Kuwait Book Store
After all the months my reading and blogging friends have been recommending the Kuwait Book Store, I finally got there.
I thought I was in heaven.
Another friend, with us, said she is planning a date night with her husband at the Kuwait Book Store – you can spend hours there, and you can top off the evening with an ice cream cone right outside the door.
This is the only place in Kuwait I have seen Jehan Rejab’s book about the Invasion of Kuwait. I found several other books by her, and by her husband. I found four books on Kuwait by Claudia Al-Rashoud, another of my favorite authors and Kuwait photographers. They have a great selection of books on Kuwait – the best I have seen. They have another couple books which feature or include the unique architectural elements in Kuwait, but not The History of Architecture in Old Kuwait City, the book I reviewed earlier. Some of these other books may be even better! 🙂
There were all kinds of books. Acres of books. Books, and a good selection of greeting cards, and pens, and children’s books. The Kuwait Book Store is huge.
The Kuwait Book Store is just inside the main entrance to the Al Muthanna Mall and Residence, across from the JW Marriott in downtown Kuwait. You go down the escalator, and you are there. I like this mall; it has upper end quality kind of goods; some really good shoe stores, many other great resources. I’m not a big fan of malls, but this mall is a very useful mall.
I only regret it took me so long to get there! What a find! I think a date night at the Kuwait Book Store will be in my future, too. I didn’t get to hit all the shops, just had a brief glance. Do you have any favorites or recommendations at Al Muthanna?
Weather Forecast
This is from the Online weather site at the Kuwait airport:
Thunderstorms tomorrow. Dust on Wednesday. You’d think if we have thunderstorms, it would rain, and damp down the dust, wouldn’t it?
Early Sunrise
The Qatteri Cat is up to no good this morning. He came into the bedroom around 5:30, meowed in my face until I woke up and petted him, then came back five minutes later and did it again.
“Did you forget to check his food last night?” AdventureMan asks groggily as I stumble out of bed to go check the Qatteri Cat’s food. . .
“I guess not,” I mumble, but although his food is mostly gone, there is still a few little nibbles in his bowl.
As I get some coffee, QC is meowing at the door. I do all the normal things, give him fresh water, check his litter box . . . everything seems right. I guess he is just restless, maybe a little lonely. The Qatteri Cat has the cat-crazies.
But since sunrise is coming earlier these days, I was up to capture a sparkling moment. The surf is smooth today, not as glassy as other days, it has a slubbed texture this morning. There is more haze. It is 77°F / 25°C and the humidity is 41%. It FEELS like it should rain, but I don’t see any big thick rain clouds.
Coen and No Country for Old Men
AdventureMan and I watched No Country for Old Men last night, and oh! it held us on the edge of our chairs. At the end, we ran for the phone to call our son and ask “Whoa! What happened??”
In short, we loved the movie (and I can hardly wait to read the book, although Cormac McCarthy goes a lot darker than I care to go). The Coen brothers also go darker than I care to go, but we find ourselves drawn to their movies because there is so much thought put into them, so many references to other genres, other films, and because the characters are so true to life. We first met them in Fargo, a movie we pull out and watch again from year to year – that’s a rare movie. We love the characters, even the bad guys are so human.
It’s the same in No Country for Old Men. Set in the desolation of West Texas, there are whole minutes when you listen to the wind whistling in the desert as the hero hikes down to a drug-exchange-gone-bad.
There is a good guy, a sherif played by craggy-faced Tommy Lee Jones, and an ordinary guy who finds a whole lot of money, and we really want him to get away with it, and then there is a really really bad guy, who is also smart, and . . . well, something inside of him is just bent. He’s not right. The Coen’s have a way of making him both appalling and just a guy doing his job very well. It’s not personal, but we wish he wouldn’t enjoy inflicting harm so much.
What I love about the Coen films is that they can capture the essence of a character so sparely, with just a few words, a few lines. There is a trailer park manager who refuses to give the very very bad guy an address. You hold your breath; she could get blown away, she doesn’t know it. She holds firm. In another scene, an older woman tells a Mexican man who has just helped her “You don’t see too many Mexicans in suits.” So so so politically incorrect, and so ordinarily normal, the plain-spokeness of the elderly. The Coen’s capture the West Texas-ness which permeates the film.
This movie is worth watching again.
Warden Message and More
Fresh in the mailbox from the Embassy comes this warning:
Embassy of the United States of America
Kuwait City, Kuwait
May 4, 2008
MEMORANDUM
To: All American Wardens
From: Consular Section
Subject: Warden Notice 2008 – 9
Please circulate the following message without additions or omissions
immediately to all American citizens within your area of responsibility.
Begin text.
The Minister of Interior, Sheikh Jaber Khaled Al-Sabah, has issued a Ministerial
decree that prohibits drivers in Kuwait from using a cellular phone while
driving a vehicle. This decree (number 76/81) is intended to keep drivers in
Kuwait focused on driving and not talking on a cellular phone. This decree is
consistent with what is going on in our own country in many states that are
enacting laws prohibiting cellular phone use while driving.
