Be AWARE

One of the main complaint that foreigners have when they have to adapt to Kuwait is how difficult is socializing and find leisure activities. For many people, this is a boring place, where each does his own thing and there is almost nothing to do after work, except walking around in a mall. Fortunately there are associations which help the newcomers in their odyssey in pursuit of the adaptation, organizing events and activities to make easier this process. One of them is AWARE, whose headquarters I visited last week along with other colleagues.

 

AWARE (“Advocates for Western-Arabs Relations Center”) is a non governmental organization whose mission is promoting positive relationships between Arabs and Westerners in order to break stereotypes and to reinforce cooperation and solidarity links. For that purpose, they opt for activities and events which can stimulate the interaction and communication between people from different cultures and a better knowledge of the idiosyncrasy and traditions of Kuwait and Arabic world. Among their projects, they organize Arabic courses, cooking workshops and guided tours for an affordable price. They also host conferences and debates about different aspects of local culture and society. You can find more information in their website: www.aware.com.kw

The event I attended was a informative session about life in Kuwait and some advice for newcomers regarding the adaptation to the daily life in this country. The speaker, Iman, commented some costumes and features to pay attention in social situations, such as greetings, working relationships, visits, etc., and several social norms, very useful if we want to avoid unpleasant experiences. It was very interesting, not only to know a bit more the place where I am, but also to socialize beyond my working place.

 

 

I would like to thank the members of AWARE for inviting me to that event and for the pictures they provided for this post. I don’t know how available I will be after starting the master in October, but I would like to attend some activities, specially those called “diwaniyas”, Tuesdays evening, where people debate about political, religious and social topics, or some short excursion when weather will be not so hot. I will let you know.