I was invited to participate in an Industry Canada initiative that involved me travelling to Kuwait in 2005 for 8 days. I found the experience very interesting and documented it in a memoir entitled The Camel Diaries. Over the years I lost my copy and only just recently located a copy on an old USB drive stored at my sisters. Many people read and enjoyed the diaries and have asked for a copy. Here they are, I hope you enjoy reading them:
The Camel Diaries
Day 1
Air Canada leg to Toronto was uneventful despite a 45 minute delay due to thunder storms in Ottawa. I met Doug Hull at the Ottawa airport.
Toronto to Heathrow was long 7.5 hours. Heathrow is a dumpy airport and hard to find your way around. Air Canada Business class is excellent
.
Heathrow to Kuwait leg is almost as long as the previous leg. Kuwait service is quite good although their business class seems ill defined. Lots of families and kids traveling from Heathrow to Kuwait. I wonder if Kuwait’s always travel this much. This was my first time on a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
I am writing this and I just felt the deceleration so I guess we are almost there. I wonder how hot, hot is!
We made use of the Air Canada lounge in Toronto and the American Airlines Lounge (Kuwait is a partner) in Heathrow. Very humid in Heathrow, must be British weather.
Lots of different types of food served on Kuwait airlines.
Apparently we are staying at the Marriott so I should have a high speed internet connection.
Got to the Marriott and I am obviously connected at 4 am their time. I guess it will take a while to adjust to the time differential.
We brainstormed over a late dinner last night and there is tremendous opportunity here. More on that later.
I am quite surprised at how many Kuwaitis wear the traditional garb, men in white, women in black.
We were met at the airport by Abdul, guess what, a huge basketball fan. He’s my main man now!!!!
50 degrees tomorrow and apparently Kuwaitis do not work when it gets that hot. From what I can tell, many of them don’t work and the government looks after them quite well. A sense of entitlement has developed and their Ministry of Education is quite concerned about this, especially when the oil runs out. More on this later, but a huge problem.
It’s quite amazing how many different types of black garb there is. At the airport there was a sea of black on one side of the greeting area and a sea of white on the other.
More later, got some research to do on the web.
Day 2
Woke up Kuwaitis time 3:30 so I turned on the laptop and started jotting down some thoughts on the Kuwaitis educational system and culture from our discussion from last night.
Went for a run at 6 am in the air conditioned fitness centre. The young international working the centre said it was not used much and that he had never seen a Kuwaitis work out. That supports the evidence from my observation last night that many Kuwaitis are overweight. Where is Bob Thomas when you need him.
After my run I cooled down and showered and headed out for a coffee on the hotel. Waited around for my partners and had breakfast at 9 am and then we went for a walk to the market. Was it ever hot! Arrived back at the hotel at noon and here I sit updating the travel log and cooling off.
Our first meeting with the Ministry is Saturday morning at 8 am. The weekend is Thursday and Friday in Kuwait in case you did not know.
I have not seen a camel yet but lots of Bimmers and Benzes. At the market there are lots of internationals in red overalls that walk around behind the Kuwaitis men who are doing their shopping. The men in red carry their purchases. It’s quite amazing that 40 years of oil production can form this sense of entitlement. It will seem strange when the oil runs out and I guess that is what they are concerned about.
This afternoon is free (don’t forget it’s the weekend) so I am off to find something to read. More news later. Did I say it was warm?
Managed to connect with the family via MSN and wished Jaime happy birthday (her 19th). I told her it’s her last year before joining the ranks of adults so enjoy. I think she is going out to legally drink.
We are heading out at 7 pm to a Japanese steak house. The thought of a nice dry red wine to savour the taste brings a tear to my eye as it is just not going to happen. They x-ray your bags at the air port to ensure you are not smuggling any bottles into the country.
We had the choice of beef bacon and sheep sausage at breakfast this morning. They are also big on cheese here and had fried cheese at breakfast. Must have something to do with their nomadic roots as goat herders.
The call to prayer every day is quite impressive. They are many mosques and minarets and they all have loud speakers that broadcast the call to prayer and the people stop what
they are doing and head to the mosque. It’s a very impressive display of their beliefs. Maybe they are preying the oil wells will never go dry ☺
I am quite interested to find out what the Minister of Education is going to pitch our way tomorrow morning. It will determine how our next 7 days go.
