Kuwait Drivers

I know everyone talks about how bad Kuwaiti people drive but now that I drive to and from the base I can say that Americans are just as bad. In the morning I was tailgated by an American guy and on the way back these days they haul azz down the highway. I guess driving crazy is spreading!

I should just stay Home

I should really stay home. If I'm not with my husband I should really not go out because I always get in trouble. Today was my first day driving alone since I came back to Kuwait. After being out for a couple hours I came home and looked for parking. There was an empty space but there was a Prado blocking the spaces, someone in the car was waiting. I pulled behind them and tapped the horn. She wouldn't move. Flash the lights she didn't move. She put her car in reverse then back to park. Tapped the horn but she just flat out refused to move up a foot so I could park.

Finally an old Kuwaiti lady came out and got in the car. I finally parked and as I got out I was like "man she's a b****", not talking to her but talking to myself, well she heard me and of all the Kuwaiti people in my area she had to understand English. Well there she goes telling me I shouldn't talk like that in her country and that I might talk like that in my country but not hers. I was like all you had to do was pull up a little bit to let me in the space. She kept on bla bla bla then as she drove off she spit at me.

WTH! I then cussed her in Arabic and she reversed her car and got out and approached me. She was a little lady and shorter than me but she was like what did you call me?! She came up to my face, I was waiting for her to slap me, as they usually do that to foreigners but then she grabbed her shoe so I grabbed mine, she hit me on my arm and I hit her on the side of head with my shoe and left a big azz shoe print on her hijab. She then went after me with her other shoe. I was trying to call my husband and take down her tag. She gathered up her shoes and got back in her car and of course as she drove off she spit at me again. Just like when a camel gets pissed it spits at people. Now I know how Bush felt. lol

My husband was ready for the police. I don't know if she went to the station to report it but now I have to be aware of my surroundings. She wasn't a city Kuwaiti so I'm sure she has a tribe behind her. Maybe she will do something to my car, it's a rental so whatever. I will have to get my bat and put it back in the car. I used to always carry it with me. My first day out and this happens. I just hate when people spit at me. It's so ghetto.

I really try to be nice but with so much stupidity it's very hard especially when some people think they are better than others. I will arm myself when I go out alone, I don't trust any of those kind of people.

Back to Contracting

I've gone back to contracting. I've got schools to pay for so contracting is the only solution. I went back to a company I used to work for. It was nice to be back on base. I can once again shop for American stuff woohoo! Too bad we can't bring cars on, time to take the buses. I thought I was going to be in admin because that's what I'm good at and discussed with the admin DPM but once I do the in processing I'm told I will be going to the desert even though there were 2 openings in admin and the person they brought in was fresh from the states and knows nothing about Kuwait. Wow, thanks a lot.

I was put in the desert part of the base to track the incoming equipment. OMG! I'm delicate. Really I am when it comes to 120 degree weather in the open desert. So yesterday was my first day. No one advised me to wear sunscreen or wear long sleeves. Needless to say I got burnt to a crisp. I hate the sun and never go out in it. God made me white so I will stay white. I don't need skin cancer. If I wanted a tan I would spray one on from a bottle.

I also had on a red shirt so I just looked like a lobster. I was miserable. We were dropped off in the desert to track the vehicles. We were given a cooler of water that had no ice. We started at 8 a.m. and finished at 11. We were told we had no transportation back to the hut where our office is. I was barely hanging in. I was dragging along thinking I was going to die. I had a headache and was feeling sick. It was about a 35 minute walk back to the hut in the glaring heat.

We started walking. We don't have gators or any kind of internal transportation and the supervisor was doing another job so no car ride. The FN have gators and they have vans come and pick them up. Nice. I saw a white guy on a gator rolling toward us. I stuck up my hitchhiking thumb in hopes he would save us. He was a British guy and he gave us a ride back. My hero for the day.The a/c was out half of the day in the hut which meant no cooling down. I did start to tear up because I was in so much pain. I hid them under my sunglasses.

