Travel Mercies
Every morning, before we leave the house, my husband and I pray together. We give thanks for all the blessings we receive, we pray for people and their needs, we pray for God to guide us in every thing we do, great and small.
Before a recent trip, we prayed for travel mercies. Most of these trips are long, endurance tests really. About the best I can do is to bury myself in a book or magazine or puzzle.
I remember when travel used to be fun. I remember when there were ladies lounges on board, and even bars (not that I ever hung out in bars). I remember the thrill of adventure.
Praying for travel mercies helps me to see blessings when they appear. And this last trip, they did appear. Every line I entered, I ended up at the front, or almost. I was able to shower in Amsterdam, and to be the first one, so (I’m a little compulsive here) the bathroom had been thoroughly cleaned overnight and I worried less about foot fungus and other invisible threats to my well-being.)
I had one very funny travel mercy – this has to be the hand of God.
It was what I call a high testosterone flight – mostly men, heading back home for a few weeks before coming back to Kuwait, or Iraq. When I found my seat, the buy behind me had his foot up on my armrest, at the very back of the armrest. The truth is, it doesn’t bother me, it is not the part of the armrest I use, but when I sat down, I smelled the most awful odor. . . sweaty feet.
In one book about life in the Gulf, I read that it is wise to wear sandals so that your feet can breathe, that wearing closed shoes makes your feet sweat. I can tell you, it isn’t just the Gulf – any hot climate, even cold climates, and track / tennis shoes will cause smelly feet. Hot weather just accelerates the process and accentuates the results.
What to do? It’s a full flight, and I don’t want an angry, insulted man behind me kicking my seat all night because I had the audacity to mention his smelly feet were invading my nostrils. If I keep my head turned away, I can bear it, but the flight is getting longer and longer with the thought of having to bear smelly feet all the way. This was a first for me.
I had a plan. As soon as the plane would take off, I would cover the guys foot with my blanket, and hope that would take care of the odor. I was just waiting for the right time.
Instead, I heard him complain to the flight attendant that his head set wasn’t working. The flight attendant brought him another head set, and that didn’t work. When the third one didn’t work – he changed his seat! Woooo HOOOOOOO, how is that for a travel mercy? I slept like a baby.
More Airline Fees
I had total sticker shock when I bought my ticket to go home this summer – I paid for an economy class ticket what I used to pay for a business class ticket. Ulp. More money, less legroom, more headaches . . .
The Washington Post ways we have more unpleasant surprises in store:
Airline passengers, already enduring persistent flight delays and other customer service headaches, are confronting another aggravation: mounting fees for everything from checking a second bag to sending a child alone on a trip.
Carriers are turning to the fees and charges — some of which are built into the cost of a ticket — to help them cope with rising fuel costs, which account for increasing portions of their budgets.
Just in time for the summer travel season, airlines have tacked on a $25 fee to check a second bag, and yet another carrier announced last week that it was adding a fee for curbside baggage check-in. Others have steadily brought back pesky overnight-stay requirements to help them better separate business fliers from penny-pinching leisure travelers. Most have tried to slip fuel surcharges into the cost of tickets — fees that have climbed past $150 each way on some international flights.
Passengers won’t be feeling the squeeze just in their purses. Most major carriers have also announced reductions in flights by the fall to help improve efficiency, a move that will cram more passengers onto already crowded jets.
You can read the entire article HERE.
Warden Message
If this was a warden message, I didn’t get it. I get most of them. I found this in today’s Arab Times:
Terrorists may target Americans
Following is the full text of the Kuwait 2008 Crime & Safety Report released by the US State Department in March, 2008
Overall Crime and Safety Situation
The Department of State rates Kuwait as low threat for crime. The incidence of crime in Kuwait City remains low. The Government of Kuwait (GOK) maintains a high police profile, with large numbers of uniformed and plainclothes officers on the streets. Each district and governate has police stations operating under the direction of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) Directorate of Public Safety. Street crime does occur and incidents have been reported to the embassy’s Regional Security Office (RSO) recently that required monitoring and security notice dissemination.