Well, we just got back from a late supper. The restaurants do not open until 7:30 and it’s 10 pm now. That’s a long time for guys to carry on a conversation especially without any alcohol being imbibed. Must have been very intelligent and witty to keep us focused that long. We figure the Kuwaitis dine late because they do not have to get to work early in the morning.
We dined at the Japanese restaurant in the Marriott. Good thing their Ministry of education is paying.
Itinerary for tomorrow is 7 kilometre run at 6 am, shower, breakfast at 7:15 and the limo picks us up at 8 am.
Should have lots of news for tomorrow’s report. Time to get ready for bed.
Day 3 Saturday
As I mentioned in a previous day, Saturday and Sunday are work days so I was up at 5:30 on the treadmill by 6 am, in the shower by 7 am and eating breakfast at 7:20. Our faithful driver Abdul picked us up at 8 am sharp. Actually Abdul just meets and greets, being a Kuwaitis, he would never drive for someone else. He jumps in one of the cars and an international (non Kuwaitis) drives.
We’re off to the Ministry of Education and it does not look much different than the Mowat Block.
We meet the deputy Minister first and have some Turkish coffee and sweets and make some small talk until the Minister is free. Meet the Minister and more sweets and coffee. Formalities must be observer. Time now to meet the IT department and get their presentation of the infrastructure. All goes well and we break at 1 pm for the day.
The Kuwaitis treat their cell phones very differently than ours. If they are in a meeting they leave them on and stop to answer them immediately even if they are talking at the time. They ring incessantly but they seem un-phased by it all.
Lots of women in IT, form western garb to black sheet with veil. The lady with the full gear presents using power point. Weird juxtaposition for this to happen. The Kuwaitis education system is very similar to ours but that makes sense as they were a British colony at one time.
We jump back in the car and head back to the hotel. We drive up and a security type walks around the car with a mirror inspecting the underbelly for bombs. Must be in a heightened state of awareness today as I do not remember this happening yesterday.
Off for a quick lunch and now here I type. We are off to the science center at 5 pm with our guide Abdul. The Kuwaitis insist we see their culture and the attractions. They are quite hospitable.
The wind is up today so it no longer feels like a conventional oven. It now feels like a convection oven. Dries your eye balls out if you face into the wind.
More to come after our tour tonight.
At 5 pm we were picked up and taken to Kuwait National House which is an UNESCO site dedicated to remembering Sadam’s aggression and invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Needless to say the Kuwaitis do not regard Sadam in high regard. If you ever wondered what happened to the head of the Sadam statue that was toppled by allied forces it is on display here. I took quite a few pictures and will share them later.
Every country’s involvement is recognized including Canada’s.
Tomorrow we are picked up at 7:30 and we visit Kuwait University. We then visit an intermediate school and a secondary school in the morning.
We have lunch from 1-3 at the Kuwait tower and then from 5:30 – 8 pm we attend a Computer Training session. It will be a very busy day.
I have yet to see a camel!
The big impression I get after today is that Kuwaitis are a warm and generous people.
Day 4
Up to early to run because we are being picked up at 7:30 today. Off we go to visit and elementary school (only women teachers). They are very proud of their students and the use of computers. A very warm attitude towards the world at large. They have a special treat for we Canucks as they server us lots of dessert, sandwiches, plus the prerequisite coffee and tea.
We jump in the waiting car and notice the temperature is 51 degrees and it is only 11 am. That explains why I am feeling a little woozy and we speed over speed bumps, and around corners and arrive at the local high school. We wait in the principal’s office with trepidation (quite a large palatial office, but the principal is Kuwaitis) and he arrives with a retinue to show us around. Turns out the school is staffed with internationals who are quite good at what they do. Their curriculum is out of date but are awaiting a new one. They cheat and teach some good stuff like programming rather than just Word. They are a likable crew. They have found that network cameras make a pretty cheap videoconferencing system. I obviously take a shine to them. They ask all kinds of questions about what it is like to teach in Canada. The principal gives us some nice pottery designed by students as a gift. Nice touch, just have to get it back to the board without breaking it.
