Warm Welcome Home
Everything went smoothly on my great trip back to Kuwait, as AdventureMan would say “the number of landings equalled the number of take-offs” and that is always a very good thing. My flights were more or less on time, I had space and time and endurance . . . the immigration line was short and my bags came off the flight quickly and . . . the best is yet to come.
We always love going to the airport. The airport in Kuwait is nothing like the airport in Seattle, all Nordic and Scandinavian cool, with restrained welcomes and hearty pats on the back . . . no, the Kuwait welcome is unrestrained, literally, although there are barriers, when someone important is coming home – a new bride, a returning university student, grandma and grandpa coming back from the Hajj, or maybe Daddy coming home from a business trip – the barriers, literally, fall.
Family members show up en masse and this is one time when voices are not lowered – everyone shouts and whoops with joy when the loved one appears on the arrival “runway.”
And today – today, it was my turn. As I exited the customs check, there were cheers! There was a huge crowd, waiting – for me! They threw rose petals! They ululated! It was the most wonderful arrival I have ever experienced. They even had TV lights, cameras!
oh! wait! who are those handsome uniformed young men being mobbed by their proud family members?
Ah well, I was welcomed by the sweet warm grin of AdventureMan, waiting for me patiently, and yes, yes, I did walk over some rose petals, and I was greeted with shouts and cheers and ululations, even if it wasn’t exactly for me . . . it was still, quite a thrill, and a wonderful way to come back to Kuwait.
When I arrived in Seattle, people told me I had brought Kuwait weather, as it was in the 90’s and low 100’s, very warm for Seattle in May. Returning the favor, the temperatures in Kuwait have dropped to about 38°C – close to 100°F, and there are scattered rain-plops. I don’t see any signs of showers, yet, but the night is yet young, and very very humid.
Correction
Stating that the incident never happened because it was not reported to them does not mean it did not happen. An eight year old girl does not make up a rape; she doesn’t have the vocabulary, she doesn’t have the experience to create a lie like that.
“No one brought it to our notice” does not mean it didn’t happen.
Indian School denies girl raped by the school bus driver
KUWAIT CITY : An official at an Indian School in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh on Monday rubbished claims that a girl student from the school was raped last week by the school bus driver.
Reliable sources had earlier told the Arab Times that an eight-year-old student from the school was raped by the school bus driver, who reportedly charmed the girl with sweet talk and took her to his apartment in Jleeb Al-Shyoukh where he raped her.
The girl, who hails from Kerala, reported the incident to her parents after they quizzed her as to why she was late in getting home from school.
Reacting to the reports the school official added: “I can confirm that no such incident happened in our school as no one brought it to our notice.”
The official further added: “We always encourage parents of students to use the school transportation. However, we cannot coerce them into using our transportation. We would have taken immediate action if any such incident was reported to us. The safety of our students is our foremost concern.”
“It is possible that the parents of the victim may not have reported the incident to the school authorities as the student may have been using a private transportation,” the source said.
The source added that the outraged father of the victim reportedly beat up the accused black and blue before turning him over to the police and that the family is in a state of shock trying to come to grips with the incident.
According to the source, a case has been registered at the Jleeb Al-Shyoukh police station and investigations are in progress.
In another incident, a school boy of an Indian school in Abbassiya reportedly impregnated a fellow student and that the two were involved in a long courtship, according to a source. No further details could immediately be obtained.
By Francis A. Clifford Cardozo
Arab Times Staff
One Last Barbecue
Yes, yes, we have barbecue in Kuwait, and it is fabulous. Fabulous barbecued Kuwaiti shrimp and hammour (grouper), fabulous lamb, fabulous chicken, fabulous kebab. . . . and it isn’t the same. From time to time, AdventureMan and I just yearn for some American Barbecue.
Today I stopped by Sharp’s and picked up a Kansas City Barbecue:
You put the cole slaw and the fried onions on top of the BBQ meat there – it already has a Kansas City mustardy sauce cooked right into it. . . oh YUMMMMM. And just look at those chips! Real potato! And SO crisp!
