Food Alert!

Hi.

Everytime I post one of these Food Alerts, please be sure to read them. You could be saving your own life!

There is a corn stand in Central Plaza, by the entrance, and it is highly advised that you do not eat from there because the man working the stand has been seen picking his nose twice, on two separate occasions!

you have been warned!

Bon Appetit!

Back in the Souk

Felt like I was back in the Moroccan Souk. Was nice to be home on some level... i say home because I spent most of my childhood in Tangier, from 79-88.

I went over to a tailor to check out how much it would cost to have a few clothing items made, and to my disappointment realized I was being ripped off. But that's ok, I know the cousin of the owner of that tailorshop, so I will mention something to her and hope for a better price.

In the meantime, I headed straight over to the Indian Heritage where I found my favorite Indian cotton, called Mal Mal Cotton. It is a sort of gauze-like cotton, the kind that Indian Banjara scarves are made from. I will update this blog with info on some good cloth stores.

I ran into this one Indian shop that makes shoes, but gorgeous ethnic Indian slippers. They also can create custom made versions, so I put in an order for some moroccan style baboushes to be made from the softest leather ever! Can't wait! 15KD only:-) and the workers are pretty nice guys:-) I do feel like I lucked out!

I do not think Kuwait is as boring as some other people feel it is... there really is lots to do. :-D

Double-Whammy Flashback!

Ok, so I'm at work today and us girls (me and my coworkers) are thinking sushi... (God! I eat a lot of that stuff!)
I am telling them, let's go after work, cause we do not have time within the one-hour lunch period to go get stuffed on fish. I say, "We are 4 girls, and there is no way that our food will be done quickly, take it from me". But nooooooo! They insisted on going, so I tagged along with annoyance at not having my words of wisdom heeded...

We got to Maki's and we were the only ones there, save for a couple in the far end. I noticed a good looking woman sitting next to our table (and no, subfuc... I mean subjunct, I am not a lesbian). She was looking and smiling at me. She says hello, and I say hi back, then she proceeds to ask me whether or not I went to X boarding school. My face lit up as I recognized her! 'Amazonia' I had not seen her in 16 years!!!

We gave each other the TV Guide update of our last 16 yrs, then exchanged numbers. I was blown away! Who would hve thought! I have thought of her often (in a non-lesbian way) over the years, such as the day this jerk burned my hair in class and Amazonia got into a fit with him over it, telling him off strongly. She has not changed much. Still very tall, and with the same beautiful mane of long, long hair and huge almond shaped eyes.

About 10 minutes later, in comes another woman and we double took on one another. Zaina! Wow! And of all people, it was Amazonia's table she went towards! Getting up, I exclaimed loudly "What is this?! Out of the blue meet-up-day?! First Amazonia, and now you?!" We hugged and blabbed about how long it had been yadda, yadda, yadda!

I think I may see them over the weekend.

Great stuff!

As I had predicted, we got back to work late... Go figure.

Evil that is truly beyond... beyond!

Nibaq asks: why does congress have to get involved with something that doesn’t concern them;

If you lived in the States, you'd have a clearer view of how the US gov't (aka The State) likes to control the simplest of human interactions amongst its people, from the right to live, to the right of marriage to everything else...

They have separated Church from State, however, now the State is trying to play God.

Frightening...

As for the moronic aschloch, Bush, he says there is nothing he can do to save her life, and by doing so would be going against the US Constitution and Floridian State Constitution.

What a dick! It's alright in his book to wage an illegal war and assault on innocent iraqi and afghani civilians in the name of greed, but to SAVE A WOMAN'S LIFE he can't even pull his thumb out of his ass...

This is truly a planet led by moronic leaders!

Another evil man is Judge George Greer (why do evil men in authoritative positions usually tend to have the name George? George Bush, George W. Bush, George Greer...

Judge George Greer is a man who is constantly ruling in favour of Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael, including refusing to grant Terri and Michael the right to divorce (they are Catholics), so that her life could be spared and Michael can go marry his long time girlfriend and legitimize (by law) the children he's had with her.

What kind of sick judge would allow a human to starve and dehydrate to death. Give her a friggin injection and finish her suffering if you're so hell bent on seeing her dead! (For the record, I do not believe in Euthanasia, nor do i support it) but if you are going to kill someone, make it swift)

What friggin demons are possessing these men?!!!!!

See what you've done, Nibaq? You got me started!

Disindigenous Selection

I have decided that as long as I live in this country, I will never, ever date [or marry] a Kuwaiti man.

I have many reasons, however let's just say that they are not prime candidates when it comes to giving their significant other respect, loyalty, faithfulness, as well as treating them with discretion and privacy. Word has it that a woman's reputation lifespan, as far as dating a kuwaiti man goes, has a shelf life of about 4 to 5 years before she's obliged to move elsewhere and start over... that is, if she's a foreigner. As far as Kuwaiti women are concerned, where could they go? Nowhere but their own country, left to face the gossip...

And what's up with the cheating? I mean, why is it done like its going out of style?

I'm beginning to feel that a "good kuwaiti man" is an oxymoron... however, I'd love to be proven wrong.

