Warm Welcome Home
Everything went smoothly on my great trip back to Kuwait, as AdventureMan would say “the number of landings equalled the number of take-offs” and that is always a very good thing. My flights were more or less on time, I had space and time and endurance . . . the immigration line was short and my bags came off the flight quickly and . . . the best is yet to come.
We always love going to the airport. The airport in Kuwait is nothing like the airport in Seattle, all Nordic and Scandinavian cool, with restrained welcomes and hearty pats on the back . . . no, the Kuwait welcome is unrestrained, literally, although there are barriers, when someone important is coming home – a new bride, a returning university student, grandma and grandpa coming back from the Hajj, or maybe Daddy coming home from a business trip – the barriers, literally, fall.
Family members show up en masse and this is one time when voices are not lowered – everyone shouts and whoops with joy when the loved one appears on the arrival “runway.”
And today – today, it was my turn. As I exited the customs check, there were cheers! There was a huge crowd, waiting – for me! They threw rose petals! They ululated! It was the most wonderful arrival I have ever experienced. They even had TV lights, cameras!
oh! wait! who are those handsome uniformed young men being mobbed by their proud family members?
Ah well, I was welcomed by the sweet warm grin of AdventureMan, waiting for me patiently, and yes, yes, I did walk over some rose petals, and I was greeted with shouts and cheers and ululations, even if it wasn’t exactly for me . . . it was still, quite a thrill, and a wonderful way to come back to Kuwait.
When I arrived in Seattle, people told me I had brought Kuwait weather, as it was in the 90’s and low 100’s, very warm for Seattle in May. Returning the favor, the temperatures in Kuwait have dropped to about 38°C – close to 100°F, and there are scattered rain-plops. I don’t see any signs of showers, yet, but the night is yet young, and very very humid.
The Grande Finale
Here’s the problem. Our weddings are SO much fun. We all get there early, and as Maurice Sendak says – “Let the wild rumpus begin!”
I think many of you have the same families – we raise our children as a village. My sisters’ children are precious to me, and mine to them. They have visited back and forth between our houses since they were little. When we gather, you never know who will be with what family, which room people will gather in – it is one constant high-energy party.
And, it can also be totally exhausting!
Yesterday was the grand finale, THE wedding. It took place at Ainsley House, in Campbell, CA:
The weather has been unseasonably cool, so there was concern about rain during the wedding. Fortunately, it never rained, the sun came out, the bride was gorgeous and everything came off without a hitch. The bride and groom took their vows:
And then they exchanged rings:
After rings were exchanged, and the couple declared man and wife, the guests went on to the reception hall, while the bride and groom and family and attendants had a lengthy photo session. When we gathered for the wedding dinner, it was truly a night to remember!
I loved her table decorations; restrained, elegant, perfect for a beautifully planned wedding:
The wedding dinner:
The Greek side of the family danced, and the Iranian side laughed and said they were dancing Iranian style. The Iranians showed us all how to DANCE, and Sparkle is very very good at it. I think she had some coaching from her new daughter-in-law. Everyone had great fun comparing the different styles of dancing:
Our children are marrying into other “villages” and our own village just keeps expanding. It gives me such immense joy to watch this happen; the world grows smaller and smaller. Our children are choosing their mates with care – and joy! And they are choosing well, uniting us with tribes and clans who share the same values, if not nationalities.
We wish you all happiness, Earthling and Bride!
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
When I left my room this morning, I could smell wood burning fires, and I love that smell. It reminds me of Africa, and camping, and being out in the wild. I love for my clothing to smell like smoke from a wood burning fire, it’s like my favorite perfume.
And then I realized – this is smoke from the fire burning out-of-control in the Santa Cruz mountains, a terrible thing, people are losing their homes and businesses, thousands of residents are fleeing the area. It is a tragedy for all involved.
We are hoping the fire is brought under control soon . . .
A Day When Kuwait Looks Really Good
This day started off really early, because Mom and Sparkle are leaving on a two day road trip to the BIG EVENT in Silicon Valley. Yep, I noticed my hotel is just down the street from the Apple Headquarters for the entire world. This is going to be fun!
I wanted to get the documentary shots and I also wanted to get some laundry done before I head for the same wedding, but I am flying, so I have an extra day here. Mom and Sparkle needed to drive, they have significant clothes, clothes for every event, important clothes, important shoes, important make up and accessories, and then more clothes for the road trip drifting along the Pacific Coast all the way back, so they needed to have a wagon to haul all their clothes.
Besides – a road trip . . . road trips are always fun! Sparkle loves to drive, and Mom always loves a trip, especially a trip with a wedding in it.
Bye, Mom! Bye, Sparkle!
I don’t have a lot of laundry, it takes me maybe a couple hours, and then I leave, deciding to fill the tank today as I will drive straight to the airport tomorrow. This Jeep uses more gas than my normal car, even though it seems to be about the same size. When I get to the tank, however, the pump keeps going and going and going and my eyes get bigger and bigger and bigger.
For those of you who do not live in Kuwait, an oil producing country with world class cars, we pay about 80 cents a gallon for our gas. My little SUV, which I fill every now and then, takes about ten gallons when I fill it. So I normally pay around $10.00 max to fill my car, and that is when I drift in on fumes.
This is what I paid today:
And you know how in movies when they open a bank vault, you can hear all kinds of whirrs and levers and things falling into place?
