Warden Notice Kuwait
Normally, the warden notices are so oblique you can hardly glean anything of use from them, or they refer to incidents that are old, although there are recent aggravations that cause problems. This one is unusual for its clarity.
My niece in Beirut says she is glad to get the Kuwait ones, because the AmEmb in Beirut hardly sends anything at all, and it is never timely!
The Embassy would like to highlight two recent incidents in Kuwait and recommend how to handle similar situations:
Incident 1 – Recently, an American spouse was at the Carrefour store at the Avenues Mall when she was harassed by an Arab male making inappropriate comments. The spouse departed the store to avoid the harassment and was followed by the man to her vehicle who tried to enter it. The spouse was not hurt during the attempted vehicle entry and the she departed the area.
Recommended action: In a case as this, attempt to contact the store management or security personnel or go to an area where there are cashiers or other patrons. Do not go to a location where there are no other people (the parking garage) or lead the individual to your vehicle.
Incident 2 – An American observed what appeared to be an Arab male harassing females walking. The American stopped his car to assist the women, which enraged the Arab male, who then chased him with his vehicle. The American was cut off by the Arab male, at which time the American exited his vehicle to engage in conversation. The Arab male reversed his vehicle and drove over the American, breaking his leg.
Recommended Action: Although the American acted with a great degree of chivalry, there is no upside to getting involved in a situation like this. It is better to report the behavior and location to the authorities, stay in your vehicle, get a license plate number and physical description of the vehicle and driver, and never attempt to engage the other party.
Here are several best practices you can use to help stay safe while living in Kuwait:
♂ Keep your car windows closed and doors locked when driving, and always leave room to maneuver your vehicle in traffic, not allowing yourself to be blocked in.
♂ Always let someone know your travel plans if you are traveling alone, including what time you expect to return and how they can reach you.
♂ Carry your cell phone and keep it where it is quickly available (do not use it while driving).
♂ Have several contact numbers pre-programmed into your phone so you can call in the event of an emergency. Dial 777 for Kuwaiti police and emergency services.
♂ If confronted by a stranger while driving, remain in your vehicle; this will provide a considerable
level of safety and mobility.
♂ If you believe you are being followed, DO NOT DRIVE TO YOUR HOME; go to a safe area such as a police station or a public area such as a mall. Make noise and draw attention to yourself to ward off suspicious persons. On your next trip to a place you go frequently, take note of where you might go if you were being followed. Playing the “what if” game could save your life and will give you something to do while sitting in traffic.
♂ If someone approaches you claiming to be a police officer, ask for identification. Even when shown ID, remain vigilant.
♂ If told to go with someone to a police station, insist on going in your own car and following the officer. Use your mobile phone to call someone and tell them to meet you at the station; also provide the police car license number to your contact, especially if it is an unmarked vehicle.
It is important to remember most criminal or terrorist activity begins with some type of surveillance. This surveillance may last a few seconds (purse snatching) or months (planning an attack on a building).
Pay attention to your surroundings at all times, especially when entering/exiting your vehicle. Mentally record license plate numbers and physical descriptions of suspicious persons or vehicles, and use your camera phone or digital camera if possible to document suspicious persons or vehicles in Kuwait. Common sense will go a long way to keep you safe.
If a situation does not seem right, attempt to get away and call for help. Your personal security takes priority, but if you are safely able to record information of harassing or suspicious individuals, this can greatly aid investigative efforts.
Stroller Brigade
People laugh – or worse, look like I am crazy – when I tell them living in Kuwait is not unlike living in Alaska in terms of climate. When the climate gets extreme – too cold has the same impact as too hot – people stay at home more, going from their heated/chilled homes to their heated/chilled cars to the heated/chilled stores and malls or theatres. When the milder weather comes, everyone spends every minute they can outside.
In Kuwait, there are groups that head for the malls early in the morning for some serious walking when it is too hot to walk outside.
