Many of you have heard bits and pieces about the hazards of driving in Kuwait. I have said it once, twice, a thousand times...I am really afraid to drive here. Every daily decision that I make revolves around what time it is and where I would have to drive to do something. Do I want to shop? Hhhmmm, not bad enough to drive toward downtown to get to the mall. Am I hungry? Hhhmmm, not hungry enough to risk getting into a car to get food. (I'll explain the magic answer to solve that problem in the next post!)
Of course I am married to someone that has not driven since we arrived in Kuwait almost 3 months ago. He is a FAB-U-LOUS passenger seat driver though, so FRET NOT I have someone helping me. :-) Yep, that has been awesome...doesn't add to my stress at all while I am trying to avoid our death in a big firey crash that BJ is saying "um, you are going too fast", "why are you in this lane???", "you need to pass him...pass him on the right...do it now", etc.
BJ thinks the reason people drive so poorly over here is because of a lack of education, topped off with the fact that 90% of the true Kuwaiti's can't see very well. I think that is partly to blame (they don't have a driver's education program, and man do they need one...), but I also think it is compounded with a healthy dose of arrogance. Now the Kuwaiti's are only part of the problem. Honestly I have seen just as many stupid things done by the American's.
So, today's lesson is "THE EMERGENCY LANE IS ACTUALLY NOT FOR EMERGENCIES, IT IS JUST AN ADDITIONAL LANE". The Kuwaitis drive very, very, very fast. They come up on you before you ever see where in the world they came from. Typically they alert you to their presence by flashing their bright lights indicating that you need to move out of their lane. This makes many people angry...not me, I'm all too happy to move over and let them continue on with their death wish. If you are one of the people that get angry and decide to remain in their way, they will simply move into the emergency lane and pass you...leaving maybe 1/4 of an inch between your car and theirs, and cutting back in front of you as close as possible. If they can't get back over they are happy to continue in the new lane (formerly known as the emergency lane). They will do this for miles and miles, kicking up dirt and rocks while they cruise along at 90 mph in the emergency lane.
The real fun comes when there is actually a disabled vehicle in the emergency lane. BJ has witnessed a really spectacular accident where this happened and the car couldn't get stopped in time to avoid the crash. Good times.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
April's End
SWEET JESUS, IT IS 105.8 DEGREES!!! I just met BJ for lunch, and on my way back to the office it went up to 105.8. And it isn't even May yet. I just may not make it until August. And for those of you that know me well, you know the whining is just beginning.
Well we say good bye to April 2010 in Kuwait tomorrow...and hopefully the end of my working 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week. The contracts department submitted all of our extension proposals over the last 3 days (seriously an amazing accomplishment, and one I am quite proud to have been a part of), so we will be going back to our regular schedule starting today. :-) To celebrate, the company is taking the department out to a great steak restaurant tonight. I am so tired I just hope I can stay awake long enough to enjoy it...I am honestly too old to work 70+ hours a week.
I can't say the same for BJ, he continues to work at least 72 hours per week. And it will only get worse for him through the summer as the drawdown continues. Bless his heart, he works outside in this heat. I can't even make it to the trailer where the ladies restrooms are without whining, and he works out in it all day. With a port-a-john. He is definitely a better trooper about that part than I am.
HAPPY DAY, LOVE Y'ALL!!
Well we say good bye to April 2010 in Kuwait tomorrow...and hopefully the end of my working 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week. The contracts department submitted all of our extension proposals over the last 3 days (seriously an amazing accomplishment, and one I am quite proud to have been a part of), so we will be going back to our regular schedule starting today. :-) To celebrate, the company is taking the department out to a great steak restaurant tonight. I am so tired I just hope I can stay awake long enough to enjoy it...I am honestly too old to work 70+ hours a week.
I can't say the same for BJ, he continues to work at least 72 hours per week. And it will only get worse for him through the summer as the drawdown continues. Bless his heart, he works outside in this heat. I can't even make it to the trailer where the ladies restrooms are without whining, and he works out in it all day. With a port-a-john. He is definitely a better trooper about that part than I am.
HAPPY DAY, LOVE Y'ALL!!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Easter in Kuwait
Well for the first time in our lives we had to work on Easter Sunday. Since we have to be at work at 0500 (5am for you non military type) we thought we would have a sunrise service of our own at our prespective job sites. However, sunrise never came because it was cloudy all day. We still managed to worship in our own way and we hope each one of you did too.
Easter time in Kuwait is funny because in all the stores you see baskets, bunnies, eggs and candy just like you would in the States. I guess you have businessmen all over the world chasing that dollar or KD in Kuwait's case. A quick lesson in KD's. A Kuwait Dinar is very strong against the US Dollar. It is basically 4-1 minus 20%! Confused? I am not, didn't take but a second to learn the money system and how to spend it. It takes 1,000 Fils to make a KD. Their coins (Fils) come in 10, 50 and 100. I was able to go to the store and pay with exact change for the first time, which was quite exciting.