By now we are really dripping sweat and head off to lunch at the Kuwaitis Tower. Sadam did his best to destroy it but the Kuwaitis have had it rebuilt (make it so).The lunch is great with lots of choice but unfortunately no sheep heads or eyeballs. All sorts of Ministers and deputy Ministers are there. Hard to keep track of who’s who. We finish at 3:15 and hustle back to the hotel for some AC, rest, and a shower before heading out from 5-8 pm to visit their Computer Training Centre and watch a training session. Did I mention it is hard to work on their computers without looking in a mirror?
Here are today’s headlines from the Arab Times (no kidding).
Rebels could target Kuwait.
Record Heat Wave Grips Kuwait City as temperature hits 50 degrees for the third straight day. (remember that the officially reported temperature is never greater than 50, bad for recruiting).
More later as I have to hit the shower.
Evening Update
We head out to the training centre and the drive takes a lot longer as we get lost (for about the 5th time). Just can’t get good help these days. We eventually find the teacher centre and get the official greeting complete with the prerequisite tea or Turkish coffee plus the usual tray of sweets. Good thing I am on the treadmill every day or it would not be a pretty site when I arrive back in Canada.
This evening was great. Fantastic discussion about implementing computers in the classroom and training teachers. It would have been a lot better with a case of beer but that was not going to happen. Did I mention that beef bacon sucks?
There were 4 training classes going on and they were all filled by the black garbed females. Having said that they all look quite different when you spend time with them. Kind of like school uniforms. It’s a little spooky with eyes peering out at you. You can’t tell what they are thinking when you talk to them. Some of them were very interested in Canada. They did not want me to take their picture so you will have to use your imagination. Before you start feeling sorry for them let me say there are more women driving bimmers, caddies, benzes, lexus’s, etc in Kuwaite than in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto put together. The Kuwaitis have no problem with women dressing any which way they want to and there is quite a range. I get the feeling that the black garbed ones
just feel more comfortable, probably due to the type of family they grow up in. The women have most of the jobs because most of the guys are too lazy to work. They are all very well educated.
Enough on that. The training was all on Front Page. They are fixated on the MS Office Suite and have to branch out into the other areas of the curriculum. The trip back to the hotel was uneventful and I hit the sack because of the 7:30 pickup tomorrow am.
Day 5
We visited their equivalent of our Teacher Resource Centre and horror of horrows spent 2 hours with teacher librarians. There must be a librarian gene out there as they are just the same as ours. Can book dust interfere with brain functions?
We got out of there asap and headed over to the Kuwaitis Science Centre which is very similar to out NRC. We had the tour of the place by 2 young graduates, one form Arizona State who filled us in on why women were so successful and the men were not to be found. They have an intern program of 200 students working there and only 10 were males. Apparently males are pampered in their family and therefore grow up with a poor work ethic and a sense of entitlement whereas females do not get pampered and end up studying, going to university, graduating, and end up driving bimmers, benzes, etc. Bummer. All kidding aside, they were quite delightful and let me take their picture so I can share it with you. Doug made the mistake of extending his hand to shake hands before offered by another female and she backed off and apologetically said she does not shake hands. The first faux pas of the trip and I was happy it was Doug and not me. But then again, I am so sensitive to these kinds of things, that’s the kind of guy I am ☺
On our way back to the hotel we had to check in with Kuwait Air to make sure they had not given away our seats which is a common practice apparently. I imagine they bump people because of pressure from high ranking Kuwaitis gentlemen.
As it turns out, I now have a stopover in London which will break up the 15 hour flight back to Ottawa and enable me to walk the land of my ancestors as well as sample some good English beers, not the crap that Gabe drinks. I fly out at 4 pm the next day. The Kuwaitis seat was also confirmed in business class where we were wait-listed.
I am just sitting around now, after planning my final day presentation. Tonight I thought we were going out to a gold market to shop but that got switched to a town hall type of get together where we hang out with decision makers and think deep thoughts (remember no alcohol). Should be great fun, almost as much as meeting the librarians the day before.
I will do the evening update tomorrow. Off for my run, endomorphins are a pale replacement for a glass of wine, but they will have to do.
Still no camels in sight ,
Day 5 evening
Ok, Kuwait Air is playing with my mind. I am back on the 15 hour marathon with no layover in London. Now I am sad, but not as sad as when I http’ed to our camera in the lab and saw Gabe and Steve. Brought a tear to my eye, it did ☺ Steve even waved.
