Something Stupid
I had a birthday a while back, and decided that I was no longer going to mourn my Cuisinart, stuck in storage lo, these last ten years while my husband and I vagabond around the earth. I had bought a cheap food processor in Germany, and left it behind (whew! bought it when the dollar was $1.20 to the Euro, those were the days!) and then I bought a cheap food processor in Doha and brought it with me, but it doesn’t grate Parmesan, and . . . well, it isn’t a Cuisinart, and I really loved working with my Cuisinart. Isn’t it wonderful when they invent a piece of machinery that truly decreases labor, and is a pleasure to use?
I just bought a little one, knowing I will get rid of it when I leave. It is 110 volts, so I could even take it back with me if I wanted. The very first thing I grated was Parmesan cheese, and it was good. And then I grated cheddar, and it was good. And then I chopped onions and parsley, and it was very very good. I used it three times.
Yesterday, I went to grind some sausages and it only worked for one second, then quit. I checked all the plugs, checked the fuse box, checked everything I could. I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working.
Then I figured it out. I had fried my beautiful new Cuisinart. Can you figure out what I did?
I will show you a close-up of the transformer, maybe that will help:
Yes, I plugged my sweet little 110 brand new Cuisinart into the 220/240 output plug instead of the 110 output plug.
Do you think it can be fixed? Is there somewhere in Kuwait I can take it and get it re-wired? (Sigh.)
Al Mohaleb Restaurant
My friend called me, all excited.
“Kareem took me to the most wonderful restaurant for my birthday last night!” she exclaimed, and I could just hear the delight in her voice. “We just know you and AdventureMan will just love it! It’s Kuwaiti! They only serve fish and related things like appetizers and rice, but the fish is out of this world, and the atmosphere is lovely; gracious and refined. When can the four of us go together?”
We quickly compared calendars and came up with the soonest compatible date. I rarely hear my friend wax enthusiastic about a Kuwaiti restaurant.
The night arrived, and as we picked up our friends, we sat in the garden, which for some unknown reason is flourishing this year in spite of the drought. At her house, you can see stars in the sky, the air is perfumed with growing things, and the night is so sweet, with just a light breeze, that we are almost reluctant to go.
Who would know where this restaurant is? There is no sign at The Palms Hotel, next door to the SAS Radisson, that this restaurant exists. I remember when they had a “Wasabi” sign up for nearly a year, and no Wasabi ever showed up there – but this restaurant exists, and there is no signage. I am a little concerned because the front parking lot is packed, with people waiting to find a spot, but Kareem tells us to drive to the end of the dirt parking lot. There, at the very end of the Palms hotel, next to their highly publicized new Tajine restaurant, is Al Mohaleb, overlooking the sand and sea.
This is what you see at the entrance, the huge Dallah (coffee pot) and in the background, the sign for Al Muhaleb, which, AdventureMan tells me, is the biggest dhow, the one used for trading in days of old, across the seas. Suddenly the light goes on, and I remember my friend taking me to a mall of the same name, and . . . the Mall is shaped like a great, huge ship!
As you enter, there is a diwaniyya-like area for meeting up or waiting for a table, and then you go up three steps to the restaurant:
It’s already a little magical. The restaurant is decorated with old fishing equipment, nicely displayed, nicely framed old photos and memorabilia. It has a beam and woven palm leaf ceiling (I am a sucker for those) and a spacious dining room, with an outer area for smokers and shisha. The waiter brings tiny cups, and pours the coffee with cardomon for us, and welcomes us. Another waiter brings Kuwaiti nibbles, simply cut lettuce and vegetables, Kuwaiti pickles and a green mabooch, which I happily recognize because you, my readers, have told me.
This is not fast food, and it is a good thing, because when you are with good friends, there is always so much to talk about. We don’t just catch up, we have to discuss all the politics, the US election, the Kuwait demonstrations, recent editorials, my friend’s garden, my current projects, our children . . . the evenings are always too short. No matter how much we chat, there is always so much more to discuss.