Of particular concern are an alarming number of crimes involving individuals impersonating police officers and then assaulting victims, who are primarily third-country nationals (TCNs) and more susceptible to intimidation. The evolving modus operandi (MO) involves a male in plain clothes and an unmarked vehicle stopping a TCN, whether on foot or in a vehicle, asking for his ID, then demanding the person get into the impostor’s vehicle without any explanation of his offense or their destination. The TCN is then driven to a deserted area and assaulted.
The British Embassy released a Warden Notice about an assault that took place in February 2007 that did not involve a British national, but occurred in the Manghaf neighborhood where a large number of British citizens reside. In this case, a TCN was taken in broad daylight from a public area by a police impostor and assaulted, employing the aforementioned MO. A second Warden Notice from the British Embassy in March detailed an incident occurring behind the US Embassy Kuwait, at a shopping center in Mishref, where two young men believed to be local nationals forced a British male teenager into their vehicle late one evening and made sexual advances toward him. The victim escaped by throwing himself from the moving vehicle, where a passing Kuwaiti military vehicle offered assistance and returned him home safely. Based on a long-standing relationship of mutual cooperation and information-sharing, the Regional Security Office (RSO) at US Embassy Kuwait distributed security notices based on the British reports advising staff of these specific instances and included personal security guidance for all employees and their family members.
Violent crime is primarily confined within the TCN community, which comprises the majority of the manual labor force in Kuwait – approximately two-thirds of Kuwait’s residents. It is probable that a high percentage of crimes in the TCN community go unreported. The threat of immediate deportation looms large for many of these guest workers who generally prefer maintaining a low profile so as to avoid unwanted attention from the GOK.
Although several districts within Kuwait City are known to have higher incidences of crime, only one area (Jahra) remains generally off-limits to official embassy personnel. One factor contributing to the high rate of crime in Jahra is the inability of the police to enforce laws in areas where tribal customs take precedence. Known offenders regularly intimidate foreign guest workers, including workers employed by US companies and US military bases, by damaging vehicles, starting fires in trash cans and harassing them while they enter and exit their residences.
Harassment is not due to any affiliation to the United States or US military efforts; instead, it is generally due to criminalsbelieving they can act with impunity. Young Bedouin men who comprise the majority of these gangs are subject to their tribal mores first, but the tribal structure has proven ineffective in controlling these individuals which hinders the efforts of police to crack down on their illicit activities.
Residential crime remains low. There have been no reported break-ins at any official embassy residences within the past year, nor have any vehicles been stolen. A domestic employee of an embassy officer had her purse stolen from an individual on a motorbike outside of the officer’s residence. The perpetrator was later captured by police in the same neighborhood days after the attack. It is not uncommon for embassy staff and dependents to report suspicious persons in their neighborhoods to the RSO, but the majority of these instances have been resolved without any criminal or other hostile intent discovered.
There are no reports of petty thefts against the official American community in any of the popular outdoor markets or shopping malls frequented by tourists and Westerners living in Kuwait. However, the potential for such crime does exist. Individuals should remain aware of their surroundings at all time and assume that no venue is safe from crime. Additionally, vehicle break-ins, although rare, do occur if valuables are left in plain view. Visiting Americans are urged to take the same security precautions in Kuwait that they would practice in the United States. Hotel room doors should be locked and valuables should be stored in hotel safes when available. Visitors should instruct the hotel management not to divulge their room numbers over the telephone to any callers, but only to connect them to their room or to take a message.
Incidents of harassment and road rage, although infrequent, do occur and appear to be on the rise. Females have reported being occasionally accosted or harassed by Arab or South Asian males, particularly while driving alone in the morning or nighttime hours. In an incident involving an Embassy spouse in the fall of 2007, a local male harassed the spouse in a local shopping center, which prompted a security notice by the RSO and a Warden message by the Consular Affairs Section. Women who are the victim of harassment should immediately seek a public area and notify either store management or security personnel. Women should not travel home alone.
Male drivers using their personal vehicles forcefully to stop a female driver or attempting to gain the female’s attention for socializing purposes have been reported. Often this action is meant only to acquire a telephone number or arrange a date. However, reports of males impersonating police or military officers and utilizing his authority to command compliance from unsuspecting females have been increasing. Determining who is a legitimate police officer and who is an impostor is troublesome. In the reports received by the RSO, the individual initiating the contact was not wearing a uniform and was not driving in a clearly marked official GOK police or military vehicle.