If I could only figure out how to turn my internal mic on, I could have said hello. Life can be cruel. Enough of that maudlin sentimental ....
Did I tell you I have a very large, old, dry graveyard out back where I look out my window. The scenery is very reminiscent of the Star Wars movie where the young Darth Vader races his desert rocket sled despite the black robed warriors shooting at him. Those black robed warriors somehow seem familiar. Matter of fact during the recent dust storms the white robes could have been mistaken for jedi knights. By the way, if you have trouble knowing which desert/dessert to use, it’s quite simple. Dessert is something you always want two of and the desert is okay the first time around and then wears you down. These graves are really barren and some have fallen into the ground. Kind of looks like Sadam drove his tanks through there. Apparently Sadam’s soldiers weren’t the brightest boys. They looted all of Kuwait and stole all the computer monitors and were really surprised when they got them back home and couldn’t get any TV stations on them.
The Kuwaitis have 35,000 computers and 82 technicians. They lease the equipment and of course the techs are repats (repatriated nationals), still trying to figure out what that means. More on this theme later. I am being sensitive about asking the wrong questions. No doubt I will blurt it out sometime in the next 2 days.
I actually have not left yet for the town meeting and will do so in 15 minutes at 9 pm. This will be the only time we have gone out at night as the jet lag has finally disappeared.
I hope they feed us tonight as we have not had supper because it is considered impolite to refuse their offerings which sometimes seem never ending. This is especially true when you meet 5 people in a morning. That’s 5 Turkish coffees, 5 teas, and 10 stick sweet yummies. I don’t even drink tea but you would never know it. Apparently the boys really like to get together and suck on these huge water cooled pipes at meetings like we are going to tonight. Should be interesting. Nothing like a communal pipe full of who knows what. I must remember not to inhale.
I figured out our drivers (not our sheepherder shepherd Abdul) are Egyptian and Sri Lankan and our crazy. Their licence would be gone in a week in Canada.
Well it’s 11:50 and we are back from our town hall meeting/dinner. Included at the meeting was the Minister of Justice and the top banker in Kuwait, the head of the Colleges and about 12 others that were not formally introduced. We sat on the floor and ate and talked politics/sports/countries and cultures. I had been warned to eat only with my right hand and I had observed all week that the Kuwaitis used both hands with their utensils. However here, they dig in the serving bowl with their hand and put everything on their plate and swish it around with their right hand and then grab handfuls and put it in their mouth. No utensils. You can’t use your left hand of course because it is unclean. I wished I had videoed this to show Shelley.
Again, the Kuwaitis were very gracious and welcoming. They talked about how the fundamentalist were having a bad influence on Kuwait and preferred a more liberal approach. Then again, the banker had an American wife and most of them were educated in Britain or the States.
All in All, a very good night. By midnight the temperature had dropped to 35.
Day 6
I was back in the hotel about 11:30 and started work on our presentation on Wednesday. Jaime signed onto MSN at 1:20 my time and asked me why I was still awake. She was getting ready to head off to U of O for bball and come to think of it, I was quite tired so I told her good night and hit the sack as we had to be up by 6 am.
Morning has broken (Cat Stevens, he’s a Muslim you know, but maybe you don’t, no matter) and I go down for breakfast and find out the private school we were supposed to visit has cancelled out. Yippee, free time for 2 hours. The private schools here are for the poor and downtrodden exPats as they do let them go and mingle with the Kuwaitis. Kind of the reverse of our private schools. However, they also have their rich and snotty private schools.
We have a meeting at 10 am with the IT gurus of the Ministry of Education. Our Egyptian driver has a humongous scar on his right arm and never smiles. Comes to think of it he never talks. You probably would not want to mess with him. We just smile a lot at him. We have been here before so we know the drill say yes, to Turkish coffee, yes, to glass of water, yes to tea, and then you can start saying no. I wish I had Jordan’s t-shirt that says ‘no means no’.
They do a capacity sort of talk and we ask intelligent questions and offer up the odd suggestion. We are going to charge them for the even ones (sorry Steve, couldn’t resist). That’s it for this meeting and we jump in the car and head back to the Marriott Oasis for lunch. I have my 3rd ribeye steak sandwich in a row (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it) and then head up to my room to go over the changes with Doug to our power point impression. By the way, Doug blew it again today and offered to shake hands with a black robe and she explained quite apologetically that she does not shake hands. I explained that Doug was a little slow and not to worry. Managed to get a smile out of her. She obviously was not wearing a veil and that was probably what tripped Doug up. But then again he almost walked into the town hall meeting with his shoes on. Definitely a no no. However as I mentioned last night, digging into the salad and rice bowls with you right hand and flinging it on to your plate is okay. Go figure.
