Good Night, Kuwait
It’s been a great day in Kuwait.
I needed to go into Fehaheel this morning. Why Fehaheel? I know Fehaheel, and Fehaheel is so much more manageable, to me, than driving downtown to find what I need, and I always have a list. Feheheel is more concentrated, and, if you can find what you need, the prices are often better.
All my secret parking spots are already taken, and it is not even ten o’clock. People! What is going on here?
After circling several times, I found a spot and headed to a shop where there is my kind of guy. He lit up when he saw my camera, and not only did he have the card reader I needed – for less than I would pay in the US – he also had a card with DOUBLE the amount of space on it. Well, I don’t even use all the space on the cards I use, but I appreciated his enthusiasm, and that he keeps up with all the latest advances in photo technology.
So I asked him where he changes his money, and he gave me directions, AND he told me not to take less than 27.700 – 27.750 per dollar, that it holds fairly steady.
As you might have figured out by now, I am a western woman, so the first price I get is often not the same price my Kuwait or Indian friends might get. Armored with the quote my photo-nerd friend gave me, I fought the good fight, when the money-changer would look at me and say 27.500, I knew better! I would just laugh and tell him I am going next door. Finally, when I said that, one guy said OK, OK, 27.900, and I didn’t blink an eye, just changed my money, WOOO HOOOO. I know, I know, it is a primitive response, the hunter-gatherer still present in my lizard-ego, but I love not getting taken.
I found all kinds of wonderful things to take back today, including a Kuwait flag that I can fly on Liberation Day, and when Kuwait friends come to visit. 🙂 I had one when I lived here before, but it was windy, and it blew away!
And here is a final photo for today – today’s sun going down into an Ethel tree. (When I was a kid, there was a gas called Ethel; I think it was special, but I never hear anyone talk about ethel anymore. I can’t imagine Ethel-the-gas and Ethel-the-tree are related.)
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Good job getting in on the money changing deal! My husband and I just had to deal with our first money-changers when we visited Prague…it was interesting, that’s for sure!
Why are you back in Kuwait? Just visiting friends? Or is Adventure Man coming out of retirement? I could’ve sworn he’d retired…
Intlxpatr :
The post is good night kuwait 2
Ethyl was a lead based anti-knocking compound added to petrol. We don’t hear of Ethyl any more because of the unleaded gas requirements.
Ethyl was a blend of Tetraethyllead (TEL), a couple of lead scavenging compounds, and a red dye to distinguish it from other fuels.
I would say it’s completely unrelated to the plant form – bit I can’t find “anything” about the plant/tree/bush (ethel nor ethyl).
Thanks, Emma. Yep, hubby retired in April, but was asked to come back June – August . . . and he did! Then quit ‘forever’ but was asked back again in November . . . . he swears to me that when he finishes this one, this is truly the end. I just laugh. I guess it’s a man’s prerogative, changing his mind, bless his heart!
LOL, Daggero, I see that you are right.
Ken, you are amazing. You are so full of knowledge. Thank you! Maybe Daggero can tell us how the ethel tree is spelled; I just spelled it the way it sounds to me. It is a very native Kuwait tree that doesn’t need a lot of water and had a deep green feathery leaf.
Thanks! But truth is having an answer is a testament of finding out how much I don’t know (and that’s a ton) when someone asks a question. The good thing is I hate not knowing and I love doing research. So I go on a mini-intellectual adventure searching for the information to fill the void – and then I share what I find. Now if I could just retain more than 1% of what I learn….
Intlxpatr :
This is how the tree name is spelled
شجرة الأثل
here is a US link with info on the tree , it seems it is an American tree as well
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TAAP
Daggero – shjra alana? My Kuwait friends call it athel? How does it sound when you say it; I transliterated it, but I don’t know where the vowels are.
Holy smokes, it’s considered a noxious weed in the US?? I think it is so beautiful, and it thrives in the desert!
Ken, don’t you find that you DO retain a lot, but it’s never what you need when you need it? LLOOOLLL, I know some of the most useless information in the world, but can’t always remember like how many pounds in a ton or how many feet in a mile.
Hi,this will help..Lots of scams here and there, I thought only prayers could bring my man back but it didnt work,then I tried begging, it also didnt work, I even tried spells myself, it didnt work,until I saw something about a female spell caster, I tried her, maybe because she was a female like me ,so she would feel my pain..
Anyways, she had no site, nothing to show, but I just followed my heart and thanks to God that I did that because,IT WORKED.
ALL SHE HAD WAS A EMAIL ADDRESS ..then later a phone number…all I can say is, the spell worked,my man came back…I am happy