New Mansions in Mangaf (1)
A whole new neighborhood is going up in Mangaf, where once there was nothing but empty land. The streets are strewn with building materials, and sand, and cluttered with construction, but it won’t be long before this neighborhood is up and running.
I love that the designers put an old fashioned wind tower on the top of this house:
Squint your eyes, and you can see the potential here:
This is one of the smaller new houses going up – and even so, it could probably hold ten people without crowding:
Another nicely sized single family home:
Purgatorian Packing
Back in November, we talked about what we pack in our suitcases.
Flying out of Kuwait, however, hits me in my weakest spot. While I find life often unpredictable, and I have learned to roll with it and even to like it and to miss it when it is TOO predictable, I like predictability when I am flying.
Once again, I have gone online to discover that the reservation I thought I had has become a totally different reservation.
I am guessing the airline thought they were doing a frequent flyer a big favor, but here is what has happened. From an elegantly efficient flight with two comfortable connections, I now have a flight that has four very tight connections.
I have two problems – one is that I suspect my bags will not make it. I am guessing the change happened right about when I looked at the dress I wore to Doha (see Travel Karma Failure) and ended up wearing for four days in a row and thought “that held up pretty well, think I will wear that on my long flight back” and I am guessing it was at that very moment my reservations got changed.
I’m not superstitious, but I am wondering if that is a bad luck dress?
Second, I have an inter-Europe flight, and I am wondering if my carry-on will make it on that flight; I know that shorter flights often restrict what you can take on with you. And in my carry-on, I need to do the Purgatorian thing and have extra clothing for while I am waiting for my bags to arrive, as well as my computer, my camera, and other small things like keys, three cell phones (don’t even ask) that work for me. So inside my carry-on I need to have an even smaller bag that I can grab out if they take my carry-on away, so that I am not carrying a naked computer around.
Arrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh!
The title relates to the very organized habits of my fellow blogger, Purgatory, who just celebrated his three year Blogaversary, and who is coming up on another birthday. His rules for packing have logic and organization, and in a purgatorian kind of situation, you need to be able to think in a Purgatorian kind of way, taking account of all the hellish variations. And I am guessing that if there is a purgatory, (althought the Catholic church said this year that there is not), that it is a lot like an airport, waiting for a departure, thinking of eternity.
7 Million Muslims
In today’s Kuwait Times is an Independance Day message from the American Ambassador, Richard LeBaron, in which he states:
Numbering some seven million, there are more Muslims in America than in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE combined. In our more than 1,200 mosques that stand peacefully alongside churches and synagogues, you will find congregations as diverse as America itself. . .
I had no idea. I know in the Seattle area there are many mosques, many Moslems; Seattle is a city built on the energy and hope of new immigrants. But I had no idea we had seven million Moslems in the USA.
If you want to read the full text of the message you will have to buy the paper – it’s not on the website.
Katherine Phillips In Her Own Words
Here is the International Schools Review page where Katherine Phillips tells of her being notified by SMS that the travel ban was lifted and how she left immediately, not knowing how long the lifted ban would last:
Skunk also says it was front page on the Arab Times today.
Resolution: Detained Teacher
This is what is now appearing as “new statement” on the Bayan Bilingual School public announcement board on their website at the BBS website:
Due to the efforts of BBS management and the broader BBS community, in conjunction with expert Kuwaiti legal counsel, the situation regarding our Deputy Middle School Principal has been resolved.
We would like to thank every member of the Kuwait community and parents of the BBS students who have supported BBS throughout this process, and special thanks to the Kuwait Human Rights Society for their extraordinary support and empathy during this situation.
Thanks to blog commenter “Sailor” for keeping us up to date on this resolution. 🙂
Update: Teacher Detained
My niece, Little Diamond reports that the following story has been pickd up nationally by Reuters and has gone world-wide:
KUWAIT (Reuters) – The United States is trying to help an American
teacher to leave Kuwait after the Gulf Arab state imposed a travel
ban on her, the U.S. embassy said on Saturday.
