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. 

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Expat Spice

It is not often that I get political in this blog, in fact I tend to steer away from it purely because I don’t think I have enough knowledge, but also this is a fun outlet and my readers are mainly tapping into my posts for an insight into my fun expat adventures and not to engage in deep debates. However, whilst my social media feeds are filled daily with protests, speeches and social comment, it seems that there is something I am compelled to address, especially as a woman.

Now don’t switch off, this isn’t going to be me preaching from a suffrage soap box, but the world has been flooded with powerful images of women standing up, for a basic right to be treated with respect and dignity and it made me think about the women who have touched my life in my past, present and no doubt my future. I have noticed whilst embarking on this expat journey, that expat women aren’t the cliched, gin swilling, twin set and pearl wearing, shopaholic, trailing spouces the outside world perceive. Expat women are amongst some of the strongest women I have ever come across. 

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.

New people, old attitudes

Something happened last week that shouldn’t have bothered me, but it played on my mind for a few days. Perhaps it’s because I was hormonal, perhaps it was being on the brink of becoming another year older or perhaps on reflection I was overly sensitive. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason, something gets to you and that’s that.

As the great summer escape comes to an end, I’m finally getting back into socialising with my fellow desert gals. Now the kids are still on summer break, so my mummy friends are still in trying to find a balance of having a good gossip with the ladies after 10 weeks and entertaining the little people. So happily I’ve gone along to parent friendly events, just to get back into the swing of desert life. This was going swimmingly with my close friends but then I hit a brick wall. I tagged along to another day out, where the kids would enjoy an adventure playground and us girls would coffee and natter for the duration. When I accepted the invitation I had no idea this was a mass outing, so was surprised but at the same time delighted, that there was a group of women, all looking forward to a good old-fashioned expat ladies Starbucks session.

Square peg, round hole

From the moment we arrive on this earth, we seem to spend our lives being ushered between social groups, the mother’s choice of where she places the baby in the music tots class and what friends they make on the play mat seems to  lead to a predetermined path of where they will fit in. I have often wondered about how my life would have been if I had fallen into the an alternative social group and would the parallel universe me be any different, that Sliding Doors moment of every choice has fated us to be where we are today.

We have all seen those American teen, coming of age, high school movies, where the cheerleaders, jocks and geeks barely interact, as they have found social acceptance in their worlds and believe that it is better to befriend like-minded people, than give in to social suicide of not belonging and roaming the school corridor alone. We all watched and we all feared that this was real life, so the teenage me gave into the pressure and found a group of friends who accepted me and my school years were saved and I flew under the radar of being fairly unknown therefore avoiding many social nightmares.