These Are a Few of my Favorite Things

I made the vow over a year ago that by the time I left Kuwait, I’d have found ten things to love about it. It’s been almost 20 months, and I’m delighted to say that I’ve done it! Now, I’m not promising that these are reasons to divert your flight to Bali for a ten-day-layover in Kuwait, but if you happen to be here, or are presented with the opportunity to live here, these might help pass the time.

1. No list of favorite things in Kuwait could be complete without saying “the mall.” Love it or hate it, you’ll find moments where you’re grateful for Ikea or Pottery Barn Kids or even The Cheesecake Factory. Not to mention just a comfortable clean place to avoid the scorching summer heat.

2. Parks & walking paths. Now, Kuwait’s parks can’t rival Yosemite or anything, but for what they are, and having no other options, I found myself very grateful for them. For eight to nine months of the year, the weather in Kuwait is basically perfect, making daily walks a lovely option.

3. Subsidized gas. Yeah, no surprise really, but the cheapest thing you can buy in Kuwait is gas. Too bad you can’t stock up.

4. Gulf walking. From approximately September through early May, one of my favorite things to do was walk along the Gulf. Bean and I would meet our friends and for two or three hours, we’d walk and gab and enjoy the waves and sea breezes while we clocked 6-8 miles. Granted, it wasn’t all peachy, we frequently had to dodge speeding motorcycles on the sidewalk who were too dumb to drive on the road, it was heartbreaking to see so much trash strewn on the beaches and in the water, there were men who would periodically hassle us, and in the end I had a friend who got mugged for her smart phone while walking with her baby. But if you remove all the people and the trash, it was truly lovely.

5. Drinking fountains. I love them; I love finding the unique ones hidden back in the neighborhoods. Granted, I’d never actually use one, but that doesn’t stop me from admiring them.

6. Flowers and landscaping. As a predominantly barren desert country, Kuwait has done a remarkable job spreading the greenery. They have a rather extensive desalination project, which allows for year-round trees and bushes and even flowers lining the highways. There’s a constant crew of gardeners trimming and raking and watering everywhere you turn. For someone coming from another desert country (i.e., Egypt) I found it remarkably green here. Granted, if you’re arriving from Ecuador, it’ll feel like you’ve been dropped into the middle of the Arabian desert; and you have been.

7. Gardening. For the first time in our adult lives, my husband and I attempted a vegetable garden. Granted, maybe Kuwait wasn’t the best spot to cultivate our green thumbs, but it wasn’t for want of effort, desire or even supplies. Might be a bit surprising, considering the lack of dirt, but there are tons of vegetable seeds and plants available here. When we went to purchase our seeds, we ended up going a little crazy and bought everything from watermelon to lettuce to broccoli to green beans to zucchini. We also tried growing garlic from cloves (completely unsuccessful) and bought an entire palette of tomato plants for less than $4. In the end, we managed to grow and consume about four cups of broccoli, five sad little zucchini, maybe 20 tomatoes and some strange white radishes, which was odd because they were practically the only seed we didn’t purchase.

8. Proximity to Oman. In a mere 90-minutes, you can be in wonderful glorious Oman. You can head for the mountains, explore the city, camp in the desert, or dive with the turtles. It’s all there and if we keep this hidden gem of the Middle East to ourselves, then it’ll remain as pristine as it is today.

9. Good little museums. Through all my wanderings, I will say that Kuwait has some really nice museums. None of them are so grand that you couldn’t explore them in a few hours, and yet they have some truly amazing exhibits. It’s a great way to spend a morning (but keep in mind that most shut between noon and 4pm, for whatever reason).

10. My last, but most important, reason for loving Kuwait is that it was my daughter’s first home and where I became a mother. So, for that reason alone, I will always appreciate what Kuwait gave me: lots of family time without the worries that I’m missing something fabulous out there.

Mirrors, Mirrors, on the Wall, and the Floor and the Sink and the Door

Tripadvisor.com has thirteen suggestions under “Things to do in Kuwait City.” The top four are not surprising, the aquarium, the Grand Mosque (though it’s currently closed for repairs, so we will not be seeing it), the Kuwait Towers (also closed for repairs, so not to be seen by us), and Tareq Rajab Museum of Islamic Arts (which we loved and you can read about it here: Gems & Germs: Exploring Kuwait’s Tourism Side). The fifth most recommended thing to do in Kuwait City is to visit the Mirror House; essentially go have tea with Ms. Lidia.

