Next Up? Our House

Let's move on to where we live. We'll start with the outside today, and move to the inside on the next post. I don't want to sit here and load a million pictures right now.

Above, is the street we live on. Most of the town we live in, and many others are made up of new, huge, beautiful houses. They line almost every street, kind of on top of each other CA style with no yard. I'll get some more pics of the neighborhood at some point, but right now these are all I have on my camera. The picture on the right is the apartment complex we live in and we park our cars underneath that overhang. We can also park back behind the complex.

Most families here live in nice, luxurious, 3 story houses. We were set to live in one of those, had

seen pictures and planned who was going to have what room. However, when Matt arrived he found out this apartment was available. Why would we choose an older apartment over a brand new mansion? The kids. The other house had zero places for the kids to go outside and play. None. There was a tiny alley way (maybe 4 feet wide) and it sat right on a busy street. My kids LOVE to play outside and I LOVE for them to be outside. We knew that was going to be a problem considering the weather is so warm and conducive to being outside most of the year here. Thus, we chose the apartment.

The apartments are made up of 4 buildings, with 4 apartments in each building. They are big, 3000+ square feet apartments. Yes, they are older and have some groovy bathroom colors, but it seems to be working for us and Matt made a great decision once again. There are several other American families in the complex and lots of kids. It's a revolving door around here with various kids in and out of my house and my kids love it. It has a swimming pool, a small gym, and a recreation room (pool table/big tv/etc). Best of all, the kids can ride their skateboards, scooters and ripsticks around all the buildings. It's not a huge area and there is no grass, but I am thankful they have it!

Above is our front door. I'll let you have a peek at the inside next time.

It's Finally Over

It's the middle of September and my kids have still not started school yet. Some kids are already getting their progress reports. It's been a crazy summer and I keep saying it's the summer that just keeps on giving! I think summer is finally officially over in this household.

If you are curious as to why they are starting so late, it is because of Ramadan. From the earlier post I explained that Ramadan dates are based on the moon and change from year to year. This year, it just so happens to have fallen right when the beginning of school starts. They always have shortened school hours during Ramadan to help accommodate the Muslim students who have nightly festivities. It's evidently difficult to keep the kids separated, some allowed to eat lunch and some are not because of their religion. So, they chose to just wait until Ramadan ended to officially begin school. I anticipate the beginning of school being a little earlier next year, but I guess that remains to be seen.

It was very overwhelming to drive to where my kids are going to attend school. Well, a lot of things are overwhelming, but especially this. I had been told it is run down and not to be surprised when I visit the campus. Thankfully, I had been warned or I would have had a total meltdown I think. This is a private school, where they charge $12K - $15K a year based on the grade. Yes, your tax dollars are paying for my children to go to school. Thank you! They obviously do not spend the money on their facilities. It is old and not in the best condition. However, it has a fresh coat of paint and hard to tell in the pictures. The elementary school is in the best condition. There is no cafeteria in either school. The elementary children take their lunch box every single day and eat it in their classroom. The middle school has some food catered, but not much to choose from and the prices are high from what I hear. There are about 4 plastic picnic tables outside (in the 110+ heat) for them to eat their lunch. Nice, huh?

Gate to the School

Surrounding the School

We went back for orientation today and I honestly felt much better about it. The elementary school is fine and Hayden seems to have a nice spacious room for him to attend school. It looks like there are about 4 or 5 American looking names on the roster, and the other 18 all Arabic. It should prove to be an interesting year! The staff all seems very helpful and nice and we got to meet Hayden's teacher who has been in Kuwait for 5 years.

