Girl’s Night Out
Sorry AdventureMan, I have had my first Mexican meal, and it was wonderful. You could have come! You could have come to wedding with me! You could have had Ivar’s seafood, and you could have had Las Brisas wonderful Mexican food.
My Mom insisted my sister try my new camera and take some photos of me. Of course, we got the giggles and every shot she took of me was worse than the one before. She said the photo gene skipped her, and – Sparkle – I agree. Those were some pretty awful photos. Of course, being hit by that great train jet lag didn’t help me to be a great subject.
Mom had the Camarones al Diablo, her long time favorite, and Sparkle and I had Chicken Mole. It was good, and we are looking forward to some time in California, with non-dumbed-down Mexican food, spicy!
The camarones (shrimp):
The chicken mole:
Wish I could bring you some, AdventureMan!
Not Your Kuwait Driver’s License
Earlier this year, I wrote about getting my Kuwait Driver’s License never thinking I would be going through the process again this year here in Seattle. I know it sounds crazy, but it just didn’t occur to me that the license might expire. It isn’t a good thing to find out when you are about to pick up a rental car and your license is declined because it expired.
So I needed to go get a new license first thing this morning. I know how crowded the driver’s license place is early in the morning, so I didn’t go first thing. When I got there, there were about 15 people in front of me.
They have this system. You go in and they have a big list of services and fees posted. Then you go to a machine and press a button for the service you need, and you get a number. I waited five minutes.
The woman asked how she could help and I told her I needed to renew my expired driver’s license. She asked why it had expired and I told her I live in Kuwait, and she said “oh! other country” and put in that code. She asked about you, she asked how I liked living in Kuwait, she was worried about my safety – I get that a lot. I tell them about Kuwait, about how nice it is, how I have lots of good friends, and that it is a nice place to live. I tell them I feel safe (I don’t tell them about the driving!) and that if anything were to happen, I believe I have friends who would protect me. I could see a lot of this was news to her, and she was happy to hear it.
She asked me if I was restricted in my dress, and I laughed and said “well, I dress modestly, so it isn’t really a problem.” She stopped and thought a little and said “I dress modestly, too.”
All of that conversation, plus my paying for a new license and taking an eye test, took five minutes. I had to take five steps over to where my photo was taken, and 30 seconds later my temporary license, photo and all, was in my hands. My permanent license will be sent to me within a week.
How sweet is that?
It was SO orderly. No one pushing in front of anyone, waving papers, insisting on going first. Everyone takes a number, everyone gets the same courteous service and it is FAST. I was in and out in less than fifteen minutes, and that includes the waiting time and the conversation. I love systems and processes!
A Day With Mom
Aren’t Moms great? When I come into town, my Mom showers me with gifts, as if she doesn’t see me three or four times a year. We are all gathering for a very special event, a family wedding, our very favorite kind of party.
Last night, she had a big jar of cranberry juice, a fresh maple bar and a bouquet of irises (just so you will know, they are my favorite flower) with a vase for my hotel room:
I planted some geraniums for her today, and then we picked up lunch from Ivar’s and drove to the beach for a picnic:
It is a gorgeous day at the beach, full of families and sun-worshippers. Seattle had their last snow in April, and is still thawing out from a long winter:
We had some local residents who found us fascinating, and hoped we would share our lunch with them:
We had some chips – they can catch them in their beaks. Bit healthy looking seagulls, aren’t they? 🙂
Seattle Sunset
I smiled on my way home today, seeing the sun was setting and knowing you were getting up to VOTE today in Kuwait. Can’t send you a sunrise-over-the-Gulf photo, but I can send you a sunset-over-the-pine-trees photo, fresh just a couple hours ago:
Thank you, Safat
Can you see the difference? Yousef, at Some Contrast says his stats sank a little, overall, but that individual post hits were fairly normal.
For me, on the other hand, Safat made a difference of about 400 hits a day!
Thank you, Safat, for solving the problem.
Jeep Mercy
I guess the guy felt sorry for me and was giving me a special treat. I always get just a small car, as long as it has four doors. Sometimes they give me something sporty, sometimes something clunky. Sometimes I take them back and say “this car doesn’t drive very well, I want something else” and they give me something else.
When he told me where the car was, I asked “what did you give me.” He grinned and said “You’ll like it; it’s a silver Jeep. I was thinking Jeep like a BIG YUKON kind of thing, but when I saw it, it is Jeep like the size of a Toyota Rav 4, and I really love silver.
On the other hand, I truly hate travelling for 24 hours straight and then getting into a strange car and driving for about an hour on Seattle’s congested freeways at going home time.