Oh, and I ran into DG about an hour ago, while on my lunch break, outside the Sultan center... [waving hello!]

No complaints this weekend...

I have to say, Mr. Geneva has the patience of a saint!

He picked me up after work on Thursday for Sushi over at Edo's. It's a very Zen-like restaurant, and we ate out in the garden, enjoying the sunshine. Turns out we are both 'sun worshippers'...

After that, I took him for a ride on "my boat". I told him that I had a boat and that my crew was always on standby. When asked if i knew how to sail, I said "Of course not, I have my crew to take care of that!" When we got there, he wondered why I was paying the "man behind the window" for tickets... har har har! I fessed up to him the joke:-) I am quite boatless, except for the 1KD boatride around the bay.

Once we were on terra firma we headed over to Marina Crescent to have a cup of coffee... We people watched and people commented, then once the sun set, we went upstairs to Color Me Mine (love that place!) where I proceeded to paint to espresso cups I plan on sending to Italy to my mum for Mothers Day. It took me 5 hours and not once did Mr. Geneva complain. He was not bored, nor was he fidgety, nor huffy and puffy or whiny. Quelle Homme! (what a man!) :-) I almost could not believe how patient he was! If nothing comes out of this romantically, he's definitely a keeper as a friend:-) When leaving, he said he would also give it a go, and he pre-selected a dragon figurine to paint on our next visit.

Next day was spent collecting empty sea urchin shells and cocquillages with mother of pearl on the inside, down by the Saudi border. Beautiful beach there! So empty and serene, not a soul for miles! I visited some friends at their challet, and we munched on BBQ'd shrimp skewers, as well as chops and skewered fish cubes. Tres yummy! Tiger (read previous blog) put a call through to me asking if I wanted to join him on a picnic, but I had informed him that I was already out on a BBQ... better luck next time.

And how was YOUR weekend?!

Could you ever forgive me?!

I know I have neglected you, my precious. I can only hope you find it in you heart to forgive me and be prepared for possible repeats!

Life in Kuwait does not allow me to blog. At work, I feel I am under constant surveillance by my version of Fudgewit. I think I am going to get a mirror for my desk, and spy back on him!

So I have been literally swamped these last 3 weeks... doing what? Let's see... I've cranked out a massive annual report which has had me dreaming of it at one point! In addition to that, a few ads. check out Bazaar magazine for some of my work:-) Also, and all those Osoul billboards you've spotted across town are another piece created by my agency...

Aside from that, I went out on a date of sorts. He's a nice chap, I am going to call him Mr. Geneva. He's a friend of Sheesha Girl's, and the way it started was that she had told me that he inquired after me and thought I was pretty, and she stated that I simply *have* to call him. After her constant nagging, I finally did put a call through, and we got to meet for coffee after one flake out and a raincheck.

He's a young one alright. I thought he was in his 30s, however he's in his mid-20s! DesertGirl thinks I tend to attract men younger than myself... and I wonder, "is this a good thing?!"

He's nice, funny, world traveled, charming, multilingual, sensuous, and he actually grew on me. We finished off up at the Chocolate Bar, sipping on chocolate shots, getting to know one another more. I highly recommend that place to any couple out on a date. It's cozy, and nothing beats sharing the pleasure of the darker (chocolately) kind;-)

I haven't seen much of DesertGirl lately, I'm guessing that would be because she herself is going about getting herself sorted out. However I was happy to be graced by her presence the other day over a quick coffee lunch, I say quick because she was clasping her handbag, and sitting on the edge of her seat, dying to leave. I took the cue and broke up the group and left with her. Miskeena...

I am really missing my friends back in SoCal... sigh. Someone I can talk about one subject a hundred times, and never have them snap at me over it. Such patience is a virtue and rarely found in friends... I'd do anything to have TGirl here with me...

I've found my new station (thanks Mr. Geneva!) 107.9. Great music, I am sure a lot of you out there already know of this station, but I just found it and lt me tell you... It takes me back to SoCal!

See you on the flip-side!

Subliminal signals

Yesterday I went out to lunch with Tata Botata over at Marina Mall's Food Court during my lunch break and over some byriani and lentil soup, we got to talking about the subliminal body language that takes place between Kuwaiti men and women, after I had asked him about it.

He claims not to know anything or rather much about it, however I am quite intrigued by this, so I was kinda disappointed when he could not tell me more on it.

I have learned that when a man 'wiggles' his index finger infront of his mouth, he's signaling that "he wants to talk to you". Another one is when he pulls on the side of his mustache while looking at you, it means "he likes you".

There are a few others that do not come to mind right nw, it's only 8:30AM, afterall. But if you know any more, do tell!

So last night I went out with Desert Girl, Sheesha Girl, and Little Girl to Ruby Tuesday. Ya'ani... it was not all that bad. Service was a little on the slow side, but that's okay cause the view more than made up for it; from where we sat outside, DG and I had an up close and personal view of Kuwait's balls and Bo Jaij came to mind. It's pretty smart of Kuwait to have a backup ball, just incase one of the two bigger ones disappears.

