Mirror, mirror on the wall

Among the mosques, museums, souks, parks and other interesting corners in Kuwait, I don’t think it can exist anyone as special as the one I visited few days ago, as a part of other excursion organized by AWARE. I am talking about the House of Mirrors, a private residence completely decorated with broken mirrors and other ornaments. Here, a very kind Italian lady, Lidia Al-Qattan, the owner of the house, widow of a famous Kuwaiti artist, receives groups of visitants almost everyday and she explains them all the secrets and curiosities around this unique place.

The history of the House of Mirrors starts in the 60’s in the past century. At that time, Lidia’s husband, Khalifa Al-Qattan, didn’t stop traveling abroad to present his works in several art exhibitions. During her periods of solitude in Kuwait, Lidia left her imagination fly and she began to put pieces of mirrors on the walls in each part of the house. When her husband returned, he was amazed and he encouraged her to continue with that decoration work. She did so till some years later a plague of termites forced her to stop her project. She didn’t give up and, after dismantle everything she did, she came back to her work even with more strength and energy. The result was a really magic place. Her designs are specially related to Astrology and the Universe, and all of them have an interesting story behind.

In the House of Mirrors there are several rooms, the same as any other house: a living room, a kitchen, bathrooms, etc. The decoration and the lighting of each chamber turn the experience as something almost psychedelic. It is worth stopping and observing with attention every little detail and listening Lidia’s explanations about the meaning of every element in her house. Upstairs there is a gallery where you can find part of the artistic legacy of her husband and his memories, and an interesting library.

A memory from Almodovar del Rio, a small town near my hometown in Spain, very peculiar

Visiting a place like the House of Mirrors it is very interesting, but it wouldn’t be the same without a guide like Lidia. This lady is a real well of wisdom, full of positive energy and a lot of creativity. Her talks about any topic (above all cosmology, philosophy and sociology) are very inspiring and it makes the visit an unforgettable experience. 

If you would be interested in arranging a visit to this impressive place, you can find all the information in its website, http://www.mirrorhouseq8.com/. The groups must be small, no more than ten persons. I really recommend you going here some day, I am sure you will enjoy.

Walking in the Mosque

The good weather is already here, with temperatures no higher than 35 degrees and a perennial sun, it is the best moment for exploring Kuwait and visiting its main landmarks. My first remarkable place has been the Grand Mosque, where AWARE association organized one of their guided visits. It was worthy joining to the group, not just because of the monument itself, but also because of the explanations the guide was giving, very useful to know better the Islamic religious rituals.

Built in 1986, the Grand Mosque is the biggest among the 1487 mosques in Kuwait. It covers an area of 20000 square meters, ranking the eighth position in the list of the biggest mosques in the World. As all temples of this type, it consists of a main yard and a prayer hall, in whose central part there is an impressive dome which is decorated with the 99 names of God according to Islam. The interior decoration is fascinating and it has nothing to do with the restrained appearance from outside. Apart of the prayer area, there are other halls such as a library and a reception hall, decorated with andalusian style tiles, very similar to those which can be found in many places of Cordoba, Granada or Sevilla, in the South of Spain.

The main prayer hall can host around 10000 people praying at the same time, all of them men. Women do it in a separated hall hosting approximately 1000 worshippers. According to the guide, this segregation is done in order to avoid possible distractions in terms of furtive glances and sinful thoughts from the men. The most hly and important part in the main hall is the mihrab, a kind of alcove, decorated with verses of Coran, indicating the direction where the worshippers have to pray, towards Mecca.

During the visit, as I said, the guide was telling us some particularities related to Islam, like the prayers a Muslim has to do every day and in which moment. The prayer is one of the five pillars of Islam and it has to be done five times a day, a bit earlier than sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, around sunset and before going to sleep. These moments are announced by the muezzin from the mosque but, as my Palestine friend told me, there is certain flexibility and, if one can’t pray in that instant, it is possible to leave it for a bit later. About the praying place, it is not necessary for a Muslim to pray inside the mosque but he or she can do it in any place with enough tranquility, as long as the direction towards Mecca is respected.

A very interesting and didactic visit which, by the way, sparked a kind of homesick feeling off, since I perceived some similarities which reminded me the place where I am from. The emotional connection is obvious and it makes me think that I am not so far as it seems. Here one Spanish song from a group from Cordoba, my city, “Paseando por la Mezquita”, walking in the mosque, as this post. I hope you like :)

Equidistances

Among the peculiarities in my daily life in Kuwait, there are things that either are getting better (like the weather for example) or I am starting to get used to them. However, at the moment I am still complaining about something which impedes me from seeing this country as a good place for living. I am talking about the distances between my neighborhood, my work and the leisure places. It conditions in somehow my general level of satisfaction with my life here.

It is true that we don’t value what we have till we lose it. That what happens when I think in my situation in China, living so close to my working place (five minutes walking distance). Here in Kuwait I spend averagely one hour in the minibus from my home to the school and vice versa. In the morning trip, my colleagues don’t talk too much so I use this time to review Arabic. In the afternoon, the atmosphere is more relaxed and the trip becomes more pleasant. Even so, after one week I notice all that precious time I spend on the road and I realize I don’t have time to do everything I could easily do when I was in China. Other than this, I would really appreciate if I could have at least one more hour of sleep everyday.

