A day at the races...camel races

On December 14, I had the opportunity to experience a very Arab event: camel races. A local cultural center hosted a day and bussed a comically large number of expats out to the Kuwaiti Camel Racing Association camel track. I am so glad I got the chance to finally figure out where the track is, and I definitely plan to go back on my own without all the gobsmacked North Americans.

Criticism aside, the day was very entertaining!

You approach the grandstands out in the middle of the desert and enter a very swanky lounge type room with a wall of windows. An announcer calls the race, which has started 6 kilometers away and is in progress as we enter the complex. His feverish cadence, even though you have no idea what he's saying, builds the excitement as the camels make their way to the finish line.

Assumed these were the owners/investors of the racing camels. We called it the Old Boys Club. 

The racing complex from the front.

The TV screens that showed the progress of the race as the camels approached.

Now, when you google "camel races," you get images from Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia where they still have human jockeys. From what I've been told, they used to have small boys as the jockeys at the camel races in Kuwait, but it became a child safety issue so now they use robots here.

One of the last of the pack coming in for his race.  See the little red box looking thing behind his hump? It's a little robot jockey that has a little whip any everything! It's even dressed like a horse jockey!

 They also had camels for the tourists to enjoy for rides and photo opportunities.

I assume they had her hobbled so that she wouldn't freak out and trample any of the tourists surrounding her. Eventually they took off the hobble and led her home.

Over all it was a really cool experience. I'm looking forward to going back for a solo adventure.

Vicariously yours,

It rained a little bit.

The kids have been all abuzz about this storm all week long. They were already stoked because we were surprised with a day off today (Tuesday) because the government wanted to relieve traffic for the Arab-African Summit that is in town.

"Miss! We're not coming to school tomorrow, either!" they said on Sunday.

"...no, just Tuesday is off. Tomorrow is Monday, so we have school."

"But it is going to rain! So we won't come to school."

Anywhere else in the world, that logic would make no sense. But here, the hard ground of the desert doesn't absorb the rain as quickly as less arid places. And the people have zero clue as to how to drive in the rain. So it's not unheard of for school to be called on account of rain. The school where the Mister and I used to teach once called it on account of forecasted rain (and according to my facebook feed, they did it again this week!).

So yesterday was CRAZY because...well, I assumed the barometric pressure was working some kind of voo doo on my kids. Plus they were so excited any time a single drop feel from the sky.

At almost exactly dismissal time, the skies opened up. Just in time for the afternoon traffic.




To say the local population responded to the event safely and maturely isn't exactly accurate. Here is a link to video of Kuwaitis being dragged behind an SUV riding an inner tube. There are also photos of the flash flooding that popped up all over the country. The drainage system in this country just can't handle a downpour like the one we had yesterday, even though it only lasted about 45 minutes.

One cool thing I noticed about thunderstorms here is how different the lightening looks. It's going to sound stupid, but the lightening looks more electrical here. Like the white-blue spark you get when you blow up your adaptor/converter after it's had too much voltage (maybe that's too expat-specific of an illustration, but it's the best I've got). Also, the lightening seems shorter lived. You know how at home you'll see a solid white line of lightening that will flash a few times? It's quick, but you can definitely discern it from the surrounding clouds. Here, it's more like a camera flash. Really really fast and maybe just a teeny part of an electrical arc, but no long spindly bolt that connects the ground to the clouds. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for this phenomenon, but that's reserved for another kind of blog.

Vicariously yours,

Low Key New Year's in Prague

Despite all the illness and pink eye we've suffered this break, it has been kind of relaxing. The most expensive relaxing vacation ever. We basically paid for airfare and lodging so we could go get sick in Europe.

But yesterday we tried to make up for lost time. We got all dressed up and went to a fancy dinner at a fancy restaurant. We had heard all about the fireworks over Prague on New Year's Eve, so we picked a restaurant that overlooked the whole city with a clear view of the river so we wouldn't miss a minute of the show.

It was a very fancy restaurant. They had a pianist and violinist.

The dinner was very very good! We had several courses. It was so fancy that when we looked at the menu I had to look at the Mister and ask, "Do we get to eat all of this, or do we only choose one thing?"

We got to eat all of it.

Including the "poachet pikeperch" with caviar and red beet carpaccio. I wasn't even sure what red beet carpaccio was!

