Day 5 and 6

Aug. 6
Most of the day spent in bed with a churning tummy. Robert & the kids made their first visit to a mall which I hope Molly will describe. We are not finding this place to be nearly as “Western” as we were led to believe. We feel pretty much on display wherever we go and it is impossible to “blend in!”

I didn’t want to miss our first Happy Hour at the Embassy which is where the expats & their guests gather every week to enjoy a more normal social event. The food was catered by The Hard Rock Café, a DJ played Western music, and alcohol was available for purchase: this is the highlight for many who come as guests and have no other opportunity to enjoy a beer in this country. To my dismay, the event is mostly held outdoors on the patio where enormous fans blast cool air & mist to make it tolerable. The girls & I are having trouble being outside without getting nauseated and they are having a lot of swelling and stinging in their feet, however, we lasted for over an hour. It was great to meet other expats & get a sense of community. I get the feeling that there is some division between State Dept. and Embassy employees. I think there is such a need for community here that it won’t take long to build friendships. The girls met a few teens, but more will be coming before school starts. Ethan met Miles and they enjoyed playing video games together.

Aug. 7

Today is Friday, but it is the day of Worship in Kuwait and the beginning of the weekend. Sunshine blasted into our room like a spotlight & we groped for our water bottles. Since church at The Lighthouse begins at 1100, we ate & headed to the Souk which is right downtown near the church. The first person we saw was a crinkled & smiling old man who told us “welcome to Kuwait!” in English. Ethan asked, it is that obvious…YES! Not many were out, but rarely ever did we see any women. Men literally stopped to stare at us as we passed. Many shopkeepers greeted us with “Welcome” and other Arabic greetings. We were hit by how trashy things are in spite of the cleanliness of the white robed men. New buildings with modern architecture sit next to old crumpled ruins that look like remnants from the war; even occupied buildings droop with broken shutters, graffiti, and rubbish. The ground through the marketplace was strewn with litter and the broken concrete was uneven to walk on. We arrived in the fabric souk where long rows were draped with multicolored prints, all of which seemed too hot and heavy for the climate. A picture is worth a thousand words but it is difficult to pull out a camera when we are THE ONLY Western people in the place and all eyes are on us. Only when a friendly shopkeeper stopped us to demo Arab head gear for men on Ethan did I feel comfortable snapping a photo. We were warned we must barter or they would be offended, however, to my surprise, the prices were so reasonable I felt cheap to offer less (so I let Robert make the deal!) For about 1 KD ($3.60) each, I got some lovely pashminas which work great to cover up with if our shirts feel too revealing when we are out in public. Once we made one purchase, we were met with many vendors wanting to show us their lovely scarves. I asked one of them where was the scarf made? You guessed, it: China! Apart from oil, actual goods produced here are dreadfully low compared to other areas of the world. As we made our way through narrow streets the clothes & goods all looked the same, and none looked like anything we would want to wear. The smells arrested our senses and the heat drove us back to our car and on to church.

The Lighthouse Church is one of many churches that meets in a large…church complex I guess. We didn’t understand the set up at first and found our way into a sanctuary where they were still setting up for service at 1105. Robert inquired and got us redirected to a different sanctuary a few steps away. I was thrilled to hear music we recognized and a familiar spirit upon entering! Emily was trembling all over by then from the heat and sat while she cooled off in the AC. Finally, we were not the only Caucasian, there were perhaps a half dozen others in the congregation filled with mostly Indian & Orientals. The pastor was from the US but we did not get to meet him. He spoke about seasons, and proclaimed this was the season to be used of God here in Kuwait. He asked how long it takes for Kuwait to become home & I wondered that myself! I was strangely warmed to be singing songs from my childhood…”Pass me not Oh Gentle Savior, The Old Rugged Cross,” and “There is a Fountain” brought back many memories. The service actually felt like going back in time a bit, yet to a different place than my past. They served communion (with juice!) but it was not preceded by confession as we came to know in the Anglican tradition. The people were not un-friendly but certainly did not make the effort made by Emmanuel to include us when we were new…wow, that was such a great way to start out when we arrived in Northwood. The visitor forms we filled out asked how long we had been Christians and when we were baptized. As we walked to our car, the Mullah's sermon blared from the speakers at the Mosque next door.

After cooling off in the hotel, I enjoyed a light lunch of salad, grilled peppers, fresh shrimp, fruit & chocolate fondue, and the most delish Crème Brule ice cream I’ve ever tasted.