Raiders of the lost bargain

Few days ago I visited for the first time a place which was in my agenda last year and finally I couldn’t have time to go, the Friday Market (or Souk al Jumma in Arabic), a bustling open-air market where one can finds almost everything. Despite its name, I think that, besides Friday, there are open stalls from Thursday to Saturday, from morning to night.

 The amount of products and sections I saw exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be smaller, with only clothes and antiques. but, apart of this, you can find all kind of items for home and furniture at an excellent price. Each part of the market, whose total area is around one square kilometer, is reserved for a type of goods and the variety is huge.

The Friday Market is an ideal spot to practice the ability of bargaining, something totally expected for the vendors and practically mandatory in this scenario. It is especially recommended to go around during the last hour of Saturday, when they are about to close the stalls and it is more likely to negotiate a better price.

My main goal there, beyond exploring that labyrinth of bargains, was finding a white cloth for an activity we did last week at my school. I needed 18 meters and finally I got a roll of 25 for 11 dinars, less than half dinar per meter. A very good deal indeed.

Before...

...and after

If someone is interested, the Friday Market is located at Shuwaikh area block 1, not far from The Avenues mall, another classic of Shopping in Kuwait, which I should write about someday too.

Have a great week!

Hidden treasures

During the first orientation weeks at the end of August, my school organized some activities for the new staff, to help us with the acclimation process. The events continued in September too. I joined to the last of them so far since it was an excursion to one place I couldn’t visit last year: The Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development Headquarters. This building hosts three more organization related to the Arab League. It was a very interesting and surprising visit due to the amount of details and curiosities inside this place.

Behind an apparently dull and could facade, there is an architectural marvel which combines perfectly modernity and tradition. The building, inaugurated in 1994, hosts several offices, a library and various impressive meeting rooms. There are some theme halls, related to a particular country and its style, such as the Tunisian Room or the Damascene Room. There is also a prayer room and an atrium with trees and even birds. The decoration is fantastic and, among other elements, there are authentic pieces of museum.

Multi-function hall

Prayer Room

The building is designed in a way which insulates the heat while keeping as much natural light as possible. Every detail (the size of the windows, the angle of the sunbeams according to the time, the materials in each area, the acoustics, etc.) is planned with a pinpoint accuracy. We could notice that thanks to our guide, who was the designer of this master piece. What a privilege!

We really enjoyed the place and its idea of diversity keeping a constant harmony. It was an unexpected feeling because it is not easy to find beautiful spots in Kuwait. It was proved one more time that it is a matter of investigating a little bit and keeping aware about what people is informing. If you need more info about this building, you can visit its website following this link:

http://www.arabfund.org/AOHQ/KUWAIT.HTM

By the sweat of someone else's brow

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article about a study from the World Health Organization, which analyzed the frequency of physical exercise in 168 countries. The result places Kuwait in the last position of the list, ranking as the laziest country according to this. The surveys showed that 67% of Kuwaitis don´t practice enough sport. According to the WHO, the physical activity should be at least 75 minutes per week if it is intense, or 150 minutes if it is moderate exercise. Here you can see the complete report in case you want to check in detail:https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(18)30357-7/fulltext

One of the reasons of this shortage of sporting habits can be the weather. Everyone knows that heat provokes drowsiness and the high temperatures limit the chances of running or biking outside, for example. However, this shouldn't be an excuse since the number of sport clubs and gyms in the country is increasing. On the other hand, there are several sport competitions, especially from November to April. Other cause, related to the previous one, is the huge car dependency of many people to go everywhere. The most remarkable situation I ever saw is when some drivers stop outside any shop or restaurant, using their horns to call someone to come and attend them, and then asking for what they wish without leave their cars. I think I never ever watched a bigger sign of laziness in my whole life.

A group of aerobic entertaining and motivating the participants before the Run Kuwait For a Cause race

This data regarding the low frequency of physical exercise in Kuwait could be seen as a simple anecdote if it was not for the health hazards related to sedentary lifestyle. This factor plus the increasing tendency of consuming fast food among the Kuwaitis, lead the country to be the first in the ranking of obesity in the World, with a 42% of people with this characteristic. This is something I realize when I go to some mall, the place where locals spend more time. What is especially worrying is the prevalence of child obesity. I hope they can react soon and organize some awareness campaign about this matter because it is getting serious.

 

For my part, at the moment I didn't go running since I came back, mainly because I don´t want to faint. These days I am just doing push ups, abdominal crunches, skipping and other exercises at home in order to keep fit. I am waiting for the weather to start being a bit better, at least in the night, to recover the running habit as last year. I also would like to play badminton again but first I need to find a good place in Salmiya area for this. Let me know if someone would like to join!