At first the dinner was very awkward because we were one of maybe 3 English-speaking couples in the whole room. We were seated really close to everyone around us, but not close enough to non-awkwardly strike up a conversation with any of them. Eventually we were able to entertain ourselves between courses.

They gave us some cool pseudo costumes to keep ourselves occupied.

Finally it was time for the big fireworks we'd heard so much about! Anyone who has spent a 4th of July with me can attest to my unhealthy love for fireworks shows. So we got our half bottle of Czech sparkling wine and headed outside for the big display.

Turns out, the big fireworks display organized by the city of Prague happens on the night of New Years Day...because the city of Prague doesn't want to compete with this.

It's not an actual fireworks display so much as all the people in Prague (tourists, immigrants, and Czechs alike) just setting off the most elaborate fireworks I have ever seen set off by private citizens! Seriously! I have had MANY a 4th of July in my day and I have NEVER seen people legally setting off fireworks this nice, loud, and dangerous! WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THESE FIREWORKS!?

It was pretty darn cool, though. We could see for miles across the city and into the outskirts of town and it was fireworks as far as the eye could see. It was like little tiny, not-scary volcanoes going off every 400 feet for miles and miles.

Here's a blurry photo of what it looked like. I'm a dedicated blogger.

It was a pretty awesome way to ring in the new year.

We woke up today feeling energized, refreshed and ready to start the new year tackling ALL our resolutions.

I'm just kidding! haha! We literally haven't left the apartment all day. And it's been awesome. Around 5:30 I asked the Mister if we should get dressed and try to find a good place to watch tonight's real fireworks show. We both responded with a resounding, "meh."

Luckily we could see the fireworks from our awesome apartment!

Video can be seen here.

Happy New Year, y'all!

Vicariously yours,

Trending Now: Tourist Italy

After we left Saudi Arabia, the Mister and I met up with my sister and her husband in beautiful Italy for a 2-week vacation. We were loving being in the Western world again and the Mister was nerding out with all the European history that was around us.

Unfortunately, also all around us were TOURISTS!! I was expecting to be surrounded by hordes of once-in-a-lifetime trippers that notoriously wander, eyes aloft, cameras at the ready. We were in Italy during the high season, after all. But I've noticed that every time we got to Europe, there are certain trends in the tourists. Here is what is so hawt on the tourist scene in Italy this summer:

1. College study abroaders. Ok, so this isn't a this-summer specific trend. And being that we were in Italy, I'm sure the locals are bombarded by waves of these groups of 20-somethings who have just met their newest best friends and feel oh-so hip and global while traveling on a class field trip with 50 other Americans on a chartered coach. This summer, it's really easy to spot the American abroad: just look for Ray Bans (real ones for the pretentious, fake ones bought from the street vendors for the ones who arrived and realized they were too broke and too late to be in with the pretentious crowd but still wanted to fit in), European summer scarf tied around the neck, and a floral, high-waisted mini skirt with white tank top tucked in to the wide belt for the ladies. Soo college hip and European at the same time.

2. Jumping photos. This is not a new trend. I think it was introduced about 4 years ago, but it has sticking power. Personally, I am not a fan of the jumping photo. I have several friends who are enamored with the freeze-frame, suspended-in-mid-air, anime-esque-facial-expression-capturing type of photography, but it's just not for me. But lawd!! From college students to Asian tourists to honeymooners, tourists in Italy love them some jumping photos!! I have the feeling this will be the last summer for this trend...or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

3. Taking pictures with the iPad. It's really interesting how far photography has come. From tintype to instagram, I wonder what the early photographers would say if they could see us now. Maybe I'm suffering from a little case of gadget envy, but there is one form of modern photography that drives me crazy: Taking photos with your iPad, especially when you're on vacation.

All I could focus on when we stumbled upon a parade in Florence.

Here's why I don't understand it:

• The iPad isn't small. Unless you're schlepping around a huge purse, it's not going to fit easily in any bags. And when you're traveling, you don't want to look like you're carrying around $700-worth of fancy technical magic on your person. You're just asking to be purse-snatched.
• You look like a dork. I literally laughed out loud at a guy we saw riding in a pedi-cab across a square in Rome who was struggling to maneuver his iPad through the little back window of the vehicle while simultaneously trying not to drop the expensive piece of equipment and get an instagram-worthy shot of the ancient ruins he was riding past. He looked like a total dufus! And he could have accomplished the same feat with just one hand and a little craning of the neck if he had a sensible digital camera.
• You take up tons of space in everyone else's shot. You're standing in a crowd. We're all trying to take the same picture as you. But because your means of recording this moment for posterity has a 10 inch screen and a flappy cover thing, I have to wait for you to move out of my shot so I can take my own darn picture! 

