Kuwaiti Homes I Have Known (part 2)

One day Karen Ackerman and I were invited to tour Samir's house.  Samir is not a Kuwaiti, so cannot own one of these beauties, but he does live in one.  It was amazing.  These people really know how to spend their money.  This is the view of his neighbors across the street.  Yes, the tall building is a house:

Samir's landlord is very patriotic:

Here is the front porch:

And down the side yard:

The home is beautiful; easily the most beautifully decorated home I have ever seen.  And the first large, palatial home I've ever seen.   Here is one living room:

Here is another living area, a sunken conversation pit:

Multiple dining tables in the dining area:

And my favorite part:  the garden.  Kuwaitis enjoy a little slice of heaven in the big sandbox:

I didn't get photos of the rooftop patio where they have parties. Yes, parties.  With illegal alcohol even.  It's similar to our Prohibition.  When you are forced to go without something, you seem to want it more.  These people have access to all types of illegal products, if they have the money to purchase it.   I heard today that a single bottle of Carlsberg gets 10KD, which is equivalent to $35.00.   YIKES! 

I wish that the man who owns this house would marry me so that I can live here. 









Kuwaiti Homes I Have Known (part 1)

Last night, Thea Nixon and I visited the home of one of my students.   Sarah has been asking me for quite some time and it never has worked out, for one reason or another.   Last night, when Sheila Anderson couldn't accept the invitation, I asked Thea to go with me, because I didn't feel right going by myself.  Thea proved to be a most excellent companion for this particular excursion.

The first fun thing that happened was that Sarah and her driver picked us up at the accomodations at 4:15 in a Lexus, no less.  A friend of Sarah's, May, was also along for the ride.  May was my student last semester.  When we arrived at the house, the driver opened the automatic garage door, pulled in, let us out, and then backed out to park elsewhere.  Service to the door!!  Talk about being pampered!

Then, we entered the house and Sarah asked if we wanted to see some of the house.  Of course we did!  It was beautiful and so huge!  Here is a photo of one of the living rooms (yes, I said one -- there were multiple!):

This room was beautiful and full of this furniture.  It is old and the design is inset mother-of pearl.

Then Sarah showed us the diwaniya.  This is a large room with couches all around it where the men gather to eat, discuss, and generally make merry.  No women allowed.

We saw several more living areas and a kitchen, and then we saw the main kitchen.  Who knew that houses would have more than one kitchen?   I didn't, until I came here and saw these homes.  In addition to kitchens, there was a butler's pantry with a dumbwaiter, and then I saw a wet bar, but it was huge!

We had been invited to swim, jacuzzi, and eat, so Sarah then led us to the pool room.  There was a table set for us already:

I wish I had thought to take a photo of the lovely lunch we had.  Yes, lunch is late in the afternoon.  These are people of the night.  They tend to stay up to socialize and enjoy life during the cooler time of the day.  The school kids come home and take a short nap, then get up for lunch.  They then spend the evening studying, socializing, and shopping, then eat a dinner and go to bed in the wee hours of the morning.  Anyway, we were served a lovely salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a light, sweet vinaigrette.  The main entre was machboos, or chicken with rice.  The rice is cooked with small currants, dal, and spices (one was a cinnamon stick).  It is served with various sauces of differing spicyness.   Yum!

Then we got on our swimming suits and enjoyed an evening swimming and sitting in the jacuzzi.  Hanging with teenagers made me feel like one again!   It was refreshing to see these girls letting their hair down -- literally.  Sarah usually keeps her hair in a bun at school!

The house was huge and beautiful.  Sarah was a marvelous little hostess.  Futoon joined us soon after lunch, so there were three of them.  We laughed and talked and generally just had a good time.  The evening ended with Turkish coffee with dates on the side.  I left a very happy teacher, and also with an invitation to visit the seaside chalet!