Day 19 B: Kuwait is Hot.

Aug 17

Zab’s father met us as we walked through the arrivals door. He was so happy to see his wife and son, and maybe a little happy to see a strange white guy who was with them. We walked out of the airport and instantly were engulfed in heat. The digital thermometer in front of us said 40 degrees! And it was only 10:00am. Wow. This is going to be fun! The highs for this week are supposed to be around 47 degrees and the lows are around 32. It is more humid than usual right now, so I am told it feels a little hotter. It feels hot to me whatever the case, and I like it!

We drove out under the cloudless white skies and traveled through the airport grounds. It did not look like we were in the desert. It was green and lush and there were trees everywhere that looked to me a lot like palm trees. I was informed quickly by my tour guides that these where date trees. Mmm, I love dates. Everything here needs to be irrigated and it is watered very often. We drove out onto the main highway. What a beautiful road. It is a 10 lane divided highway with beautiful date trees, well trimmed shrubs, and flowers planted along the side. These areas also need to be watered daily to survive the desert heat. I was surprised to see that there is even green grass along most of the road. People go very fast on the roads in Kuwait and we saw a few cars that had been totaled and were laying upside down in the ditch. It is a form of warning to others when they leave them along the side for awhile. We drove to Ahmadi where Zab’s parents live, and where Zab lived for his high school years after coming back from India after the war.

Zab’s parents live in a different house than before. It is a beautiful 3 bedroom home which is beautifully decorated. It feels very warm and homey. I like it a lot. This is Zab’s first time seeing his parent’s new home, and he was very excited for them.

The house is air-conditioned by a main line that feeds cold air to all the buildings in the area. Here in Kuwait they are able to leave their lights on, their water running, use large amounts of gas in their cars, and talk on the phone lots because they are all free or very cheap. There is so much money in Kuwait that most people have shiny new vehicles (a lot of SUV’s), new amazing cell phones and technology, and new clothes. It is so much different than India! I should clarify though. Most of the money goes to Kuwaitis. There are thousands of expatriates who live and work here who have a lot less.

We toured their wonderful home, had a stupendous meal that was prepared by Zab’s father, and then we rested and relaxed for the afternoon. Here it is too hot to do anything during 1-4 o’clock. They even close the shops during this part of the day.

In the evening we drove through the city and saw Zab’s old school and the old house that they used to live in. Then we went to a store and I bought new batteries for my camera so I could finally take pictures again. (Those crazy security guards, I hope they are enjoying my batteries that they took!) We went to a near-by city and walked around a beautiful mall right beside the Persian Gulf. It was immaculate and very impressive. Everything looked very expensive. We walked through a meat and fish market. I have never seen so many different shapes and sizes of fish. It was really neat. Something smelled a little fishy about that place though. =)

We walked along a sea wall as the sun was going down, and then Zab and I walked through the soft warm sand. We waded into the water a little ways. Now in Alberta if I were to do this at our beaches in the dark, it would be cold. I would get used to it, but my feet would most likely go numb. The water here though was warm! It was so nice; I cannot wait until we go swimming in it. We sat and looked at the lights and the coast for a long time as the tiny waves slowly lapped on the sandy shore. The lights were beautiful! They even had lights shining up from the bottom of every date tree along the shore.

The four of us drove to a large supermarket to buy food. It was fun to see what they have in a different part of the world. A lot of the brands and items are the same as in Canada, but there are a lot of really different items also. I was amazed at the variety of countries that the fruits and vegetables came from. Almost everything has to be imported. We saw items from Holland, Africa, India, New Zealand, China, and many many more countries. We went to a nice restaurant for supper that is subsidized for employees of the company that Zab’s father works for. The food was very tasty and well priced. We came home and went to bed at 10:00. It had been a very long day!