The month of April has been busy for us. We are both working 12 hours per day and I am working 7 days per week, while BJ is slacking with 6 days per week. The sand storms have kicked up in strength by a notch. On the 17th we had a storm that went from a bright sunny sky to night time dark in 5 minutes. The wind was blowing very strong and a wall of sand just engulfed us. Yesterday we had another sand storm, but it was not nearly as bad. However, it did last a lot longer than the storm of the 17th.
The pictures of the storm will be posted so take a look at them and see what you think. Have a great week and we love you from the far side.
Easter time in Kuwait is funny because in all the stores you see baskets, bunnies, eggs and candy just like you would in the States. I guess you have businessmen all over the world chasing that dollar or KD in Kuwait's case. A quick lesson in KD's. A Kuwait Dinar is very strong against the US Dollar. It is basically 4-1 minus 20%! Confused? I am not, didn't take but a second to learn the money system and how to spend it. It takes 1,000 Fils to make a KD. Their coins (Fils) come in 10, 50 and 100. I was able to go to the store and pay with exact change for the first time, which was quite exciting.
The month of April has been busy for us. We are both working 12 hours per day and I am working 7 days per week, while BJ is slacking with 6 days per week. The sand storms have kicked up in strength by a notch. On the 17th we had a storm that went from a bright sunny sky to night time dark in 5 minutes. The wind was blowing very strong and a wall of sand just engulfed us. Yesterday we had another sand storm, but it was not nearly as bad. However, it did last a lot longer than the storm of the 17th.
The pictures of the storm will be posted so take a look at them and see what you think. Have a great week and we love you from the far side.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
PHOTOS
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/LunchInDowntownKuwait?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/KuwaitiTentCamp?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/OurApartment?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/CamelSightings?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/KuwaitiTentCamp?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/OurApartment?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Cotton.Carrie/CamelSightings?feat=directlink
Saturday, 27 March 2010 - It was a very eventful week here in Kuwait. First of all, we have officially been here a month. :-) We are settled in, have met really wonderful people and both of us like our jobs very much. The CSA contract officially expires 31 March, so there has been a lot of uneasy feelings at work while people wonder what is going to happen to everyone next week. That was answered on Thursday, when we all received 6 month extension contracts...so we will definitely be here working for CSA until 30 September.
The other big event was a horrible accident that impacted BJ's department. The dog of an employee in BJ's area was hit by a car, and while he was tending to his dog the employee (Jesse) was hit by another car. It was a really bad accident, and Jesse is not expected to survive. That honestly is the biggest safety hazard about being here...the driving. Many of you have gotten emails from me about that, and now there is proof (terrible proof) that I wasn't exaggerating...the people over here can NOT drive, and they drive way, way too fast. I am infinitely more worried about my safety when I am in a vehicle than I am about terrorism or being in a war zone.
Other than that it was a regular ol' work week. We bought a grill, so today will be our first official Kuwaiti cook out!! And we tried the bar-b-que restaurant owned by a CSA employee that is from Texas...thank God it was really good, so we have our Jim N' Nicks substitute! Now if we could just find somewhere that makes good sweet tea we will be set.
Oh, before I sign off, let me describe what a "regular ol' work week" is over here. Kuwait has a mandatory 48 hour work week. So both BJ and I are up at 3:30 am. It is painful. BJ leaves about 4:05 because he starts work at 5 am...I leave at 4:45 and start at 6:00. It takes about 25 minutes to get to the base, and then another 30-45 minutes to get through security check points before we are on base. That is the worst part, but obviously it is a necessary evil. I get off at 5:00 and BJ gets off at 6:00, but because of traffic I only beat him home by about 20-30 minutes. Then I walk on the treadmill and he swims. We eat cereal for dinner most nights because we only have an hour before bedtime at this point, so we don't want anything heavy to eat. We fight over the computer for that hour trying to keep up with emails, then it is time for bed so we can do it all over again. Now I only work 5 days a week most weeks, but BJ does this 6 days a week so he has it worse than I do. It definitely makes for long days, which means we are pooped and sleeping like babies when it is bedtime!!
Tomorrow's Blog will feature our Friday Market adventures from last week...stay tuned!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The First Month in Kuwait
Well, we have been so-so about keeping everyone updated on our progress in Kuwait. We are hoping that with the creation of this blog, we will have created a central database for updates on our activites and adventures in the Middle East. Also, HOPEFULLY we will be able to get more pictures to everyone!! Our internet connection at the apartment is soooo slow that we haven't been able to get more than one or two pictures to upload before the entire system crashes.