In Seattle, I ran into another group of serious walkers, but here, they are avoiding the rain and cold. When you see the stroller brigade – and there were between fifteen and twenty women with their babies – you had better get out of the way! These are some serious strollers!
Lack of Resistance
I can feel it starting. I walk into the Mall and my senses go into overload. The colors, the lights, the decorations, the window displays – I am starting to pant with eagerness.
I’m not even a mall shopper! I am just killing time waiting for the Apple shop to open . . . but oh! Look! The Macy’s Christmas shop is open. And oh my! They are having a two hour sale, 40% off!
I have no resistance. I am like a moth to the flame.
I had to take this one for Purg:
I can’t stop taking photos! I’m in sensory overload!
Ken Follett and World Without End
Oprah has just chosen the predecessor to this book, Pillars of the Earth, as her monthly book club choice. I am so glad! Ken Follett and I have a very mixed relationship; I used to think he was brilliant, and then he wrote one book that just disgusted me so much I stopped reading him altogether until he wrote Pillars of the Earth, which has to do with the building of the very first cathedrals in Europe. It was one of those books that you hated to have it end, and you remember years later.
World Without End follows up Pillars of the Earth. We follow the lives of several people we meet as they are children, and we discover that their lives are intertwined in intricate ways. Two of the characters, Caris and Merthin, love one another from childhood, and we wonder throughout the book if they will ever find a way to be together. Merthin is a builder, descending from the main character of Pillars of the Earth, and shares his way of being able to look at problems from a new perspective and build in new ways based on stepping outside the box to solve problems.
Ken Follett is good at describing the lives of his characters in the 1300s, as farmers try to survive the rainy summers and crop damage, as laborors become independant from the abuses of feudal overlords, as the plague strikes rich and poor alike, as spiritual leaders cope with the demands of daily life and needs. We learn about the living conditions in England in the 1300’s, we learn about the early trade guilds and merchant guilds, we learn how disasters can be an impetus for social and political change, we learn how women used what little control they had over their own lives to their advantage. World Without End is a book rich in texture, sensually layered and visually vivid.
I have a strong feeling that people are pretty much people, and that we haven’t changed too much over the centuries. We HAVE made some advances, we have carved out rule of law, and ways for communities and nations to function together in relative peace, but I still feel that some of the interactions between men and women have a feeling that is too modern. I could be wrong. A few of the the scenes just didn’t ring true to me; it was as if modern people were transposed back to the 1300’s and thinking in modern ways, and it just seemed . . . well, I guess anachronistic!
Special Needs
This time in Seattle, I am staying at my sister’s house. Here is what I really love – she does so many things to make me feel welcome. She has a beautiful room for me, with a television and wireless internet and lots of hangers in the closet for all my clothes. There is a private bathroom, just for me . . . and as nice as it all is, that isn’t the best part.
The very best part is that her cats love me. They remember me, they remember my voice, they gather in my room and tell me how happy they are to see me.
My sister and her husband are two of the sweetest hearted people you could meet. They adopt animals. They don’t adopt just any animal, they only adopt animals that need them.
This is Bella. She is 19 years old, and she is BOSSY. She tells all the other cats what to do, and they don’t mess with her. She is totally deaf, or so my sister believes, but the way to Bella’s heart has always been to tell her how PRETTY she is. (Even male cats have this quality – every cat likes to be told he or she is PRETTY.) When you tell Bella she is PRETTY, she turns somersaults, she is so happy.)
This is Wally. Wally was a street cat, who got adopted and then was either thrown or jumped from a very high balcony (who knows with cats? They don’t understand high balconies – he might have jumped) and his front paws are crippled. We don’t think he knows he is crippled, he is the sweetest hearted cat you have ever met. All Wally wants is love, and lots and lots of it.
