Greece

This blog is turning into a bit of a travelogue, but that is just because the best part of being an international school teacher is the vacations! In between vacations life in Kuwait feels much like anywhere else, so there aren't very many interesting things to report on. Spring break came in April of this year and I ended up taking a last minute trip to Greece! It's a long story as to how that decision came about, but I will definitely still visit Jordan, my original intended spring break destination, at some point during my time here. I had been to Greece before in 2004/2005 as part of my semester abroad, and Greece was the first international destination I returned to. It felt strange to be there again in the same places I had been before, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the company of my dear friend Tylene. Tylene booked us an incredible hotel right on the sea, and we thoroughly enjoyed getting some sun time while we were there, as well as enjoying the amazing buffet breakfast at the hotel. Fresh fruit like you wouldn't believe!

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see the Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet perform Don Quixote! I really miss getting to go to ballets and plays while in Kuwait, so it was very exciting to have this work out. I've never seen Don Q live before and it was very well done.

We spent a couple of days sight-seeing in and around Athens, including the Parthenon, of course, and Cape Sounion. The weather was very nice, high seventies the whole time (which felt freezing coming from upper nineties Kuwait!) and all in all it was a very relaxing trip. This is my last vacation before I go to Germany and then Minnesota in June, and it was a great end to the year.

Hannah's Visit!

The worst part about living abroad is missing my family and friends, so you can only imagine how excited I was to have Hannah come to visit this March. As those of you who have seen us together know we share the exact same zany sense of humor (and if you've met our dad you understand where it comes from) and are able to entertain each other like no one else can. :) Hannah's visit also gave me an excuse to explore Kuwait more and see some new things. To ease Hannah into the cultural shock of being in the Middle East we started by visiting Kuwait's largest malls, The Avenues...


...complete with a movie in the VIP section of the movie theater. For double the price of normal admission you can sit in a reclining lazy boy chair in a 20 person theater and have a personal attendant come and bring you your popcorn.

To appreciate Kuwait's history we visited a museum dedicated to chronicling the '91 Gulf War.

Hannah came to school with me for a day and learned why my new mean teacher voice had to be created...

..and enjoyed Machboose, a traditional Kuwaiti dish with chicken, rice, tomato sauce and spices courtesy of one of my students. She received a whole chicken in the machboose!

We did a sunset visit to the iconic Kuwait Towers...

Visited Kuwait's tradition souq (open air market) area...

And the Scientific Center/Aquarium.

Hannah got to smoke sheesha (hookah-don't worry JuJu! It's just flavored tobacco!0 for the first time at one of my favorite places here, Layali Al Helmiya.

The two of us took a boat tour to Failaka Island, just a 45 minute boat ride of the mainland. Failaka has ruins on it dating back to the time of Alexander the Great, and had been a popular weekend destination for Kuwaitis prior to the Iraqi invasion. Unfortunately the Iraqis completely destroyed everything on the island, as they did to most of the mainland, but Failaka island has not undergone even a fraction of the restoration the mainland has. Walking around the island feels spooky, as nearly all of the homes still have bullet holes, etc. in them. Hannah and I visited an old abandoned school and there are still papers all over the floor from when the school was used before the invasion.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. Hannah and I were able to wade in the Gulf, Hannah experienced her first camel ride, and we rented a four wheeler to drive around the island.

We finished out our fantastic week by renting a car with some friends and driving out into the desert near Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately the border isn't very clearly labelled, and we almost drove right into Saudi! We finished off the day with a picnic on the Gulf before Hannah had to leave. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing sister, and I'm so thrilled she was brave enough to come to Kuwait on her own.