So this Kuwaiti beach cat comes by our table, I think she may have been pregnant, so I fed her some of my ribs and then Sheesha Girl does the most stupid thing ever; instead of calling the cat over to her side and feeding it, she decides to throw a piece of rib over the table, between DGirl and myself. Naturally, her aim sucked and I got hit in the arm with it. Plus I was wearing white. I mean, really!!! Dumb move!

Sheesha Girl is "married" now (and I use that term losely) and she is gushing (as always), this time over her new "husband". I personally do not believe in Mutaa marriages, if you are going to marry someone, marry them for better reasons than just wanting to get your rocks off with them. I just can't figure Sheesha Girl out sometimes and by nature, when I cannot read someone well, I tend to be wary of them. One minute she's Desperately Seeking, and the next she's married and acting all lovey-dubby. Sigh! Dgirl came close to "blowing chunks" a few times over the 'sweetness' that ooooooozed out of Sheesha Girl.

Anyhoo. I had had enough and split with Little Girl. When I got home I called over my (new) DVD salesman and spent 20KDs on all the latest bootleg. They better be good quality or else someone's gonna get my boot (leg) good! (obnoxious laugh).

More to come, so stay tuned...

1 month later...

I've just made it over the one month milestone!

Congratulate me.

I have to admit, I am starting to feel slightly claustrophobic. Kuwait IS small. I just put that to the whole 'settling in' experience. Physically things may seem small, however on a social level the boundaries are somewhat more expansive (to a degree). Not helping also is the fact that I am starting to feel 'homesick' for SoCal. The little apartment and garden I had. My stolen Tonk, Zouina, the Pacific, which was only a 7-10 minute walk from my domicile. The Mosque over on Vermont and Exposition I would go to every friday, my friends... my good good friends. sigh...

I've found my niche with one person only and she'll knows who she is (whenever she reads this entry), but I have yet to find my niche with a 'group', so to speak. Every girl has that one guy-friend who is there to help her out whenever she's in a jam; console her on broken hearts, advise her on her latest suitor, beat up those who offend her honour, or simply drive 50 miles over to help change the oil in her car. The position is vacant, any guys out there who wish to apply, simply send in a headshot of yourself along with a list of your can-dos, and female friends' referrals to bigcurls@gmail.com.

My weekend so far:
Wednesday night I joined DesertGirl and Bunny along with Nazareth and SheeshaGirl for dinner on the beach at the Hilton. Very good food and ambiance. There was a Barney walking around with an inverted tail. I do not think the person beneath the purple was very happy about the job; he/she (probably some Filipino) got attacked by kids popping their baloons in its face, and adults, such as yours truly, grabbing it by the tail from behind.
Thursday, ritualistic sushi outing with Desert Girl over at Sakura. We later picked up some BBQ items for our Friday outing to Mutlaa (Kuwait's Grand Canyon, i think?)
That night we headed out to "Liver" at Plant Boy's Farmhouse for a friendly BBQ. El 'Surfin' Mexicano was there, along with SheeshaGirl and a couple of her 'underaged' friends, one of whom works for Kuwait's Secret Police . On our way back home we stopped at a checkpoint, and SheeshaGirl was gushing and going on and on about how we will all (3 cars) get through without hinderance, since we have a secret agent in our group. Talk about evil eye! We all got through exept for Secret Agent who ended up getting arrested over some missed (cell phone?) payments. How do they get you for that?!!
Friday was a pretty low key day. As you can imagine, due to the sudden storm that whipped up the sand, we cancelled our Mutlaa BBQ, and instead had lunch over at a traditional Kuwaiti restaurant (forgot the name) over by Dar Al-Funoon. We (DG, SheeshaGirl and myself) later moved across the street to have some (go figure) sheesha! Well it was all for SheeshaGirl, who really is addicted to that nasty stuff! We sat in a corner, wind blowing around us, in the very dimly lit darkness, observing clandestine rendezvous taking place between couples.
This followed by a short visit to Marina mall, then taken back home.


Now, I have to get back to work...

Written under duress

I know this person, she goes by the name of Desert Girl and she is constantly nagging me to write my blogs.
I mean, really! Who does she think she is? The blog Squad?!

kidding aside, we both got together with "Goodnight" and drove up n down the Gulf Strip, foaming every person we could target through the car window and sunroof. It was fun and I got such joy and energy from seeing Kuwait out having a blast.
I got sprayed in my mouth at one point, and almost went blind. Then our car got accosted by some kids, and we had to honk them off. fun fun fun!

Women smiled at one another without any pretention which was refreshing. Read DG's blog for a detailed account on our outing.

last night we went out to Palm Palace after having dodged Goodnight's incessant demands that we join her at her usual hangout, where all the babies go to. I myself believe she is quite fixated on much younger men who could use a breastfeed... [koff koff!]

DG and I dined on mezzas, and later moved onto Cafe Latino, and flooded Nazareth's cell phone with template images and SMSs, cracking up all the while. He sure knows how to deal with 2 women at once... I have to hand it to him;-)

I really have nothing else to add... see u tomorrow!