First Week

Thanksgiving Day- At Hilton Resort Beach

Hello everyone! Well, I've been here a week and so far so good. I am moved into my apartment now, so enjoy the pictures of where I live. I don't have much of a view, nor do I want to post pictures showing my exact location, so you'll just have to trust me on that. Anyway, here is a brief snapshot of my week:

Sunday- Flying

Monday- Still traveling (arrived at 5:50pm local time)

Tuesday- Got day off to recover from jet lag

Wednesday- First day of work, spent all day in-processing

Thursday - No work, since it was Thanksgiving!

Friday- Spent all day in-processing

Saturday- Got paid for 10 hours of Overtime for doing absolutly nothing but waiting- nice!

Sunday- Get the day off and will go to church on post around 5pm

My Bedroom

My Bathroom

Laundry Room and Second Bathroom

Office

Kitchen

Dining Room

Living Room

Living Room- Still havn't figured out how to work the tv!

Well, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I got to move into my new apartment that day. Once I got here and dropped off my stuff a couple of us then headed to the Hilton Resort for Thanksgiving feast. The Hilton put on a nice spread for the troops here, and since we know the right people, we got in as well. After enjoying a few hours on the beach we then headed to the Avenues which is this enormous shopping center. I needed a hair dryer since mine was going to blow up on me... even with the converter it was sparking and getting really, really hot. Not good! So, I bought pretty much the cheapest one they had and it cost me approximately $24! Things here are really expensive. Seriously, I got a little travel size hair dryer that would have cost no more then $10 in the states. So, shopping is fun, but it will pretty much be window shopping for me! The rest of the day I just spent organizing my apartment. It was a good Thanksgiving, but I definitly missed being with family and enjoying homemade rolls and homemade pie!

Thanksgiving Feast Pictures

Attila and I on Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Feast was held in the tent on the right

At The Hilton Resort Beach

So, here are a few more observations about this country: 1- I have seen absolutly zero bugs other then flies (and flies are pesky and everywhere) 2- Dust is everywhere and everything is coated in a nice layer of dust, so trying to keep things clean is virtually impossible. 3- In public restrooms they only have this paper stuff that feels like toilet paper to dry your hands. 4- So far the weather has been beautiful and in the upper 70's, but becuase of the air conditioning I still wear my jacket! 5- People cross the street where ever and whenever they want... yes, it typically forces you to slam on your brakes so you don't hit them! 6- Driving is crazy- I wish all of you could experience this. Here are a few, very common, things that happen here and I've witnessed all of these things in the short time I've been here: a. A ton of people do not drive with their lights on. b. Reversing on the freeway because they missed an exit. c. If there are two lanes turing left the right lane (or outside lane) will make a u-turn right in front of you even though they are not in the inside lane. d. People ride the line-pick a lane! e. People cut you off constantly- and they just come over without signaling. f. People are impatient and will pass you on the shoulder or the sidewalk... see picture below.

There was a guy walking on the sidewalk. You should have seen his look as he turned to see the truck heading right for him! Also, the little car was scared to death as well. It was pretty funny!

g. Traffic circles (AKA roundabouts) are pure chaos... no lines, no rules- its a fight for your life! Okay, there are two rules for circles - traffic in the circle has the right of way, and the inside lane has the right of way. So, that means if there are three lanes of traffic in this circle the inside lane needing to exit can cut the other two lanes of traffic off in order to make their exit. Nice! h. People drive at ridiculous speeds... if the speed limit is 120K (or about 75MPH) people will fly past you like you are standing still. i. People will stop where ever for any reason.... sometimes to drop their family off, sometimes to look at a map, sometimes just becuase they are waiting for someone, etc. etc. etc j. People will exit a bus anywhere... they don't even come to a complete stop and you'll see people jumping off. I've heard they get on anywhere as well, even while the bus is rolling.

Nice huh? Now can you understand a little bit why I'm so nervous to drive here? It is seriously nuts and extreemly stressful for me to get behind the wheel. Luckily I have been blessed with one of the closest apartments possible, so my commute is only 15 minutes versus and hour like some people have.

My Car! J/K I was given an SUV not a Ferrari!