This decree goes into effect on May 1, 2008. As a practical matter, drivers
should not be talking on cellular phones while driving at any time. They should
find a safe place to pull over and stop their vehicles before talking on the
cellular phone. Keep in mind this new decree is an amendment to a previous law
already in effect that includes eating or drinking while driving a vehicle an
offense in Kuwait.
You should expect some increased vigilance on the roads by police in the coming
weeks to enforce this decree. Our information from MOI is the fine for use of a
cellular phone while driving will be 15KD.
Comments: There is already a law in effect that bans eating and drinking while driving??? Who knew?
Waaaaaayyyyy back in February, a chart started circulating, said to be a fraud, that pretty accurately defined the new laws in effect 1 May. Looking at it now, I am betting it is a list of new laws that went into effect in JORDAN, and Kuwait used it as a template for changes in Kuwait. I know new traffic laws – very similar – went into effect in Syria on May 1st.
I can’t help wondering how all this came about, but most of all, for your protection and mine, I am thankful for these new laws and the commitment on the part of the government to enforce these laws equally, across the board. The statement we keep hearing is “no one is above the law.” Wooo Hooo, Kuwait!
The only funny thing is – the chart I have seen most often in Kuwait says the fine is KD 50 for driving while on a cell phone. This message says KD 15. The announcement in the paper said KD 5. If anyone out there has been charged for taking on a cell phone while driving, will you let us know what the real fine is?
Is the ban being enforced equally against all drivers? The Kuwait Times says 200 people were charged on the first day of enforcement.
Pyramid Mosque and Gulf Road
My friend and I were driving by this mosque when she sighed.
“We used to think this mosque was huge,” she said. “You could see it from far away. Slowly, slowly, it just disappeared.”
The mosque is now surrounded by tall buildings, and, indeed, if it weren’t for it’s unusual shape, you might barely notice it across from the Holiday Inn, while driving on Gulf road. There are all kinds of buildings along Gulf road, apartments, hospitals, office buildings. They are doing amazing things, twisting glass and concrete spires up into the heavens. The pyramid mosque is dwarfed by these towering buildings.
We also saw these amazing signs along Gulf Road:
If there were one or two, I would not have taken a photo, but there are like EIGHT of these, four on each side of the road, and a lot of flashing lights. I checked the red sign – remember my Arabic is basic – and I could see two “mamnuas” (forbidden) but I didn’t see “foto” or “suraa” so if it says “no photos” will someone please tell me right away so I can take this photo out?
Sunrise and Splotches
It’s a teeny bit hazy this morning, but the sun rose bright over the water, there is just a tiny bit of ripple on the otherwise glassy surface of the Gulf (cleverly sidestepping whether it is the “Arabian” Gulf or the “Persian” Gulf).
It is a mere 86°F / 30°C at 0730 and not expected to break 100°F.
Yesterday, AdventureMan and I had a late lunch, noticing as we entered and left the restaurant how beautiful the weather is – even though it is hotting up, it was comfortable enough outside, still bearable, even enjoyable. Not for much longer (sigh!)
Until I can get my rain-splotched windows cleaned, I will have the splotches you see . . . I can’t open the windows to shoot out for fear the Qatteri Cat will jump out!
Not your Kuwaiti Dust Storm
This is from Thursday’s Arab Times. Although it is not new news, it contains information I didn’t know – that the sand, full of allergens, was not Kuwaiti dust, and we can expect another storm Tuesday and many through the summer, due to lack of rainfall.
Storm you can ‘taste’
KUWAIT CITY : The sandstorm that raged in parts of Kuwait Wednesday afternoon was carried by Southwesterly winds blowing from North of Saudi Arabia and South of Syria and Iraq at speeds of 55 km/hr, says Musaed Al Hammad, head of Mirzam Observatory. He was talking to the Arab Times soon after his observatory conducted studies on the storm. Musaed said “In Kuwait City and Ahmedi the wind speed was 36 km/hr. The visibility in most parts affected by the dust storm was about 100 m, while in the Kuwait City it was reduced to zero. The sandstorm forced airport authorities to divert incoming flights to neighboring countries, operations manager at Kuwait International Airport, Issam Al Zamel told a news agency.
. . . . . . .
Mirzam Observatory sent samples of the dust to a laboratory, and tests revealed that the dust particles were not from the deserts of Kuwait, and contained cement particles and allergy-causing germs, the astronomer said.
Musaed added breathing in such particles is potentially risky for people prone to bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses. “This finding could open new vistas in the treatment of allergies in Kuwait. “Dust storms arising out of Kuwaiti deserts are usually very slow and linger for a long time, unlike the one that hit Kuwait like a flash on Wednesday. “The visibility was reduced to very low levels because as the storm arrived in Kuwait the wind lost steam and the dust particles gathered in the atmosphere,” Musaed noted. . . . .
As the rainfall was scant this year, all wind conditions in summer will likely turn into dust storms, Musaed said. “So we can expect more dust storms in the future.” Mirzam Observatory has forecasted another dust storm next week on Tuesday. “However, it will not be as bad as Wednesday’s. The dust storms in future will be much milder.”