Doug was suitably impressed and headed back to his room and here I sit adding to the diaries. At 5pm Abdul arrives with our Egyptian driver to take us to the Science Centre which is not the same place we visited before. This more like our Ontario Science Centre whereas the Science Research Centre is like our NRC, except it is filled with women and the last time I looked, ours was filled with men.
It appears the Kuwaitis really like us (what’s not to like) or are willing to tolerate us for our great wisdom (I will let you choose) and there will be lots of opportunity in the future. Don’t be surprised to see me training a bunch of black robes in out training centre. Better yet, Liz can do the training and we can catch them on the IP camera when they unveil! ☺
There will be lots of cooperation between our board and their National Ministry which should be of benefit to both system. When they come over we can have them take time out from training to speak to our World Religion classes, which they would love to do as well as address our Muslim school populations or better yet, the whole school population. What great opportunity for both parties. There will also be occasion for trainers to go over there. We go there in January and they come here in July and August. Does not get much better.
More later after the Science Centre (I am getting bored, you know my attention span).
Evening
The Science center turns out to be quite nice. It’s mostly natural science and a zoo at the same time. We had a fast personal tour because, guess what, our Egyptian driver got lost again. I saw the most dangerous snake in the world. One bite and you only last 5 minutes. I immediately thought of some good uses for it ☺ We finished off with an Imax movie. Of course I quizzed our tour guide on who invented the Imax theatre and he said the Australians. Needless to say I quickly dispelled that myth.
After the Science centre we headed out to the gold market to look for trinkets. Kuwaitis gold is 21 karat as they hire Indian artisans and goldsmiths to work with it. Lots of stuff and probably a good buy because of the lack of taxes but still out of my league, especially without Shelley to decide what she wants. I have a chance to repent tonight as we go to the old gold market downtown tonight. Maybe I will see something that really strikes my fancy.
We arrive back at the hotel about 10 pm and get together to review our slide show and decide who talks to which slide. A beer or glass of wine would have facilitated the process greatly but it was not to be.
We actually got to know Abdul a little better tonight as his family owns 4 of the gold shops at the market. They have a house in London where they spend the summer. They will be leaving shortly, probably as soon as we depart. Turns out Abdul is Shiite which explains why he is often reticent to sit in our meetings as most Kuwaitis are Sunni and the Shiite are considered a little below them. Regardless of their class system Abdul is one fine fellow in our books so we have to set out tonight to find him a gift. By the way, second class here means he probably only has $500,000 in the bank rather than a million.
Time to hit the sack, night all.
Day 7
Great news, I slept right through to 6am! Our meeting with the undersecretary (read Deputy Minister of Education, we refer to him as old stone face) and his Excellency the Minister of Education is now at 11 am so here I am getting caught up on the diaries.
We are trying to arrange to have Abdul ship our various books and gifts back to Canada as they are quite heavy. We are making headway, but this is the sort of thing Kuwaitis aren’t very good at as they have other people do this kind of thing for them. Hopefully it will arrive in due course.
Last night I made up the 4 gift bags for our Kuwaitis hosts. Thanks to Shelley I have some Maple Sugar candy gift sets, gifts from the Board and MP and MPP’s. What would I do without her. The problem is deciding who to give them to. The 2 gentlemen above, Abdul and one other.
I hope to get some pictures of our hosts but that is sometimes problematic. Last night at the mall I was taking a shot of a nice fountain and a white robe jumped up and politely admonished me for trying to take a picture as there were 3 black robes in between me and the fountain. Obvious there are some subtle things I am not aware of. But then again, I do not think peanut allergies would be a big deal here. ☺
Speaking of Steve, I just checked out the lab and I see he did not take up my offer of a sleepover. He did however manage to keep the lights on in the lab so that it terrific as I will be able to show them our training lab.
Well I think I will go out and brave the elements and take some more pictures. I currently have 225 photos.