Everyone was like daaaamn! when they saw me. I was really sick. I came home and my family was shocked when they saw my face and arms. I took a shower and cried a little from the pain of the water hitting my arms. I thought about how the PM shot me down when I asked to be moved to the warehouse. The only thing he told me was that I should have worn long sleeves when he saw my arms. I've know this guy since 2005 before he was PM and he knows my husband, that's how I got the position and it was during the first phone call that I asked for an admin position and was told there would be openings.. I guess I thought he would treat me a little better but I learned real quick that's not going to happen. I had high hopes of working with the company and was happy when I got the job offer. But now my opinion has changed.

I found out a lot yesterday. There are people who are not getting visa 18 and the admin is really bad, yet they won't put me there even though I've done admin in Kuwait for over 7 years. They don't even pay as well as other companies and they expect the employees to get their own phone and lines, purchase work boots, hard hats and safety vests too. I had to wear some used hat that was too big for me. Yuck! There are also people off base who can't get their access badges, some for almost a year.

I'm still in pain now. I had a long sleeved shirt on today and my arms were still hurting. I don't know how I'm going to do it all over tomorrow. I was really disappointed to see no one really cared that I was in pain. They just want the job done. I'm all about working but when you feel you have no options and that no one really cares it makes the work days longer. I will head out tomorrow with sunblock, long sleeves, a hat and hope of surviving in the desert.

If anyone needs an admin person let me know lol

Today's Ministry adventure

Oh man, I would much rather walk over hot coals than deal with the ministries, especially those that inlove dealing with Kuwaiti females. Unfortunately some braniac in the immigration had at some point combined my first and middle name. My husband then changed it back to my 3 names. When he went to register my son he was told the marriage cert and my name didn't match and we would have to get it changed, until then we can't get the document.

Seriously? He could have let it slip by but he wanted to be a jerk. Today was my appointment in Hawally at some name change ministry place. This is also where all of the bedoon people are going to get their marriage/birth certificates since they have been allowed to have them issued.

This means the people are used to dealing with bedoons and have the crappiest attitudes. My husband has to walk around with his civil id to show them he's Kuwaiti.

When the women see me they get attitudes immediately. We waited for about 20 minutes. The Kuwaiti lady called my name. We sit down and the she asks if I speak Arabic. Well I do to some degree but not all the technical mumbo jumbo. She tells us we must have a translater and my husband can't do it. WTH? I' started contracting again ( another story ) so I have no time to keep going here and there. My husband talked to the manager and he said it's ok if he translates.

That pissed off the Kuwaiti chick. We sat down again and she was like sorry it's 12 and time for me to get off. I don't work overtime. OMG! We did finally have her majesty do the swear in and writing for us but she was pissed off. When we got down to the car the time was 12:08 which means she was trying to get off work early and we messed up her schedule.

While talking to the lady the other Kuwaiti chick was talking on the phone to her mom about purple, black and beige purses. The old bedoon guy came in and she was totally yelling at him. I couldn't even hear the questions being asked. I felt bad for the guy. She was totally rude and so loud. We finished the first step and hopefully my husband can finish the rest. I don't feel like dealing with ministries on my only day off.

I had to get a new number for work because my new company is damn cheap and wants us to have contact with them all the time but they don't want to give us phones or lines. I guess we are responsible for the bill too. I didn't read that in my offer letter. Anyhoo we went to Mangaf to get a work number. As we are finalizing the paperwork in comes a niqabi chick yelling/asking how much the Iphone is. She came in and stood almost on top of me asking about the phone.

Hello! Don't you see me? I really hate when they walk up on you when you are waiting in line or something. It's called PERSONAL SPACE so back off!! So as we are standing there she decides she wants the phone. She gives him some sob story about how her daughter lost her phone and he should give her a good price because she was crying about it WTH? She then told him to hurry up because she had to go to work. Obviously we were invisble or something. All of this on my first day off since I started working.