I'm sure this post makes it sound like the Mister and I had the most judgmental and annoyed time ever while in Italy with my sister, but that really wasn't the case. These were just some of the things that made us roll our eyes as we were strolling the streets of Rome, Florence, and Venice.

Vicariously yours,

Snack time in Sri Lanka

This is a video of fish

As the title suggests, this is a video of fish. I took this footage at the Kuwait aquarium to illustrated a point: ARABS ARE SO LOUD! It is a part of the Arab culture that I just don't understand. Why do you need to be so inconsiderately loud in public places. There are always children screaming, teenagers yelling, Blackberries ringing, babies crying, and mothers chatting loudly in the Middle East. It was especially unnerving in the aquarium because we were all in a small, enclosed space. One that reverberated sound nicely.

The video is one full minute long, and it was a relatively quiet minute when taken in the context of the rest of our visit. You don't have to watch the whole video. After about 30 seconds, you get the picture.

Let me say that I understand that everyone can be loud from time to time. And there are times when it's appropriate to be loud and raucous. Football games, birthday parties, camp bonfires, pep rallies. All perfectly acceptable instances when yelling at the top of your lungs should come as no surprise and should not be an issue to the people around you.

But when you're in a place of learning, like an aquarium, I was raised that it's polite to apologize on behalf of your ridiculously shrill child when she screams out and pounds her fist on the plexiglass and then immediately try to stop her obnoxious behavior. That was not the case for any of our fellow patrons at the Kuwait Aquarium. It's funny, though because the Mister and I have gotten pretty used to all the noise.

My, how things change over the course of a year.

Vicariously yours,

Forget King days, Sand days are better!!

Wooo! Two 4 day work weeks in a row!!

As the Mister and I were about to go to bed last night I said, "Smells like a sand storm," referring to the atmosphere. Not...nevermind.

Not 2 minutes later, the windows started to howl with the gales that were blowing through the streets of our neighborhood. It was a sandstorm, alright. According to a local, this is one of the worst sand storms the area has had in a while.

The Mister went out to take photographic evidence of what a friend has dubbed "Sandmageddon." He had to wear this get-up:

As we were falling asleep, I said, "I wonder if we'll get out of school for this." I was only half joking. But what to my wondering eye did appear this morning when I checked my text messages?? "No school tomorrow, go back to sleep."

YES!

I followed instructions and went back to sleep! GLORIOUS!

Sand days are like snow days, but warmer and so much more awesome. Well...slightly. They're definitely more awesome because they're so regionally specific. But apparently you only get sand days when you get storms like this one:

This is the same storm that blew into town last night around 10:30...but in Kuwait. It was hitting Kuwait yesterday afternoon. A friend of ours posted this on his facebook, so we had the sneaking suspicion that our night would be windy.

I love the fact that sand days are basically snow days with all the sleeping in and none of the shivering, but I'm definitely not going to enjoy the clean up.

Because we were still awake when the storm hit, we made sure everything was closed up tight. But there are only so many towels you can stuff under doors, so we expected a light dusting inside the house.

My dining room table, which I had just dusted 2 days ago?

Looks like this now.

Dangit!

Oh well, I'll have plenty of time to go back over the house with the dust rag because I DON'T HAVE TO WORK TODAY!!

Suckas!

Vicariously yours,

A little Bahraini adventure

Yesterday the Mister and I went to Bahrain to get out of the Kingdom and to have lunch with a friend of the Mister's from middle school who happened to be in Bahrain for the day. We had a fantastic time catching up with his long lost friend of 15 years and meeting some wonderful new people. The day began with a sunny drive over the causeway, to the hotel to pick up the Mister's friend, and then a drive past the tent city set up on the Pearl Roundabout (that's the big monument you saw on the news reports about the protests in Bahrain):

After a pleasant lunch filled with intelligent conversation and the drunken shenanigans of a 40th birthday party for a British expat in the background, we said goodbye to our friends (new and old). We had planned to meet up with some house mates at the mall for dinner and a movie.