Day 7
Well we just got back from our celebratory lunch after our final meeting. Oh what a relief it is (can you hum that?). The meeting went well. Doug managed to keep his hands in his pockets and not offend anyone. I was my usual brilliant self and expressed my colleagues with my eloquence. The Minister was really impressed with my light your candle from my candle analogy and has gone out to buy some. I think he missed the point. Actually he referred to the sharing of light 3 times in the wrap up so it must have reached deep down into his spiritual self. Must have something to do with being out in the desert in the middle of the night with the tent flapping in the scorching desert wind (the natural wind, not the one that Steve recently referred to in a pale imitation of this, the real Camel Diaries.
I really do think we have accomplished quite a bit here in our short time and I would be a little bit surprised if Paul Martin appoints me as Ambassador to Kuwait. My Bentley is already on order.
It seemed really busy at the Ministry today as the entire countries high school population are writing their national exams. These are important because their scholarships are awarded based on these results. Needless to say the girls beat the snot out of the boys. However in the overall scheme of things it’s who owns the most expensive car that counts. If you ask a Kuwait how much gas is per litre they have no idea. It’s like asking how many grams are in a chocolate bar. They simply do not care. We worked it out and as far as we can tell gas is 5 cents per litre.
This is not the end of our relationship (or the Camel Diaries) as you can expect a Kuwait educational unit (ITAC) to visit the Board sometime in November. We suggested January as payback for inviting us in June but they were too aware to fall for that. November will still make they shiver in their sandals. I anticipate I will have to come back here within 6 months because their IT guys and gals love my sense of humour. I made sure I used First Class and had the encryption turned on at all times as the Camel Diaries are for your eyes only.
Speaking of camels I did ask and they do have them. There are camel races but not at this time of year. I guess I will have to wait until next time to see my first non zoo camel. I really do not think a camel on the track would be much different than the zoo. There are no more camels in the desert due to the landmines. (sorry about that one).
I think my brain is starting to suffer from prolonged exposure to the 50 degree temperature. Shelley cooks are roasts at home in the oven for 6 hours at 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I have been here for about 170 hours at 50 degrees Celsius. I will leave the calculation and conversion up to you. As I mention before this is a convection oven not a conventional oven due to the scirocco (scorching desert wind to the educated, a Volkswagen car to the rest of you).
I had fish and chips for lunch in case you were interested. I bring that up because Kuwait does have a fishing fleet and an ocean port.
Tonight is our last night with Abdul and he is taking us to the Old Soo (not sure about the spelling) but it means the old market. This is something out of the Marrakech market in Michener’s ‘The Drifters’ a must read for anyone who was in their 20’s in the 70’s although I personally do not know anyone that old. We walked their on our first day (2 hour total trip) and that made us famous with the local Kuwaitis because 1) they don’t walk anywhere, and 2) it made meaning to the phrase ‘Mad dogs and …’You really haven’t smelled anything until you have walked through an open air fish market in 50 degree heat. I hope that is not where my fish and chips came from!
There is another gold market there so maybe I will find something that I can afford and Shelley would like. If not, I can always buy some thing for myself (how thoughtful). I am particularly drawn to the headgear the men wear as I always liked motorcycles. (some of you will get this, most won’t). Damien won the haggle wars last night and came away with the best bargain of the night at 80 DNR’s which is about $400 CDN. Can you imagine how much Kuwaitis gas that would buy?
I am just about finished digesting my fish and chips and I will go up to the 15th floor and run for 30 minutes. After that I will cool down, shower, and head down for a Starbucks and then by that time Abdul and his drivers will be here to pick us up. I hope to have some grand tales to relate to you when I return tonight.
We fly out at 9 am and get into Ottawa at 7:20 pm the next day. Just in case you wanted to make plans to meet me at the airport.
More later. You guys are probably just getting into works now so I will send this right away.
I took a couple of pictures of the Kuwait graveyard out back. I figured they would not mind as they’re all dead and no one was looking.
Evening
Well we’re back from the market and we had a successful shopping experience. I noticed that our Egyptian driver stayed with us this time as a body guard. The market is a crowded bustling place so I suppose Abdul thought it was necessary. Wouldn’t want to lose a Canadian educator on the last day would we?
