My students are always very curious about what we do in our free time. Unfortunately, I rarely have anything exciting to tell, and I ask them for suggestions on how to spend the weekend. I’m curious what Kuwaiti college students do on the weekends. Most of them live at home, and with no bars/clubs or alcohol, college life appears much different than what most American students experience. When I asked them how they spend their free time, most respond the same: “We go to the mall.”
This does make sense. I mean it’s hot, so you aren’t going to head out for run or take a leisurely stroll during the daytime. Being outside is not very appealing when it’s over 120 degrees. Instead, they pile into their luxury SUVs and head to one of the many malls in and around Kuwait City. There, Kuwaitis can enjoy the air conditioning while drinking Starbucks and looking for designer clothes and accessories.
THE mall in Kuwait is called “The Avenues.” (Check out the website: http://www.the-avenues.com/home.html) In true Kuwaiti fashion, we headed out to The Avenues on Friday. I’m not a connoisseur of malls. I tend to avoid trips that include spending over two hours at any mall, but because there is not much to do on a weekend, I was game.
As our cab pulled up, I was in awe. This place was HUGE! We went in and began to take in our new surroundings. The mall had everything you could imagine. Versace to Guess. IKEA to Foot Locker. Express, H&M, and even the GAP. The food choices were also endless. Chili’s. Applebee’s. Johnny Rockets. Marconi Grill. Every fast food restaurant imaginable. If you wanted coffee, you could choose between one of the seven Starbucks or any of the other chain coffee shops.
What did I buy? Nothing. Well, not nothing. I did purchase my first souvenir. I purchased a Kuwait Starbucks mug. I know. Nothing traditional, but I had to have it. Otherwise, everything else was very expensive! We felt at home in the GAP, but it didn’t take long to
realize price is not an issue to many Kuwaitis. A men’s polo was on sale for 6KD (over $20), and that’s on sale! Definitely not the bargain you can find in the GAP outlet at Christiansburgmall. After several hours, the mall became noticeably busier, and we were done. We decided to catch a cab and head back to the apartment. This is where things got interesting.
For the most part, we’ve had decent luck with cabs to this point. I mean, yes, some of them smell funny and the driver might be slightly creepy. However, there have been no cabs stories to this point. We located our driver and negotiated our price and headed to his cab. It looked new-ish, and when we got in, Metro Station was blaring on the radio. It smelled pleasant and even had a Renuzit air freshener on the dash. I thought to myself that this was going to be a great end to a great day. I thought too fast.
As our driver was backing up, apparently he did not see two teenagers directly behind his car. He didn’t hit them, but the teenagers were not happy. They began yelling and pounding on the trunk of his cab. Our driver was yelling in Arabic, and one of the teenagers came to the passenger window. This is also where I was sitting. The cab driver rolled down the window, and they continued their yelling match. Except now, I was in the middle of it. I was just waiting for them to start swinging at each other over me. Again, we aren’t sure what was said, but it angered the driver enough that he got out of the cab. The teenager went over to the driver, and they began fighting…shoving, pushing, yelling, and even choking each other.
Meanwhile, we are still in the cab paralyzed, not sure what to do. After we realized something bad was going down, we bailed. As we were getting out, the driver appeared surprised and yelled at us to get back in. We quickly left the scene and found another driver to take us home.
I’m sure there are many levels to why the incident elevated so quickly. Perhaps the teenager made a comment about a “lowly cab driver.” Or maybe the cab driver made a comment about “spoiled rich kids.” I’ll never know. I do know my heart was racing after that experience, and it makes me appreciate our morning drives to campus with our “normal” cab drivers.
ENGL 108: Week #3
Our four-week crash course in Public Speaking ends on Thursday, and I am having mixed emotions. It takes about two or three weeks before you really begin to have a relationship with your students. I am finally feeling comfortable with my students, and I can tell they are much more comfortable with me. We have bonded, and I’m a bit sad that I get another group of students in a week.
