self like saying like a lot hahaha it just gets ya when you least expect it! Other well known words around Cork are of course Craic which basically can mean anything involving a good time. Also if you are acting like a bit of a fool you will be labeled an eeijit, or a langer which is probably worse than and eeijit. And then there is Boy, From Cork...boy! Cheers is also regularly used and must be said emphasizing the R it's more like Cheerrrs! Which I must say I have down pat, apparently I sound very Irish when I say Cheerrrs!
There are many different phrases and words that you will just have to come to Cork to hear but these are just some of the little things I will miss. Along with the 7 different types of potato dishes you can get at lunch time, the madness that is shopping at Penny's (its worse the boxing day sales!), the old man outside the Post Office yelling "Echo...Echo...Echo", regularly seeing farm tractors in the middle of the city and many more strange things that go on in Cork! What I will miss the most though are the wonderful people I have meet here. So now in my closing speech from my Cork adventure I would like to just quickly thank the following people;
Tim Ammo I owe you so much, it was your recommendation to come to Cork and if it wasn't for you I would never have meet the fab people I have meet here. You have introduced me to friends that will be friends for life. Thanks dude! If you ever need friends in Kuwait I will be happy to introduce you! hmmm that is if I make any friends on my own with out your help! haha
Meabh "I am up to fecking 90!" Cullinane; thanks thanks thanks! I have been so lucky to make such a wonderful friend, I couldn't have lived in Ireland with out you. I really hope you love Melbourne and I hope people are as nice to you as you have been to me. I will really miss our coffee dates and the bitch sessions about men hehehe who will solves the worlds problems now? Thanks for everything ya Langer!
Michelle, Sake, Liz, Pamela and Elaine; You guys rock, well except for the Meatloaf concert you do! Thanks guys for being such wonderful friends and for all the good times, the wine the dancing and all the silliness we got up to! I hope we can all meet up again soon, Hawaii or Mexico I don't mind and your all welcome to come to Kuwait, as I know you really want to haha!
Conor "monkey boy" Dwyer even though you were in Dublin you were still a great mate by keeping me company at the most boringest of times. Thanks!
Conor aka ROC I promised to include you in my next post so here you are! Thanks for saving me when I was drinking on my own! Make sure you get your ass to OZ ASAP!!
Well Ladies and Gents it is now time for me to walk back out into the rain and find a place for my last pint in Cork and maybe take in the last bit of culture (since cork is the capital of culture and all) Be good and I will talk to you all next from Kuwait!!!
Cheerrrrs!
Alison says: So what did you do on the weekend (another thing a Corkairian would say AT the weekend not ON the weekend)
Corkairian says: Yeah like we found the craic like at like the like you know that place on Patrick St, like the one like near where all those like langers hang out like.
I must say like that I have found my self like saying like a lot hahaha it just gets ya when you least expect it! Other well known words around Cork are of course Craic which basically can mean anything involving a good time. Also if you are acting like a bit of a fool you will be labeled an eeijit, or a langer which is probably worse than and eeijit. And then there is Boy, From Cork...boy! Cheers is also regularly used and must be said emphasizing the R it's more like Cheerrrs! Which I must say I have down pat, apparently I sound very Irish when I say Cheerrrs!
There are many different phrases and words that you will just have to come to Cork to hear but these are just some of the little things I will miss. Along with the 7 different types of potato dishes you can get at lunch time, the madness that is shopping at Penny's (its worse the boxing day sales!), the old man outside the Post Office yelling "Echo...Echo...Echo", regularly seeing farm tractors in the middle of the city and many more strange things that go on in Cork! What I will miss the most though are the wonderful people I have meet here. So now in my closing speech from my Cork adventure I would like to just quickly thank the following people;
Tim Ammo I owe you so much, it was your recommendation to come to Cork and if it wasn't for you I would never have meet the fab people I have meet here. You have introduced me to friends that will be friends for life. Thanks dude! If you ever need friends in Kuwait I will be happy to introduce you! hmmm that is if I make any friends on my own with out your help! haha
Meabh "I am up to fecking 90!" Cullinane; thanks thanks thanks! I have been so lucky to make such a wonderful friend, I couldn't have lived in Ireland with out you. I really hope you love Melbourne and I hope people are as nice to you as you have been to me. I will really miss our coffee dates and the bitch sessions about men hehehe who will solves the worlds problems now? Thanks for everything ya Langer!
