No poppies, delicious Italian, and a things to look forward to!

Okay, okay. I slacked off again. Big time. But hear me out—it was report card week. It really should be called “Report card TIME” because a week is just the last fraction of time you have to get grades in. Leading up to that week is actually harder: chasing kids down for lost assignments and adding up said late assignments in your grade book is time consuming. Then let’s not forget that we have to add comments to students’ work. It was a harried week, friends!
We also returned from Bahrain, which I tried really hard to like, but which was really nothing more than an expensive, smaller version of Kuwait. We did go to the souq, which was cool, and I got a little wooden camel, which was also cool. I liked that part, and I also liked going to the Hard Rock café with Megan and getting a free breakfast from a rich Saudi guy whose Bentley I admired.
The weekend, however, was wonderful. Thursday night was a movie night. Megan and I went to see Wreck-it-Ralph, a hilarious and witty story featuring characters from our favorite 80s and 90s video games. It was clever and sweet and was made all the more enjoyable by the fact that we had an incredible Italian meal beforehand. We had this delectable pasta with creamy mushroom sauce and amazing lattes.
Yum!
In other news this week, I read “In Flanders Field” to my kids, and am finding it hard to get a hold of a poppy in Kuwait. I assumed the embassy would have them, but since they have hours reminiscent of an understaffed medical clinic in Canada, it’s impossible to get there before 3:30—closing time. SIGH.
Mom and Linds have sent me a package, which is exciting. It does have poppies in it but I can expect to receive in about three weeks, which is sadly long past Remembrance Day. It does, however, have pyjama pants in it, so I’m a happy camper.
Nothing else new to report. The countdown to Christmas has begun! It is a sad state of affairs to be in a country where it is hot and snowless when I am such a Christmas freak. I am missing the festive décor (although I almost wept seeing trees and decorations at IKEA on the weekend) of the malls and the twinkling of lights on the houses.
I hope you are all well, and now that I am back and settled, I can fully guarantee a quicker update for next time!

And remember! “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me!”

A day in Arab luxury!

I had….the BEST day on Sunday. The BEST day.

I have many students from Saudi, and although some of them have already gone back to Canada for university, some have stayed behind and are leaving later. One such student is Mohammed, or ‘Mo,’ a student I’ve had twice: once for level 30 and once for level 50. He’s a shy boy who showed up on time for class and worked very hard, so I was delighted when I found out he wanted to come see me!

He came last night, and met Megan and I at Avenues Mall, a mall that successfully exhibits Arab extravagance at every turn. We had a wonderful day here. There are more Dior shops per square km than anywhere else in the world. Children’s stores abound so that the adorable little long-lashed beauties can dazzle everyone in their pretty garb. Megan and I had spent hours here yesterday, and one of the things we did was indulge in a beautiful pedicure. You have to understand how bashed up your feet get as a teacher, and that is compounded once you’re a traveler. For instance, my two front toenails have been torn and bruised because of bonking into luggage and tripping on the stupid concrete in this city. So, to treat ourselves, we went in search of a place to get a pedicure. We ended up in front of two places that were side by side, and looked, to be honest, brutallllllllllyyyyyy out of our price range. We don’t get paid until the end of September, so for now, we are trying to be sensible. We share mayonnaise, soy sauce, and one pot. That species of sensible. It can also be interpreted as ‘frugal.’

So anyway, this one place looks too expensive, so we go to the other gold and marble structure with Joury written in gold letters. We walk up the silver-flecked black marble steps fully aware we will be walking them again in a few moments when we find out a pedicure costs about as much as a small home in BC.
Surprisingly, they don’t. The nice ladies at reception told us it was KD7, which is like $24. Megan and I were whisked through glass doors and into comfortable seats which delightfully massaged your back, shoulders and bottom. We drank orange juice out of delicate fluted glasses and tried to envision our lives in a month, when we would be able to do this kind of thing every month. It was amazing. Pictures below:

 Lovely 

 Lap of luxury

 

It was such a beautiful day. We left with sparkly new toes and slipped out feet into our sparkly new sandals! Then we went to meet Mohammed, his brother, and cousin, who took us on a tour of the city. We first went to dinner, which I have to say, was also amazing. If that luxury spa had been a restaurant, it would have been this place. It was right out on a pier so we were on the water. You could see the dazzle of city lights all around you, and the service was exquisite. We were waited on like royalty, with the friendly servers delivering plate after plate of succulent hummus, olives, fresh pita, salads, and an array of meats for the boys. Everything was fabulous, but there was something in the hummus that was out of this world. That stuff was addictive. It was topped with pomegranate beads and olive oil. Amazing.
After dinner, I ordered a hot chocolate and shared it with Megan, and we drank it alongside our coconut and rosewater almond pudding. Have I said the word amazing yet? Wow. I can’t even describe the size of the complementary fruit bowl they bring you, so here’s a picture:

Then the boys did shisha. I told Mohammed I wanted Megs to try it, because it’s very traditional, and I think it looks cool (caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, anyone?) and it smells nice.
So we ordered some shisha and it was fun to watch everyone having a good time.

 “A…..A E I O UUUUUUUUUUUU!”

To top off this evening, the boys paid, which was unbelievably sweet. I haven’t seen Mo in a while, and I’d never met his brother or cousin before yesterday night, so for them to take us to a ritzy restaurant and take care of it was very sweet! They only added to the sweetness by taking us around the city, going first to the Kuwait towers, which were closed, sadly, and then to places along the beach, where we got to enjoy some true Kuwaiti nightlife. Kuwait is super hot, so people typically sleep until the early afternoon, and then go out at night if they don’t work during the day. It’s cooler at night, even though ‘cooler’ is still hotter than the hottest day at home, but it was nice to walk around and not feel like dying. We took pictures and just enjoyed having a few hosts to show us around. I am grateful to the boys for coming to do this for us. I can’t wait until they come again! I am grateful to Megan for bringing up the pedicure idea, because it was a great way to treat ourselves to a wonderful day. What has your Kuwait done for you, lately???? 🙂