I am learning more and more about my students, and it’s fascinating to hear about their lives. Several are married and one is pregnant with her first child. Many have aspirations of graduate school, and one student was telling me about her desire to pursue graduate school in London. Another student was telling me about her plan to transfer to Texas A&M in College Station and finish her degree in petroleum engineering. One student is back in college after taking off 20 years. She is originally from Brooklyn and met her Kuwaiti husband while he was in graduate school in the New York. Listening to them describe their live in Kuwait and their future plans is intriguing, and I find myself wanting to spend time visiting with them during class.
This past week their presentation was a collaborative presentation in which the topics were chosen by the class. They were given six categories (current events, travel, education, culture, history, processes), and they were able to identify several topics in each. I did however have the right to eliminate topics immediately (Michael Jackson’s death). Through the process of elimination, we settled on five topics: honor killings, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, English versus Arabic, breast cancer, and Turkey. I thought the topics were very interesting, and I was really looking forward to their presentations.
Personally, I found the Iraqi invasion one of the most fascinating topics. While visiting with the members of that group, I learned that each was affected by the invasion in different ways. One student’s father was captured, and he eventually fled back to his family. The invasion began on August 2, 1990, and one student was born on August 3rd. Originally, Iraqi soldiers “claimed” her as a citizen of Iraq. In fact, it wasn’t for another year that she received her Kuwaiti passport, and at that point, her parents changed her name to “Amel” which in Arabic means “hope.” For my students, most were either very young or not born when the invasion occurred. Even so, each has their own story, and I wish I had more time to ask about their experience.
I also was very interested in the group’s presentation about “honor killings.” If you aren’t familiar with this concept, Google it. This group spoke with such passion. It was evident they believe in the importance of informing our class about this phenomenon. In fact, they went over the time allotted for their presentation, and which results in a loss of points. After class, one member came over to me and asked me if they were over time. After I told her yes, she said she knew they would lose points, but that the points were not as important as informing the women about this topic. Again, I was impressed.
This next week’s presentation is a persuasive presentation. I am definitely interested in seeing what these young ladies come up with.
Other items of interest
Dunkin’ Donuts. Just when I think there is no progress to report, then something changes! After our Saturday morning breakfast of pancakes and French toast, we were at Jill and Emily’s when Jill saw some movement. There were four or five people that were leaving DD, and they had all kinds of paperwork with them. I’m sure they were doing final inspections before the grand opening. Okay, not really, but one can hope.
Meredith’s Birthday. I think that Meredith had a good birthday! The ladies experienced the aqua park for the afternoon, and then we all had dinner at Zaatar W Zeit. The restaurant specialized in Lebanese food, and it was excellent! I especially enjoyed the labneh and halloum for our appetizers! (Check out the menu if you are interested: http://www.kuwaitpaperdump.com/food-restaurants/zaatar-w-zeit/)Again, the meal was relatively inexpensive, and we topped off the dinner with a trip to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. Big day, big day!
The Gym. I know I’ve mentioned our quaint gym in our building. Don’t get me wrong, we are very lucky to have it. The equipment is new, and there is a new flat screen television on the wall. However, the air conditioning does not work on a consistent basis. Temperatures range from 24 degrees Celsius to 31 degrees Celsius (24=75 degrees F, 31= 88 degrees F). It’s hot down there, and there is no air moving at all. I will definitely be glad to hit the pavement in Blacksburg or even get on the treadmills at New Tech Fitness.
Dust and Tile. I’ve never lived in an all tile apartment. The tile is great, and it looks awesome! However, with the amount of dust present, it is so hard to keep clean. I guess this is helping me with my OCD cleaning tendency, but it can get rather disgusting. You can dust the table in the morning and by the end of the same day, it’s dusty again. In fact, Emily left a cup of water on their table one morning, and she reported that when she got home, there was thin layer of dirt on the water. Tasty. For now, we are sweeping lots and keeping our curtains closed during the day. Maybe that will help.
Travel. We are doing some traveling next week. Jill and I leave for Taba, Egypt on Friday, and we will meet Emily, Meredith, and Kevin in Amman, Jordan on Wednesday. We are going to spend two days in Amman and make the trip to Petra as well. We are talking about the possibility of also visiting the Dead Sea. I can’t wait!
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