It Gives Me Hope
You know who I am, I’m pretty consistent in what I have to say. I believe we all have a lot more in common than we have differences, and I want us to find ways to get along. We, as a species, spend so much time and energy and resources fighting over the pettiest differences. How will we ever call ourselves civilized until we can treat every fellow creature with respect?
I bet Cupertino has problems, too. I know for one thing it is incredibly expensive. Most of what I saw there, I really liked. Whole Foods. High Tech Engineering. A wide variety of people, all working together in peace.
At our hotel, there were five weddings taking place the same day as “our” wedding. I came down in the elevator with one couple and their parents, and I got a photo of them in the hotel garden area before their wedding:
The groom is from India, and the bride is Chinese. The parents, and all the relatives are gathered, and dressed in gorgeous, flowing silks, and the bride and groom are just amazingly in love with each other and it is so beautiful, they are all so happy.
Cupertino takes a lot of pride in being beautiful, and the buildings they build are beautiful and they have “campuses” where lots of related buildings are connected with winding garden paths and ponds full of ducks.
I particularly love this sculpture:
Which looks totally different from the side:
There were flowers and plants everywhere. Many I couldn’t even recognize. I would have to learn a whole new world of gardening in California:
Sad Farewells
Now comes the sad part – the post-wedding let down. We all have to leave.
I am lucky, my son and daughter-in-law have flights around the same time as mine, so we meet early, grab some coffee and head for the airport. I am feeling choked and desolate; I enjoy their company so much and I hate to say good-bye.
“Don’t worry,” my daughter-in-law tells me as my son goes off to buy his breakfast once we have all checked in, “we know how hard these good-byes are for you and we understand. And we will see you again soon!”
Son comes back and DIL and I head over to pick up our breakfast – and oh, yummy, breakfast burritos!
We get the basic burritos, with chorizo sausage. Oh, to die for!
But imagine! These are sauces for the breakfast burritos, and they range from hot to super super hot!
Our gates our close, and my flight starts loading almost as soon as I arrive, which is a good thing, because I am about to die from desolation. I already miss them so much!
The Grande Finale
Here’s the problem. Our weddings are SO much fun. We all get there early, and as Maurice Sendak says – “Let the wild rumpus begin!”
I think many of you have the same families – we raise our children as a village. My sisters’ children are precious to me, and mine to them. They have visited back and forth between our houses since they were little. When we gather, you never know who will be with what family, which room people will gather in – it is one constant high-energy party.
And, it can also be totally exhausting!
Yesterday was the grand finale, THE wedding. It took place at Ainsley House, in Campbell, CA:
The weather has been unseasonably cool, so there was concern about rain during the wedding. Fortunately, it never rained, the sun came out, the bride was gorgeous and everything came off without a hitch. The bride and groom took their vows:
And then they exchanged rings:
After rings were exchanged, and the couple declared man and wife, the guests went on to the reception hall, while the bride and groom and family and attendants had a lengthy photo session. When we gathered for the wedding dinner, it was truly a night to remember!
I loved her table decorations; restrained, elegant, perfect for a beautifully planned wedding:
The wedding dinner:
The Greek side of the family danced, and the Iranian side laughed and said they were dancing Iranian style. The Iranians showed us all how to DANCE, and Sparkle is very very good at it. I think she had some coaching from her new daughter-in-law. Everyone had great fun comparing the different styles of dancing:
Our children are marrying into other “villages” and our own village just keeps expanding. It gives me such immense joy to watch this happen; the world grows smaller and smaller. Our children are choosing their mates with care – and joy! And they are choosing well, uniting us with tribes and clans who share the same values, if not nationalities.
We wish you all happiness, Earthling and Bride!
NOLA, Palo Alto
The rehersal dinner was at a really fun restaurant in Palo Alto, NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) and the good times started rolling even before we left the hotel, as wedding invitees gathered to car pool and head down the highways to the dinner. We had instructions, but we were following the car in front of us, and so had a great adventure en route. Everyone finally got there just fine, the music was loud, the crowd was hoppin’ and the food was fabulous.
Hurricanes waiting on the table to greet the guests:
The appetizer plates (I couldn’t get to it fast enough to take a photo before some had disappeared!)