Michelle, Sake, Liz, Pamela and Elaine; You guys rock, well except for the Meatloaf concert you do! Thanks guys for being such wonderful friends and for all the good times, the wine the dancing and all the silliness we got up to! I hope we can all meet up again soon, Hawaii or Mexico I don't mind and your all welcome to come to Kuwait, as I know you really want to haha!
Conor "monkey boy" Dwyer even though you were in Dublin you were still a great mate by keeping me company at the most boringest of times. Thanks!
Conor aka ROC I promised to include you in my next post so here you are! Thanks for saving me when I was drinking on my own! Make sure you get your ass to OZ ASAP!!
Well Ladies and Gents it is now time for me to walk back out into the rain and find a place for my last pint in Cork and maybe take in the last bit of culture (since cork is the capital of culture and all) Be good and I will talk to you all next from Kuwait!!!
Cheerrrrs!
Monday, September 12, 2005
48 Hours In Madrid!
Ole Amigos! Here I am back in Cork, back at work after my mad dash to Spain. I really wish I had more time there as I totally loved Madrid!! Oh Madrid Madrid! Home of bull fights, siesters, tapas, wine and of course David and Victoria Beckham!! Who I would like to say we stayed with but unless Victoria has had some surgery to look like a 65 year old,short round Spanish woman then I am afraid to say we did not. But the 65 year old short round Spanish woman who tried to rip us off for another night was actually quite friendly in a sneaky kind of way!
I happily left the wind and rain in Ireland on Friday only to arrive to sunshine and blue sky's in Madrid! I meet Kerrie at the train station and so our Spanish adventure began. We didn't get up to much really just wondered the streets, shopped, stopped for coffee, walked again, stopped for beers and tapas, shopped again, stopped for wine and tapas, kept exploring then stopped for pella and wine! Ha! As you can imagine it was very relaxing. We generally kept to the slow, no hurry pace of the Spanish. I guess it could be a bit frustrating if your an impatient person as often you wait for quite sometime before getting served or given the bill. But as the Frenchman David says "No need to make race!" So we just took our time and soaked in the atmosphere of Madrid.
We did get to a few tourist spots such as the palace where some thing was going on. There were lots of officials and men in uniform (which we didn't mind at all). Although the guards at the palace gates looked more like boy scouts than palace guards and these horse escorts kept turning up with their own horse escorts so we were a bit confused on what was happening. In the end we decided that food was far more important than possibly seeing the King of Spain so back to the Tapas bar we went!
Oh man the food and wine in Madrid was soooo cheap, we scored a great lunch including 2 beers for 6 euro!! Crazy stuff really, not to mention the huge glass of wine you can get for €1.70, madness! Although if your a vegetarian there are a few bars that might turn you off as they tend to have legs of ham hanging from the ceiling! No not just one or two but it looks like a bloody butcher shop with all these legs hanging about and there you are sitting under this ham drinking wine! Hmmmm the Spaniards are certainly dedicated to their cured meats!
So after our drinking and eating and shopping and wondering we found ourselves leaving a restaurant at midnight only to find the streets full of crazy Spaniards! During the day the crowds were very minimal and hardly any one about, but at night holy cow the place was jumping. Even when we were up at 7am to catch the train to the airport they were still out and about the streets drinking in the ham bars and slowly starting to make their way home, to sleep for the rest of the day I assume. Unfortunately we could not sleep that day as we had to fly back Cork.
Kezz came back with me to Ireland just to take in the capital of culture which is Cork. She has gone back to France now and me back at work. I only have 3 days left at Novartis and then its just all about getting sorted for Kuwait....But I shall leave all that for my next post!
Adios
I happily left the wind and rain in Ireland on Friday only to arrive to sunshine and blue sky's in Madrid! I meet Kerrie at the train station and so our Spanish adventure began. We didn't get up to much really just wondered the streets, shopped, stopped for coffee, walked again, stopped for beers and tapas, shopped again, stopped for wine and tapas, kept exploring then stopped for pella and wine! Ha! As you can imagine it was very relaxing. We generally kept to the slow, no hurry pace of the Spanish. I guess it could be a bit frustrating if your an impatient person as often you wait for quite sometime before getting served or given the bill. But as the Frenchman David says "No need to make race!" So we just took our time and soaked in the atmosphere of Madrid.
We did get to a few tourist spots such as the palace where some thing was going on. There were lots of officials and men in uniform (which we didn't mind at all). Although the guards at the palace gates looked more like boy scouts than palace guards and these horse escorts kept turning up with their own horse escorts so we were a bit confused on what was happening. In the end we decided that food was far more important than possibly seeing the King of Spain so back to the Tapas bar we went!