When someone says “The Mirror House,” maybe your head is filled with images of a Mad-Hatter, carnivalesque, Mrs.-Haversham-type residence. And you wouldn’t be far off. Ms. Lidia al-Qattan is the owner of and creative genius behind the Mirror House. She is the widow of Khalifa al-Qattan, a famous Kuwaiti artist. She has lived in Kuwait since the 1960s and throughout these last fifty years has turned her house into a showpiece like no other. The Mirror House is literally covered from top to toes, inside and outside, with intricate mirror mosaics that she has personally designed and created all on her own.

When friends and I went to visit her she welcomed us in like long-lost friends. But, like rude long-lost friends, I barely even noticed her as I was too busy gaping at everything around me. Even the outside wall surrounding her home is decorated in mosaics. There were mirror-mosaic butterflies and deer prancing around the inner courtyard. And if that wasn’t distracting enough, then we actually entered her home. Barely an ounce of floor or wall-space was left un-mirrored.

Everything glittered and shimmered with mirror bits. She had laid out cake and biscuits and juice for us, so we sat on the mirrored bench in front of the mirrored tables aligning the mirrored wall and tried to remember to blink as we soaked in the sights and listened to the history of the house. When she and her husband moved in to the house in the 1960s, they were the only one in the area. The Qadisiya neighborhood is now just as crowded as the rest of Kuwait City, with villas bumping up to villas. She studied nursing in London, but always had a penchant for art. And when her husband was away on a business trip once, she created a small mirrored-mosaic statue for him on a whim. And it sparked an interest that would last for the next fifty years.

She explained all about how she tried different bonding agents, finding some too rough, others too weak, and some that were too hard to keep clean, and finally settled on her current mixture. She told us the heart-breaking story of discovering termites in the walls and floors and having to rip out all her work to fix the problem. Not to be undeterred, however, she re-did all the mosaics, and added even more.

As the tour of the house started, she took us room by room, explaining the different themes present, the beginning of the world, the solar system, astrological signs, and everywhere there were animals present, from swans and eagles, to sting rays and dolphins, to camels and even a unicorn. I had brought my 14-month-old daughter along with us and she was quite mesmerized by all the sparkly bits. Lidia kept telling me to, “Let her go, let her explore,” which I did with great trepidation. Inevitably, Bean would gravitate with great eagerness to one of the many glowing spheres perched on stands and Lidia would laugh and say, “Oh, it won’t hurt her.” “Oh, I’m not concerned that it’ll hurt her,” I’d say, as I prevented her, yet again, from knocking some one-of-a-kind artwork to shatters on the ground. In hindsight, bringing a toddler to a “mirror house” might have been a dumb move.

Lidia loved telling us the stories that inspired her for each room, and we would dutifully sit on the cushions, perched on the mirrored banquets and listen. And in many rooms there were added light features, so she’d turn off the lights and the solar system would light up, or the paintings would flicker on. Going from room to room was like visiting a string of mini planetariums, without all the fussy facts.

I think I was most fascinated by the bathroom, in which every inch was covered by mirrors; from the sink, to the shower stall, to the trash can, light switch, radiator cover, and even toilet brush holder. Nothing was left un-mirrored. And if you stood in the middle of the room, the walls and floor almost became two dimensional, losing all sense of depth. Might be a little too much to deal with early in the morning.

Upstairs there were a few rooms displaying Mr. al-Qattan’s paintings as well as Lidia’s other artistic endeavors. One room was covered in industrial carpet that she’d painted and for thirty minutes she kept us there throwing velcro’d papier-mâché tiles at the wall and kept saying, “No, they're not in a line,” or “Nope, not facing up,” and then she’d hand them back to us and we’d throw them again. Despite our appalling lack of papier-mâché-tile throwing ability, she finally let us out, but not without a slight sign of disappointment, I’m sure. For over an hour, Lidia opened her home to us and shared her stories and her amazing creations and endless visions. We felt so welcome. It was like visiting a favorite aunt; you wanted to stay for days (but maybe not with a toddler).

As we left, we bid her farewell, and thanked her repeatedly for her gracious hospitality. It was absolutely one of the most delightful outings we’ve had in Kuwait. So, now I think it’s time I jot off a quick note to tripadvisor.com and inform them that they need to seriously revise their ranking of “Things to do in Kuwait.” Without question, having tea with Ms. Lidia should be number one.