Kuwaiti police have the authority to make traffic stops while in civilian clothes and driving in their personal vehicles but must identify themselves with their police ID, which has both Arabic and English writing on it. To ensure that the stopping officer is a legitimate police officer, individuals should remain in their own vehicles with the doors locked, lowering the window only enough to receive the person’s police identification. While checking the bona fides as best as possible, we advise staff to use their mobile phone to alert someone of their situation and if at all possible travel to their location. Tell the person you will agree only to follow him to a police station, and specify which one, keeping your mobile phone open so the person you called can hear the destination.
Lastly, relay the license plate number for the person’s vehicle to your colleague on the phone if at all possible. While Kuwait is in many ways a tolerant country, allowing women to drive, vote, and run for public office, Kuwait is still an Islamic country where conservative customs and dress are the norm. Potential harassment can be reduced if visitors dress conservatively and maintain a respectful demeanor and a low profile. Visitors should avoid confrontational situations, and move away from angry, threatening or aggressive persons, either on foot or in vehicles.
Incidents of vehicle pursuit, extremely aggressive and reckless driving, and vehicle gamesmanship, in which vehicles play a form of high-speed cat and mouse on the freeways, may force vehicles off the road or result in a collision with other vehicles. Speed is the most common cause of vehicle accidents in Kuwait. Apart from periodic storms, road conditions and weather are favorable in Kuwait. Drivers must remain defensive and alert to the hazards posed by others who neglect to yield in merges, cut across lanes to exit, drive aggressively and at excessive rates of speed, pass on shoulders and often operate without headlights at night.
Unexploded bombs, mines, and other ordnance from the 1991 Gulf War remain present in some desert areas in Kuwait. US Embassy Kuwait urges caution if traveling off paved surfaces outside of Kuwait City. A TCN worker was recently killed by unexploded ordinance located near a border checkpoint with Iraq. The unexploded ordinance exploded while the TCN was attempting to remove wiring from the device. Unexploded ordnance has also been discovered in piles of sand used at construction sites, including at Camp Arifjan, the largest US military base in the country.
During the cooler months in Kuwait (October-March) Kuwaitis often travel to the desert to camp. Many of these campgrounds are located very close to the major roadways, but some Kuwaitis travel long distances to camp in isolated areas. Camping in established camp areas decreases the potential for coming into contact with unexploded ordnance. Visitors should avoid camping away from population centers. The US Embassy and the GOK have received threat information indicating official and private Americans may be targeted for terrorist attacks. Soft targets such as western hotels and restaurants can be considered vulnerable to terrorist attack, although many are making improvements to their perimeter and internal security. American citizens are advised to avoid apartment complexes where Americans or other Westerners are generally known to congregate in large numbers. We recommend that Americans maintain a low profile and vary routes and times for required travel to avoid predictable schedules.
Political Violence
For several years after the September 2001 on the US, Kuwait City experienced no major demonstrations or other related violence. During this time, Kuwait has remained a strong ally of the United States, even after the US military invasion into Iraq and the subsequent onset of insurgent violence began to reverberate throughout the region. In early 2006, the controversy over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed provoked several demonstrations in the country, but these remained peaceful and uneventful. However, when Israel attacked Lebanon in the summer of 2006, several large protests occurred, including two at the US Embassy. Demonstrators expressed an unprecedented amount of anti-US hostility during these protests. While there were no injuries or damage during the protests, the police were not prepaired for how quickly the second demonstration materialized and grew in number. Demonstrators numbering in the hundreds burned American and Israeli flags, while waving the yellow flag of Hezbollah and chanting “Death to Israel and Death to America.” Since the end of the summer 2006 war, there have been no major demonstrations in Kuwait City. While these events were isolated, they clearly illustrate how quickly certain events can evoke an emotional response even in a country not known for political demonstrations or violence.
