Freedom to drive!!!

When I lived in Seoul, South Korea I didn't have a car. The public transportation in all of Korea, but especially Seoul, is pretty much AMAZING! Subway, busses, even taxis are all cheap and easy to use. I was totally spoiled. I was super cranky when I moved to the Bay Area and discovered that even in a huge metro area in the US the public transportation was not sufficient unless you lived in the middle of downtown San Francisco. You have to have a car.

Coming to Kuwait I was told that I wouldn't NEED a car. My walk to school takes about 5 minutes and then you can take taxis. Technically that's true, but what was left out is that taxis can be a huge hassle AND they get very expensive, not to mention you have to fight with the driver for a fair price most of the time.

I've found I could easily get a taxi from my house, but pretty much everywhere I went it was very difficult to get a taxi back home. You can get numbers of drivers and have them pick you up, but that depends on if they are available, it usually takes 20-30 mins or you have to know what time you'll be finished, and it's more expensive. Any trip to the store costs $7-$10. I realized a couple months ago that this was all getting to me and my solution had been to just not go out and do anything. Staying in my apartment ALL THE TIME was getting depressing. I really didn't want to spend money on buying a car, but ultimately I decided that I NEEDED to get a license and a car or I would be miserable.

We had kinda been discouraged from getting a driver's license because the process is tedious at best and often rather difficult, but I had decided I really needed it. Just before Spring Break I got the ball rolling with some help from a guy at school and I got my license last Sunday, May 10. The whole process cost me about $330 just to get the license- and I hear it's going up. I had to take a couple of half days off school to get paperwork signed and processed. There is NO WAY a foreigner could figure this out on their own. Part of the process I needed to have an authenticated copy of my degree- which luckily I already had from my visa paperwork. It's a crazy process.

After lots of stamps, signatures, and an eye exam I was allowed to take the test. There's a written part with things like signs and stuff. I was confident about that one. I had done practice ones online and it's all pretty basic, but when I was called in to take the test the guy that brought me to the computer just did it for me. It was so weird. He didn't do that for the other people he brought in. Then I had to take the driving exam. I was nervous about this because I had heard from several sources that they just don't pass people the first time. I had two friends that had failed the first time. One had parallel parked perfectly but they said she didn't. To make an already too long story a little shorter- I did a TERRIBLE job but they passes me anyways-- yea!!

So I got my license on Sunday, and on Monday we got an email at school that one of the teachers had been stopped at a check point and detained because he was driving without a license. This is something they have been cracking down on here. I've read stories about several people being deported but it never says what nationalities. We just kinda assumed it was other nationalities, like Indian, or Egyptian. We had a meeting after school and they told us that the school was doing everything they could and using all the wasta they have (wasta is basically influence/connections) but the best they could do was get the guy deported that night instead of being detained for who knows how long before being deported. I was SOOO glad I had my license. The next day we found out that the school finally found enough wasta to get the guy out and not be deported. It was so crazy.

On Monday I bought a car- a 2007 Mitsubishi Pajero. Since gas is crazy cheap here I wanted a big car that I felt safe in and that I could haul a lot of people around in. I'm really looking forward to being able to help people without cars. So I got the car on Monday and I have been driving it every day. I LOVE it!! I knew I would be happier, but I'm really surprised at just how much happier I am now that I have the freedom to drive where ever, when ever I want. No more taxis EVER! One of my friends said he hasn't seen me smile this much the whole time I've been here. It was an awesome move. :)

Fred came to town!

A few months back my friend Fred messaged me to say he wanted to come and visit. Fred and I met in Thailand while volunteering at the Tiger Temple. He's from the Netherlands and he's one of the smartest and coolest people I know. I told him I would love to have him come but just wanted to remind him that Kuwait is pretty boring and you can't buy alcohol here. He said he could go a couple of weeks without alcohol and I laughed-- I have no idea what you would do here for more than a couple of days. He adjusted his plan to be here a few days, then off to Qatar, Oman, and then we were to meet up in Bahrain the following weekend which would be Fred's 75th country. See.... this is part of the problem when you travel. You meet people who have been more places than you and you feel like you need to catch up. Unfortunately those plans fell through. After Fred left Kuwait he got terrible news of some friends passing and had to cut the trip short so we didn't meet in Bahrain. I'm just really glad we got to hang out here for a little bit first.

He landed here and got through immigration around 10pm on Thursday and his flight to Qatar was 3pm on Saturday. That pretty much just gave us 1.5 days to see Kuwait, which turns out to be plenty of time-- even with everything being closed on Friday morning. It was so good to have him here. It forced me to get out and see things, which I haven't been doing. I've been keeping myself cooped up in my apartment, not really wanting to go out. We walked the Corniche, saw the towers up close, went to the planetarium, walked past the grand masque, and ate at Applebee's (Fred's favorite).

Friday night a couple of teachers were having a Friday Market Prom. The Friday Market is like a big flea market and apparently you can get some really hideous prom dresses there for cheap. I hand't gone shopping or anything because I wasn't sure if we would be going. When I was telling Fred about it he asked, "So, would an orange suit be appropriate?" I was like, "You have an orange suit in your backpack?!" Sure enough, he did. This is why I love Fred. He had the suit because it was going to be King's day when he got back to the Netherlands so he was just going to stay in Amsterdam and celebrate with his friends. For those that don't know, they wear orange for King's day. It was perfect and he was easily the highlight of the party- as always. :) Thanks for coming Fred!

First time I got this close to the towers. 

Towers at night :) 

Isn't that suit the coolest?

Bumble standing guard of Fred's bag. 

Sir Bumble Fluffington

After I got back from spring break I took in a new kitty. One of my student's cat had had kittens and he had asked me if I wanted one. I really believe that Tux needed another cat to keep him company and play with so I got one. He's a purebred Himalayan and super cute. I decided he needed a purebred  and fancy name too. He looks just like the abominable snow monster in the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer TV so I stole the name Bumble from that. (Bumble is the name of the snow monster)

To make it fancy and because he's so fluffy! I added the "Sir" and "Fluffington" so he's Sir Bumble Fluffington, but I usually just call him Bumble.

I love Tux, but having spent 5-6 months of his life on the street he's not the mostly friendly and cuddly cat. Bumble let's me hug and kiss him and love all over him. It's been a month and Tux still doesn't like him. He tolerates him some times, but often he wants to chase him, hiss at him, and swat at him. I do think they'll eventually get along. I'm hoping once they both have the surgery and once Bumble is a little bigger Tux will stop being such a brat. Luckily Bumble isn't terrified of Tux and still tries to be his friend.

My sister made me create a Facebook page for them- so here's the link to that. The Adventures of Tux and Sir Bumble Fluffington: https://www.facebook.com/TuxandBumble