In the name of the father (and the grandfather's, the great-grandfather's...)

In these first days at the school, one my usual tasks is to manage the personal files for each student, arranging those who just joined this year. After checking the names and surnames of the students before entering their files in the archive, I could noticed, in certain cases, the remarkable length of some of them. That leaded me to investigate a bit more about the interesting world of the Arabic onomastics.

The 99 names of Alah, in the dome of the Grand Mosque of Kuwait

Abdullah Ahmed Mohammed Faisal Ali Abdul Aziz Al-Mubarak. This is a fictitious example of what any name could be in the Arabic countries. Nowadays, it is true that the way to name a person became more simple, using just a first name and a family name (called nisbah), but traditionally the name of a person also includes the name of the father, the grandfather’s and, sometimes, even the great-grandfather’s and other previous generations. Technically, each of these names should be followed of the particles ibn (“son”) or bint (“daughter”), but in most of the Arabic countries they are omitted.

Monument of the Cordoban poet and philosopher, Ibn Hazm (source: Wikipedia)

Sometimes, there is a word preceding the name, called kunya, expressing respect and honor towards other person. Some of the most common are Abu (“father”), Umm (“mother”) or Abdul (“servant”). One of the most frequent mistakes we commit in Western countries is separating the kunya from its related name, considering it as a name apart. For example, if we call someone just Abu, it would be like if we call him “someone’s father”, it wouldn’t make sense without the posterior name.

Kareem Abdul (servant of) Jabbar (source: Pinterest)

This way of naming could explain why, since I am here in Kuwait, every time that someone submits an official document with my name, most of the times they use just Francisco and my second surname (in Spain we have two surnames), assuming that it is my family name. My second name (I have a composed name) and my first surname usually are omitted since, possibly, they can be considered as my father’s and my grandfather’s name. Do you have any experience like that with your name being in an Arabic speaker country?

See you next time!

Night and day

When someone asks me my opinion about any country, I always thought that it is something more related to the circumstances and conditions of life, rather than the place itself. One year ago, after my first month in Kuwait, when people asked me about my experience of life till that moment, my impressions were mostly negative and I couldn’t imagine living here longer than a academic year. However, once the situation changes, my perception did a 180 degrees turn. There are still a lot of things in this country which I don’t like (hear, traffic, few leisure places, etc.) but, at least, I think that, according I saw since I came back two weeks ago, this time everything will be more bearable.

First, the location of my apartment has nothing to do with last year, in the remote district of Fintas. This time I live in Salmiya area, very close to my working place (just 25 minutes by foot) and the main leisure facilities. I also live in the same neighborhood than my girlfriend and most of my friends here. All of this implies better quality of life (no more buses) and more social life, with more and better possibilities for going out. On the other hand, the accommodation is awesome and big enough for a second person, who I hope she can share this place with me soon.

In terms of job, the school where I work offers better conditions and more opportunities to grow in my career. Besides this, this time we are two counselors and we will have fewer students in our ratio (last year I was the only counselor for Primary section, with approximately a thousand students…). Furthermore, there are fewer teachers, so the atmosphere is more familiar and there is less tension. The principal is a good professional and he supports our proposals, giving us the chance to develop our career. This time it seems I am in the right place.

My office, still it needs to be decorated

But among all the good things of this new course, I highlight above all the relationship with my couple, which became even stronger after a long period without meeting. She is my main support here and everyday I am more convinced that there can’t be anyone better for sharing the rest of my life with. With her, all my life in Kuwait makes more sense.

Reading all this post, you will be able to understand better why I smiled when this last summer in Cordoba, my hometown in Spain, a neighbor said to me “I hope you can be lucky and find a job here”, and I answered “or not…” One person is not luckier or less lucky living further or closer to his or her hometown, each person makes a life wherever he or she is more loved and valued. My family and friends support me and they will be very happy if I return but, according to the circumstances in my country, with a high rate of unemployment, precarious wages, corruption, low investment in education, etc., right now I am not so willing to come back. Who knows how it will be in the future, but in this moment I would prefer to focus in the present moment, enjoying the new opportunities and getting more and more experience, not only at work, but also as inhabitant in Kuwait. 

Greetings to everyone in this new beginning of the year I hope I can continue updating the blog weekly as I was trying to do last academic year.

                                                                                                                       مَعَ ٱلسَّلَامَة

And how is it going there?

I came back to Spain almost two weeks ago already, after some hectic last days in Kuwait, when I was starting to doubt about if I could finally leave there because of visa and passport issues and some people who were determined to complicate my life. I had to come to Cordoba, my hometown, in order to complete an internship as a part of my master studies. I will stay here the whole summer until August. The return is being great, not only because I can meet again my family and friends here, but also because I can enjoy moments and pleasures which I can’t find there in the Persian Gulf.