We started with soups and salads, but I forgot to take photos (there is a lot of visiting going on at these events!) so here is some fabulous jambalaya:
And what’s left of delicious king salmon:
I was honored to sit with the bride’s mother, originally from Tehran, and oh! what great conversations we had. The whole purpose of the rehearsal dinner is to give the families time to get to know one another a little, to provide a network for the young marrying couple, to give support. Our weddings are GREAT affairs – now I am going to brag a little. Our young generation of marrying age has chosen such fine mates. The bride in this wedding is a pistol; she and Earthling are so well matched, so good to each other and so good at supporting one another. And I love her mother! We had a great time visiting with each other.
And then – oh my – the desserts! Beignets and bread pudding:
People were scraping the sauces right off the serving plate, not wanting to waste a single tasty bite, they were that good!
This morning, the bride, my sister the groom’s mother, my mother and a host of attendants are off to the hairdressers to get hair and nails and make up done, the whole wedding ritual. I am thankful to be a minor character today – I have packing to do, and with the new packing regulations, I am in a world of hurt. I know if I need to I can buy another suitcase, but I am hoping I will not have to do that.
Last night was a truly great evening, (Thank you, Sparkle and MarinerMan!) and as good as it was, as delicious and fun filled as it was, it was just the prelude to the big event today. 🙂
UPDATE:
Hi there,
I noticed you wrote about our restaurant, Nola, on 5/25/2008 (https://intlxpatr.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/nola-palo-alto/). We really appreciate the mention! Recently, we created a new site that lets our customers order online with their desktop or smartphone. It’s an exciting addition to our restaurant, so we’re reaching out to you to ask for a small favor…
If you could help us by adding our new website (http://www.nolapaloalto.com) on your post about Nola, we’d really appreciate it! I know you wrote this post a while back so hopefully it’s not too much trouble!
Again, thanks so much for supporting our restaurant by mentioning us on your site. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thanks there!
Cheers,
Your fans at Nola
Whole Foods Market
EnviroGal and I have just finished exploring Cupertino-into-San-Jose and when Big Diamond calls:
“We’re heading to Whole Foods for lunch, then to the playground – want to join us?”
We passed Whole Foods earlier and we know right where it is.
“We’ll meet you there!” we reply, and are there within minutes.
Oh my heavens.
Whole Foods is a whole different food experience. It takes grocery buying – and lunch – to a whole new level.
About one third of the very very large store is devoted to take-out food. There are three different large buffet stations, one for global food, one for salad bars, one for main dishes, and then there is a whole separate one for freshly prepared Japanese food. There is another separate area for custom sandwiches, and another area for desserts.
Drinks are nearby – an unimaginable variety of drinks.
I had a spinach salad with dried cranberries and toasted pecans and roquefort cheese, with a balsamic dressing, and enari sushi.
Big Diamond had an Indian Curry, and also macaroni and cheese.
EnviroGirl and SportyDiamond had Indian foods – and Mexican foods.
And so it goes. Whole Foods specializes in organically grown foods, fresh fresh foods, the best vegetables in the world. They prepare meals for thousands of high-tech workers who don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about food, but want to enjoy eating it when they remember to eat.
You really have to see it to believe it. And no, Purg, they didn’t mind my taking photos, right out in the open:
It’s interesting to me – with all the computer people around here, I don’t see a lot of overweight people. I saw a group of grannies, they must have been near seventies, all in bright yellow biking outfits, helmuts and all, and they looked wiry and spry. I see families of all nationalities, people from all over the world, all gathered in the same coffee shops, groceries, etc. and I wonder how they all work together in peace?
Sunset in Cupertino
This one was too good to pass up. Since I am not getting sunrise photos, I can share this sunset over Cupertino photo with you:
I can see that it is 113° F / 45°C in Kuwait. :-O
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
When I left my room this morning, I could smell wood burning fires, and I love that smell. It reminds me of Africa, and camping, and being out in the wild. I love for my clothing to smell like smoke from a wood burning fire, it’s like my favorite perfume.
And then I realized – this is smoke from the fire burning out-of-control in the Santa Cruz mountains, a terrible thing, people are losing their homes and businesses, thousands of residents are fleeing the area. It is a tragedy for all involved.
We are hoping the fire is brought under control soon . . .
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