A desert Ramadan

We are now heading into week 2 of Ramadan and whilst I am fully into my new adapted routine, I know some desert girls are still in the midst of finding their feet. This time of year is always a funny one, it quickly shows me how much I rely on a routine, even though I don’t have a 9 to 5 to stick to, last week I had no idea what day it was, because my usual social diary was torn up, so I had nothing to pin point the weeks progress. Having said that I have enjoyed the longer mornings with Hubby, chats over a pot of coffee and the papers (albeit digital), slowing things down, finding time to breathe. During this moment of reflection and pace change, I do wonder how everyone else copes with these changes and I know it varies dramatically. 

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1 country, 2 worlds

After another week of self discovery and enjoying the “me time” I have to say I was delighted to spot a friend across the gym floor, unaware they were back in the land of sand. What followed was a quick catchup, as not to disturb each other’s mid workout heart rate, we fixed a day to have a proper get together. So on my merry way I went, back to my self indulgent alone time, but looking forward a day of company.  Yesterday came and we headed into the city for a bite to eat and a debrief on our summer travels, fighting the humidity and 50 degree heat, battling Kuwaiti style for a parking space (which basically means finding any available gap, be it on the pavement, roadside, dust track or a rare designated area) but it was good to be back in the social game.

As we got further into our conversation, just about managing to not inhale the food when it came, I was intertested to hear how this desert girl was finding her first year desertside. She like me had a very open mind moving here and had adjusted so fast, settling into life with no real issues, but as we talked we laughed over a few random situations we had witnessed and it got me thinking…. this desert life is one of many contradictions, I find myself in the midst of first world problems but at the same time observing strange, sometimes wonderful, archaic moments. What is it like to straddle two contrasting worlds? 

Give peace a chance

This perhaps isn’t one of my usual posts, but after reading a post from The Expats this morning and seeing comments on twitter and in the press, I feel like I need to say something.  It is apparent, after the atrocities that the UK has seen over the last month, that we are witnessing a real shift in our world, one that is hard to comprehend and find any sense in, the news seems to fill daily with yet another attack on humanity. The sad thing is, I am also witnessing so much hate, ignorance and intolerance which is just as heartbreaking as the incidents themselves. 

Dishing the sand

I am deeply back into the swing of desert life and whilst I do still drift away into a Maldivian day dream, every now and again, I am happy to be back.  Last week also saw my little rambling blog turn one! I can not believe that a year has passed, since I sat at home and thought,  I just have to do this, and I am so glad I did. So firstly thank you, to you all who keep coming back and reading my musings. I am glad to be part of a great online community of fellow expat bloggers, we all keep each other going and words of support and “I get it” making me feel like I am not alone in this random part of the world, so big up to you ladies. (I will link some of my favourites at the end of this post, if anyone fancies a read)

This weeks post, comes from a few inspirations, firstly I briefly saw a Twitter Q&A flying around in my feed last week and also having chatted to someone fairly new to all things expat, that I thought this would be a good time to dish the dirt (or sand), let you into a couple of secrets and blow the lid off……

Shoulda, woulda, coulda

Last week I had a little impromptu chat with a fellow expat blogger, over Instagram. The thing about bloggers, and especially expat bloggers, is that we are an incredibly friendly bunch. Just like my desert girls they “get it” so we tend to gravitate to each other, not only in real life, but in the social media one too. Anyway I digress a little, I was sent a message regarding life in Kuwait and did I have any specific posts about life here and advice I could instill. I realised that whilst I had a couple of posts directly about Kuwait, I did not have a post, that anyone considering a move to this little random corner of the Middle East, could read and gain a little insight into what life is really like here. So thanks to the lovely lady for inspiring this post and hope that this may guide her decision.

Oh man, Oman!

So dear reader if you are an avid follower of my social media sites, you will be aware that Hubby and i have just had 10 days away, enjoying an Arabian adventure. I say adventure very loosely as we stayed in 5* hotels and honestly the most adventurous thing we did was have more that 2 alcoholic drinks in one night!

The first four days were spent in Dubai, as you know this was emotional from last weeks post, but after I wept over the remains of my chicken dinner, we started to get excited about holiday part 2…..Oman.  When we arrived in Kuwait we had a little list of places, that we wanted to visit whilst in the region and Oman was fairly high on the list.  Well established desert friends had raved about it and last September we took the plunge and booked for the EID break, completely unaware of what this would really be like. 

50 grains of sand

Living in Kuwait for 2 years at times still feels like only 5 minutes, but it occurred to me over a welcome back Friday brunch with friends, that we are firmly fixed in our expat lives. It’s become second nature and life in Kuwait no longer has the novelty factor. We are settled into our desert existence and are at the point where endearing jokes can be made about all things Kuwait, with as much fondness as our lives back home.

So in a more upbeat post, compared to last weeks rant, I started looking at the funny side to living in the desert.

Why?…Why not

It occurs to me that some people may think my life a bit strange, odd and the last thing on earth they would ever want to experience. Expat life isn’t for everyone granted and whilst I never imagined this life for myself, I love it. The younger me would have been scared stiff of venturing anywhere past St Ouens and didn’t have a spontaneous, adventurous bone in her body. So I asked myself what happened to that shy, reserved little island girl?  Well, she fell in love with a nomad and an adventure didn’t seem so scary, when there is someone to quite literally hold your hand. So when people ask me why I choose to live abroad, I simply answer why not!?

Ramadan Kareem

Today is the start of Ramadan for all Muslims around the world. Ramadan is the holiest month of the Islamic calendar marking a month of fasting and is one of the five pillars of Islam. The fast  (no intake of food or liquids including water, abstention of sinful and sexual activities) must take place daily between sun rise and sunset and lasts between 29-30 days dependant on the sightings of the crescent moon. During this compulsory period of fasting, you are displaying self discipline, spiritual reflection, control and sacrifice allowing the person to cleanse and purify. Charity also pays a large part during this month, where practicing empathy and charitable actions (zakat) towards those less fortunate are paramount to the practice.

Living in a Muslim country the misconception of most people is that,  if you are not a practicing Muslim then Ramadan , is of course something you know is going on, but has little impact on you if not taking part. This is not the case. Living in Kuwait I realise how important this month is, your expat cultural awareness skills kick in and you observe and respect the changes that come.

Girls in the city

This week the ladies that brunch reconvened for our weekly ritual of eggs, pancakes and gossip. As our social secretary, I took it upon myself to suggest a break from the norm, try something new and venture out of our local comfort zone . Much to my delight, my fellow desert gals agreed to partake and venture into Kuwait City to trial the aptly named Breakfast Club.

We piled into the car and our designated Italian driver loaded the GPS and took a deep breath to prepare for the journey ahead. As per my previous post driving in Kuwait is questionable and as our new addition to the club put it, it’s the Wacky Races. There are no rules, biggest car wins and you do everything you can to get to your destination avoiding catastrophe. I refuse to drive here so I have great respect for those that do and our driver did a sterling job, arriving in one piece and literally applauding the tire screech to steal the last parking space available, we certainly deserved the hearty breakfast we had all come hungry to try.