The first talks I am having during my reunions are around the life in Kuwait and how it is going there. There are some very recurring topics, which are commented every time and people feel usually interested about them: is it really so hot there? How do women dress? How do they treat foreigners? How is the cost of life? What about the food? etc. Besides clarifying these questions, I mention some concrete situations which I experienced these last months since I arrived, such as the fact that I have to restrain myself when I walk with my couple in a public place, the problem of the distances (something I won’t complain about next school year) or my experience with sandstorms. And, of course, I always need to remind that it is Kuwait, not Dubai.

As I said, I am really enjoying this return, especially because I arrived just in May, when my city looks really beautiful and there are a lot of events and festivals. On the other hand, after this time in Kuwait, I missed walking happily by proper sidewalks, without swallowing sand, and crossing the street being sure than nobody is going to hit me with the car. I am also glad to see people dancing and enjoying life, and take a break from long faces complaining about everything. Maybe it sounds everything as a cliché. Of course, here in Cordoba there are also upset people, who also enjoy annoying other people’s life but, usually, there is certain tendency to see life with more optimism.

And that’s all. I will continue the blog next school year, since August, already from Kuwait is everything goes well with the new visa. If someone would like to come to Cordoba, please let me know. I wish you, for those who stay in Kuwait, a nice time in spite of the heat and, those who come back to your countries, a happy reunion with your loved ones and a comforting rest.

See you next time!

It is Dubai (Not Kuwait) (II)

Last week I went again to Dubai, although this time for pure fun and together with my girlfriend, the best person whom I could share this experience with. It was a short trip, just one day and a half, but quiet enjoyable as you will see in this post.

We arrived on Wednesday morning and, after a short rest, we went for lunch to Bastakiya quarter, the oldest part of the city. We found a very recommendable place in a kind of balcony next to the Creek, the restaurant Bayt al Wakeel. From here we could enjoy a view which reminded us, differences aside, the Bosphorus area in Istanbul but on a lesser scale. To reach here you need to go through the old souk, more visually attractive than the one in Kuwait but also with more vendors pursuing the tourists (you will need to be patient enough). For just 1 dirham (20 cents of euro) it is possible taking a ride by a small boat to the opposite shore of the canal, where you can continue the walk around the wharf.

Back in the shore of the souk, we continued walking towards the Al Fahidi cultural district, probably one of the best place to know more about the history and the culture of the Emirates. First, we visited a ancient fort of the 18th century which hosts the Dubai museum, with several chambers reviewing the historical tour of this city. There are archeologist remains of the first civilizations here, around 5000 years ago, however, we can’t talk of Dubai as a city until the 19th century, when a tribe, Bu Flasa, settled around the Creek area. At that time no one knew nothing yet about the oil fields and few people could imagine that Dubai could become such a metropolis.

Inside the museum

In the evening we planned to find a good spot to watch the sunset near the iconic hotel Burj al Arab, but we didn’t have time to get there, so we went to Barasti beach, no far from our accommodation. What we saw there had nothing do with a typical Arabic country. That place looked like Ibiza actually, with people (most of them foreigners) drinking beer and dancing electronic music. I didn’t hear yet about places like that in Kuwait. In the night we met Maria, an old friend I met in India 9 years ago. We were in Dubai Marina area, a kind of fair with a lot of restaurants and all kind of pubs. Due all of this, it is not surprising that Dubai can be one of the most favorite cities for foreigners in this part of the World, although I don’t know till when I could live in that kind of bubble.

The next day we wanted to go to the observation deck of Burj Khalifa, whose surroundings I already saw the first time I went to Dubai. Maria recommend us to avoid the tourist entrance and go directly to a restaurant called Atmosphere, on the 122th floor of the famous skyscraper and order breakfast there, what was worthier. We arrived there at 11am, already late so they didn’t let us enter. As we saw that the tourist queue was too long, we decided to walk a bit around the area. Later, before going to the airport, we went to Madinat Jumeirah, a kind of mini-city with shops, restaurantsm a hotel, etc., near to the famous Burj al Arab, one of the landmarks of Dubai.

It is interesting to see how many efforts people make to take a entire picture of Burj Khalifa

Short but intensive. One more time I could notice the huge differences between Kuwait and Dubai, even more after exploring the leisure areas. I don’t think I would like to settle down there, but it is not a bad place for escaping time to time. It is good to enjoy sometimes of certain “temptations”, difficult to find in the country where we live. There will be more episodes for sure discovering more corners in this city.