There. I said it, and I am sure that I will say it again before I leave in August. How hot? Well, I just checked the weather, and at 11 a.m., it's 99 degrees with 38% humidity. It's hot. I really shouldn't complain, I mean I do have it pretty good. I can wear shorts and short sleeves, and my apartment and workplace are air conditioned. Nevertheless, it's been quite a challenge adjusting to the weather.
Sorry...just had to put that one out there.
We've been in Kuwait for about two days, and so far, things are going well. Our flight from Atlanta was around 12 hours, but it seemed to go by pretty quickly. Once we landed in Kuwait City we were met at the airport and had help getting our Visas and transportation to our apartments.
Our apartments are nice, really nice! They are fully furnished and have two bedrooms. Each
bedroom has it's own bathroom, plus we have a additional 1.5 bathrooms. We have a washer and dryer in the apartment, so that's nice also. I am living with Justin, another student from Virginia Tech.
The first night was mainly about unpacking and getting somewhat settled. I knew that I would have to stay up as late as I could to avoid any jet lag, and finally crashed around 10:00 p.m. I was woken up at 2:45 a.m. by the "call to prayer." That lasted until around 3:15 a.m. and I woke up with daylight at 5:00 a.m. I don't have curtains for my bedroom, so I've been waking up with the sun and trying to sleep as much as possible.
We met at 9:00 a.m and started our walk to campus. AUK campus is about a 45-60 minute walk from our apartments. It gave us plenty of time to see part of Kuwait City, and I could really begin to tell about westernized this country is. Across from our apartments, a new Dunkin' Donuts is being put in. Our ride from the airport was in a brand new Chevy Tahoe. On the walk to campus, we passed at least three Starbucks (not to mention the one on campus itself). I could have eaten Hardees, KFC, Ruby Tuesday's, Johnny Rockets, Baskin Robbins, Krispy Creme, or McDonald's. The western influence is definitely present.
Once we got to campus, we met with HR and signed our contracts. We took our ID pictures and met with the head of our department. Jill, Justin, and I share an office because we are in the Humanities department. After getting somethings accomplished (but not too much), we decided to start the trek back to our apartments. After a quick lunch, we stopped at the westernized grocery store and picked up some food. You can get pretty much anything at this store that you would at a grocery in the US. Then came the long, hot walk to the apartment, except this time, we were carrying grocery bags. After we made it back, it was time or a nap and a shower. I was pretty much beat and slept for a couple of hours. After dinner, we managed to find the movie JFK on TV and that was the evening.
I know I've rambled about some logisitics, but I also wanted to share with you some of my observations. First of all, I made the comment that yesterday that in some foreign countries, I felt "watched." I'm not really sure how to decribe that feeling, but here I do not. We are five Americans strolling down the street, and no one really pays much attention. Wealth is present in Kuwait. I see it more as we get closer to campus, and it will be very interesting to see what our students will be like. This is a country that is still rebuilding. Aside new construction are bombed out buildings. It's at least exciting to know that progress has been and is being made. It's also interesting to live in a country that blocks certain websites/programs. We've been told that as of four months ago, Skype is blocked. We are hoping that because it is loaded on our computers already, that we are okay. Again, we'll see.
That's all for now. More updates soon.
Sorry...just had to put that one out there.
We've been in Kuwait for about two days, and so far, things are going well. Our flight from Atlanta was around 12 hours, but it seemed to go by pretty quickly. Once we landed in Kuwait City we were met at the airport and had help getting our Visas and transportation to our apartments.
Our apartments are nice, really nice! They are fully furnished and have two bedrooms. Each
bedroom has it's own bathroom, plus we have a additional 1.5 bathrooms. We have a washer and dryer in the apartment, so that's nice also. I am living with Justin, another student from Virginia Tech. The first night was mainly about unpacking and getting somewhat settled. I knew that I would have to stay up as late as I could to avoid any jet lag, and finally crashed around 10:00 p.m. I was woken up at 2:45 a.m. by the "call to prayer." That lasted until around 3:15 a.m. and I woke up with daylight at 5:00 a.m. I don't have curtains for my bedroom, so I've been waking up with the sun and trying to sleep as much as possible.
We met at 9:00 a.m and started our walk to campus. AUK campus is about a 45-60 minute walk from our apartments. It gave us plenty of time to see part of Kuwait City, and I could really begin to tell about westernized this country is. Across from our apartments, a new Dunkin' Donuts is being put in. Our ride from the airport was in a brand new Chevy Tahoe. On the walk to campus, we passed at least three Starbucks (not to mention the one on campus itself). I could have eaten Hardees, KFC, Ruby Tuesday's, Johnny Rockets, Baskin Robbins, Krispy Creme, or McDonald's. The western influence is definitely present.
Once we got to campus, we met with HR and signed our contracts. We took our ID pictures and met with the head of our department. Jill, Justin, and I share an office because we are in the Humanities department. After getting somethings accomplished (but not too much), we decided to start the trek back to our apartments. After a quick lunch, we stopped at the westernized grocery store and picked up some food. You can get pretty much anything at this store that you would at a grocery in the US. Then came the long, hot walk to the apartment, except this time, we were carrying grocery bags. After we made it back, it was time or a nap and a shower. I was pretty much beat and slept for a couple of hours. After dinner, we managed to find the movie JFK on TV and that was the evening.
I know I've rambled about some logisitics, but I also wanted to share with you some of my observations. First of all, I made the comment that yesterday that in some foreign countries, I felt "watched." I'm not really sure how to decribe that feeling, but here I do not. We are five Americans strolling down the street, and no one really pays much attention. Wealth is present in Kuwait. I see it more as we get closer to campus, and it will be very interesting to see what our students will be like. This is a country that is still rebuilding. Aside new construction are bombed out buildings. It's at least exciting to know that progress has been and is being made. It's also interesting to live in a country that blocks certain websites/programs. We've been told that as of four months ago, Skype is blocked. We are hoping that because it is loaded on our computers already, that we are okay. Again, we'll see.
That's all for now. More updates soon.
Cory - enjoy it bro. I told you that I am envious....great blog. I'll check back later for more updated...thinking about you. Stay safe. -Chaney
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