So, for anyone who finds themselves in Kuwait and is looking to visit Ms. Lidia, it’s requested that you call ahead (+965-22518522) to make an appointment; this is her home, after all. At the end of the tour, which can easily last over an hour, she asks for a small donation (2kd on weekdays, 3kd on weekends). And bring a token of your appreciation, dates or cookies or something you’ve made. Believe me, at the end you will wish you’ve given her more.

Hope Springs Eternal… Even in Underwhelming Kuwait

Lately, I find myself wondering whether Alexander Pope ever visited Kuwait. Cursory research suggests no, but then again practical experience suggests maybe there was just nothing to write home about, hence “Hope springs eternal in the human breast [and Kuwait]”.

As I’m slowly narrowing down my Kuwait bucket list, with each check mark I routinely am faced with the same thought, “Welcome to Kuwait, Prepare to Be Underwhelmed.” But, I am trying desperately to not become one of those short-timer expats who only sees the negative in the life they’re leaving; but admittedly Kuwait sometimes doesn’t help matters. Regardless, with each week, I diligently plod through my bucket list, plan my route using Google maps, grab my camera, the baby and my gigantic satchel of hope, and head out.

Our latest adventure started solely as a find-the-fountain excursion. I’d read that there was a dancing musical fountain with “… traditional dancing and light shows; open daily 6:00am to 11:00pm”. How have we missed this? Seventeen hours a day of a dancing musical fountain? It must be found!

Then, when searching it out on Google maps, I saw it was between the ice rink, which we’ve never visited and a huge swath of green called Green Belt Garden. Sounds lovely! I was quite excited about the day’s outing; I could barely squeeze my satchel of hope in the car.

Without too much effort (meaning annoying u-turns that take you miles out of your way because of living in no-left-turn-land), we came upon the ice rink. I will admit that there are very few ice rinks around the world that look impressive from the outside. So the fact that Kuwait has an active ice rink at all is rather impressive in and of itself. We didn’t bother to go in, but dutifully admired it as we drove past on our way to the dancing fountain.

For a land that hates to label things, like roads and turn-offs, I was actually a little surprised to see this little park well-labeled. I was equally surprised to see that it was gated, fully locked and appeared to be packed up for the season with tables and chairs stacked and not an ounce of water or musical note to be found. As I sat there in the car, debating whether to even see if there were hours posted, I could feel my satchel of hope shrinking. But, hope springs eternal, not just when convenient, so we re-inflated our satchel, and headed off to see the glorious Green Belt Garden.

In all honesty, I’m not sure we ever found it, but considering the map and the proximity to the dormant fountains and the large enclosed area surrounded by a wall stating “Al Shaheed Park”, I’m thinking that we were successful; in finding it, not in actually seeing it. I did follow another car into what I thought was the entrance to the park, but instantly found myself in a construction zone with a guy standing in front of me with a look like, “Hey, lady, whatcha think you’z doin’?” (I’m, of course, assuming that all construction men speak like a stereotype from Queens, even in Kuwait.) I waved my hand as if to answer back, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m turning around” (it was a wordy wave), and scuttled out.

So, with my completely deflated satchel of hope, I returned home and had to share my underwhelm-ment with my husband that night. With every attempted bucket-sighting, and my inevitable moans of disappointment, my husband always looks at me and says (with a little sigh, like he’s speaking to a child who keeps smacking themselves in the face), “Why don’t you just stay home and read a book?” Maybe he’s right. I have a feeling that Mr. Pope might concur. But then again, I heard that there’s something called The Mirror House that just might be worth a check. Come on Mr. Pope, load up that satchel and let’s get moving!

Nationalistic Pride and a Super-Soaker

When I think of a nation’s birthday, I think of picnics and sparklers and fireworks and the smell of freshly-cut grass on a hot summer day; basically your quintessential midwestern U.S. Fourth of July celebration. I can’t help it; it’s what I grew up with. But living overseas, we sometimes get the opportunity to see how others celebrate their country’s birth or victories. And I have to say, that Kuwait may not be the biggest lure for tourism, but they know how to parade their pride and country’s flag colors like I’ve truly never seen before.

Every year, the citizens of Kuwait stop whatever they’re doing and come out to celebrate National Day, held on February 25, and Liberation Day, held on February 26. But it’s not just those two days. For weeks ahead of time, the stores are piled high with anything they can sew, stitch, glue, print or paste a Kuwaiti flag on, including hats, shirts, dresses, stickers, mugs, car decals and pretty much anything in a semi-solid state.

