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.