I think he felt sorry for me because when he entered my driver’s license it was DECLINED! It had expired! Thank God I had another one, a lifetime license from another country, but I have to run down to tomorrow and get a new Washington State one. I was SO embarrassed.
(Seattle is heartwrenchingly beautiful at this time of the year; blue skies, huge showy rhodedendrons in bloom, it is just gorgeous)
Here is what I saw: congestion congestion congestion – Seattle has outgrown the highways built many years ago. Potholes, bad spots in the pavement, accidents waiting to happen. Oh wait! These are the same things I complain about in Kuwait!
One thing you will NEVER hear me complain about in Kuwait – People in Seattle just drive SO slow. Penalties for speeding and penalties for accidents you cause are so huge, so severe, and people are stultifyingly SLOW!
Travel Mercies
Every morning, before we leave the house, my husband and I pray together. We give thanks for all the blessings we receive, we pray for people and their needs, we pray for God to guide us in every thing we do, great and small.
Before a recent trip, we prayed for travel mercies. Most of these trips are long, endurance tests really. About the best I can do is to bury myself in a book or magazine or puzzle.
I remember when travel used to be fun. I remember when there were ladies lounges on board, and even bars (not that I ever hung out in bars). I remember the thrill of adventure.
Praying for travel mercies helps me to see blessings when they appear. And this last trip, they did appear. Every line I entered, I ended up at the front, or almost. I was able to shower in Amsterdam, and to be the first one, so (I’m a little compulsive here) the bathroom had been thoroughly cleaned overnight and I worried less about foot fungus and other invisible threats to my well-being.)
I had one very funny travel mercy – this has to be the hand of God.
It was what I call a high testosterone flight – mostly men, heading back home for a few weeks before coming back to Kuwait, or Iraq. When I found my seat, the buy behind me had his foot up on my armrest, at the very back of the armrest. The truth is, it doesn’t bother me, it is not the part of the armrest I use, but when I sat down, I smelled the most awful odor. . . sweaty feet.
In one book about life in the Gulf, I read that it is wise to wear sandals so that your feet can breathe, that wearing closed shoes makes your feet sweat. I can tell you, it isn’t just the Gulf – any hot climate, even cold climates, and track / tennis shoes will cause smelly feet. Hot weather just accelerates the process and accentuates the results.
What to do? It’s a full flight, and I don’t want an angry, insulted man behind me kicking my seat all night because I had the audacity to mention his smelly feet were invading my nostrils. If I keep my head turned away, I can bear it, but the flight is getting longer and longer with the thought of having to bear smelly feet all the way. This was a first for me.
I had a plan. As soon as the plane would take off, I would cover the guys foot with my blanket, and hope that would take care of the odor. I was just waiting for the right time.
Instead, I heard him complain to the flight attendant that his head set wasn’t working. The flight attendant brought him another head set, and that didn’t work. When the third one didn’t work – he changed his seat! Woooo HOOOOOOO, how is that for a travel mercy? I slept like a baby.
Mubarakiyya Basket Man
The basket man in Mubarakiyya has a new selection of baskets; unfortunately none are made in Kuwait. There are baskets from Pakistan, and some that look like they are from the Asir. Some are woven of recycled plastic bags!
Old Time Kuwait
Last night, driving around our area, we saw something new, something I love. In place of the now-departed semi-permanent constructed diwaniyyas with their comforts and air conditioning, we saw a return of the old diwaniyya benches, with cushions, and traditionally dressed men lounging, conversing, solving the problems of Kuwait and the world out in the relative cool of evening in Kuwait.
It looked like the old days. It could have been ten years ago.
I wonder if there isn’t a new feeling, with a change of venue? I wonder if the absence of walls and modernity will bring a new openness in diwaniyya attendance? At one diwaniyya, I even saw coffee being brewed in the old pots, over coals, in a brass brazier.
Poor AdventureMan. He knows I always have my camera with me. He is terrified I will embarass him by stopping and asking if I can take photos. Rest easy, AdventureMan, I don’t have that much courage. 🙂
AdventureMan wants to know: In Qatar, gatherings are called Majlis, the room is called a majlis. How does majlis differ from diwaniyya?
Kuwait Textile Arts Show
The Kuwait Textile Arts show has been postponed, because of the mourning period, and will not be opening tonight at the Dar Al Cid, but will open Monday night. It will run from Monday through Wednesday at the Dar al Cid.
Many many women in Kuwait learned Sadu weaving this year, and you will be astonished and amazed to see the results of their efforts at the show, along with embroidery, hand crafted bags, and a large number of gorgeous quilts.
The Dar al Cid is located in Jabriya, near the New English school, the Tarek Rajab Museum, and on the same street as the Tarek Rajab Museum of Islamic Calligraphy.
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