And it’s not just merchandise, shops throughout Kuwait City are draped in the flag, cars racing down the highways are sporting flags, yachts and speedboats cruising up and down the coastline are bedecked in more Kuwaiti flags than usual, and every other house is proudly displaying the Kuwait flag, sometimes made up in lights, sometimes it’s large enough to drape from the third floor down to the ground (I have a feeling there’s a bit of neighborly competition here, “Keeping up with the Sabahs” and all).

We’d heard a rumbling through the expat grapevine that out at the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) compound in Ahmadi there was a nightly light festival that wasn’t to be missed. It was even intriguing enough for my husband to agree to go without my usual cajoling. As we were driving into the compound at dusk, my husband casually mentioned, “Oh, apparently they’re going to attack the car with super-soakers, so keep the windows up.” Somehow I feel like I should be grateful he forewarned me at all.

But he’d heard right. As we rounded the bend, following the line of cars inching along, we were suddenly faced with kids in masks totting enormous rather alarming semi-automatic-looking water guns, with which they thoroughly soaked our car. We’d been officially inaugurated. We drove around the loop, just following along like good little sheep. But then decided it would be nice to get out and walk, so we found a parking lot, grabbed the stroller and explored on foot.

The lights were everywhere and were wonderful. Trees were draped, awnings were decorated, archways were lit up. It was all rather magical; like a Disneyland knock-off. As we reached the end of the path, we crossed the street to our intended destination: the mushrooms. We’d seen them on our first pass, and knew we had to come back for some pictures. I mean, unless you’re Alice, how often do you get a chance to sit down by an enormous sparkling mushroom? Not often enough in my book. So we followed the trend and plunked Bean down on the ground under a mushroom for her photo shoot. If it doesn’t cause delayed nightmares, I’m sure it’ll at least be an amusing chapter in her therapy sessions.

But as the official days of the celebration grew near, we had been forewarned to get all our shopping done ahead of time and not make any plans to drive anywhere for February 25th or 26th because the traffic along Gulf Road, which is already a bit insane, will be essentially impassable. So we complied. In hindsight, we learned that nothing really happens before 2pm, so we could easily have run errands if we’d needed to (noted for future years).

But, they weren’t kidding when they said traffic would increase. Around mid-afternoon, traffic jams heading toward the Gulf start lining up, pedestrians (which are a rarity in Kuwait typically) start showing up heading to the Gulf, and the festivities commence. On February 25th, the festivities seen from our balcony included a fairly spectacular air show with jets doing loops and dives and ending in a plume of billowing red, green, and black smoke – the colors of Kuwaiti pride. We didn’t venture out that evening, but on the 26th, I managed to pry my husband out of the house at dusk and we headed out to see what all the fuss was about. And let me tell you, it was the biggest celebration I’d ever seen!

I’ve been on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Fourth of July, and that was a mass of people (and frankly I’ll never do it again), but the pure joy and celebratory spirit of the Kuwaitis was unmatched. Every blade of grass was covered with a family enjoying a picnic; kids were draped in all manner of Kuwaiti-flag-inspired clothing; car horns were blaring and people were hooting and hollering; the air was thick with the sweet shisha smoke from pipes everywhere; boys and girls, from the ages of 4 to 34, were sporting masks and super-soakers and spraying the traffic crawling by; even the passengers in the cars were packing heat and would happily spray back.

Just walking through the happy melee we were dutifully inaugurated again, though when a few saw we had a baby, they kindly resisted thoroughly soaking us. We walked along the road, up to the McDonald’s where we could see the fireworks show in the distance then slowly made our way back home. It was such a fun experience and other than getting a little wet, I felt perfectly safe amongst the joyous chaos and greatly appreciated getting to participate, even peripherally, in the celebration. So, if you happen to find yourself near Kuwait around February 25th and 26th, stop by and soak up a little of the festivities. But come armed with a super-soaker and a towel so you can experience the patriotism full blast!

Pictorial Essay: Kuwait's Friday Market

We haven't visited the Friday Market much during our two years here (it's such a far cry from Cairo's Khan el Khalili that I think I figured "Why bother?"). However, it's definitely a place to find a bargain and we have friends who enjoy coming and just digging for treasure, so I can see the draw. During our most recent visit, we didn't buy anything more than some great (and outrageously cheap) Indian food and an ice cream, but I finally managed to get some good photos.