Lightness of Being
We prayed for Kuwait today. At great length, we prayed for your elections, for your leaders, and that wisdom and wise choices will prevail.
(I am sure you will be glad to know that we didn’t interfere in any way by praying for any specific candidates!)
In the sermon, our priest talked about God and his glory, and the WEIGHT of his presence, and I was really listening, but that was a new concept to me.
Jesus talks a lot about the Kingdom of Heaven, and one of the things he said, sort of one of those mysteries, is that he says the Kingdom of Heaven is all around us “if you have the eyes to see.”
When you think of God, what do you think?
I don’t think of weightiness, although the weight of my own sins might weigh on me. When I think of God, and when I think of the Kingdom of Heaven being all around me, I close my eyes and envision sparkling lights surrounding us, lights we can’t see, and energy, boundless energy, enough energy to create paths and opportunities we don’t even know exist. I think all we have to do is to believe, and to breathe, and we breathe in the Kingdom of Heaven, that he feeds us just by our believing.
All of a sudden, the very irreligious idea of an old computer game – one of the very earliest – came to me. Do you remember PacMan?
Mostly PacMan existed to eat energy dots. He would eat all these energy things and gain energy and win or not, I don’t really know, I never really played it because AdventureMan and LawAndOrderMan hogged the computer all the time to play the early games.
So where do ideas like this come from? Maybe the creator of PacMan had a vision and got part of it right, maybe if we have the eyes to see, maybe we gain sparkling spiritual energy from the Kingdom of Heaven surrounding us? Maybe prayer is like one of the magical tools you find in these games that opens doors, that allows something to happen that wouldn’t otherwise happen.
Sorry, RevQ8 if I got a little off topic here, I honestly was listening as you gave your fine sermon! Sometimes, the mind will go where the mind will go (and I guess mine is going fast . . . 
)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
This is another one of those books I picked up on the last day of my last travels in the US. I had been through the Barnes and Noble nearby several times, picked this up and looked at is at least a dozen times, then put it down, just not that interested. On the last day, who knows why, I bought it and stuck it in my outer pocket of my suitcase. Maybe it was the only thing I could see that would fit, I don’t know. I had rejected it so many times before.
It hasn’t even been on my night stand, the books I really really intend to read. It has been on a shelf of books I will read someday when I don’t have anything else to do. Every now and then, it caught my eye. The Zanzibar Chest was on the same shelf. . . and that turned out to be a pretty good book. So recently, after I had read some books I had to read but were a little dry, and a couple books I wanted to read which were a little light, I grabbed Water for Elephants.
That was day before yesterday. I couldn’t put it down. I had a whole list of things to get done yesterday, but once I started Water for Elephants, I was lost, totally immersed in the tawdry world of circuses, bound in the magic of the illusion and performances, mesmerized by what goes on behind the scenes to make the spectacular possible.
The main character loses his parents in a totally unnecessary car accident just as he is about to take his final exams in Veterinary Science, at Cornell University. (You might think I am throwing in too much useless detail here, but it matters.) Stunned by the triple loss of both his parents, and the discovery that they had hocked everything to the bank to fund his education, he blanks on his exams and hits the road, ending up with a second rate circus.
What is so amazing about this author is that once you start reading, you are THERE.
The above mentioned Zanzibar Chest keeps you hooked by it’s painfullness, but for both AdventureMan and myself, we never liked the author, we found him a little full of himself. It doesn’t take away from the Zanzibar Chest being a worthy read, and unforgettable read.
Water for Elephants, on the other hand, has a hero you love to love. In a world of strict boundaries, a heirarchical social structure, he manages to cross all the boundaries. He truly loves the animals, and in one scene, that love just radiates, emanates, it illuminates the book from the inside, and makes you feel light and crazy with that same sort of love, love of the whole of creation. Jakob is loyal to his friends, and loyal even to his enemies, he is sacrificial in his loyalty, and, in the end, he is vastly and abundantly rewarded for his good character.
There is something for everyone, just like a circus. Like a circus, too, it has illusions, it distracts with one hand while the trick is performed with another, there is sensuality, there is sexuality, there are photos from old circuses. There are things which could offend just about every sensibility; there is kindness, there is cruelty, justice and injustice and cosmic justice. Sometimes you just have to suspend judgement and go with the read. This is one of those books.
I would say this is one of the finest reading experiences I have had for a long time. Brava, Sara Gruen. Worth every penny.
I’ve told AdventureMan as soon as he finishes The Zanzibar Chest, he has to start Water for Elephants. I can hardly wait. It’s that good.
You can find Water for Elephants in paperback at Amazon.com for $8.37 + shipping.
Recent Comments
intlxpatr on Give to Those Who Ask ExpatAlien on What Country am I Living … intlxpatr on Yellowstone: Old Faithful to C… Michelle on Yellowstone: Old Faithful to C… Cathy on No Grown-Ups in Charge Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 