Landen will be attending middle school where he will be participating in block scheduling. I wasn't a happy camper when he had block scheduling in 5th grade in Germany, but now I am thankful that he already understands how it works. It can be quite confusing and I'm not a fan! It's harder to follow than a college schedule, in my opinion. That's a different subject though, so I'll get back on track. We think he will be able to take another year of band, but the band teacher is having visa issues and is stuck in the US right now. So, that could evidently change if the teacher doesn't arrive.The boys both seem to be upbeat about it, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. We've still got to have their TB test completed and a few other forms to finish, but they are allowed to go ahead and attend. They will wear uniforms, but I snapped a few pictures today of them in their regular clothes. Oh, the life my children are living is so different than what I ever dreamed or imagined for them. Yes, they seem to handle it all better than I do. Did I mention the bus will pick them up at 6:40am tomorrow morning? School starts at 7:10 am and ends at 2:00pm. It's going to take some getting used to in our house, me included.

View from the Middle School

Leaving A Comment

This is boring, but I wanted to address it again. I'm still having people tell me that they can't seem to leave a comment. I just thought I would try to spell it out a little easier for those of you having trouble. I changed some settings around, so anybody should be able to leave a comment regardless of whether or not you have a google or blogger account.

Click on comments at the bottom. Write your comment in the white box under "Post A Comment." Then, it asks you to choose from a drop down menu "comment as:" If you click the arrow, you should be able to choose "anonymous" and then hit the "post comment button." Just make sure you put your name under your comment in the white box so I know who you are.

If you have any questions, let me know. Thank you all for trying. It's fun to feed off of people, rather than write a blog that it feels like nobody is reading. Although, I do think it will be fun to look back at someday and the kids will enjoy it when they are older.

Hope that helps! We have a big week this week with school starting. We are also in the process of hiring a maid. Lots more to come on that.

Trying to Focus on the Perks!

I'll admit that this week I have been focused on the negatives of Kuwait. I toured the kids school but that will be a whole different post. Today, Matt took me to the Hilton to enjoy some sunshine. There are a few hotels here that have a deal with the US Embassy and we are able to use their facilities (pool, spa, gym) free of charge. Can't beat that! I was reminded today that Kawait does have its perks (even though I may leave here with skin cancer and you can't swim in the ocean because it's filled with poo) .

By the way, they didn't see whatever they were looking for with the moon, so my friend had to go to work I think. Matt got lucky and they went ahead and closed the Embassy so he has a nice long weekend at home with us! Days off from work for both American and Islamic holidays here... see, another perk.

Mystery of the Moon

There are so many things to tell you about, but tonight is more on Ramadan. We've come to the last week which is a lot of celebration from what I am told. I saw our neighbors head outside with presents under their arms when they left.

Just to give you an idea, Ramadan is the equivalent of Christmas here with several activities sprinkled through the month. For example, one night I was on the phone and the doorbell rang. Matt answered, and there were several kids at our door saying some chant to Matt. He just replied, "I'm new. I don't understand." One of them said, "candy!" Luckily, he had bought a bag of mini snickers the afternoon before so he had something to give them all. I wish I would have seen them, but maybe I'll get to next year.

Tonight we are awaiting the moon to see if Eid (the end of Ramadan) will begin tomorrow or Friday. I have friends waiting by their phones for text messages as to whether or not they are off of work tomorrow. Yes, I am very serious. It's almost 9:00pm which is close to my bedtime and they don't know whether they will report in the morning or not. Can't this be determined through science? I guess not.

What does the end of this month mean for us? We get to eat lunch, drink coffee, chew gum and shop in stores during normal daytime hours. We also get to be on the roads with the comfort of not seeing the other driver or passengers falling asleep at the stoplight from staying up all night with the festivities. Happy Eid!

Camp Arafjahn

(I really am in Kuwait!)

(Oil)

(lots of water towers all around the city)

Yesterday, Matt had the day off from work so we took advantage and got out of the house for a little bit. Did I mention that the work week is from Sunday - Thursday here? Friday and Saturday are the weekend and most people attend church on Friday. It's going to take some getting used to. I have no clue what today is... maybe when the kids start school I'll be able to keep track better.