The kitchen at Al Muhaleb is glassed in. We spot our fish coming out of the oven, and oh, it looks magnificent. As good as it looks, it tastes even better:
I didn’t even look at the menu, I just ordered what my friends recommended, but they also said you can’t order anything wrong there, it is all good. I had the zubaidi cooked flat; it is served with rice and a green marag (sauce) that was delicious. Because it was so delicious, we all ate too much, and sat looking at all the food we couldn’t finish in dismay. Next time we go, I think we will share one fish to every two people – I hate wasting such exquisitely prepared food.
Kareem has told us many times about the words of Mohammed that a good Moslem should only eat to the point of “enough,” not to the point of “full” but I think we all violated it that evening. We meant to stop, we really did, but it was so delicious we kept nibbling.
Thank God, this is not a fast food restaurant. There is a man playing Al oud live in the background, as we continue to chat, but with less animation as our bellies groan . . .
We are finished eating, truly finished, but then they bring a plate of beautiful fresh fruit, every piece perfect, and we continue our evening together, refreshed by the fruit, drinking hot tea, relaxing – there is no pressure to leave, they are not hurrying us out of the restaurant.
I’ve been looking for a Kuwaiti restaurant, and I just love it that when they found it, our friends shared their find with me. It’s a great place to take visitors who come to Kuwait. It is expensive – so AdventureMan tells me (I didn’t look at the menu, remember?) and so worth it. The menu is mostly limited to fresh fish and fresh salad/appetizers – hummous, mutable, etc. and everything is prepared with thoughtful care.
If there are any drawbacks, it is that with all the hard surfaces, once the restaurant fills up and the music starts, it is harder to make conversation. Also, the smokers get the best part of the restaurant, out near the beach. Having said that, when it is dark, it hardly matters and you can see the city lights of Kuwait from any part of the restaurant. Service is excellent and the food is memorable for its excellence.
Photography Contest
I received this in the e-mail this morning – I wonder if there is any requirement to BE Muslim? I like the idea of the contest and thought I would pass it along to you, which is (I am guessing) the reason someone sent it to me:
Audio Visual & Cinematic Department of Culture in the East Azerbaijan provience in cooperation with the E-A Society for Artistic Photography is going to plan the “First International Artistic Photography Contest on Islamic Unity”.The organizers belive that there are many symbolic – abstractor real subjects around the world of Islam & Muslems that can be artisticly photographed – exhibited and saved to show the next generatins as well as gathering all muslems in one community.
The Contest will be held with the regulations as below:
1. All photographers form all over the world can participate.
2. Both B&W and Colour photos are accepted (up to 10 photos)
3. A copy of photos(1000 pixel) must be sent for judging and the accepted works will be asked to be sent or printed
in large size in full resolution after the first selections by the jury. (negatives and slide films can be scanned or printed in small size 13*18 cm to send)
4. Selected photos will not be returned. and will be exhibited in galleries. and will not be returned.
5. All selected photos will be published in a book and will be sent to the winners and those whose works are selected.
6. There will be 10 prize winners who wil be invited to attend the exhibition and the Winners Award Ceremony.
7. All rights of accepted photos belong to the photographers and organizers will only use photos to publish a catalogue and hold exhibitions.
8. All other unpredicted terms will be decided by the organizer.
9. Workshops will be held by the organizers during the contest.
10. Attach your name, address and the title of the work on the rear of each work.
Prizes:
Winners will receive An honorary diploma and prizes in cash as below:
1 st Prize (1000 euros in cash(
2 nd Prize (800 euros in cash)
3 rd Prize (500 euros in cash(
And From 4th to 10th selected by the jury (300 euros for each(
Closing date for arrivals of entries: 3/April/2008
Judging and announcement to the winners / selected works: 4/ May/2008
Exhibition: winners award ceremony 23/May/2008
All entries must be sent to:
info@akseensejam.ir
Corruption at the Morgue
Where is the Kuwaiti detective novel? I follow Guido Brunetti in Donna Leon’s series on Venice, Dave Robicheaux, the James Lee Burke detective in a small town just outside New Orleans, and now, Investigator Chen, who is a chief investigator in China, but where, oh where is the Kuwait detective / mystery? It is just waiting to be written.
In yesterday’s Kuwait Times is an article I would love to link you to, but it isn’t there, not even when I search “female coroner” from the headline on page 3. Did you know Kuwait had a female coroner, a la Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan and Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpatta? As you read the article, it makes sense, as the bodies are kept semi-segregated in the morgue, and women work on women (some of the time) and men on men.
I’m impressed. Any time a woman takes on a traditionally men’s job, it takes a whole lot of courage. I imagine the requirements to be a coroner here are similar to other countries – you have to have a medical degree (be a doctor) and then have advanced training in forensics. So when Nawal Boshehri speaks out, I listen. She’s got my attention.
Nawal Boshehri says conditions in the morgue are awful. From a personal point of view, she has been sexually molested by her superior and frozen in her position over false accusations that she has not been going to work or signing in or out. She has asked the minister of interior to look into her complaints.
As an institution, she reports serious issues – labs that lack necessary equipment, to do tests, such as those that measure drugs and alcohol in the bloodstream, outdated machinery, rusty machinery, lack of ventilation (in a morgue! horrors!) and she states they are constantly in fear of getting infections.
She claims that reports have sometimes been manipulated and twisted to give prosecutors the wrong technical information that would sometimes end up setting a guilty person free, and that one time they certified a murder had been insane without him ever having been examined by any mental health professionals. She was once asked to provide a report that made one citizen swap places with the assaulted expatriate, so that the assaulted expatriate would appear to be the guilty party.
She adds that she fears for her life. She says “a senior coroner at the department falsified reports, namely those related to detainees, who underwent police brutality during interrogations. He usually did this as favors to his colleagues to help them get promoted instead of being punished for their brutality.” She added that because she has reported these things, she fears for her own life.
Every nation has corruption. Corruption is chaotic, and when you get serious about rule of law, you still have corruption, but you do your best to root it out. You report it when it happens. I think that Nawal Boshehri has enough confidence in Kuwait’s institutions to go public with her allegations. While it may appear dirty laundry, that she CAN go public is a very positive sign. I can imagine she fears for her life, and yet, she seems to be fighting to retain her job. That’s very brave.
That the Kuwait Times will publish the article on page three, in three columns, that is also very brave, and speaks well of the increasing confidence in a free press.
Wouldn’t this make a great detective novel?
Sabille Shop
I love sabilles. Sabilles are localized charity, “in a dry and thirsty land” they are provided by generous souls that the thirsty might have cool, fresh water to refresh thenselves in the heat of the day. You will see them at mosques, along city streets, in every neighboorhood. They come in fanciful shapes; if you type “sabille” into the HT&E search window, you will see more. I love the Kuwait Liberation Tower ones, and also the water-tower wannabes, but I also like the ones that look like old castles or old doors or jugs. I love it that people go to the trouble to make something utilitarian interesting, even artistic.
Recently, I found a shop in the Wafa Mall that sells sabilles:
The shop is called Fine Things, and also has some fancy presentation boxes and this, which looks like a mail box to me, but might be for collecting charitable donations, or . . . ? I might be totally wrong. Your guess is as good as mine:
I like this tiny little mall because it has commercial kitchen supply shops with all kinds of display cases and things you don’t find very often. There is also a mattress shop; I always laugh when there is a family shopping there for mattresses because the parents don’t say “NO!” to their kids, so the kids are JUMPING ON THE MATTRESSES! The salesmen seem unable to ask the parents to make them stop.
Kuwait Tradition?
Last night, out along Gulf road, we got to see first hand all the celebrations for Kuwait National Day and Kuwait Liberation Day. I’m like a kid; I love to see the bright lights! Sorry if these are a little fuzzy, but there is no place to stop when you are dragging along Gulf Road. There are some fabulous lights in downtown Kuwait, sparkling and BRIGHT but impossible to photograph while you are driving along, and – well, you know what it is like to try to find a parking spot, right? Ho ho hohohohho!
I love to see people out having a good time, I love all the cars covered with Kuwaiti flags – even motorcycles with flags. It’s like one continuous long parade. I love all the decorated buildings, I love the atmosphere of celebration and gaiety. . .
And I found myself wondering how this one particular “traditon” started? How does it get to be something you expect? Those skinny little adolescent boys with their cans of spray foam? People driving with their children hanging out the windows? People in convertibles with their kids sitting on the back seats, goofing off? Where are their parents???
Where traffic is jammed up I can understand that the kids aren’t really in any danger, but once traffic gets going, parents, please, pull your children into the seats where they belong!
Also, I have never seen such a huge police presence. While everyone else is having a five-day holiday, these guys must all be on duty! There were police everywhere, trying to make sure the jubilation didn’t get out of hand. They were polite, they were kind to the youngsters, and they kept a highly visible presence which, I am convinced, is probably necessary. I think they are doing a great job. I like it a lot when protection is gently provided. 🙂
Corrupt Officials Beware
I don’t usually type out the whole article from the Kuwait Times, but because this one is so small, and buried way down on the page, I am making an exception and typing in the whole thing:
Responding to recent stories published by Al-Rai concerning alleged violations and corruption cases committed by ministers and MPs, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nassar Al-Mohammed noted that HH the Amir had instructed them to enforce the law to everybody. “And you can start with enforcing it on me,” the prime minister added.
Sheikh Nassar pointed out that the law would be enforced on everybody, be them (sic) (they) senior or minor officials. He added that he had instructed all concerned law-enforcement authorities to treat everyone equally with no exceptions at all.
Comment: WOOOO HOOOOOOOOO, HH Prime Minister Sheikh Nassar Al-Mohammed and BIG WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO to HH the Emir! If I knew how to make red letters, this would be a big RED letter day! WOOOOO HOOOOO law enforcement!
Not So Fast!
The other day, I was taking breakfast to a friend. For me, I love Gulf breakfasts, I love fried Haloumi, I love felafel, I love hummous and even beans. I love hot fragrant flat bread, fresh out of the oven.
But I knew my friend needed some protein, so I went to a nearby MickyD’s.
It was not fast food. It was very very very very slow food. And even worse – when I got to my friends house, and gave her the BIG value breakfast, she opened the box and – it was pancakes. They were not just slow, they also gave me the WRONG order!
I have to tell you, I was astonished to see so many people there. People like me, women, families, sitting and visiting and eating at McDonalds as they would at a much nicer place, Pain Quotidien or Paul’s or some coffee place. And the McDonalds actually looked nicer than the run-of-the-mill McDonalds, it was clean and even had some relatively nice furniture. But it was NOT fast food!
Kuwait Weirdness
This is such a small thing, but just TOO WEIRD! In the tiny little weather forecast in today’s Kuwait Times, it says that today’s weather will reach a high of 48°C and tonight will reach a low of 32°C. Like Weather Underground says 24°C/14° – that’s very different. It was hot today, but much more like 24° than a summery 48°C (118.4°F.)
More weirdness – isn’t there any warning when a major road is going to close, you know, like GULF ROAD??? I was caught in the quagmire today, trying to get home and not able to get on Gulf Road and seeing all the north-south major roads in total gridlock. What is this??? I never saw a word, not in Arab Times, not in Kuwait Times, not in the blogs – did anyone know this was coming?
StatCounter
A week or so ago, fellow blogger Macaholiq8 mentioned StatCounter in his entry, and how much fun he was having with it. I had a couple minutes, so I took a look, and signed up to give it a try.
Oh, what fun.
It doesn’t work on all WordPress functions – or maybe it would if I knew how to tell it to, but the things it doesn’t do for me – analyze key words, most viewed pages, etc – WordPress does just fine.
UPDATE: THANKS TO YOUSEF at Some Contrast who rescued me with the key key command to take a photo of my visitor map:
What StatCounter does is something else. My very favorite part is looking at where the viewers are coming from, they divide it up, give you percentages. I can see that a lot of schools in the United States follow the blog, but also, people in Australia, China, Iran – oh, it is so much fun to see all the drops show up on the map.
You can get an idea what StatCounter can do for you at their website demo:
And it’s free. You can buy upgraded service that gives you more, but for me, and for right now, the free service is just fine, fascinating, really.
Thanks, Mac, for a great recommendation.
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