We decided to get Abdul a gift and Damien suggested a basketball book as Abdul and I are always talking about basketball. Abdul attended university in the states, just outside of Detroit so he is a big pistons fan. We were both lamenting San Antonio’s win in overtime and the likely aspect that Detroit is probably doomed to lose the series. It was not easy finding a basketball book in Kuwait as soccer is the big sport (besides racing down the streets and slamming on the brakes at the last moment. Did I mention the police drive bimmers here? Anyways they had one bball book so the choice was easy. Turned out it was a good book so I bought one for myself for the trip home.
Well, it’s finally over. Abdul picks us up at 7:15 and we are in the air by 9 so this will be the last chapter from Kuwait. I will cull through the pictures and post them on a web site for all to see, hopefully by the end of the weekend.
So what did I learn:
Kuwaitis are nice people.
BMW’s are plentiful
Camels are rare
Cameras are rare in Kuwait
There are no Japanese tourists in Kuwait
Landmines are plentiful
Booze is rare
Saying no is not an option
Kuwaitis women are strong
Kuwaitis men are not so strong
Kuwaitis are well off
Kuwaitis have paid slaves
Oil rules
It’s very hot here in June, July, August
I don’t like dates
Always eat with your right hand, but how you do it is up to you
Never offer to shake a women’s hand wait for her to offer
Never make eye contact when you are driving, it’s a sign of weakness
Teachers are the same everywhere
The Kuwaitis have a type two diabetes problem because they eat too much
Kuwaitis see themselves as managers in the workforce, the actual work is optional
The MOE produces their own text books, no publishers
Each Kuwaitis government department is like a tribe and they do not work together
Sadam’s head off his statue is at the Kuwaitis house
The Kuwaitis were drilling under the border and sucking out some of Sadam’s oil
Air conditioning is not an option
It takes a long time to get here.
It’s worth the trip
Travel is the best form of education
Iraqi soldiers aren’t very bright
The Kuwaitis will have a $4 billion surplus this year after putting $4 billion into their futures fund. There are only about 1 million Kuwaitis.
The Kuwaitis travel a lot. 50% of the Kuwait population is under 20
50% of the population is over 20 (duh)
The hot water is not really hot, just warm (at least in our hotel)
A Dinar is worth about 4.2 CDN dollars
There are no taxes in Kuwait.
Cars are much cheaper here.
Gas is much cheaper here
Muslim’s take their religion seriously
The fundamental Muslims are not well liked
Kuwaitis see themselves as the upper class of the Muslim world
Basketball fans are the same all over the world
Gas is about 5 cents a litre
exPats are ex patriots
Canadians are viewed very positively in the Arab world
Kuwaitis men are very interested in politics and the stock market
Cell calls take precedence over everything else
Kuwaitis business meetings are very unlike ours
You can drink to much coffee.
Turkish coffee comes in tiny cups, order the mild
Tea comes in tiny cups, right after the coffee
The next coffee that arrives comes in the smallest cup and tastes terrible
Wash all of the above down with water
Visit the washroom, soon afterwards but don’t expect soap, paper towels or dryers
Because of above, no left hand in the food please!!
The pastries are yummy
Things are not like they seem with regards to black robes
The Kuwaitis were sea going traders in ancient times.
The Kuwaitis army is even worse than Sadam’s
The Kuwait Marriott hotel is one fine place to stay and I am glad I do not have to pay for it
The Kuwaitis got great value for their money spent on us
A partnership with the Kuwaitis would be beneficial to both educational systems
Day 8
Usual drill, up by 6 am shower and down for breakfast by 6:45. After 7 days the hotel staff recognizes us immediately and we do not have to order, our usual’s appear on our plate. Abdul and the drivers are picking us up at 7:15 today so it will be a quick breakfast. Abdul arrives on time as usually and he seems a little antsy to get us on our way. Might have something to do with it is the first day of weekend for him. In due course we arrive a the airport and the goodbyes are handled in the usual guy stoic way except for Doug who grabs him, gives him a hug and kisses him on each cheek. Abdul seems relieved when Damien and I just shake hands.
The Kuwaitis lounge is full so we take to the outside holding area and que up to Board. The Kuwaitis haven’t figured out they need a separate line or early call for business and first class. We eventually board, and take our seats. A man and his wife get on a little later and are in separate seats. In our row of three the middle is empty so they ask the Brit on their side to switch and he refuses (non too politely) so I volunteer my seat which turns out to be a great move as I end up beside a very interesting Kuwaitis gentlemen who is quite talkative.