The other two cats are Jasmine and Tux. Jasmine is all black, and is fat and fluffy, and very shy. Tux is still a kid – and full of energy and mischief. When I can get him to hold still long enough to take his photo, you will see why he is called Tux. Tux is his formal name, though, my sister calls him “stinker cat” because he creates so much trouble, but then just sits there looking cute. Both Tux and Jasmine showed up at my sister’s door and said they want to live here, and she figured they were meant to, since they showed up. Can’t you see why I love staying here?
Care Package
From the time our son was seven years old, we began praying for the girl he would marry – we knew she was probably somewhere in the world! We asked that God keep her sweet, and that when she and our son met, they would recognize one another and love one another faithfully.
Our prayers were answered bountifully. When he met his wife-to-be, he called us and said “there is someone I want you to meet.” He wasn’t talking about marriage – they had just met – but he knew she was special. From the time they started dating, they both kind of knew – this was it.
We knew from the beginning we would love this young woman. What we didn’t know is that we would love her family so much. As we partied together before the wedding, we had so much fun! Her family, like ours, has a great traditions of “aunthood” and “the cousins” and family gatherings. The cousins all attend one another’s weddings, gather together for special weekends (they went white water rafting and hiking this last summer, and are already planning the next gathering.) We all value family.
As my Mother has undergone surgery recently, one of my sweet daughter-in-law’s aunts has called my Mother twice, just to chat, and totally brightened her day. She also sent us a most wonderful Care Package – Texas Pecans!
It doesn’t take much to thrill my heart. I feel so blessed.
Sunrise With Clouds
I’ve been watching the sky, watching as the continual haze has gathered into wispy clouds, and then, last night, mackeral clouds. At university, we had mandatory distribution classes – everyone had to take classes out of their field, and I took Atmospheric Science as one of my sciences. For a one-semester class, a lot of it really stuck with me!
One of my commenters, Abdulaziz, mentioned earlier that we could start watching for rain. I am watching! As I looked at the sky this morning, I could begin to imagine that rain will indeed be possible again in Kuwait, one of these days:
(Kinan, who loves the sunrises as I do, you know this is for you!)
Big Statistics Change
Two months ago, one of my regular readers Elementary Teacher who has a fascinating blog about teaching elementary school in a Middle Eastern country, wrote to me and told me that when I set up my blog page, I forgot to add back in the widget for Meta, which contained the RSS feed.
The truth is, I still don’t know entirely what that means, but I did as she suggested, and added the Meta back in.
And watched as my visitors nearly doubled overnight.
Who knew?
There is so much I am still learning, and I thank all of you who write to be, back channels, and give me hints. Thank you, especially, Elementary Teacher for your kindness in sharing such good information. I really enjoy reading your blog!
Study Finds Working at Work Improves Productivity
My friends, remember as you read this that it is from The Onion and it is SATIRE.
Study Finds Working At Work Improves Productivity
WASHINGTON, DC—According to a groundbreaking new study by the Department of Labor, working—the physical act of engaging in a productive job-related activity—may greatly increase the amount of work accomplished during the workday, especially when compared with the more common practices of wasting time and not working.
“Our findings are astounding: By simply sitting down and doing work, employees can dramatically increase their output of goods and services,” said Deputy Undersecretary of Labor Charlotte Ponticelli, who authored the report. “In fact, ‘working’ may revolutionize the way people work.”
Perhaps even more shocking, the study reveals that not working significantly decreases worker productivity, sometimes even resulting in no work getting done at all. Similar findings were reported in the areas of avoiding work, putting off work, complaining about work instead of actually working, pretending to work, and ****ing around.
You can read the entire article HERE.
A Heavenly Day in Kuwait
Adventure Man and I spent the whole day together yesterday, a true sabbath day, worship and play, and very little work. I hope you had the same kind of day. The weather is perfect for strolling along the Corniche, the beautiful blue sky was perfect for taking photos, and the haze over Kuwait made it a little bit dreamlike.
Hawally Park:
We love the Marine Science Center – total WOW:
We think this is place is amazing – we think it might be used for parties, but we don’t know. Anyone?
Dinner at Al Manshar – on a perfect autumn evening.
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