Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Sunrise March 21, 2009

For all your Kuwaiti students back in the USA who check in daily to see what Kuwait looks like – I am sorry to tell you, you are missing one of the most beautiful days of the year. The sun rose over a sea so still it is like glass; it looks so solid you could walk on it:

0021mar09sunrise

You wonder how I know you are Kuwaiti students? I use this wonderful software called StatCounter which I love.

What is STATCOUNTER?
A free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. Insert a simple piece of our code on your web page or blog and you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visitors to your website in real-time!

It allows me to see where people who check my blog are checking in from – like if you are at University of Arizona, for example, it might show me that. People who have commented are identified from previous comments. It is a great little utility, and a lot of fun when you have a little time to spare.

For those of you in Kuwait – look at this week to come:

wea21mar09

It doesn’t get any more beautiful in Kuwait. Get outside today! It is gorgeous out there!

March 21, 2009 Posted by | Blogging, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Technical Issue, Weather | 13 Comments

Discouraging Sunrise 19 March 2009

When I got up this morning, my heart sank. It is not a glorious sunrise, it isn’t even one of Kuwait’s silvery sunrises, but a very very grey sunrise.

00smoggysunrise

The Germans have a word “smutzich” (I may not have spelled that right) that means dirty, filthy, covered with grime . . . and the sunrise reminds me of that, it is grimy . . . and discouraging. That thin layer of yellow, whatever it is, is closer.

Weather Underground says the entire week will be clear:

00wea19mar09

But it amends that forecast with what is happening right now:

00wea0730

It might be a cloud, but what a grimy cloud! I hate to think that we breathe that air!

March 19, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Health Issues, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 6 Comments

Weather Goof

Weather Underground says there is a light haze. There is a haze – it is not what I would call light. When I got up this morning, there were even brief rainbursts – at one point, sheets of rain, but for mere seconds, barely enough to damp down the dry dust floating around. Looks like a fairly serious haze for drive-to-work time. Aaarrgh.

wea16mar09

March 15, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Weather | 5 Comments

Weather – or Not?

This morning, Weather Underground (you can go see for yourself by clicking on the temperature widget over at the right) says it is “clear”.

clearsmog

I don’t know what “clear” looks like in your neck of the woods, but here is “clear” from our vantage Point:

The “clear” sunrise
00sunriseclear

“clear” over the water
00clearmorning

First, do you see that thin layer of yellow? Usually we see that about a couple of kilometers out, but this morning, it is barely 200 meters off the shore and approaching. Second, the thick – and thickening – haze is white today, not yellow or red. It may be dust, but it may also be air pollution of some kind.

Yesterday I had a weird headache. Not a killing headache, but a persistent low grade headache that would not go away, not until the sun went down. I took aspirin, it did not go away. I was fine until this morning, felt fine when I woke up, but once I had been up for about an hour, this persistent low-grade headache is back. I think it is weather related. I think this is SMOG. I never have headaches!

Bah! humbug!

March 13, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Photos, sunrise series, Weather | 3 Comments

Holiday Sunrise

Good morning, Kuwait, and a beautiful day it is going to be:

00sunrise12mar09

No, that isn’t an attack helicopter in the photo, it is a bird, and I didn’t even see him until I uploaded the photo. The sun is coming up around 0615 in the morning, and mornings are still cool and comfortable.

00wea12mar09

It’s a quiet morning, as people sleep in; today is a holiday – the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday.

March 12, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 5 Comments

Seattle-like Sunrise

Good morning, Kuwait!

00sunrise10mar09

(How many different blues can you count in this photo? This is a RICH photo in the blue-grey spectrum, one of my favorites.)

When I saw the skies this morning, all cloudy and gloomy, I thought for a minute I was back in Seattle. If I were in Seattle, the temperatures would be much much lower – it is already getting hot in Kuwait, and this Friday we will hit a huge high:

00kuwaitwea10mar09

But something is goofy with Zanzibar, on my WeatherUnderground favorites:
00zanzibarwea10mar09

How can that be right? Highs almost in the 90’s, lows almost freezing?

It just might rain a little out there, my Kuwait friends. Be careful on the roads and remember:

Don’t Call Until You Reach Your Destination!

March 10, 2009 Posted by | Africa, Beauty, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Satire, Social Issues, sunrise series, Weather, Zanzibar | 8 Comments

Red Sky at Morning . . .

The Qatteri Cat had me up early this morning, and as I made the coffee, I glanced out the window – WOW. Beautiful sky, very red sky, and I wonder if here “red sky at morning, sailors take warning” holds true? It looks like a beautiful day – again – and the water is smooth as glass.

00justbeforesunrise

The Qatteri Cat has gone back to sleep.

March 9, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 6 Comments

Molten Silver Sunrise

OK, OK, I admit it, this is not exactly sunrise, it is a little bit later, but I just couldn’t resist the flat glassy calm of the Gulf this morning going all molten silver. Knocked my socks off.

00sunrise8mar09

There is a thin cloud covering this morning, but it looks like another very warm day. Have a great Sunday/ Yom al-Ahad, Kuwait!

March 8, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 5 Comments

Sunrise Saturday, 7 Mar 09

The sunrise was so beautiful this morning it was almost painful. My windows are still dirty from the multiple attacks by the dust storms, so I was out on the balcony photographing, and it was chill and crisp, and I remembered to appreciate the feeling of “chill” and “crisp” while it is still hanging around.

00sunrise7mar09

It may be comfortable and cool in the mornings, but our temperatures are going up fast. March is the month where Kuwait, where things get colder than Doha in the winter, starts getting hotter than Doha.

wea7mar09

It is going to be a glorious day. Not a cloud in the sky, other than that yellowish haze low over the gulf that I think is residue from oil refining.

March 7, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, sunrise series, Weather | 4 Comments

Sunrise, Sunset

Better late than never:

Sunrise, March 6, 2009
00sunrise6march2009

This was a great day to be outside, visiting with friends, walking along the Corniche – just a great day to be outside. The end of the day was rosy:

00rosysunsetkuwait

And here is the beautiful marriage song from Fiddler on the Roof, also called Sunrise, Sunset:

March 6, 2009 Posted by | ExPat Life, Kuwait, Marriage, sunrise series, Weather | 2 Comments