In my area, Fintas, there is not much to do apart of walking near the seaside. Most of the interesting places and the cultural events are located in Kuwait City, downtown district. It is possible to go by public bus, but the routes don’t cover all the zones and some of them don’t pass very often. About the taxi, the price is costly (some taxi drivers don’t want to turn the meter on and you have to bargain everytime) and sometimes it is difficult to find people willing to go to the same places with you and, therefore, sharing costs.

Regarding the possibility of having my own Vehicle, it is something I don’t consider at the moment. Furthermore, I love walking, not driving, but as I see Kuwait is not a country made for walkers. Sometimes I feel like I am in a giant Scalextric, where I need to be constantly looking left and right in case a car could come. There are sidewalks, right, but they are usually invaded by parked vehicles o they are in an impassable condition. Sometimes, there are not sidewalks at all. About the pedestrian crossings, you can barely see one. There are not even traffic lights for pedestrians, so you have to cross very carefully every time.

A random street in my neighborhood and its “sidewalks”

Actually, all these things are not a drama for me. As I say, there is a bus going to the city center and, on other hand, I don’t need to go out every single day. Regarding the hours of sleep, I am managing it more or less, going to sleep earlier than usual and trying to get used to this rhythm of life. No matter how this affects me, I prefer to focus on my daily life at the school where it is going great. The achievements I am seeing everyday in some students compensate all these issues related to transportation, of course.

The other flags

In these days, more and more people embrace an excessive nationalism, wrapping theirselves in flags to justify their fears and prejudices and competing to see who is the most patriotic person. The situation, not only in Spain but in many other countries, is every day more worrying and this affects me, no matter how far I am. I still have ties which link me in somehow to all these regions. That is why I try to concentrate on what is worth fighting for and going forward, beyond identitarian matters and politic ideologies. One of these things which gives meaning to my life is the work I do, something that makes me feel proud everyday and I would like to summarize in this post.

Basically, my main mission at the school as a counsellor is helping students to achieve their goals, not only academic, but also social and emotional ones, in cooperation with both teachers and parents. To this end, I carry several services and actions, such as individual and group counselling sessions for students, consulting for teachers, workshops for parents, gathering data through observations and other methods, and guidance lessons twice a day, talking about topics related to social and emotional development (self esteem, empathy, emotional management, etc.) o preventing problems which can happen in the school (bullying, stress before exams, segregation, etc.). This year I work only with Primary school students (Year 1 to Year 6). In each year there are seven or eight classes, with an average amount of 25 students in every classroom, so you can imagine that there is always work to do.

Notice board at the entrance of my office

A part of the place where counselling sessions take place

Although there are some days when the amount of sessions, observations, meetings, etc. can be a bit stressful, I love what I do and when I arrive home with a positive feeling. At the moment, the management supports me and they motivate me to go on with my projects. Among the teachers, some of them are more prone to receive help and suggestions and other are more reticent and conservative, as in everywhere, but in general they acknowledge and value my job. But the ones who show more gratitude and affection are, of course, the students. Everyday I see them greeting me and smiling without stop. The youngest ones even come to me running to hug me and sometimes I even can’t walk because they are so many. It is wonderful, there is no reward or incentive compare to all this. In other hand, I already got messages from parents congratulating me because I am helping their kids. Do I need more reasons to be proud?

In short, even if this place is not the best I ever worked before, this is at the moment the first school year in which I am doing a job completely related to my professional goals. Last year I did the same too but I have to teach Spanish at the same time, something I like but it didn’t let me to focus on the job I would like to do till my retirement. For me it is one the most needed profession in this agitated World where we live in.

From right to left

Among the incentives I considered before going to Kuwait, one of the most meaningful and enjoyable is learning Arabic. Few years ago I checked some Youtube videos trying to learn at least the alphabet, but I abandoned it quickly. Now I am taking seriously this language, which I hope I can master some day and I could add to the list. 

These days I am meeting Mohammad, a local friend, twice a week for a language exchange, Spanish-Arabic. Besides this, I study on my own the materials he gives me when I have some time. I also started to use an phone app called Madinah Arabic during the trips from my apartment to the school, and sometimes I watched “Árabe Fácil”. an Arabic course in Spanish in Youtube. In order to complement my learning, I try to practice whatever I can with the school staff, specially, of course, with the teachers in the Arabic department. Here there is a very kind man who tries to motivate me every time he sees me and he gave me a book which Primary students use. It is very good for getting used with the alphabet indeed.

 

 

At the moment, according what I studied already, I see it easier than Chinese, although the grammar is much more complicated, in a level even more complex than the Spanish one. The alphabet, at fist it looks dizzying, but it is a matter of getting familiar and practicing. It a very phonetic language and it is relatively easy linking each sound to a concrete letter. About the pronunciation, there are just six sounds I have never seen in any other language and, except this letter,  ع, I can say the rest without troubles.

 

The Arabic Alphabet

Let’s see how I can progress. The point is that, even if for me it looks easier than Chinese, the chances for practicing Arabic are not so much since the language I use the most in my work is English. In the streets, almost everything is written in Arabic and English, and people who work in shops speak this language very well, therefore there is no such a urgency to learn the local language as it happened in China. Anyway, I keep constant in one of my main goals in this new life experience.

  وَداعاً

(wada'an)