At Last.

I apologize deeply to all of you waiting for my safe arrival. I'm here, I'm alive, and WiFi is damn hard to come by.

Kuwait. Well, let me just say, I keep waiting for the stagecoach to roll by. That's what kind of hot and dusty it is here.

Let me start by answering some questions:

No I am not freaking out. I'm here, I'm not nervous or scared, and now that I have internet and coffee things are just about damn perfect.

Veils: yes. Lots and lots of people wear them. They are a fashion statement. Some are blinged out. With real damn bling. I was in Passport Control, looked over and saw the Passport Control for "Veiled Ladies". That's when this place got real. To the people here, it's just like you'd put on a jacket or any other article of clothing. Personally, i think a lot of the women look prettier with it.

The Flight: as flights go, it was pretty smooth. I happened to be stuck in the back middle of the plane, breaking up a very nice older Hindi family enroute to Hyderabad (you think MY flight is long). The also sat for four and five hours at a stretch. Poor Ciocia, sitting next to me, a bajillion years old and couldn't get her seat to lean back. She was sleeping slumped over her meal tray until I found out the problem and gave her a hand.

The longest part was actually the plane ride from Frankfurt to Kuwait. