Qatteri Cat Keeps Busy
Thanks to all of you who have been asking for updates on The Qatteri Cat. He finds himself very busy these days, in fact, as you can see, fully extended with all his activities.
He helps me with my projects. He helps me with my household chores, especially keeping the Qatteri Cat fed and watered. He works hard to keep Adventure Man fit, waiting by the door for him to return from work and forcing him to run and chase, or to throw his ball. He is a constand companion, day and night. At night, he is the watch cat, alerting us to every strange noise, and, from time to time opening the door-to-the-world so that I can get MY exercise, running after him as he escapes.
So here, for you, is where you will typically find the Qatteri Cat:
Helping Intlxpatr blog:
Helping in the project room:
Alert and guarding the house:
Where Did Autumn Go?
Just two weeks ago, I wrote about the subtle changes, the feeling of Fall in the air. I take it all back! This week, with temperatures back up in the 120’s F. (49 – 50 C.) it feels like summer and this scorching heat will never end.
Oh! Did I mention the humidity? Late in the afternoon, the windows will totally fog, as if someone has showered in the room, except that all the moisture is on the outside. Whew! I go outside, and I DRIP with moisture!
WeatherUnderground says it will cool later in the week. . . down to like, you know, 113 F./45 C. Good weather for staying inside and eating salads.
Higher IQ Linked to being Vegetarian
I found this among BBC’s Most E-mailed stories and I can see why. Holy smokes! Adventure Man and I have gone greatly, but not totally, meatless. Sometimes, we just can’t resist. About once every three months or so, we just have to have a steak or a hamburger, but mostly, we try to eat lower on the food chain. Good thing I LOVE salmon. And those hammour kofte they make at the Sultan Center on the weekends. Ummmm . . . . hmmmmm. Can you eat fish and be vegetarian?
Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life, a study says.
A Southampton University team found those who were vegetarian by 30 had recorded five IQ points more on average at the age of 10.
Researchers said it could explain why people with higher IQ were healthier as a vegetarian diet was linked to lower heart disease and obesity rates.
Read the whole story HERE.
“I Miss Hamad. . . “
Talk was desultory as the book club broke up, several women had already left when Hannah hit us with this bombshell. It was a most puzzling statement. We had all passed Hamad in the hallway on our way to bookclub. He would greet us gruffly, but not really look at us as we buzzed into the women’s diwaniyya.
“What are you talking about?” popped up Lena, never at a loss for words. “How can you miss Hamad? He’s right here!”
Hannah exchanged glances with Diana, also married to a Kuwaiti. They grinned, ruefully.
“You’ve only been back a week,” Diana said.
“Yes, but I MISS that sweet, loving husband. When we are away, he turns back into the delightful, charming man I married! He holds my hand, he takes me out for dinner, it’s like when we first met! He’s a different man! Oh, how I miss him! And we’ve only been back a week.” She echoed Diana.
Diana sighed.
“And is he playing the ‘ayb’ card?” she asked? “‘Ayb’ how you walk around the house, ‘ayb’ how you smile too much, ‘ayb’ here, ‘ayb’ there, ‘ayb ayb’ everywhere?”
They started giggling. Others joined in, their giggles were so infectious. Soon, the seven women remaining from the book club meeting were gasping for air, they were laughing so hard.
“I’ve stopped changing!” Hannah hooted! “Every time I changed what he asked, he found something new!”
And the laughter started again – it’s an international group, and the critical husband thing is something that is easily understood by women of all nations.
“I want him back!” Hannah moaned, weak from laughter. “I want my Hamad back!”
Where are Hussein and Ali?
Ten days ago I was taking a new friend around the old souks and I showed her Hussein and Ali, on the corner across from the main entrance to the Heritage Souk area, where a lot of expats buy carpets.
One week later, downtown with Adventure Man – Hussein and Ali’s shop is gone. The sign is down, the shutters are closed and it looks like they are never coming back.
Have they moved? Does anyone know what happened? Did they lose their lease?
Swarming Fish
We were dining overlooking the water, when I happened to look down. I gasped!
“Look! Look at the fish!”
It was the most amazing live show, ever. The fish would make the most amazing patterns as they swarmed, making twirling circles, sometimes fanning out, sometimes closer to the surface than other times. Sometimes the rush of their movement created a wave, a wave of sparkling silver bodies. It felt like a gift from God. We sat and watched, mezmerized.
Kuwait Bans Melmac
Today on the front page of the Kuwait Times is the announcement of a ban by the Ministry of Commerce on selling any goods containing melamine, stating it was “based on information received from the Customs Department and office of the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and has to do with melamine containing urea formaldehyde, which is banned” because it is “believed to be harmful to health.”
I was so curious, I had to Google “Melamine kitchenware + danger” because, to the best of my knowledge, Kuwait is now the only country in the entire world to ban melamine.
Melamine appeared in dog and cat food, and is believed to have been the cause of some early poisonings in the US, but as far as I can see, that came from insecticides, not from eating off melmac.
On the same front page is an article about hundreds of camels dropping dead in Saudi Arabia, also believed poisoned by a insecticide contaminated feed. Is there some relationship?
It isn’t an issue in our house; we don’t have melamine. But I have this irrational fondness for Melmac, because there used to be a show called Alf, about an alien that lived with an American family, and he was from the planet Melmac, which always cracked me up. I can’t imagine the generations of Americans – and others – who have eaten off Melmac dishes without any serious effects. How can this be? Is Melmac now formulated differently from before? Are Melmac plate users going to succumb to some serious problems because they ate off Melmac plates?
And why is Kuwait the only country in the world banning Melmac?
The Road to Damascus
I am dancing for joy! Adventure Man and I are taking a trip soon, back to Damascus! We spent many a happy weekend, even a couple weeks there, way back when, driving from Amman whenever we could. We loved Syria.
I would sit in the old Hammadiyya Souk, drinking tea and feeling the ghosts of the centuries of traders who had sipped tea in the same place. There is, for us, something special about Damascus.
I know there are a lot of Syrian bloggers out there. And it has been a while since we have seen Damascus. I would love to know a couple really great places to eat (we eat in local dives and we eat in the best hotels; we look for good food and atmosphere and know that cost and value are not always the same so recommend whatever YOU love), a good shop for the silk brocades, and anything else you think we really should see.
The Arab Way (2)
Here is when the Arab way doesn’t work. . .well, it does work, but not in your favor. I was taking my car in for some repairs a couple weeks ago; they told me “just bring it in, we will take care of it” and fool! I believed them!
So I get there, seek desperately for a parking space, and go inside. I take a number. Not too bad. Only five people in front of me.
Five people. But here comes Bashir, and he sits himself down right at the counter, no number. The clerk finishes with number 34 – and Bashir shakes hands with him, greets him, makes small talk with him – and takes care of him.
Meanwhile Ali and his four brothers walk in. They have a number. They want to sit down, but I am on the far end of the couch so only Ali sits down. He tells his brothers they can sit, but with a big wolfy grin – like a dare. Let’s see which one of you will sit next to a WOMAN. And not one of them will. The manager walks over to Ali, greets him and they chat and then Ali and his brothers are all taken to another area, where they get specialized service.
Old Abdul shuffles in next, and I know I am screwed. OK, OK, I tell myself, you have a choice, you can laugh or you can stew. If you stew, you just ruin your own day – it’s not going to change anything. So I just laugh.
Eventually, I get seen, and the dealership makes the problem go away, and I think to myself that in the US this would have cost a lot more, I would have waited a lot longer, and I wouldn’t have all this material for a blog entry.
The Arab ways works – but it works best if you are an Arab, if you are a Moslem, and if you have connections. I am betting it also helps to be male, but I have seen women who knew how “to be preferred”, too. 😉
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