Some of this information will be repetitive for many of you, but we haven't been able to fill everyone in so bear with us. I will give a brief rundown of the first month in this posting. Then BJ and I will update periodically with what has happened that day or week.
THE BEGINNING: We headed out of Birmingham, Alabama on February 16th at 6:30 am. This meant we had to be at the airport by 5am. Being the true procrastinator that I am (have always been...probably will always be), I had only slept 3 hours in the previous 72 hours before the trip to the airport. I had also still not finished packing, which left my wonderful parents with a beautiful home littered with my piles of crap everywhere. I know, I don't know why they didn't kill me a long time ago either.
We arrived safe and sound in Kuwait at 6pm (Kuwait time) the 17th. We were taken to a hotel that night, then picked up and taken to our new home the next morning. We were now in our new home where we don't speak the language, don't have a car, don't know exactly where we are, etc. So we pretty much stuck close to home until we were picked up for orientation three days later.
Orientation lasted 3 days...our company does a really good job of trying to make the transition to life in the Middle East as easy as possible. On the 4th day we finally actually went to the army base (camp actually, but for ease of reference I will continue to call it a base...) for the first time. We work in a very large, tan, sandy desert environment.
We are pretty settled in now...I have replaced the sheets and comforter that we are provided with better thread-count Egyptian sheets and a down comforter, so all is well in the world. The rest of the apartment is great. We are located in an area with lots of restaurants close by, and we have an amazing view of the Persian Gulf.
We work a lot, so most of our time is spent getting ready for work, getting to work, being at work, and coming home from work. We are only awake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours each night, so we are doing a better job of time management with the limited amount of time that we have here.
Our off days are spent exploring the offerings of Kuwait...the first two weekends we were fortunate to have someone (wonderful, amazing people) that took us around and showed us the layout of the city and where the major attractions were. The next weekend we checked out the Friday Market (stay tuned to future Posts for the description of the Friday Market), and last weekend we drove out to the desert to take pictures of the camels. They are almost as tame as dogs here, they will run right up to your car and stick their heads inside if you aren't careful!!
It is starting to get hot already. We have had a week of 100+ temperatures...and it isn't even April yet! I will admit I am NOT going to get used to the heat here, so just know in advance that there will be plenty of whining in future Blog updates.
Take Care...more to come!!! We miss everyone, but we are doing well in our new home!!
Some of this information will be repetitive for many of you, but we haven't been able to fill everyone in so bear with us. I will give a brief rundown of the first month in this posting. Then BJ and I will update periodically with what has happened that day or week.
THE BEGINNING: We headed out of Birmingham, Alabama on February 16th at 6:30 am. This meant we had to be at the airport by 5am. Being the true procrastinator that I am (have always been...probably will always be), I had only slept 3 hours in the previous 72 hours before the trip to the airport. I had also still not finished packing, which left my wonderful parents with a beautiful home littered with my piles of crap everywhere. I know, I don't know why they didn't kill me a long time ago either.
We arrived safe and sound in Kuwait at 6pm (Kuwait time) the 17th. We were taken to a hotel that night, then picked up and taken to our new home the next morning. We were now in our new home where we don't speak the language, don't have a car, don't know exactly where we are, etc. So we pretty much stuck close to home until we were picked up for orientation three days later.
Orientation lasted 3 days...our company does a really good job of trying to make the transition to life in the Middle East as easy as possible. On the 4th day we finally actually went to the army base (camp actually, but for ease of reference I will continue to call it a base...) for the first time. We work in a very large, tan, sandy desert environment.
We are pretty settled in now...I have replaced the sheets and comforter that we are provided with better thread-count Egyptian sheets and a down comforter, so all is well in the world. The rest of the apartment is great. We are located in an area with lots of restaurants close by, and we have an amazing view of the Persian Gulf.
We work a lot, so most of our time is spent getting ready for work, getting to work, being at work, and coming home from work. We are only awake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours each night, so we are doing a better job of time management with the limited amount of time that we have here.
Our off days are spent exploring the offerings of Kuwait...the first two weekends we were fortunate to have someone (wonderful, amazing people) that took us around and showed us the layout of the city and where the major attractions were. The next weekend we checked out the Friday Market (stay tuned to future Posts for the description of the Friday Market), and last weekend we drove out to the desert to take pictures of the camels. They are almost as tame as dogs here, they will run right up to your car and stick their heads inside if you aren't careful!!
It is starting to get hot already. We have had a week of 100+ temperatures...and it isn't even April yet! I will admit I am NOT going to get used to the heat here, so just know in advance that there will be plenty of whining in future Blog updates.
Take Care...more to come!!! We miss everyone, but we are doing well in our new home!!
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