Oh man the food and wine in Madrid was soooo cheap, we scored a great lunch including 2 beers for 6 euro!! Crazy stuff really, not to mention the huge glass of wine you can get for €1.70, madness! Although if your a vegetarian there are a few bars that might turn you off as they tend to have legs of ham hanging from the ceiling! No not just one or two but it looks like a bloody butcher shop with all these legs hanging about and there you are sitting under this ham drinking wine! Hmmmm the Spaniards are certainly dedicated to their cured meats!
So after our drinking and eating and shopping and wondering we found ourselves leaving a restaurant at midnight only to find the streets full of crazy Spaniards! During the day the crowds were very minimal and hardly any one about, but at night holy cow the place was jumping. Even when we were up at 7am to catch the train to the airport they were still out and about the streets drinking in the ham bars and slowly starting to make their way home, to sleep for the rest of the day I assume. Unfortunately we could not sleep that day as we had to fly back Cork.
Kezz came back with me to Ireland just to take in the capital of culture which is Cork. She has gone back to France now and me back at work. I only have 3 days left at Novartis and then its just all about getting sorted for Kuwait....But I shall leave all that for my next post!
Adios
Monday, September 05, 2005
The Ramblings of a Little Rooster!
Hello everyone and welcome to my new site! I decided to follow Kerrie's idea of having a web site to document my experiences and adventures when I move to the Middle East. As I am about to embark on a new adventure I thought a web site might be more suitable instead of sending you those long winded emails I tend to send about my travels. So now if your wondering what I am up to and how I am going you can just come here to read the low down on my life in Kuwait. I am also finally coming in to the digital age with the plan to purchase a digital camera so I can post up lots of photos for you so it won't just be me rambling on!
This brings me to the name of my site which you may be wondering how I arrived at Rooster Ramblings! Well firstly I have come to the decision that Snapper Head has pretty much had its day and I didn't take to "The Adventures of a Snapper Head" although it does have a certain ring to it! I decided its about time I let the Snapper Head go. So it was my Irish friend Conor who actually came up with the Rooster part as he often calls me Little Rooster and since I have been known to Ramble on a bit in the past Rooster Ramblings seemed like a good a name as any!
So welcome one and all to Rooster Ramblings!
I am still in Cork at this very moment however I will be heading east in approximately 2 weeks time. I have yet to be informed of my flight details so am not sure when exactly I am leaving. However I have given notice to work and have started to get organized to make the move but generally things have been fairly quiet. Although I am still going to Spain this weekend which I am looking forward to! Then it's only one week left in lovely Ireland! I have defiantly had a fantastic time here and recommend Ireland as a great place to visit. But its time to move on before the chilly wintry winds hit! I am eagerly awaiting my new adventure, even if current temperatures in Kuwait are 45 degrees! Of course I am a little nervous but also excited, despite my research of Kuwait the truth is I really don't know what to expect and that only makes it more of an adventure!
Any hoos this little rooster better be off. I hope you enjoy Rooster Ramblings and please send me emails and comments to let me know how everyone is going back home in Australia or whatever part of the world your in!
Till next time...
This brings me to the name of my site which you may be wondering how I arrived at Rooster Ramblings! Well firstly I have come to the decision that Snapper Head has pretty much had its day and I didn't take to "The Adventures of a Snapper Head" although it does have a certain ring to it! I decided its about time I let the Snapper Head go. So it was my Irish friend Conor who actually came up with the Rooster part as he often calls me Little Rooster and since I have been known to Ramble on a bit in the past Rooster Ramblings seemed like a good a name as any!
So welcome one and all to Rooster Ramblings!
I am still in Cork at this very moment however I will be heading east in approximately 2 weeks time. I have yet to be informed of my flight details so am not sure when exactly I am leaving. However I have given notice to work and have started to get organized to make the move but generally things have been fairly quiet. Although I am still going to Spain this weekend which I am looking forward to! Then it's only one week left in lovely Ireland! I have defiantly had a fantastic time here and recommend Ireland as a great place to visit. But its time to move on before the chilly wintry winds hit! I am eagerly awaiting my new adventure, even if current temperatures in Kuwait are 45 degrees! Of course I am a little nervous but also excited, despite my research of Kuwait the truth is I really don't know what to expect and that only makes it more of an adventure!
Any hoos this little rooster better be off. I hope you enjoy Rooster Ramblings and please send me emails and comments to let me know how everyone is going back home in Australia or whatever part of the world your in!
Till next time...
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