Howdy! Last week, we celebrated the Islamic Holiday: Eid Mubarak. Eid means "celebration", while mubarak means "blessed." Muslims wish each other "Eid Mubarak" after performing the Eid prayer... which is insanely long... so, I guess they all deserve a celebration afterwards. Recently, it was Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the Hajj. Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. With that being said, we had Tuesday - Sunday off from school. Unfortunately, I have yet to receive my civil ID, so I couldn't leave the country to travel. I went to school two of the six days, and spent the rest of the time hanging out with co-workers and meandering around Kuwait City.
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| Monday night, grocery shopping! Danielle and I left with a ridiculous amount of pillows. Cute apartments are important! |
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| After working at school on Tuesday, some of us got together from some Ethiopian food. The ladies are so nice there, and of course, the food is fantastic! Look at Kent and I being besties. |
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| On Wednesday, I tried out the Al Corniche Club with Jill and Andrew. It's this fancy little gym next to the Arabian Gulf. They have their own little beach, swimming pools, spa, courts, gym equipment, and several classes included in the membership. It's an arm and a leg to join, but I think it's going to be worth it. |
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| Lunch break with this pretty lady. |
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| I'm thankful our school has a pretty great library. Reading by the beach... perfect! |
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| This is the view from a treadmill on the gym floor. Pretty awesome, right? It's almost like you're not in Kuwait. |
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| Leave it to me... being me. After working out, what do I do? Go to Danielle's apartment and stuff my face with ice cream, brownies, cookies, and candies. Ugh. |
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| Afterwards, I met Aleesha's kitty cats! |
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| And played a board game with some sleepy, but foxy ladies. ;) |
After a late night of board games... I wake up to THIS! An hour and a half of children screaming and repetitious prayer. It was brutal.
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| I wasn't the only on to notice either. It. Was. So. Loud. So, I work up at 5:30... made banana bread and waited for it to stop. Once it did... my body had it and slept in till 11:20 a.m. :D It's my vacation and I do what I want! |
Listening from my bed...
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| Luckily, a great breakfast cooked by Wynter and an evening out made up for the dumb morning. |
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| A fun night of eats, drinks, laughter, and music. Great evening! |
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| Extra thanks to the fellas that entertain us every Thursday. |
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| Look how adorable Jill is! |
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| Michael had some seriously cute cats. |
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| Yet they kept sitting on the lap of someone who liked them the least. :) |
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| Friday evening, Danielle, Andrew, and I met up with a guy we met through Internations. He took us to a woman's house (who was also on the boat trip) to play trivia and Bingo. We didn't win at Bingo, but didn't do too shabby at Trivia. |
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| Oh heyyy. |
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| Saturday morning, I went to brunch with my mentor teacher and her friends. She teaches 8th grade science and has had an incredible impact on me the short time I've known her. |
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| The restaurant was right next to the Gulf. |
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| Iced Caramel Latte. |
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| Multigrain bagel with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, tomato, and "bacon". Pumpkin hash on the side. |
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| Saturday evening, Brian, Jill, Danielle, and I went downtown to the old souk for some dinner and shopping. I saw this silly thing. Really? I can put Doritos on my own pizza, thank you! |
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| Thai for dinner! |
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| Yummy shrimp dish. |
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| Spicy seafood soup! |
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| "For Bartys and Wedeing"... Parties and Weddings? Please pay me to proof read your signs! |
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| Kids playing in the fountain. Reminded me of Korea :) |
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| Brian is Mr. Celebrity. I guess that's what you get for being 7 feet tall! (Did I get that correct, Brian?) I feel like a rock star walking around with him. |
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| "Yes ok" drink. |
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| The mosque that was bombed this summer. It was haunting being near it. Such tragedy. |
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| Kuwait pride! |
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| Painted skyline. |
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| Playing some Set at the end of the night. Andrews face as he attempts to de-cap a bottle using a screwdriver. |
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| Fruit drink with basil seeds? I think. I actually liked it. |
In other news: Here are some randoms before and after Eid.
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| An origami hand from a student. So creepy, but so cool. |
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| Hamad often does this after class. He gave me a heart attack the first time he did it. I promise he is a normal kid... well, normal enough for a middle schooler. |
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| Danielle and I tried a salon by our apartments. |
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| 6 KD for this pampering? Yes, please! |
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| The skin around my toes was red for hours. I guess she thought they needed a lot of work... |
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| Look at Wynter and all her banana bread glory! Hot lady! |
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| I tried buying normal lemonade... ended up with mint in it. |
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| Yesterday, I had my first rough run in with a student. It shook me up pretty bad. This angel of a person made me dinner! My colleagues are pretty great. |
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| Pesto chicken! YUM! |
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| And I come back to my place after dinner and find a sweet note and coloring book page from Emma. I wasn't trying to get sympathy for what happened, yet these people cared for me with no reservations. I feel so thankful! |