The primary terrorist threat to US personnel in Kuwait comes from individuals with links to al-Qaeda and regional jihadist networks. In January 2005, Kuwaiti police and Special Forces attempted to arrest members of an indigenous terrorist organization known as the Peninsula Lions. In July 2004, Kuwaiti security forces arrested up to 20 individuals who were engaged in recruitment, training and financing of local youth or terrorist operations in Iraq and Kuwait. These arrests demonstrate the development of extremist elements in Kuwait. In 2002 and 2003, individuals were able to conduct lethal attacks against US military and civilian contractors in Kuwait. While there have been no lethal attacks in the last 12 months, the presence in Kuwait of a growing number of US military and contractor personnel in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom continues to make Kuwait a potential target.
Post-specific Concerns
American citizens traveling to Kuwait should be aware that possession of drugs and alcohol is illegal. Additionally, pornographic materials, weapons, and pork products are confiscated if discovered during customs checks at the airport. Customs authorities will x-ray and search luggage upon entry into the country. While in Kuwait, both women and men should dress conservatively at all times. Shorts and sleeveless shirts are discouraged from being worn in public.
Throughout Kuwait the chances of being involved in a motor vehicle accident are far greater than being a victim of criminal or terrorist act. Driving in Kuwait is hazardous. Embassy employees are briefed upon their arrival in Kuwait that driving is very dangerous in Kuwait. Night driving is particularly dangerous because many drivers do not turn on their headlights. A good general rule to follow while driving in Kuwait is to avoid driving in the number one (far left) lane on Kuwaiti highways, as this lane normally has the drivers traveling at the highest rate of speed. Number one-lane drivers are extremely aggressive and will flash heir headlights rapidly in order to encourage slower-moving drivers to change lanes. Drivers should so be prepared to see camels or other livestock near the side of major highways.
Tips on How to Avoid Becoming a Victim
Americans should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times for all travel to the extent possible, and treat mail and packages from unfamiliar sources with suspicion. All Americans are urged to be suspicious of unexpected visitors and to pay particular attention to suspicious vehicles. Any suspicious activities or vehicles should be reported to the local police as soon as possible. The neighborhoods of Khaitan and Farwaniya, located on the outskirts of Kuwait City International Airport, are recognized and identified as high-crime areas due to criminal elements operating drug, prostitution, gambling, and black market enterprises. These areas are largely populated by TCNs who are poorly paid and may turn to crime for financial gain. Incidences of rape, theft and murder are usually not directed at Americans and Western personnel but largely involves TCNs. Americans are urged to avoid this area altogether, especially at night.
For further information
The main Embassy phone number is +965 259-1001. The Regional Security Officer can be reached by calling +965 259-1001 ext 1704. To contact Consular/American citizen services please call +965 259-1001 ext 1581. The Consular Section Chief can be reached by calling +965 259-1001 ext 1278. The Foreign Commercial Office can be reached by calling +965 259-1001 ext 1392.
The embassy’s working hours are Sunday – Thursday 8:00 am-4:30 pm. During this time, visa applications for travel to the Untied States are accepted. Personal interviews are required and appointment times are requested online. Interviews are conducted at the embassy Monday-Thursday from 8:00 am-12:00 pm. American Citizen Services operates Sunday-Thursday from 9:00 am-11:00 am and 1:00 pm-3:00 pm for routine services, and will generally see any American citizen for emergency services anytime during the workday. The section is closed Monday mornings.
Travel Nerds
We are a bunch of travel and geography nerds in my family. Nothing makes us happier than jumping in a airplane, reaching an exotic location and driving, getting our feet on new ground, seeing new things, learning new ways. We all have cameras glued to our hands and laptops stuffed in backpacks.
All my married life, people have looked at me with pity and tole me how they can’t believe I live with such uncertainty, never knowing where I will be in the next year – even the next few months. What I tell them is this – the truth is, we ALL never know. We ALL never know when something will happen that will change our lives dramatically, forever. We live day to day, not thinking about all the things that can happen. If we think too much about them, we might go crazy.
I consider myself blessed. I was created with a restless spirit, a spirit for new experiences and new ways of thinking. I was given a life where all those things became my daily bread.
What is fun for me is watching the next generation of young adults discovering their own lives, who they are meant to be.