Like I said I would rather walk across hot coal than deal with b.s. But it seems I always have something that needs ministry attention. I wonder what the next thing will be.

Sorry guys the end of the world didn't Happen

Well the world is still going Alhumdulilah. But I guess it sucks for those who believed today was the end of the world. Those people are probably really pissed considering they gave up jobs and all of their worldly goods. Maybe they can all cram inside the RVs and make their own little community at some rest stop.

It's not funny I suppose but they are the butt of jokes for the next few days. Well the next end of the world activity will be on 12/12/2012 according to Nostradamus. So until then we have to keep paying our bills and working.

We will have to wait and see.

Another reason why Americans are not Liked

American eludes arrest in ‘liquor-peddling’ bust; Pakistani, Egyptian ‘deliverymen’ nabbed:

"American eludes arrest in ‘liquor-peddling’ bust; Pakistani, Egyptian ‘deliverymen’ nabbed

KUWAIT CITY, May 21: A team of anti-narcotics officers arrested a Pakistani and an Egyptian for trading in alcohol with 250 bottles of foreign liquor in their possession.
It has been reported the team put an American under surveillance after receiving information that he has been importing liquor into the country and has become popular in the trade over the last years. After gathering enough evidence, the team sent an undercover agent to purchase four bottles of liquor worth KD 270 from the suspect but they were surprised to find the Pakistani and Egyptian in the American’s apartment in Salwa.
The team searched the apartment, resulting in the discovery of 260 bottles of different types of liquor. During interrogations, the suspects told police they got KD 15 for each bottle sold. They were referred to the concerned security department for the necessary legal action.
A case was registered and the authorities have launched a man-hunt for the American."

Now that they have an idea of what this guy looks like they will be putting up check points everywhere and will start harassing innocent Americans. Good job man. I guess he doesn't make enough money contracting???? He has to sell liquor too? Will people ever learn to stop doing illegal stuff? Is it worth a manhunt and losing your job? Wait until they catch the guy and put him in jail. The embassy has no involvement with people, especially those who break this kind of law. I think part of in-processing should be to take all people on a tour of the jails in Kuwait to give them and idea of where they would go if they get caught. A jail cell with 50 other FN men who don't shower, no beds and from what I've heard no food except some rice. If no one knows you're there you will be lost for a long time until someone finds you. No phone calls either.

One guy working for ITT years ago accidently hit and killed an Egyptian worker who ran in front of his car. He was arrested and never heard from for 2 years. Finally after paying blood money he was released and got a job with CSA only to later turn up in the newspaper when he was arrested for drugs. Some people never learn. After that no one knows what happened to him.

I ask everyone, is it really worth losing it all for greed?

CPR classes

A friend of mine has started up a company (Change and Challenge Business Center) which teaches CPR, Arabic and trains people for OSHA. I know there are a lot of people who would like to learn CPR as well some who are required to learn it. In the states we usually go to the Red Cross for training.

In Kuwait I've heard of some classes but I wasn't sure if I would get a certificate or not. If any of you are interested in learning CPR you can check out his website and get more information through his site. Below is a picture of the class being taught.

Here is a link to the company site :
http://ccbc-kw.com/

Salon Drama

Salon workers beat up, hurt Kuwaiti clients:

"KUWAIT CITY, May 15:

Two young Kuwaiti women sustained injuries in different parts of their bodies when a number of female Asian workers in a famous salon in Jabriya allegedly attacked them.

Eyewitnesses revealed one of the injured paid in advance for the services she wanted to avail from the salon. However, when she arrived in the salon, there were many customers waiting inside. She then asked one of the salon workers to return her money, because she cannot wait in line as she had an appointment. The worker grudgingly returned the money and dealt with the Kuwaiti woman in a bad manner.

