Koo8watcher in Kuwait

The day had FINALLY arrived for me to head to the airport in Toronto to wing my way eastward to Kuwait where I would spend the next 10 months teaching Grade 10 English to Kuwaiti girls at the American Academy for Girls....that day was Friday, August 17.

My email confirmation from the school said I was to fly on Lufthansa at 10:05 p.m. from Toronto to Frankfurt, Germany with a 1.5 hour stopover there and then on to Kuwait. I should have known when we (Shawna, Tim, Noah and I) showed up at the airport and couldn't find the correct check in point that this was not going to be smooth sailing...or should I say flying!!

After several inquiries to various and sundry people, it was established that:

1. I was actually flying Air Canada to Frankfurt and then Lufthansa from there AND(here's the 'kicker!!)

2. I was scheduled to fly out SATURDAY, AUGUST 18th NOT Friday, August 17th...

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!! I wasn't so worried about myself (although I was scheduled to be in Kuwait at 7:35 p.m. Saturday night to be picked up by people from the school) but Lindsay had arranged to come to visit and was to meet me in the airport in Kuwait so....I tried begging, crying and pleading and FINALLY got a seat on what was supposed to be an overbooked flight. Phewwww!! My bags were on their way to Kuwait and so was I....or so I thought but when I got to the gate at the Toronto terminal, I discovered that I only had a boarding pass from Toronto to Frankfort. I was assured by the ground flight attendant that I could get one for the final leg of the journey in Frankfurt...best laid plans of mice and men....having made the 7 hour flight to Frankfurt, disembarking and knowing that my bags were on their way to Kuwait, I was informed that there was little chance that I would get on the continuing leg as the flight was overbooked and...low and behold, I was on a waiting list....all news to me. Thank goodnes for people who don't show up for their flight, for whatever reason, because it allowed me to squeeze on the plane....did I tell you I had to ride on the wings??!!...kidding but you can imagine my relief to be finally on the final leg.

Just to backtrack...it was so wonderful to spend a little more time with Shawna, Tim and Noah over the last few days of my time at home. I was so thankful that they could come to see me off at the airport. Needless to say, I shed some tears when it was finally time to say farewell and kiss them all good bye for 4 months. I will come home for Christmas so that is great!! Also, thank goodness for the internet and web cams!!

Now back to the flight...uneventful on both legs...safe arrival and friendly faces, including Lindsay's (but her bag did not arrive from her flight which arrived 2 hours previous to mine)at the Kuwait airport.

We got to my 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment in the building where all the foreign teachers live...very ceramic, very sparsely furnished but just great for my purposes for the next 10 months.

Got to bed about 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning and was up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for orientation at the school. Met most of the 'new hires' in the lobby of our building and we set out in our van for the school.

We were welcomed by the superintendant Gwen and the other administration people, were introduced to Kuwaiti life (religion, political system, culture, education, etc) and had a tour of the school including seeing our specific classrooms. The school is air conditioned but it can be 'hit and miss' we were informed depending where your classroom is. Oh, did I mention the heat...about 45 degrees during the hottest part of the day? Not as humid as was told...they obviously don't live in Southern Ontario!!

Most of the buildings are very square, light coloured and made of ceramics...very dusty on the streets, not much greenery around but lots of great palm trees....love the palms.

Have already had some great Mid Eastern food...shwarmas, shish kabobs, etc. YUM!!

Slowly my apartment is getting outfitted...some things by the school people and some by myself. We were given 120 Kuwaiti Dinair (about $450 CDN) to get us started...'a-shopping' we will go...we hit IKEA and a mall last night...today during orientation, we went to a teacher's store to get some classroom supplies...we also had our pictures taken for various and sundry needs and blood taken. Although we were required to have a physical and tests for Hep B, C and HIV, we still go through a battery of tests here too....c'est la vie!!

Well...that's it for now...will go to my first 'get to know the other teachers' party tonight...should be fun....

Life in Kuwait has begun!!! Lead on McDuff!!

Stay tuned....