Monday, April 30, 2007

Do I look angry to you??

Ok obviously this is not my picture (or is it??????????) but I am just as angry as this little guy! I have been long suffering with my 10 year old son's math tutor. She is actually the math teacher at his school (private school but not British or American..too expensive for me!) and tutors at night. She has never even demostrated to me that she knows Math and I highly doubt she has a teaching degree let alone a college degree..Ugh! This is an area where the Ministry of Education is beyond lax. Anyone can be a teacher in Kuwait without certification which is scary since any pedophile off the street can walk in and be in command of children (God forbid!) So, all the teachers over here ,or most at least, are simply housewives that can speak minimal English! Good grief!

Ok back to the story...she tutored my son every day for 3 hours for 7 months and he STILL only was able to manage to get 60% out of 100% which is a 'D' by American standards...on the brink of an 'F' on his last exams. So, I stopped sending him to be tutored. And apparently she is angry because she has been verbally abusing him in class. Today he did not know the answer so she made him stand in front of the class and told his classmates to yell 'Shame, shame' at him! Poor little guy! I am not seeing red rather I am seeing BLOOD!

BUT I am not sure what to do. I would like to rip her to shreds with my tongue and then lodge a complaint with the principal and then the Ministry of Education. But I am worried. My husband and I once complained about a teacher who kept calling my son "Stupid' and was pulling his hair when he was in first grade. The principal told her who complained. So she switched tactics. She denied him bathroom and water fountain passes. He came home a couple of times crying because his stomach hurt from holding his urine all day and the last straw came when he arrived home with pants soaked in urine from where he could not hold it any longer.

So if I complain to the school I know my kid will pay the price.

I guess I will sleep on it and give an update when I have one.

My FIRST Comment!!


Ok, I was MAJORLY bummed out when I did not get a single comment so I really was going to just wait until I was added to the Kuwait Blog roll. But I got an awesome surprise when I received my first comment from a Texan in Kuwait! Thanks Tex!
So, I will muddle on and continue to post and hopefully people will find this blog one way or another!!
XOXOXOXO

Please Stand By.................

Hmmmmmmmm.... I have no way of really telling if anyone is reading this blog. Since, their are no comments I guess it is safe to assume no one is reading. So, since the guys at Kuwait Blogs told me to be patient while they add me to the blog roster I will also ask anyone reading this to be patient as well.
This is going to be an AMAZING blog, but please stand by until I am on Kuwait Blogs..
I don't want to write and have no one read it ! :-(

..................stand by................

Saturday, April 28, 2007

I finally broke down and started using my treadmill again. Ugh! I hate exercising! Unfortunately I have gained about 25kgs since I have been in Kuwait and I need to lose it ASAP!

I will be updating my progress RIGHT HERE! Just the thought of failing in front of an audience is very motivating!

Anyone else trying to get in shape?????????

Awesome Lightning Show!


So, we went to Sharq Mall yesterday for a late lunch (4pm). The lightning was just starting as we waited to park our car. We ate at Marina Thai (Yum-O Spicy Chicken & Rice) !) and shopped a little. I bought 2 new pairs of sandals given that Summer is just around the corner! We grabbed a couple of Vanilla Chillers and went to sit by the water. Oh my gosh, the lightning was SO beautiful!! I wonder if that was the last storm of the season?? I hope not! :-(

Friday, April 27, 2007

Spilled KDD Cocktail on Keyboard????

Oh my gosh! My keyboard is so stiff and bouncy today. I just looked down into it and saw an orangish muck in between the keys. My daughter fessed up that she accidentally spilled KDD Cocktail juice on the keyboard last night while I was cleaning! Good grief!

Any ideas how I can clean it? Or do I have to buy a new keyboard? Yuk!

I feel like Rosey!

Remember Rosey the Robotic maid from the Jetsons? I totally feel like her today. Or rather I felt like her last night and today I feel like Rosey after she has been sent to the scrapyard!

All the recent dust in Kuwait left my apartment covered with so much dust. I cleaned and mopped everything. It took over 4 hours to do and today I can barely walk. I hate dust and would have seriously rethought my move to Kuwait back in 1996 if I knew how dusty it was here! Ugh!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Reese's Dream!



So, last night I dreamt about my favorite chocolate in the entire WORLD!! Reese Cups! They are delicious disks of peanut butter covered in milk chocolate. Yum!


Anyway, I was standing at that juice/candy kiosk (what's the name?) at Sharq Mall. And all the little cubbyholes were filled with Reese Cups. So, I shoved my hand in my bag to fetch every single KD I have out and buy as many as I could and guess what? I had no MONEY! Not a single dinar! I went running up and down Sharq Mall begging for dinars and no one would give me the time of day. I finally woke up when I tripped in the dream and had that scary 'falling' sensation.


I supposed I should be trying to determine what the dream was telling me. But I am too busy salivating over the Reese Cups I saw in my dream!


So, I am heading to the Sharq Sultan Center tonight to see if they have any Reese Cups. They carry them every now and again..but you really have to stick your head into the candy aisle to find them!


