no updates today...

I'd update, but I'm sick...

Food and Furniture

Okay, so I never went to the Palm Palace and no one went to the Old Market...plans change.

What I have done over the last couple days is learn more about our curriculum (I have to know mine and everyone else's from pre-kindergarten to grade 4!) and attack my library which is now starting to look like more than a jumble of junk in a room.



A bunch of us went to the Hardrock Cafe over the weekend...it's like going home for an hour or two! And for the month of Ramadan all prices are half off! I knew it was the place for me when I saw a guitar from the band Rush (go Canada!) up on the wall. Also on the walls are Richie Sambora's guitar (he's from Bon Jovi's band) and Elvis.


I went grocery shopping with Gabrielle last night. I got food and a new pillow and matress pad...my bed feels like a bed again! We had a really patient Bangladeshi cabbie with whom we had one hell of time finding our way home...in our defense, Kuwait has no civic numbers and everything looks the same. Good times...


We have an Iftar dinner tomorrow night to "break the fast", I think it's at the Crown Plaza or some such fancy place.


Right now I'm about to go over the different curriculum (what is the plural form of curriculum anyway?) I have meetings for tomorrow afternoon.

We have a lot of catching up to do...

This is what it takes to run my laptop in Kuwait...














Moncton to Montreal:

The trip was cramped but uneventful...it was only and hour and twenty minute flight so not much could happen even if it wanted to.

The Montreal airport is HUGE...you could walk for days and never have to leave for anything.

I was hoping to find a McDondalds or something quick and cheap....what I found was quick but not exactly a $3 value meal. Chicken fingers and plum sauce: $10, the conversation I ended up having with a Guatemalan woman and her kids who now live in LA who were on their way to Paris: priceless. Those kids had SUMMER HOMEWORK! What's up with that?



Montreal to Frankfurt:
I caught my flight to Frankfurt fine, it was much less cramped but very cold...BTW Air Canada, your food sucks. Your male flight attendant that had the jump seat in front of me? Not sucky at all. Yeah, I had the emergency exit seat...in case of emergency...find someone else, I'll be saving me, myself and I!

We flew over night to Frankfurt, where I am while I write this, everything hurts- there is no way to sleep on a plane without hurting- not that I slept anyway.


Now, I'm waiting to see what gate I leave from in a couple hours (it boards around 3:30 pm and it's 9:30 am) apparently they (and I) wont know what gate it is until an hour and a half before it boards...I'm going to go find some place to sleep.

So not sleeping, even though I want to...there's a lady next to me listening to music, they're called headphones lady, use them!

Ohhh, just saw two guys from the UN walk by in their uniforms, cool.


Frankfurt to Kuwait:

I spent upwards of 7 hours alone in an airport/country where I don't speak the language. I was super tired and trying to rest without sleeping, so I didn't miss my boarding call, and this lady has like 5 kids under 12 running around yelling...nice.
Anyway, I eventually found out what gate my plane was leaving from (B23) and went to wait at the gate...almost every white kid there works with me. I ended up sitting with Andrew, he teaches grade 5, with 3 other co-workers in front of us.


We got in at around midnight Kuwaiti time, I think...we were all zombies. Russ (our Superintendent) and a whole host of other staff met us at the airport with snacks and vans for us and a truck for all of our stuff...there was a lot of it.

I finally got to bed around 1:30 and was up again at 7:30...yawn.


Day One:

Got up EARLY...and made it outside just in time to walk with the others to school.

We met each other (again...last night wasn't nobody remembering no names), got introduced to the main staff and had an ice breaker activity. We each got a frame from a Calvin and Hobbs comic strip (YAY!) and had to find the other couple people who had the rest of it- then we had to act out the strip for the rest of the room. LOL

We got our Ministry photos taken, signed our contracts and got $300 KD (about $1000 CDN) and got a tour of the elementary part of the school...heh heh my library is a mess because they've been renovating all summer and I get to plan and put it all back together again...at least they left all the books on the shelves!



Next we went out for lunch and then grocery shopping. I got a cart full of stuff for $42 KD...about $120 CDN...I'm not sure how I feel about this money thing. Tomorrow were going to IKEA...its rough I want to save as much as I can for bills and such since we dont get paid until
the end of September but there's a ton of stuff I need- like a desk, chair and bookshelf to fill the empty room in my apartment. Yeah, I have an empty room and an empty walk-in closet, but no dreser yet. I have a full size kitchen (complete with propane stove O.o) TWO balconies, a full bathroom, a laundry room, a combined dining-living room and a bedroom that has a king size bed. Oh well, it is a settling in allowance might as well use it for that...its not like Im blowing it on comic books and CDs.
I got a step up & down transformer so I could finally run my laptop, I don't do well with silence...no internet yet...tomorrow I believe, phones and such as well.

I still haven't unpacked.