My nephew, at Google Earth took his love of geography to new heights. He works in a place he loves, doing work he loves. He wrote to me yesterday, to tell me about a new game being played, a grown-up version of the old “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.” (one of the earliest computer games for kids) He has published a really really hard one on the Google team LatLong blog (as he says, he has the home court advantage in this game!) and he refers us to another blog, Where on GoogleEarth? where there are a series of contests to see if you can identify landmarks, special places, from the sky.
Here, for example, is the photo from contest #22 – and people have to write in telling what it is. Can YOU tell what it is? 🙂
Reservations
I just had a truly gut-wrenching experience.
I’ve been checking airline prices for my summertime journey back to the USA. I use Mobissimo most often, but I use them all, just to see how prices compare.
The prices have been high. I finally reserved – paying more than what I used to pay for business-class for an economy-class ticket. Seats are disappearing, prices are soaring and I am betting many families will opt just not to travel this summer, or to travel using a Jazeera-type-airline for travel to more local vacation sites.
If you have travel plans, you might want to start looking at your plans now. It’s going to be a rough summer out there.
Jazeera: Istanbul 9 KD
e-mail from Jazeera airlines – sale on now!
Istanbul from KD 9!
Considered the gateway of Europe, Istanbul quintessentially eastern city, with glittering mosques and decorative splendor. The city has a rich history to explore, with beautiful wooden Byzantine architecture, fascinating museums, and the most glorious mosques. Sample the delicious mezze and kebobs, stroll around the markets and bazaars, enjoy a cup of apple tea and absorb the lively atmosphere.
The jewel of Turkey now has a special place in our website. Check out jazeeraairways.com/istanbul, and explore the most amazing photos, get hold of the latest accommodation, restaurants, currency, and weather information. Fly to Istanbul…even without leaving your house.
Flight schedule:
Kuwait – Istanbul Istanbul – Kuwait
Thursdays DEP: 07:55 / ARR: 11.30 DEP: 12.15 / ARR 15.45
Saturdays DEP: 18.15 / ARR: 21:50 DEP: 22.35 / ARR: 02.05
Mondays DEP: 18.15 / ARR: 21:50 DEP: 22.35 / ARR: 02.05
MacDonalds MacKrisby
This is for my stateside readers. Wherever you go, except for Syria, there seems to be a MacDonalds. The funny thing is, in different countries, they have different specialties, things you never see in the USA. For example, while we lived in Qatar, they had a special called the MacArabia, which was kind of like a local fast food, but on a more Western bun. It was no where near as tasty as the local equivalent, but I think they add things to the menu to appeal to people forced to eat there when the kids insist. I am only guessing; I can’t even remember the last time I had anything from MacDonalds.
In Kuwait, they have added a new sandwich, the MacKrispy, a breaded fried chicken thing, sort of like a great big dry chicken nugget. Because Arabic does not have a “p”, the literal translation of the word (you can see it down by the little golden arches) is MacKrisby.
A Case of Two Cities with Inspector Chen: Qiu Xiaolong
When my sister Sparkle recommends a book, I have learned to listen. I think I ordered this book about six months ago, but never cared enough to actually read it. After reading a recent Donna Leon (like dessert, I use it as a reward for reading something more challenging) I decided it was time to tackle Qiu Xiaolong.
I believe A Case of Two Cities is the first in the series; I tried very hard to make sure it was. When I first started reading it, it was difficult, but it didn’t take long to adjust. When you read a detective story written in a foreign culture, you have to park your old way of thinking, and quickly adapt to a new way of thinking. First, you have to learn what that new way of thinking is. They don’t just tell you at the beginning of the book “Here are the differences in values – you will notice . . .” no, but Qiu Xiaolong is courteous enough to take us by the hand and lead us gently into the Chinese way of thinking, the Chinese way of getting things done, and the technicalities of Chinese detective work.
As we meet Inspector Chen, a published poet, and a detective, ten pages into the book, a new anti-corruption campaign is starting in Shanghai, and Inspector Chen has been given a special assignment – a qinchai dacheng – as “Emperor’s Special Envoy with an Imperial Sword.” Even though imperial days are long gone, this warrant gives him emergency powers to search and arrest without reporting to anyone – and without a warrant. He is to seek and find Xing, a corrupt businessman who has caused huge loss to the national economy and is in danger of tarnishing the Chinese national image, and Xing’s associates.