It turns out he is enroute to Seattle to visit family (Kuwaitis are still very nomadic in case you haven’t noticed. It turns out he routinely flies and evaluates staff while he is doing so. He said he submits a report to head office when he gets back. He also lets the staff know what he is going to say before he leaves the aircraft. He fills me in whenever the staff messes up which is quite often, not that I would have noticed.
After a fair amount of small talk I ask him to fill me in on some Kuwaitis stuff that I have seen but not found answers for. I knew Kuwaitis men get $75 DNR (quarter million US) when they marry and I wondered if the women get the same and he said no. It is for the family and they get it when they have their first child. It is a gift from the Emir. They do not get it if they marry a non Kuwaitis. They also get 120 per month for each child until 25. Most Kuwaitis have 5+ children. By the way, the divorce rate is 3%
.
I asked him how the young ladies meet their prospective husbands seeing as they are all covered up. He told me the mothers arrange it and there is still a dowry which goes to the wife. The two mothers get them together at the girls house, and they sit across from one another and talk with the mothers present. After 2 or 3 of these meeting they decide whether of not to get married and that can happen in weeks or a year.
I also asked him why they are segregated in schools and he said having 500 adolescents boys and girls together in one building is just too much temptation and then went on to explain the women have to be virgins or the men will not marry them. This whole system seems to be perpetuated by the mothers not the males. However, you can’t argue with the divorce rate.
The girls do win most of the scholarships to Kuwait University and that is why many of the young men go international. He did confirm it is because the boys are spoiled and not pushed while the girls are. His children all go to a British international school for girls. The boy is 20 months old and not in school yet. I asked why the private school and he stated a better education, but he is quite wealthy (family wealth) and this is a class system. I asked about the family and he said the extended family really stays together. They pool wealth and have houses in England, the states and Egypt. If he was to get sick (he did have type 2 diabetes and was 50 pounds over weight) he said all of his extended family would be at his bedside every day and would fly back from half way around the world. He said, not only that but also the immediate community he lived in would also be visiting. He said this is the way it is. His dad has been a member of their parliament for over 20 years but all families are like this. This explains why Abdul knew so many people no matter were we went. He said Kuwaitis must like you to do business with you.
I am sitting in the Air Canada lounge typing this as we have a 2 hour layover. I missed the fact that when I changed my flight I arrive Thursday at 7:20 rather than Friday.
Bummer, I will have to go to work in the morning. Maybe I can claim jet lag and go in for lunch at Timmy’s. By the way I prefer the Pinot Noir over the Merlot but both are excellent. I must admit I had a beer first before the wine. Mighty parched after 7 days in the desert.
I called the Board and Jen answered so I asked her to get the early arrival notice to Shelley. By the way they have my favourite cookies here which are Walkers Short Bread. I won’t be able to email this in until about 9 pm on Thursday night when I get to our house.
We received some gifts while over there so I asked Abdul to have the Ministry ship them to the Board as they were quite heavy.
I don’t think I mentioned that there are no dogs in Kuwaitis. I asked why and the Kuwaitis consider them unclean. I guess I will have to hide my little rat dog when they come to visit.
Well time to go pour another glass. This will probably be the last installment as the next time I turn on my computer I will be back in Ottawa.
However, I did get 2 job offers to do some work with the Ministry of Education in Sri Lanka so there may be ‘The Elephant Diaries’ sometime in the future.
I also heard about the most beautiful place on earth located in Ethiopia. You have to travel by Land Rover for 100 kilometres to get to it. Picture coming to a crest in the middle of nowhere and then stopping and getting out. Walking to the crest you look down and there is a beautiful emerald volcanic lake off in the distance with an island in the middle. On the island is an ancient stone monastery run by Catholic monks that have been there for 250 years. If you listen very carefully your can hear the sound of a flute off in the distance. There, apparently, was a red Ferrari parked out front.
Note: I was poking fun at the Director of Education who was had a zen like approach to leadership and gave every member of the leadership team a copy of 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' to read and reflect upon. Hence my reflection ☺
At some point in time I think I will actually go back and edit the diaries because at times I think my brain was a little addled by the desert heat.
Jim al Dale
TTYL
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