Seen on my morning commute, entry #2

My morning commute to work is very short, but often very entertaining. There are a few things I know I will see for sure: lots of stray cats, school children running to the buses that impatiently honk outside their apartment buildings, neighbors lighting up their morning smoke, and trash. Lots of trash.

But one of the more perplexing items of trash that I have consistently seen on my commutes to and from school here in Kuwait: the used syringe.

This was a particularly fresh specimen.

Here's the thing: all these syringes can't possibly come from the same person...at least, that's what I hope. I have seen several types of syringes in more than one spot. And I'm not trying to suggest that these syringes are used for nefarious things like heroin or worse. Sure, diabetes is a problem in this region, but you would think a diabetic would have been educated on how to properly dispose of biohazardous materials such as this...at least, that's what I hope...

When I shared almost this exact train of thought with someone, they politely let me finish my rant and simply replied, "Juicing." As in steroids.

It's true, Arabs love them some rippling biceps. But shooting up 'roids in the dusty lot across from your apartment building? Really?

I have no idea what the story is behind these syringes. I keep hoping I might stumble upon somebody in the act of using them so I can finally figure out the answer. While the source of these syringes remains a mystery, they continue to be a regular part of my morning commute to work so I knew I had to share this random part of my life in The Sandbox.

Vicariously yours,

Seen on my morning commute, entry #1

One thing I've learned from living in Middle Eastern countries: aesthetics are not important! If there are city ordinances regulating what you can park outside your building or hang from your apartment balcony, they are not enforced. In my opinion, the trash strewn about and random items that can be found in varying states of disrepair all over the place makes it look like Arabs don't care about appearances. To an outsider, entire Arab countries can look kind of trashy. But that's not really the case. I'm not sure why it's ok to park a broken down Camry with 4 busted tires outside an apartment building and leave it untouched for years (I've seen it done), but that's just the way it is over here. But if you ever find yourself inside an Arab home, you find it to be very clean and orderly.

After the initial shock, it starts to get kind of entertaining. What random crap will I see today?! The neighborhood where our apartment is located is rife with piles of haphazardly discarded trash, vehicles, and furniture. Here's my first entry in the log of things that make me giggle on my morning commute to work.

A vintage Rolls Royce.

I like to think that this car is parked outside the home of the former driver for the Emir. In my imagination, he served his country well and was rewarded handsomely by being allowed to take one of the decommissioned cars as a personal vehicle. But the car was too precious to just parade around the streets. It needed to be preserved. So here it sits, under a dirty towel, missing a hubcap. Just waiting for its chance to shine again.

See! It even has the seal of Kuwait. ...I think.

In all seriousness, this Rolls is parked outside an apartment building, in a dust lot, surrounded by building scraps and trash. I have no idea what the story is here, but this random example of luxury in the middle of rubbish makes me chuckle every time I see. It is such a fantastic example of what you see all the time here in the Middle East.

There are lots of other random items that catch my eye on my morning commute. Check back frequently to see the next installation in this series.

Vicariously yours,