When the Kuwaiti woman asked the worker why she was behaving badly, the worker started beating her with the assistance of the other salon staff. The woman then called her sister, who was waiting for her on the ground floor of the building, but the Asian workers took turns in beating them. One of the workers allegedly tried to attack the two Kuwaiti women with a scissor but the other women inside the salon intervened.

The women reported the incident at a nearby police station and investigations are ongoing."


I wonder what's the real story? I've seen the way some people treat the salon employees. There's 2 sides to every story. I doubt it happened as written.

AWARE Center Event

An upcoming event from the AWARE center. Check out their website for more events for the month of May.

AWARE Center:

"Guided Tour: “The Grand Mosque” 14 May 2011, 9:30 am

This is a 1 ½ tour of one of Kuwait’s most famous landmarks. People are requested to meet on location at 9:15am. Tour starts at 9:30am. Dress code conservative, cameras aloud. The Grand Mosque is an important landmark of Kuwait. This tour begins with all interested individuals meeting at the Grand Mosque. Please note, women are kindly requested to wear long and loose fitting clothing and may take a scarf for covering their hair or otherwise will be provided one by the grand mosque"

Japan Folk Dance and Music Show- Awesome!

The other day my mom saw an ad in the Arab Times with info on a show given by the Japanese embassy. Since my daughter LOVES Japan and everything about it we went to the show last night. It's at the Al-Dasma theater. It started at 7 p.m. and we were there right on time. It wasn't very crowded which made it nice.

When we entered we were given glasses of juice. We went and grabbed our seats as the show began. I will post some pics when I get them but I wanted everyone to know that there's a show tonight at 7 p.m. The show was so amaaaazing! The women were beautiful and the costumes were so bright and colorful.

It's a story about the four seasons in a southern island. There was singing and Japanese dances. It never got boring. The presentation told a story about the four seasons. The music was surprisingly cool. I really wanted some of their outfits, they are so colorful.

During intermission we were offered a finger food buffet. Awesome! I saw one of the newspaper photographers running for the door and when I got to the line he was picking up food with his fingers and eating the food right out of the tray. Rude! I would figure that people would realize there's a limited amount of food and several people still in line. I only took a few pieces as I didn't want to be greedy. That didn't stop some of the people from thinking they were at a real buffet. They piled on the food like this was dinner.

The second half of the show was just as good. I really had a nice time and hope Japan can recover from the earthquake and tsunami. I would like to thank the the Embassy of Japan for bringing such a wonderful program, it was beautiful!

There will be a second showing tonight at 7 p.m. at the Al-Dasma theater. I highly recommend it!

Adventures in Kuwait

The other day I tracked down Josie to do my hair for me. She used to work at Marina Palace until she had a disagreement with the Lebanese owner so she left. Unfortunately the owner still has her passport. I personally don't like the Lebanese owner after she butchered my hair when I first went there. Thank God Josie was there to fix it, that was 5 years ago. I had to force myself to go to the ghetto place in Mangaf to get my hair done but I will only let her do my hair. So for those of you who know Josie, she's still around.

The real adventure started earlier that day when my husband got a phone call saying there was an American locked up in CID. He was on his way to Afghanistan and got taken in at the airport for being blacklisted. It seems his old company failed to cancel his residency properly and he ended up blacklisted. After finishing from the salon I rode with my husband to get him out of custody.

We went to the CID place, I had to stay in the car. Being female it's not the best place to go even though I was so curious as to what's inside I waited in the car. After a few minutes my husband arrived with the guy. I let him use my phone to call his wife and work. I really felt for the guy having to be arrested and put in a police car and driven to detention. We took him to the hotel and my husband has been taking him to all the courts and got his blacklist lifted.

This isn't the first time my husband has done this. He usually gets a couple phone calls a week regarding some American in jail or having problems. The thing that bothers me is when Americans are locked up and they are crying and begging to get out of jail they promise anything to get out. He asks them about a job for me or something like that and they promise him the world. I warned him about them. I told him unfortunately when people are in trouble or scared they will promise you the world and once they are free they forget everything.

