8/25/13 Powerwashing

08/25/2013   POWER WASHING

After my trip and overwhelmingly emotional day, I expected to sleep well the evening of the 24^th.   It was not to be.  I went to bed early, but then woke up at 10:15.  Got up and ate half a sandwich and had a cup of chamomile tea because my stomach was growling.  I thought the tea would help me sleep.   Back to sleep.  Awake at 2:30-ish.  Sleep.  Awake at 3:45 due to wake up call to prayer.  Sleep.  Alarm wakes me at 5:00.  Okay, I can tell it’s going to be a long day.

And it was.  Boring PD about ELL students.  Excited about shwaerma for lunch, but turns out they don’t make it until 4:00, so settled for a falafel sandwich.  Afternoon visiting with friends and PD on curriculum mapping.  Work in room.  What?  It’s 3:00?   YAY   I’m outta here!   At 5:15 I am going to go to Eric and Whitney’s party:  engagement and Whitney’s birthday. That should be fun!

I sit down on the couch with a book.  The next thing I know, I wake up and it’s dark.  It’s 7:00 p.m.   My book was on the floor, and I had covered myself with a blanket.   Boy, exhaustion took an iron hold on me.  I took my medicine and crawled into bed.  At 3:00 a.m. I woke, hearing a weird noise.  It sounded like rain…..but that can’t be…..can it???   I got up -- amazed that I had now slept about 11 hours – and looked out the window.  Raindrops???  Can it be?  Bathroom and a chance to really wake up….plus some light.  I saw some water leaking down the wall from the window corner.  WTF?  I look out again and finally it all becomes clear:   they are powerwashing our building at 3:00 in the morning!!!!  My bedroom window leaked on both corners and I had to clean it up. The bathroom window leaked and I had to clean it up.   The living room window leaked and I had to clean it up.  Sheeeeessshhhh!  Now, why on earth would they wait until the teachers are all back at work to powerwash the building in the middle of the night?  Why not do it a few days before we come back?

Now, things are becoming clear in my head.   God is giving me lessons to remind me that I must embrace the concept of suspending my common sense….because there is a completely different way of thinking that goes on here.  It’s a cultural thing and my American way of thinking just doesn’t fit here.  

8/24/13 My Dramatic Life

     I arrived back in Kuwait on the evening of August 23.  I was exhausted – exhausted, I say!   I ran into Patrick as we disembarked from the plane….he was only sitting three rows ahead of me, but we had no idea this was happening!  It was so nice to see a smiling familiar face after such a long trip.  I told him that Michelle was coming to pick me up, and she would take us home.  We got into the GCC line to go through the VISA process because there were no other people there, and we needed to be done.  The agent couldn’t speak much English and got us through in quick order.  My bags were 50# and 70#, so it was nice to have Patrick to help me, rather than paying a porter.

I knew that I had no keys to my apartment.  I had left them with Bob and Karen who were going to leave them in Michelle’s storage unit for her.  Through lots of texts between Karen, Michelle, and I, I knew that staying in my apartment that night was out of the question.  Michelle told me that she would stay at her sister Tammy’s house and I could have her apartment.   What a generous offer!  She got me settled into the apartment, gave me her key, and left for the night.

I had no telephone because I had either accidentally lost my SIM card or put it away for safe keeping somewhere so safe that it couldn't be found.  It must have been in the same place that my Kuwaiti cash was because I couldn’t find that, either.  

Tense change:  It’s now about 8:00 so I decide to go out to purchase a new SIM card so that I don't feel so isolated from the world.  As I am ready to leave, one of the guards tells me that there is a new gate key and gives me one.  Now I have two keys:  Michelle’s apartment key and the gate key.  I head down to bin Khaldoon and buy a SIM card.  Of course, I had forgotten my phone, but I knew how to install it into my phone.  How hard could it be?  Mission accomplished – or so I thought.