Back to Arafjahn... Camp Arafjahn is an army base about 45 minutes from where we live in the city. It's made up of mainly deployed soldiers who are away from their family for a year. After driving through the several checkpoints (it is VERY secure, I assure you) we headed toward the PX to see what kind of goodies we could find to make us feel a little more normal here. We passed by army tanks and various vehicles that are just fresh out of Iraq. I never thought I would be seeing that first hand! I would have loved, loved, loved to snap a million pictures but Matt said I couldn't so I took his word for it. I really didn't want my camera confiscated!

It really was an experience for me, I must admit. I didn't expect it to be, but it made a big impact on me. We drove by huge tents with soldiers sitting outside them, just like you see in the movies. Only, these were REAL deployed soldiers living in REAL tents just 45 minutes from my nice air conditioned apartment. We were stopped by several of them in the BX telling us they hadn't seen kids for months and it was refreshing to see ours. They were complete strangers to us and my kids were strangers to them, but somehow there was a bond between them. I know it made them miss their own children and wives.... I could go on and on, but I won't. Just keep the soldiers in your prayers, because I'm now seeing before my own eyes the "other side" of the deployment. It must feel so lonely and the days must feel so long. Matt always told me it was the simple things, like being able to walk into a trailer and order a Subway sandwich that kept him feeling like he could make it. A Subway sandwich! It sounds crazy, but after living overseas and experiencing the little things I've experienced, I get it. Keep the soldiers in your prayers!!!

I'm posting some pictures of things we saw on the way out there. We passed a lot of oil plants from here to there. They were very secured as well, with barbed wire fences the entire length, just along the coast. Did I mention how cheap gas is here? I can fill up my car for about 3 dinar, which is a full tank of gas... about $10! I do like that. I also like the sunshine.

On an entirely different note, I changed some settings around on the comments. Let me know if it's any easier now to leave a comment. It makes me feel like people are reading and will keep me motivated to keep going on this. If not, I may fizzle out. Thank you for all the emails!

Ramadan 2010

Our first introduction into the country happened to be during Ramadan. It's definitely not the best scenario as far as arrival, but it really couldn't be helped between my knee surgery this summer and Matt being able to come pick us up. So, we knew that would be the case before we ever scheduled our flights.

Some of you may know what it's all about, and some may not. I had no clue. It's an Islamic holiday, celebrated by a month long of fasting. It is illegal to be seen eating or drinking (even water) in public during the daylight hours from dawn till dusk. At dusk (around 6:30pm), the fast is broken and they eat from that point on. From my understanding, they stay up and hop from house to house, eating until morning. The dates change from year to year, based on the moon. This year, it began Aug. 11 and is scheduled to end on Sept. 10. So, we have just a few more days to go. The last week sounds like it is just one long party.

Obviously, we are not fasting (though I could stand to lose a few pounds and probably should!) But, it does still have an impact on our family. The store hours are all open at very strange times. For example, open at 10a - 4p, then closed and reopened at 8p - ?? The restaurants are all closed as well, until after the fast breaks. Those of you who have kids understand where I'm coming from. It's hard to shop, which we need lots of household items considering we just moved. I don't know how to get anywhere and am scared to drive which doesn't help matters. Plus, we can only go out during certain times with no snacks to help entertain the kiddos! Feel my pain? It doesn't sound all that bad now that I'm typing it, however experiencing it is something totally different.

We've been advised not to drive during the hour or so before fast breaks. It gets a little crazy with everyone hopping from place to place and restaurants opening up while they are all starving. Of course, we've found ourselves out and about several times during that exact hour.

I honestly have taken no more pictures. I promise I will get some on here soon. I'll eventually take some pictures of our apartment, but I want to get some decorations up first. It's slowly but surely getting there. The kids get tested for their school this week and we are trying to settle into a routine. School doesn't start until after Ramadan is over for my kids, September 14. Yep. It's been a LONG summer!