Reality Check

July 16, 2008 | Filed Under Main |

I would like to tell you all more about my life in Kuwait… but I don’t have one. I work 60 hours a week, eat alone, watch my DVDs or read, and sleep. There is nothing else to do.

You can’t meet anyone unless you have children. Families are everything here in Kuwait. If you aren’t attached to a family, you are avoided. There is no art; not even religious art. There is a rare exhibit someplace that you don’t hear about until it’s over. There is a two-day jazz festival once a year. The movies are censored and there is one little community theater that is closed for renovations. I can shop but, being a guy, I shop commando style: get in, get what you need and get out before anyone knows you were there. A satisfying shopping experience takes less than thirty minutes. It would be shorter, but to go grocery shopping in Kuwait, you must navigate through large families in every aisle. Any shopping is a communal experience in Kuwait. The whole family goes - right down to the grandparents, all the children and their nannies. And – as you can imagine – these stores are much smaller than your average Shop Rite.

So – as a person without children under 18 – there’s not much going on. I don’t even think I’m allowed to go to the various amusement parks without a child chaperon. I can shop or go to one of the many frightening similar American fast food restaurants (is there a difference between Ruby Tuesdays or TGI Fridays?). I can sit in coffee houses ‘till late at night and drink coffee and smoke like all the other men, but there may be health risks to that. I can’t even go to the beach because the heat (over 120) and the dust (constant lately) make it somewhat un-enjoyable. To add icing - work has not quite risen to expectations. For such a large firm, they are incredibly… let’s say “provincial” in the way they do business. The big leagues this ain’t.

I’m sort of in a void here. Kuwait is different enough to make me long for things back home (like art or the occasional beer), but it is not unique enough for me to lose myself in its culture (or even find its culture). Sure – part of the issue is that the installation I’m doing at work has been a nightmare. Yes, I am paid and treated well. And yes, it has only been just over six months.

But that’s work. Kuwait – I don’t think – will change.

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4 comments so far
  1. Mike July 17, 2008 5:31 am

    I guess it’s pretty disappointing when you think you are going on something adventurous and it turns into a worse version of tedium than here. It’s too bad the job wasn’t in Belgium or Amsterdam- at least you wouldn’t be longing for beer, you’d have the best in the world. Hang in there!

  2. mburma July 18, 2008 8:36 am

    Honestly, I didn’t have to come thousands of miles for tedium with no beer or sports.

  3. Phyllis July 19, 2008 12:38 pm

    Argh! You’re a far better person than I am Carl!

  4. mburma July 19, 2008 10:24 pm

    Not really, Phyllis. I just shoot for those BIG mistakes.