BED!  All I can think of now is having a nice, hot shower and getting into clean linens on Michelle’s bed.  I am a tired, dirty mess.  Getting back to the apartments, I discover the new key to the gate doesn’t work.  I ring the bell, and one of the guards comes to let me in.  When I say that my new key doesn’t work, he gives me a key and I give him a key back, then go up to Michelle’s.  When I get there, I discover that I have two gates keys!  I had given him back the wrong key!  Damn!   Down I go again.

In this short time, I discover that there is now no key to Michelle’s apartment and no one appears to understand anything that I am explaining.  One of the guards calls a friend who can speak both Arabic and English, but she wouldn’t listen to me.  He then calls Mr. Rashwan, our business manager, who comes to the school and gets an apartment key for the guard to let me into my apartment.  Never mind that my phone and carry-on bag with the keys to my large luggage (left in the foyer) are in Michelle’s apartment.   So I have nothing now but a SIM card, a gate key, and some money.  BUT I do get a hot shower and sleep in my own bed. 

The highlight of my evening was running into my good friend Tess as I was exploring the basement.  We made arrangements to go to breakfast and take a little walk around the neighborhood.

The next morning is Saturday.  Exhaustion is still my friend because I woke up at 3:30 listening to the wake up call to prayer….and yes, it did its job. I read in bed for awhile, hoping that I was still tired enough to go back to sleep, but no luck.  I decide to get ready for the day.  I have to wet my hair a bit and finger comb it due to lack of comb.  I dress in my dirty, smelly clothes and get ready to get Tess and get the day started.  Before I am ready to leave, I make a horrible discovery:  my passport is no longer in my wallet!!  OH NO!!

No passport.  In my tired delirium, I think back to the last time I had it:  the airport!   I must have been talking to Patrick (because we checked in together) and forgot it!  What a dumbhead!  I cannot think of anything but the bad ramifications this means.  I get Tess for our breakfast, and we decide to ask Samir to take me to the airport to see if I can’t retrieve it.  Good plan.  She has a meeting with him at 11:00 so I go over about 10:30 to wait for him.  My plan is to beg him to take me to the airport and help me retrieve it.  Since he speaks Arabic and English, it should be a piece of cake for him to help.

Now I have a plan; it’s time for breakfast.  We walk around the neighborhood and I introduce her to kanafe, Lebanon’s answer to sweet rolls…and one of my favorite treats.  We go to Caribou for coffee.  We visit the bakery and get some flaxseed bread, Egyptian bread, and my favorite little cookies (the top is covered in sesame seeds and the bottom in pistachios – YUM!).   Tess is scheduled to have a meeting at 11:00 at the school with Samir, so I arrive at 10:30, hoping to catch him.

When he finally shows up (late, as usual), Samir suggested that I go to Sawsan, the HR director, and tell her that I need her to find someone to take me to the airport.  Please please please!   She breaks down and arranges for Emad to take me.   We get to the airport, he drops me close to the place he says we need to be, and then goes to park.   I find the office, but the door is shut and locked.  Damn.  I wait and wait, until I see someone who looks like he might be able to help me.  He tells me that the office is closed because it is Saturday and they are only open Sunday through Thursday.  This makes sense because this is their workweek.  I finally see Emad and tell him and we go back to the school.

 In the afternoon, Michelle comes home and finds the note I left on her door:  no key.  She comes down to my apartment and we go to the guards.   She tries to explain the situation using a combination of English and Arabic, but no luck.  It’s about 3:30 or 4:00 and she runs to the school to catch Mr. Rashwan and get a key for her apartment.  Luckily, he was there to help her and now we’re happy as clams.  I retrieve my belongings and promise to get copies of the keys made because I know where there are several key places….plus, I owe her!!

I am now in bad shape.  I decide to read a little bit but am too tired.  So I lay down and think about a nap.  Soon after I doze off, there is a knock on the door:  Michelle.  Guess what!  She’s an angel on a mission:   she has my passport!!!   She found it on her couch!  How I ended up putting it there is anyone’s guess, but it probably had to do with my extreme exhaustion.   But I am one happy camper and life is looking up!!!

And that’s my first day back in Kuwait.