Just as in the Donna Leon books about Commissario Guido Brunetti, and the Bowen books about Gabriel duPre, and James Lee Burke’s books about New Orleans, and Cara Black’s books about Aimee LeDuc, the detectives and investigators have to walk a fine line between going after the criminal and overstepping their warrant – stepping on the toes of those also engaged in corruption so entrenched that it has become a way of life. Each of these detectives has to maneuver that treacherously fine line – who determines when corruption has become too much? It usually puts their own lives in danger at some point, as those manipulating the system and making a fortune out of it do not want to be caught, do not want to be exposed, and will go to great lengths to protect their ill-gotten gains.
And just as in the above books, the book is more about the actual process than the crime itself. Inspector Chen must go about his task indirectly, having chats here and there, gathering threads of information with which he tries to weave a plausible tapestry of events.
As I was reading A Case of Two Cities, I kept making AdventureMan take me out for Chinese food! The meetings are often held over food, and the descriptions are mouth-watering.
Best of all, when you read these books, you get a tiny little glimpse into another way of thinking, another way of doing business. We are all human, we all have the same needs, and we differ in how we go about getting those needs met. We differ in the way we think. It helps to enter another way of living, another way of thinking, it helps to visit through these books so that we can increase our own understanding that our way of doing things is not the only way, maybe (gasp!) not even the “right” way! Maybe (crunching those brain cells really hard to output this thought) there is more than one “right” way?
Pirates!
BBC has been running a radio series on pirates, how we came to see pirates mostly deriving from Treasure Island, and romantic literature. Here is a recent article, however, on modern day piracy, which is alive and well, particular off the Horn of Africa / Somalia. Scary stuff. Did you know that 90% of the world’s cargo is moved by sea? And I recently heard that for Kuwait, the percentage of goods delivered by sea was 99%. This article begins a three part series on modern day piracy:
No vessel is safe from modern pirates
By Nick Rankin
BBC World Service
Pirates are not just mythological characters with peg legs, parrots and pistols. They now carry AK-47s and use speedboats to rule the high seas of the world.
Robbery of the high seas is not confined to 18th-Century history and literature or Hollywood films – it is still very much alive today.
Ninety percent of the world’s trade is still moved by sea, so it is not surprising that piracy against cargo vessels remains a significant issue.
It is estimated that seaborne piracy amounts to worldwide losses of between $13bn and $16bn a year.
Piracy peaked in 2003 with 445 attacks around the world and since then, they have more or less steadily come down.
In 2006, there were 239 attacks. Last year, the number increased slightly to 249.
Although attacks have decreased from the early 1990s, Rupert Herbert-Burns, a maritime security expert at Lloyd’s Intelligence Unit, says piracy is still a worrying problem.
“Attacks rose by 14% towards the end of last year, largely due to attacks off the Horn of Africa, specifically in Somali waters or in the territorial waters off Somalia,” he said.
You can read the rest of the article HERE.
Jazeera to Istanbul
We have almost as much fun in Turkey as we have in Damascus, for all the same reasons. So this morning, when Jazeera announced a new route starting March 29, they got a big Wooo Hooooo from me!
NEW ROUTE! Kuwait Istanbul From March 29!
Considered the gateway to Europe, Istanbul is a quintessentially eastern city, with glittering mosques and decorative splendor. The city has a rich history to explore, with beautiful wooden Byzantine architecture, fascinating museums, and the most glorious mosques. Sample the delicious mezze and kebobs, stroll around the markets and bazaars, enjoy a cup of apple tea and absorb the lively atmosphere.
Flight schedule:
Kuwait – Istanbul Istanbul – Kuwait
Thursdays DEP: 07:55 / ARR: 11.30 DEP: 12.15 / ARR 15.45
Saturdays DEP: 18.15 / ARR: 21:50 DEP: 22.35 / ARR: 02.05
Mondays DEP: 18.15 / ARR: 21:50 DEP: 22.35 / ARR: 02.05
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