After some tough goodbyes and lots of teary eyes we got on our way, traveling from Ottawa to Toronto to Frankfurt (for an 8 hour layover!) and then finally to Kuwait! Altogether it was over 24hours of travel time, but we were greeted by an amazing and well-organized group of admin and staff from AIS at the airport. From the airport it was an incredible drive to our apartment passing by houses (villas) that were bigger than any mansions we've ever seen! All of our luggage made it safely from Ottawa into our apartment...all of the rubbermaid tubs, suitcases and Chris' hockey equipment included! It was about 1:30am (Kuwait time) when our heads hit the pillow, (which should have felt like 6:30pm to us) but we were quickly fast asleep - only to be woken up a few hours later by the "Call to Prayer". This is an announcement for 15min over the loud speakers from the top of a mosque for all muslims to wake up and proceed with praying and this is done 5 times a day, everyday.
We were up at 7:30am and at school to begin our orientation sessions, followed by our first shopping trip! We stocked up on items for our apartment and some groceries, but there's still lots to do and buy! We had the evening to ourselves to get organized and we walked around the city for awhile, had our 2nd shwarma already (which are different than back home, smaller - but tastier!) and stopped in at a local shop to buy a hookah for our apartment. So after a few hours of unpacking and organizing, we spent last night listening to Middle Eastern music and following the cultural tradition of smoking flavoured tobacco (shisha) using the hookah...not something we would do every day, but great to have especially when we have guests over!
Today we were up early again and back at the school for more orientation, a brunch at a restaurant on the gulf and this afternoon we have some more shopping trips, followed by a dinner at our "building host's" apartment. Oh, and by the way today's high is 47 degrees Celsius!
We're so excited to be here - and having a great time so far! We've both gotten to see our very own classrooms, which are great and we're looking forward to the rest of these two weeks before school starts! Hopefully we'll have internet hooked up to our apartment soon and possibly our own cell phones (very cheap here!) and hope all is well back home.
Chris and Lori :)
4 comments:
I can't believe it's 47 degrees C...I would melt! I'm craving shwarma right now...might have to grab one for lunch =) Can't wait to see pics of your apartment and your school!
Great to hear from you guys. Looking forward to seeing your pictures and hearing all the details of your adventures in Kuwait. Take Care.
Great photos!!!! Hope you guys are having a good time. Good luck teaching, school starts soon!!!
Just got a chance to look at some pictures and read your adventures of traveling to Kuwait. Sounds like you guys are having a blast. Chris you should be teaching carpentry especially if you can build a shelf while laying on the floor and Lori you look like you would enjoy being a butchers wife.
Roger and Jan.
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