Kuwait Apartment Life
The apartment complex that houses the teachers is eight stories tall (painted blue to match the school…which is important since it is directly across the street). You can see what my apartment looked like as soon as I got here…later I will post photos after I have decorated and made it comfortable. All the basics have been provided, standard IKEA fare. (The couches and the chair are super Uncomfortable, I can tell you that!) I am struggling with the fact that the kitchen has only one electrical outlet, meaning that I have to buy a power strip which will take up some of my valuable (read almost non-existent) counter space! LOL The oven is very small compared to what we are used to in the states, but very cute. The floors are marble, which reminds me of the wonderful resort we stayed at in Mexico. My bed only had a flat sheet on it, along with one of those blankets that used to be the craze in the states….I think they were called silk blankets or something like that. Kuwaitis love them…I have seen them in various stores now. I hurried up and got a fitted sheet so I could sleep between clean sheets!
There are six apartments on each floor. We have a great commons area in the basement with a big screen TV (yes, we do get some American channels), a few exercise machines, bookcases full of books, tables and chairs for large gatherings, and groups of couches for visiting. We also have storage units down there for things that we don’t want to keep in our tiny apartments. There is also a laundry room where we can do our laundry for free…no paid machines here! The lobby of this building is very interesting in that it is all glassed in which makes it feel very open. We have two elevators.
Teachers here socialize quite a bit. One day Kim invited everyone to her apartment for pancakes; yesterday five people stopped by my apartment to visit and eat cake; one couple has had game night. Now, I don’t know if this is only because school hasn’t started yet, or if this is an on-going thing, but I am enjoying it while I can!
The story of my microwave
The only reason this gets its own heading is because shopping here is so interesting that I have to tell you about my experience in purchasing a microwave. There is an electronics store located within walking distance of the apartment, so we decided to check there for a very small microwave. The store is located in a smallish mall-type building and is broken up into two different stores; one part of it is upstairs and one part downstairs, but not together, one above the other. We had to go downstairs for the kitchen appliances, and it was great; the selection was awesome. Of course, there were no familiar brands! LOL There were sales people everywhere. We found the one I wanted, and it was on sale for only 11KD, which is about $37 or so – a great deal. A sales person takes the tag over to a desk and another one enters your name, telephone number, and purchase into the computer. Then you have to go to the store that is upstairs, give another sales person your telephone number, he generates the receipt and takes your money, and gives you your purchase. Even better, yet another sales person carried the microwave out to the curb and hailed us a taxi! It was a convoluted process, but it was very satisfying!
The apartment complex that houses the teachers is eight stories tall (painted blue to match the school…which is important since it is directly across the street). You can see what my apartment looked like as soon as I got here…later I will post photos after I have decorated and made it comfortable. All the basics have been provided, standard IKEA fare. (The couches and the chair are super Uncomfortable, I can tell you that!) I am struggling with the fact that the kitchen has only one electrical outlet, meaning that I have to buy a power strip which will take up some of my valuable (read almost non-existent) counter space! LOL The oven is very small compared to what we are used to in the states, but very cute. The floors are marble, which reminds me of the wonderful resort we stayed at in Mexico. My bed only had a flat sheet on it, along with one of those blankets that used to be the craze in the states….I think they were called silk blankets or something like that. Kuwaitis love them…I have seen them in various stores now. I hurried up and got a fitted sheet so I could sleep between clean sheets!
There are six apartments on each floor. We have a great commons area in the basement with a big screen TV (yes, we do get some American channels), a few exercise machines, bookcases full of books, tables and chairs for large gatherings, and groups of couches for visiting. We also have storage units down there for things that we don’t want to keep in our tiny apartments. There is also a laundry room where we can do our laundry for free…no paid machines here! The lobby of this building is very interesting in that it is all glassed in which makes it feel very open. We have two elevators.
Teachers here socialize quite a bit. One day Kim invited everyone to her apartment for pancakes; yesterday five people stopped by my apartment to visit and eat cake; one couple has had game night. Now, I don’t know if this is only because school hasn’t started yet, or if this is an on-going thing, but I am enjoying it while I can!
The story of my microwave
The only reason this gets its own heading is because shopping here is so interesting that I have to tell you about my experience in purchasing a microwave. There is an electronics store located within walking distance of the apartment, so we decided to check there for a very small microwave. The store is located in a smallish mall-type building and is broken up into two different stores; one part of it is upstairs and one part downstairs, but not together, one above the other. We had to go downstairs for the kitchen appliances, and it was great; the selection was awesome. Of course, there were no familiar brands! LOL There were sales people everywhere. We found the one I wanted, and it was on sale for only 11KD, which is about $37 or so – a great deal. A sales person takes the tag over to a desk and another one enters your name, telephone number, and purchase into the computer. Then you have to go to the store that is upstairs, give another sales person your telephone number, he generates the receipt and takes your money, and gives you your purchase. Even better, yet another sales person carried the microwave out to the curb and hailed us a taxi! It was a convoluted process, but it was very satisfying!
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