Shopping was...an experience. Sarah and I got all the normal stuff wed get at home (including familiar brands) and I got a guys phone number...and I didn't even have to try! I passed him half a dozen times, the 1st time he smiled, the 2nd he mumbled hello, the 3rd he mumbled and asked if I had a phone number- I didn't really hear what he said but when I did, I said no...so he gave me
his, sans name, and told me he'd call my number when I called him...I've been in this country less than 24 hours! LMAO

My power converter freaks me out. To run my laptop I plug the converter into the wall, plug a European plug into it, and into the European converter I plug the converter that turns my 3 pronged laptop plug into 2 prongs...it looks crazy...I wonder if its still grounded. Maybe I should get a surge protector and plug IT into the prong converter and the laptop into it...IKEA, I need you!



Im going to unpack and hang EVERYTHING up...lots of wrinkly clothes...I'll throw what I can in the dryer with a wet towel as I don't have an iron yet.

We are being treated to supper tonight by Building #2's host which is good because I'm starving...again.

FYI: There are pigeons in Kuwait.


Day Two:

We started training today...it was alright.

I have a problem...'member how I was happy 300 KD went so far? It doesn't...I have maybe half of what I need and I get my Canadian money into a bank account, so about 500-700KD to live on untill the END OF SEPTEMBER- I'm planning on 265KDs (or less) of expenses between now and the end of Sept (25KD for internet and 20-40KD a week for food/supplies for six weeks.
Keep in mind that I have bought very little and only what I really really need. I'm hoping to get mom to send me a Visa for backup...not that I don't already owe her $500

...what the hell have I gotten myself into? We can get advances from work, but I'd rather not. My cell phone is nice but expensive 60KD (250CDN) just so I could be sure it would work in Canada too...at least the bill comes directly out of our pay...don't have to worry about the bill so much.


I have no money and literally no idea what I'm doing at work...I don't know my curriculem, I have to know the whole crriculum for K-5 and my library has ben dismantled! Well...the books are still on the shelves but it's not a pretty sight...they might have warned me.

I'm tired, jet lagged and cranky...and super stressed AND I have to be at school by 6:45am tomorrow so that we can get the blood work and chest x-rays we all had done at home done again to get our Civil IDs...and I still don't know how to use my propane stove.



Dinner was good- BBQ. Had a great time with my friends.


Day...? I have no idea what day it is...I think it's Thursday.

Okay my melt down from Monday is over...yes, my library is still a mess but my assistants (I GET PEOPLE TO BOSS AROUND!) are coming in on Sunday so I'll have some direction in what I'm doing.

The money sitch isn't as bad as I thought (so long as the KD doesn't fluctuate too much) and I know what I'm doing (mostly) in terms of curriculum.

AND I have the internet, at a 3rd of the cost it would be if I hadn't split it with my 2 floormates!

What have I done in the last couple days...?

LOTS!

I've had my blood work and x-rays done (the same one's I did at home before I came here). I've learned a lot from a DVD by Harry Wong (no, you're not immature to laugh at his name, we all do too).

In addition to the phone number I got in the supermarket I had a guy pull over to the side of the road and offer me a lift...yeah, I know it's hot out, but no.

I've learned a lot about the curriculum and what I'm supposed to do...not the every day routines but in working with the teachers and coordinators.

Today we were fingerprinted (I think I got all the ink off). The fingerprint guy liked my tattoos...i think when they found out I was Canadian it suddenly made sense to them...they may also have called me crazy...I'm not sure.

Tonight we're eating Lebanese food at The Palm Palace, tomorrow is grocery/supply shopping and Saturday we're going to the Old Market.

A Side Note- Non Kuwait Related

Okay, I admit it...I love wrestling, especially the WWE.

And since I'm moving to Kuwait tonight was my last Monday night RAW and to add to teh awesome, it was live from Calgary...but it sucked and crossed a few too many lines.

Sgt Slaughter guest hosted, which should have been my first clue things were about to go down hill fast.

It was in Calgary which, despite being a rocking place, should have prepared me for Vince's hatred of Bret Hart (Calgary is Bret's hometown) to come shining through.

Anyway, the whole night was one big bash on Canada. The WWE even faked the audience, live and TV, by playing Bret's entrance music...even though we all know Bret will never set foot in a WWE ring (see his Wikipedia entry for the backstory) again, we all got out hopes up...but the music switched to Hacksaw Jim's (another old timer) and he came out.

That sucked, but on the OFFICIAL WWE chat one of the official WWE employees made an thinly veiled comment about Owen Hart- Bret's youngest brother who accidently fell to his death in one of Vince's rings...something that could have been prevented had the saftey regulations actually been adheared to.

CC made the comment after The Calgary Kid (actually The Miz, an American, came out to win a contract match after losing his the week before) came out in a mask...Owen used to wear a mask when he played the Blue Blazer...a role he hated very much and the one that killed him.

I guess even though it's my last RAW for a long time, I won't miss the show THAT much.

I really don't know why I expected more from Vince McMahon, really...

Hello out there...

Well, you've found me...how and why we may never know.

In 6 days I, your humble metal addled narrator, will be moving to Kuwait to become the head elementary librarian in an American private school...am I nervous? Well, yeah...I really have no idea what it is that I've gotten myself into.

I guess you could sum me up in a few lines from my favorite Poison song (Fallen Angel):
"Just a small town girl with her whole life
Packed in a suitcase by her feet."

Started packing today...how is it that I own this much stuff?

Anyway it's 2 am right now and there isn't much to tell until the fun really starts next week...so I'll see you then!