I told him he should just stop helping and let them stay in jail. What Americans don't realize is that the embassy does not help those in jail or with legal problems. The embassy is pretty much useless here except for renewing passports or adding pages.

I must say this last guy was a real nice guy. He did pay for the expenses for court and the fees for the service. If you're broke then you will have an even bigger problem if you get in trouble.

What's really pathetic is that the American guy's company paid AGT for meet and greet services. AGT must use HALA services in the airport which is free I'm told. I hope that's not true because AGT is making money off a free service. The HALA services chick met the American guy and took him to the visa place. From there the police came and took him away, the HALA agent did nothing and told him they would take care of him. They sure did. They took him straight to jail. He was lucky my husband got to him before they took him to the real jail. Some American guy sat in jail for 2 months without being found until the Kuwaiti police guy called my husband.

So for any Americans coming to Kuwait who have worked here before be warned that your old company might have got you blacklisted. Even if you're in transit to Iraq or Afghanistan and come to the airport there could be a surprise arrest waiting for you. If you plan to leave Kuwait make sure you pay off everything and find out if your visa is for sure cancelled if you ever plan to come back.

If you plan on coming to Kuwait make sure you have a point of contact or 2 in Kuwait. Bring a credit card or money if possible as you never know what might happen.

If your in transit you will probably be on your own if something happens in Kuwait. This guy gave me 3 different contact numbers in the states to try and reach his company and at that time they were all in meetings. Finally I got in touch with someone after a couple hours and he didn't know the guy by name so it was hard to even get any info from his company. The company will probably reimburse this guy, he had a $25000 corporate card. But if you're not so lucky to have that then you will have to pay for the fees your self if you get in trouble. I don't think companies will reimburse you either considering it's your problem and not theirs.

Beware of AGT- American General Trade, it seems their meet and greet services aren't what they should be.

For those who have been in Kuwait remember to make sure you take care of EVERYTHING before you leave. If you even owe 1 KD they can blacklist you. Phone bills, loans or anything else pending take care of it and make sure you have proof of your residency being cancelled!

For those returning to Kuwait again make sure you have at least 2 POC's and a credit card or some money in case something happens.

Jail here is worse than the states. You will be locked up with 20 other guys in one cell. IF they feed you it's some kind of rice thing and you don't get a phone call either. If you do get arrested I suggest you be extremely nice to the police guys. They decide your fate.

Use words like:

Salam alaikam- peace upon you- greeting when meeting someone

wa alaikam salam- when answering the greeting

mashkoor -kuwaiti dialect or shukran- thank you

Pray that you never have to go through any kind of detention. It's no fun and the embassy won't help you.

Another great newspaper Article.

The English newspapers always have something that makes you laugh, if it's not the article itself then it's the way they write the article and words they use. I saw this and of course laughed at the whole issue. The woman getting beat is not funny but the reason is. I can just imagine a Kuwaiti guy telling the cops he beat her because she spread rumors of him being impotent. Way too funny if you ask me.



Have you seen him? Call 112 now! ; Guards party to crime:

"‘She says I’m impotent’:

A Kuwaiti woman has filed a complaint with the Hawalli police accusing her ex-husband of beating her, reports Al-Rai daily.
The complainant has allegedly submitted a medical report issued by the Mubarak Al-Kabir showing injuries on her body.
When police summoned the ex-husband for interrogation, he admitted to the charge. He said the complainant is his relative and he had divorced her some time ago. He added he was annoyed because three months after the divorce the woman began spreading rumors that he is impotent. He added his tribesmen rejected him and no one offered to marry their daughters to him. The ex-husband has also submitted a medical report refuting the allegations made by the ex-wife. A case has been registered but the man was released on bail."


I just love the newspapers here.