The case of Katherine Phillips has made headlines in the local press
after the teacher posted on the Internet a letter, asking for help
after she fell out with the family of a student she had suspended
after a fight.
Philipps, a former vice-principal of a private school in Kuwait,
said that the authorities had slapped a travel ban on her at the
request of the son’s family who had been angered by her decision,
according to the letter posted on the Web and quoted by the Arab
Times daily.
The U.S. embassy confirmed in a statement a travel ban had been
imposed on her, adding its consular section was in contact with the
authorities to help Phillips leave Kuwait as soon as possible.
Kuwait, a staunch U.S. ally, was the launch pad for the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq in 2003 and is home to several thousands of U.S.
troops.
Reuters My niece speculates that this was the official version of the US Embassy, as it is very much positive on their “actions.”
More Souk Mubarakiyya Art
There’s just something about this market that feeds the photographer’s soul! I love the public art . . .
Whoda thunk that the butcher would be wearing glasses? I love the quirkiness of this art.
The flag the man is carrying says “Kuwait” (for my non-Kuwaiti readers).I think this one has to do with the liberation of Kuwait, but I am not sure . . . anyone? I remember from reading Jihan Rahab’s book on the Invasion of Kuwait that the market was totally trashed and at least partially burned, and a lot of damage was done out of sheer malice.
I have this thing about ships!
Just look how CLEAN this place is. Every time I go into any of the markets, I think of France. These markets in Kuwait are cleaner!
Al-Enezi praises MOE’s Decision
This is from today’s Kuwait Times.
Does this decision by the Ministry of Education, applicable to all the private schools in Kuwait, mean that no expatriates can be hired for any administrative or assistant teacher positions in any of the private schools, only Kuwaitis? Is this a part of the Kuwaitization program?
By A Saleh
KUWAIT: The manager of the national labor ratio at the Manpower and Government Restructuring Program (MGRP) Fares Al Enezi announced the preparations for a training course to qualify national laborers to work in administrative jobs and as assistant teachers in private schools.
Speaking at a press conference, Al Enezi praised the Ministry of Education’s decision on banning the hiring of expatriates in private schools as this move would help find hundreds of job opportunities for citizens.
Al Enezi stressed that the MGRP was ready to provide enough qualified national substitutes and he highlited that only 410 citizens currently worked in private schoools as compared to 1617 expatriates of various nationalities. Moreover, he noted that only 140 teachers worked ther versus 10,793 expatriates who worked there as well.
Desertification
UN issues desertification warning
By Matt McGrath
BBC environment reporter
Tens of millions of people could be driven from their homes by encroaching deserts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, a report says.
The study by the United Nations University suggests climate change is making desertification “the greatest environmental challenge of our times”.
If action is not taken, the report warns that some 50 million people could be displaced within the next 10 years.
The study was produced by more than 200 experts from 25 countries.
Scarce resources
This report does not pull any punches – desertification is an environmental crisis of global proportions, it says, and one third of the Earth’s population are potential victims of its creeping effect.
This is just an excerpt from an article you can read in full at BBN News.
Soor Street
One of the earliest exploration trips I made in Kuwait was along Soor Street (Wall Street) because I wanted to see the old gates to Old Kuwait City. I could find most of them, but not all of them. Soor Street has continued to fascinate me – and I wonder if one day soon, it won’t be all new construction.
This is one of those buildings-with-a-twist going up; I think Tijaria Real Estate is calling it the Kuwait World Trade Center. I get the two companies confused, there is another company, Tijara, that built The Mermaid of Mangaf. I don’t think the companies are related, but they both do more interesting buildings than these:
Like why even bother? These are so boring you just want to look away.
The dumps on the left have about 10 men in every apartment; they hang their wash on any available fixture and shave on the balcony. I wonder how much longer these places will stand once the building on the right opens? I am guessing the owner of this prime property will also want to tear down the dumps and build something more high-rent.
Some of you have asked for photos of some of the older places in downtown Kuwait. There isn’t much “old” but there is older. The intense heat is hard on paint and hard on maintenance, so I am guessing these buildings are only about 30 – 40 years old.
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