My work conditions are okay... I was definitly spoiled working at Buckley. I have a tiny cubicle vs an office, the bathrooms are accross the street (yes, it is at least running water), and I am constantly breathing in dust. I will work at least 10hour days, 6 days a week with Sunday's off. So, unless it is a holiday I will not get a chance to "do" anything but work and come home and read, blog, e-mail, etc for a couple hours before heading to bed. I eat at the dining facility (DFAC) and they food is not bad... you get a ton of food for $2.50 for breakfast and about $4 for lunch and $4 for dinner. I know I will get tired really fast of eating there, but the alternative is spending a lot of money to buy groceries. At least at the DFAC I can eat a little more healthy, too since they have fruits and veggies. I'm either going to lose a lot of weight because I will be tired of eating there or I will get fat since there is so much food! Anyway, there are a lot of good people who I work with, so I think I will enjoying being at work. I am looking forward to getting a workload so I feel like I've accomplished something. Yesterday, I sat outside for 10hours waiting to get my badge. I did absolutely nothing all day but I got paid for 10 hours of overtime! Got to love it! Check out my boots... yes, they are a complete fashion statement, but it keeps my shoes from getting destroyed! Have a fabulous week everyone! Love you all!

New Adventure

Well, here I am in Kuwait... I never would have imagined I would be saying that. Aside from simply providing my resume and being offered the position, it definitely has not been easy to get here. I feel that either I am really not supposed to be here, or there is a purpose for me here and someone is fighting really hard to keep me from fulfilling that purpose. I'm hoping it is the second reason. Seriously though, there have been hurdles all along the way- probably to discourage me and to make me second guess my confirmation that this is where I need to be. Some of the battles I've faced include my report date, getting a physical scheduled, immunizations, medical losing my blood, keeping my ID card, rescheduling flight plans and coming straight to Kuwait versus a stay in Germany, flight was delayed and made me almost miss my connecting flight to Kuwait, etc, etc, etc. At any rate, I am here and so far things have gone really smooth.

This past month has flown by as I was trying to get things ready to go. I am very blessed to have great friends who I tried to spend some time with before heading out. Also, I was very spoiled to have family in Denver. My got to spend my final evening in Denver with family. I invited the Showell clan to Jared and Katie's place Saturday evening for a nice dinner. I also asked Jared to give me a blessing - I am so grateful for him and the fact that I got to spend the past 4-1/2 years living with, or near, my bro. Thanks for everything Jared!

Well, Sunday was the big day that I flew out. We were delayed in Denver by 45 minutes and my layover in DC was only one hour. So, I was getting a little nervous about not making my flight. Well, I did make it and even survived the 12 hour flight (actually it was 3 hours from Denver to DC, and then 12 hours from DC to Kuwait). Attila was there to greet me at the airport and we went to the market to pick up a few groceries, to visit, and to enjoy a cinnabon before coming to my temporary housing which has shared common space, but I have my own room. I got all setteled into the posh temporary housing and was told I could be here for up to 5 weeks. Well, after I got all unpacked (of course), I received a phone call saying that my apartment is ready for me to move into. Nice! So, I will get all moved into my new place on Thursday.

I was given the day off today to give me time to adjust to the 10 hour time difference. It really wasn't that difficult for me to adjust... I went to bed at Midnight Kuwait time and slept until 8am. Even though it was like 2pm to my body I was still exhausted from the long trip so I fell right asleep.

Just a few observations so far about Kuwait: it is very westernized and I recognize a lot of eating establishments and name brands in the grocery store (no yoplait though- very sad), things here are expensive ($4 for a small box of Honey Nut Cheerios), it is windy, it gets dark about 5pm, double locks (turn the key twice to get the lock fully extended), I have to use the key to unlock my door and to lock myself in, driving here is insane, and lastly, there are nice people where ever you go in this world!

Well, until next time.... Love you all!

Weekend Festivities

Hope everyone had a very happy Halloween! Jared and Katie rented out the clubhouse and threw an awesome party! They did a great job with the planning, the decorations, and the food! We played Halloween bingo and Halloween pictionary... good times! There was karaoke and Halloween twister, and a lot of cute costumes. Thanks for throwing a great party J & K! Here are some pictures... you can also see some if you visit Jared and Katie's blog.

Saturday morning I went shooting with Uncle Steve and Cassie. I didn't do so great... I think I keep getting worse every time I go! The first round I got 14 and the second time I shot 16 out of 25... I did okay, but not great. Anyway, here are some pictures from that event.

Lastly, wish I could tell Dad happy birthday in person - been thinking of him all day!