The drive from the restaurant to the mall didn't quite go as planned...

Before going to Bahrain, we were told by co-workers, "It's totally safe, just avoid the Pearl roundabout and you'll be fine!"

So what do we do? Of course, the protests are completely peaceful now, so we were never in any danger, but it certainly got very claustrophobic as the crowd got larger and the lane got smaller.

After everything cleared, we had a good laugh about it...

**Not sure why blogspot loaded the last video twice on a loop. That's definitely not how I edited it. But it's taken me three days to get these bad boys loaded, so it's staying.**

Vicariously yours,

A peek inside our new home!

Side note: the video really doesn't do justice to how loud the washing machine is, or how much it moves during a wash cycle. At some points it sounds like a plane taking off in our kitchen! I just couldn't catch it on video.

Vicariously yours,

A quick look back...

Well, the last word we heard was that we would be able to move into our newly-painted, newly-furnished apartment tomorrow after work. I've tried to confirm that with my new boss, but she was out sick today, so I'm staying positive and assuming it's still game on for leaving the Gulf Flower Hotel.

I realize that's really just wishful thinking at this point, but just in case things work out in our favor, I thought I'd make one last post before we left the hotel. We recorded our first few moments in Dammam when we arrived on September 13th...and then we promptly lost the cord that connects our video camera to our computer.

Obviously, we found it! And now we share with you the first footage from Saudi Arabia:

If, by some miracle, we do get to move into our apartment tomorrow, we'll have to wait until we get our iqama (residence visa) before we can get internet. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that that will take a little while. So bare with us as we "go dark," as the Mister's mom put it the other night. We'll be back with many more updates soon (and by "soon" I likely mean "tomorrow").

Vicariously yours,

You might like this version better...

Armed with my trusty flipcam and my hijab, I recorded tonight's call to prayer. It's a much better recording this time, and you can really hear how the call kind of sweeps across the city, mosque by mosque. I think it really this is pretty cool part of living in the "Magic Kindgom," as someone we met this weekend called it. I hope you enjoy.

*My apologies to Steven Spielberg for misspelling his name*

Vicarious yours,

Like a woman under cover...literally.

The Mister and I went to the Al Rashid mall today. We have a long weekend this week, and we knew that if we stayed in our hotel room for 3 days, only one of us would come out alive, so we decided to get out.

Saudi culture is very mall-centric. There are no movie theaters, no skating rinks. It's too hot to hang out at the beach during the day, and there's not a single putt-putt course to be found. So for entertainment, the people here shop. We decided to join them today.

As mentioned in a previous post, the call to prayer doesn't stop Saudis from enjoying their mall time. They just blast the call over the P.A. system, and everything comes to a halt for about 20 minutes. We were in the mall today when the 4 o'clock prayers were to begin, so I whipped out my camera and got some footage.

We tried to be sneaky about it because people don't like to have their pictures taken here (not entirely sure why yet...will continue to investigate), so we didn't want to attract too much attention by video taping everything we saw.

As a result, you get a great view of the ceiling of the mall...and of my nostrils. Sorry in advance.

Enjoy!

Vicariously yours,

i had this weird dream...and then i got a haircut...

Vicariously yours,

Amber's Answer

So, we're only getting moderately better at operating the flipcam and its editing software. Apparently I'm also only moderately able to speak. Please excuse the mumbling, stuttering, and overall bad rhetoric in this video post.

So, dear readers, I give you my answer to the eternal question: WHY?!

Tuesday was a big day for me. I had a dental appointment, which is why my cheek is swollen, and I had a hair appointment, which is why my hair is slightly fluffier than usual.

As you can see from all the boxes and laundry in the background, we've started packing, and it's going slowly. We'll be posting most of our worldly belongings on Craigslist soon, so keep an eye out for that if you want some stylish ikea furniture.

Vicariously yours,

An EXCELLENT Question...

Why, yes. I am going to post as well. As we are going through this process together, I have decided that I should answer the #1 question that we get as we head off to Saudi. So without further ado...

So there you have it. I believe this is going to be our greatest adventure, and I can't wait to begin!

Vicariously Yours,

On the Dark Side...

Just thought we should share:

We took advantage of a day off from school, had some doctors appointments, and made this video on May 4th.

You're welcome.

Side note: Please excuse our rough exterior. The floods had just happened and we were still under water conservation orders, so we'd skipped the shower that day...