So, I went to make some banana bread the other day and realized I did not have any cinnamon or baking soda. Since the PX does not carry those items I made a point to get off the freeway one exit before my normal exit so I could swing by the store to buy these essential ingredients. I think this was a Tuesday evening, and can I just tell you that traffic is crazy here? I may have mentioned that once or twice, but it is seriously out of control! Picture, if you will, a Costco on a Saturday morning- it’s insane, right? Well, that is the way it is everyday- regardless of the day.
Okay, so I am in the store and I find the baking aisle. I could not find the baking soda or the cinnamon, so I wait for a female to come by (it is not appropriate to go up to a man and start a conversation) so I could ask her where these items were located. The women I asked must not have spoken English, because she looked at me with the deer in the headlights look. The gentleman she was with did answer me, so I was grateful for that. I did find my cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda and was able to make some delicious banana bread!
While at the store I also bought a small box of clementines. I took it to work to share since I knew I couldn’t eat them all by myself. I was amazed that no one seemed to know what a clemintine was, but everyone seemed to love them. How can you not know what a clemintine is- they are the best! Okay, I haven’t written about the culture for awhile, so here are a couple new crazy driving stories and some other cultural differences about Kuwait:
1. When the road is narrowed to one lane for construction purposes there typically is a good reason for that other than to cause annoyance to those driving in the area. Well, I’m here to tell you that the orange cones mean absolutely nothing here. As I was heading home the other day there was construction which made a 3 lane highway become a one lane highway… or not??? There were people that completely disregarded the orange cones and were flying down the road in the restricted construction side- Nice! I have a feeling the construction company was expecting that to happen, because about two miles up the road they parked a big truck sideways which forced the crazy drivers to merge back to the one lane that they should have been in all along. Merging is a simple enough concept, but the people in this country don’t seem to grasp it- pure chaos! Oh, and I may add that while people were going down the construction side of the cones, there were other people passing on the shoulder, so it really was still a 3 lane highway. I’m telling you, I DO NOT make this stuff up, nor am I exaggerating!!!
2. It cracked me up to find one of the impatient cars that went down the construction side decided that they weren’t in such a big hurry after the construction ended. Here they were going 80KPH (50 MPH) in a 120KPH (75 MPH) zone after the construction ended… go figure!
3. The other day I saw a vehicle parked in the traffic circle (aka round-a-bout)- nice!
4. Kids do not use car seats or wear seatbelts
5. The Potholes here will swallow your car whole
6. I feel like I am playing reverse Frogger when I drive home. There are people everywhere and they just walk across the street wherever and whenever they want. Perhaps you can think of it as the people getting across the street play real-life Frogger!
7. The other day as I was on the street just before the street I live on there was a guy driving straight at me- kind of scary. So I came to a complete stop since I had no idea what direction he was going to go. He wasn’t going fast, so it wouldn’t have caused much damage, but still why are you driving on the wrong side of the road? He ended up going to my right and drove around me and then cut off the car behind me by driving in front of that car to get on the correct side of the road. Again, I’m really not creative enough to make this stuff up!
8. The eggs are on the shelf rather than in the refrigerated section in a grocery store.
9. An employee of the store weighs and stickers your fruit and vegetables for you before you leave the Produce Section. It is much like when you buy fabric in stores in the US. It is kind of nice actually.
10. I’ve discovered long-life milk and it is fabulous. I don’t like drinking a glass of milk anyway, so it has a good enough flavor to use on cereal and for baking.
11. Websites often come up for me in all Arabic. I have to leave a comment on someone’s blog using my user name and password so I can then edit my own blog, since the blog site is all in Arabic and I don’t know where the login link is!
12. It is still a bit weird to not understand what people are saying while at the grocery store or out and about. Then again, the majority of people here speak English, so I am able to understand when I need to!
Last night a group of co-workers went to an all-you-can-eat (which are never really great deals for me) Japanese restaurant, Sakatura. They had fabulous teriyaki chicken! Here are some pictures from the evening.
Lastly, I discovered my new favorite ice-cream flavor from Baskin Robbins- Love Potion #31 (yes, that really is the name)! It is sooo good! White chocolate and raspberry… does it get any better than that? I submit it does not! Well, enjoy your week and go have some yummy ice cream!
5 comments:
Julie, I love all your stories!
If I didn't know you were telling the truth I'd think you were making it all up but then they say that truth is stranger than fiction!!
Eli says thanks Julie for my birthday shout out!!!
If I were there with you - I would NEVER drive! I probably just wouldn't leave my house, I'd be too scared to even get a ride with someone else! ;0) Such crazy stories you have.
I don't think I know what a clemintine is either. I hope that really was cinnamon, you can't tell from the label!
Your description of buying produce in the grocery store made me think of South Africa--it is the same there. They also call baking soda bicarbonate of soda. Trying to find something is a challenge when you don't even call it the same name. In case you ever need rubbing alcohol for any reason, just be warned that it may be called methylated spirits. Thanks for sharing all these interesting details so that we get to "experience" a little bit of Kuwait.
~Kimberly N.
Looks like fun! Too bad, no on in a uniform was invited!
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