You would have heard that today, as my brain whirred and clicked and chunks of information fell into place:
° The big grin when the car rental guy said he was doing me a big favor and upgrading me to an SUV at no additional cost to me.
° The huge herd of SUV’s waiting in the auto rental pick-up place; not a normal rental car in sight.
° My mother and sister driving to San Jose, overnighting along the way, and God only knows how often they will have to fill the tank – although they ARE driving a hybrid, and that should help a little. Still, it makes my flight a real bargain, especially since I booked and paid back in January before the huge increases hit.
Buying gas in Kuwait is a THRILL! Buying gas in Seattle is heart-stopping!
The second thing I noticed that makes Kuwait look really really good is you know how we have been talking about the beautiful cool weather and the rain?
I took one outfit out of the dryer still very damp; I do it all the time in Kuwait, take them out, shake them, hang them up and they dry beautifully, and I don’t have to iron very much. In Kuwait, things dry really Really REALLY fast. Like a cotton dress, even fresh out of the washer, will be dry in one hour.
Hours later, this little cotton outfit taken from the dryer in Seattle, is still cold and damp around the seams. I’ve even ironed and the seams are still damp. Maybe if I hang the outfit overnight in the warm bathroom it will be dry enough to pack tomorrow. Maybe I should microwave it? Or maybe I can pack it damp and then pull it out of the suitcase as soon as I get to San Jose and hope it will dry before my flight back to Kuwait?
Rain Boughs
I could hear the rain falling heavily when I awoke this morning, and as I looked out, the drops were gleaming heavily on the pine boughs just outside my window. They were so beautiful! Another photo-op:
As I got in the car to head over to my Mom’s, this is what I saw through the windshield:
These photos are for 3baid @ Anything Goes, who wants rain desperately. 3baid, tell your brother we are still waiting for the photo of you sleeping on the floor drooling! 😉
Storm Clouds Coming In
What a switch – it was COLD today, with cold winds. Overnight, everything changed:
Rain!
I woke up this morning to a cloudy, rainy day – YAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!
I am sure the good people in Seattle will consider me a total nut case, but when I check the Kuwait forecast and see it is 104° F / 42° C in Kuwait, and only 52° F / 11° C in Seattle, I dance for joy! Today I get to wear a light sweater! Or maybe a hoodie! Or . . . maybe both! I don’t think I will be sweating! The drips on my cheek will be raindrops!
Rain is what makes Seattle so green and luscious. Rain makes the flowers bloom so exuberantly. And today, if I make good headway on my list, today I might let myself go to Lowe’s and/or Home Depot! Oh, I can hardly wait!
10,000 Steps Continued
As you know, I began an exercise program a few weeks ago called 10,000 Steps – you can find out more about it here: 10,000 Steps. I don’t have very good luck with gyms . . . it’s just a waste of money for me; I sign up all enthusiastic, and by the second day at the gym I am already trying to find ways to get out of it. I get bored. Exercise is BORING!
But I love walking. Actually I love water aerobics, too, when there aren’t a bunch of googly-eyed guys watching, and when I have a gaggle of girlfriends to laugh and pass the time with while we exercise and I just don’t have that opportunity in Kuwait.
So I got sick and tired of myself NOT exercising and decided to work on 10,000 steps. I’ve been doing pretty well, too, worked up to running 6,000 steps before I left, and it only takes me about 35 minutes.
The other day I bought a pedometer. Today I put it on for the first time.
You have to understand, when I come back to Seattle, I have THE LIST with me. The list is all the things that are hard to get or impossible to get in Kuwait, or just annoying to have to track down. Occasionally, like this time, I also have things to get for friends. . . just a little thing here and there, but it all goes on THE LIST.
Around noon I called my Mom and said I would be by in about an hour with lunch. When I got there, I remembered I had my pedometer on, and I checked it – I was already at 9,081 steps! By the time I got back to my hotel, it had started over.
I love it. I am tired at the end of each day from running around, my legs even ache and my feet hurt and I love it. Even the hot days – there were two of them, and now it is cloudy and it is going to rain and they just don’t get it at all that I LOVE the rain – the hot days weren’t that bad.
I am going to be in PAIN when I get back to Kuwait and face days of 115°F again! It is 70°F / 21° C in Seattle today.
109° F / 43° C
My eyes just popped out of my head. As I was checking the blog, I saw that the current temperature has hit 109° F.
Hello??? This is May, not even mid-May. Holy Smokes, if this is what May looks like, I can hardly wait to see summer (said with tongue in cheek.)
Many many thanks to the hard working volunteers at Safat who got a whole bunch of us back in the aggregate. I don’t know what happened, but I know you guys don’t get paid and that you do this out of the goodness of your hearts, as a public service to the Kuwait community. God bless the work of your hands. Thank you.
AdventureMan said the highways were empty this morning as he headed in to work. What does this mourning period do to the elections in Kuwait, scheduled for this Saturday? Will they be postponed?
Sunrise May 13, 2008
The sea is as flat as old glass, a little ripple here and there. You can squint your eyes up and see all the way to Failaka Island, all the big freighters puffing up and down the gulf, the Coast Guard boats heading out to interdict a drug runner or some illegally immigrant, a few little speed boats.
The temperature is 75°F / 24°C and the high expected is in the low 100’s. It looks like another warm glorious day in Kuwait.
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