I LOVE CANDY!



Harassment & A Smile


He was running late, but even HE does not believe he was speeding. Nonetheless, my husband was pulled over for speeding yesterday about 2km from our home. Two cops stopped him and made him get out of the car. Both were actively doing the old ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine. The ‘good cop’ leaned against the car with a smirk on his face. Meanwhile, the ‘bad cop’ set to work on my husband. First he asked him why he was speeding. My husband apologized and said he did not realize he was speeding but that he was late for an appointment. Then the ‘bad cop’ asked him what his profession was and my husband replied that he has a family run business. Apparently, the nature of our business did not seem worthy enough to this cop to afford my husband a Land Rover Discovery. He began to berate my husband and repeatedly asked him if he was a drug dealer or if he was a thief. He kept saying that “someone like you” (I presume he meant expatriate?) could not afford such a pricey SUV. Apparently, no one ever taught this cop that hard work with your blood, sweat and tears most assuredly pays off and you don’t need to have the Kuwaiti nationality to pay your bills.

By this time, my husband was severely rattled. Here he was stuck on the side of the road with two cops seemingly convinced he was a drug dealer! On top of that his mobile was incessantly ringing because he was late for his appointment with an important client. But the abuse was not yet over. The cop insisted upon knowing the family history. How did our family end up in Kuwait and how had we found success here. So, there he stood on the side of the road forced to go back 50 years in time and relate how my father-in-law came to Kuwait as a teenager. He was employed as a welder. He saved his meager earnings and opened up his own business, which has grown immensely over the years. And all his children were born in Kuwait, including my husband. Satisfied with the answer, the cop wrote out a ticket and turned to walk away. But he swiftly turned back and asked my husband for his business card. After surveying it for a moment, he had the audacity to ask for a discount if he comes into the shop? Wanting to get the heck out of ‘Dodge’, my husband reluctantly agreed. The saga is seemingly over for now or at least until that cop meanders into our shop demanding his discount!

The behavior by those cops that day was truly absurd. But it is not surprising. The social segregation in Kuwait is so thick that you can cut it with a knife. And it’s not going to get any better unless the government does something to restore and revive the structure of this society. Expatriates are used and abused in this country to an alarming level. I just cannot understand how some humans can view other humans as being disposable?

The economy is booming in Kuwait. Oil prices are sky-high and all the construction in Salmiya is of course a blatant attempt to lure tourists to this tiny Gulf State. But you know the saying, “If you build it, they will come,” from the Kevin Costner flick ‘Field of Dreams”? Well, that will definitely NOT apply to Kuwait if drastic measures are not taken to level the playing field. No one is going to want to visit Kuwait when the whole World knows how this country treats foreigners. There are thousands of other places on this Earth that are much more hospitable to the wardens of its’ state. Not so in Kuwait. You only have to go as far as the local dailies, the Kuwaiti blogs and magazines to glaringly see the social division, dereliction, and maltreatment.

So while the ministers busy themselves with the unavoidable threat of water and electrical shortages this summer, they might just want to put one more thing on the agenda for the sake of Kuwait’s diversification plan. Stop using, abusing, and minimalizing the importance of non-Kuwaitis in this country and do something (like treat us fair, increase our salaries, and cut our expenditures) to show the World that you value people other than your own.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Thief Caught from DNA on Cinnabon!




**Now this is FUNNY!


EASTPOINTE, Mich.
Norman O. Wheeler probably wishes he had finished that cinnamon bun.
DNA evidence from the partly eaten pastry led to Wheeler's arrest in a 2004 car theft.
The 40-year-old Detroit resident already was serving time for another auto theft when authorities made the DNA match. Wheeler pleaded guilty earlier this month, and he now faces sentencing May 22.
Eastpointe Officer Ed Lulko was investigating the car-theft report when a witness described seeing a man arrive in one car and then break out the windows of the other car and steal it, according to police in the Detroit suburb.
''Officer Lulko found the partially eaten pastry in the car and sent it to the Michigan State Police crime laboratory with hopes that the DNA left on the roll could lead to the identity of the perpetrator,'' Detective Eric Keiser told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens. As a convict, Wheeler's DNA was on file, leading to the match and arrest.

Tornado-Like Weather???




I woke up at 6am this morning to yet another sandstorm!! They are getting more and more frequent. And more and more scary! My balcony door was ready to burst open. I scrambled to push a large (out of use) heater in front of it.


I also have a horrible scratchy cough as a result of the smelly sand!


So, I was wondering if there has ever been a tornado in Kuwait???
I "Googled" around and came up with nothing. So, I went to a really cool website to see just how a tornado works and if the proper pre-conditions exist for one to ever occur in Kuwait!
Sumi

If You Build It, Will They REALLY Come???



I have been thinking about creating my own blog for over a year now. I finally broke down and decided to do it. So, now my only question is, since I built it will anyone come?

I have no idea how to promote my blog, so any suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!!

Sumi