Turning into a Kuwaiti
We were lingering over the last bites of dessert and coffee in our favorite French restaurant when one phone rang and after a brief conversation, my friend turned to the rest of us and said “We have to get home. That was Anwar saying another storm had rolled in.”
We had all known it was a possibility, but wanted to take the chance to get together anyway. It was one of those rare occasions when our husbands were out of town, we could eat at a restaurant WE liked that they didn’t, we could get together and not worry about when we were getting home. We flurried out, I quickly dropped off my friends and headed home.
The streets were relatively quiet and the traffic relatively slow. I found myself thinking about the evening and how far I have come, living in Kuwait. I’m driving at night, and I don’t even feel a surge of fear-filled adrenalin, I’m driving in a sandstorm going ho-hum, just need to get home, and I’ve just had a great evening with female friends.
And I thought “I’m turning into a Kuwaiti woman.”
The West is so couple oriented. I remember when I was living near my parents in Seattle, and my husband was overseas, I hated Sundays; Sundays seemed like couples’ day to me – couples/families go to church, go to breakfast, go out shopping. Mostly on Sunday I would go to church, go to breakfast with a bunch of church friends and then go home, spend the rest of the day reading the Sunday paper and working on projects. If I were out and about, I would only be reminded how lonely I was, how I was missing a piece, I was incomplete.
In the Gulf, most of the social life is segregated – women go to women’s things, men go to men’s things, families do family things. Things are changing, but there isn’t a lot of “married-people-having-dates-with-their-own-spouses going on. Women go to engagement parties, wedding parties, condolence calls, they go shopping, they meet up at restaurants, they get together in one another’s houses. Men meet up at the diwaniyya, a local shisha cafe, they visit their extended family, they hang out and play cards, they race along the streets. The great circle called men’s social life intersects with the great circle called women’s social life intersect only rarely.
And here I am, meeting up for dinner with my female friends, and driving home alone at night through a sandstorm. Yep. I am definitely turning into a Kuwaiti.
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The weather turned really bad and dusty last night..The visibility bent below 100m
Hehe, I like your spunky attitude 🙂
test
I tried to post comments for the past 2 hours, each time it gives me that I am posting comments too fast, damn wordpress.
Anyways, here is my comment
I thought you beat up someone 🙂
I love being a Kuwaiti woman I wouldn’t change it for anything … ALthough it gets frustrating sometimes with the “segregated” outtings etc, bas most times its a blessing.
Amu, it wasn’t really bad around 1100 – it was sandy/dusty, but most of the people were driving slower than I was (see, now I KNOW I am turning into a Kuwaiti. 😛
Jewaira – I saw YOU! You were watching us! (Hee heee heee, just kidding)
Purg – WordPress is going through some growing pains, I think. I had the same problem commenting on Jewaira’s blog the other day, the commenting too fast thing.
As for beating someone up – guess I had better find the right knife first. 😦
Chirp – I’m rather enjoying it myself! 🙂 It’s nice to be able to walk in both worlds.
Welcome to the club ;>
But dont u find that times flies in Kuwait? One minute u just woke up…the next its time for bed….. ;s
thats good, now all you need is to learn how to cook machboos.
and whats so wrong about that? so you think turning into a kuwaiti is all about a segregated lifestyle? you dont know anything about being a kuwaiti .. and whats wrong with having dinner with your female friends then driving home? whats wrong with our lifestyle? do u hav to see couples making out in every corner for you too see people having “couple time” .. ?? wai3 sakheefa
Hebz, No, Kuwait is not all about segregated lifestyle, intlxpatr left the worst out.. like crazy driving, people with no morals, people spit in the streets, women wear scary makeup, stupid comments, “we’re the best” attitudes, treating house maids like slaves and a lot more.. but this post has nothing to do with whats BAD or wrong in kuwait, its about her experience in living like a kuwaiti woman. its her opinion and her point of view, and I happen to agree with almost everything she said.
“you dont know anything about being a kuwaiti” you make it sound like she’s missing out lol 😛
bs jad jad, itha geltay “sakheefa” 3an wa7da ma galat ila rayha.. hatha iqalil min ahamiyat rayich tara.
intlxpatr, I think we have more couple time than you think 🙂 loved the post! its always interesting to learn about us through others’ eyes. 🙂
Yes, DR, that is exactly what I find. Some people say there is nothing to do here – I find just the opposite!
Error – oh! you are so right! I cannot leave until I learn. Most of my friends, however, don’t really cook anymore! I need to find some friend who still cooks!
Thank you, Yousef, for catching that turning into a Kuwaiti was not a bad thing, especially being in Kuwait. Maybe Hebz didn’t catch the subtlety.
Enjoy 😛
welcome to the dark side 😛
3baid – 😛
GE&B – You gave me the best laugh I’ve had all day. 🙂
LOL! I congratulate and condole you at the same time!
Hahaha Hebz comment was too funny.
Oh IntlXpatr, am so glad you had a fun ladies night out and ummm who knows where I might turn up or which corner I may be lurking in….
sigh, I should write more of those voyeur posts 😛
Olorin, I am happy about it! 🙂 There will come a time in my life when I will look back on my time in Kuwait with nostalgia.
Jewaira – Yes! Yes! Write more voyeur posts!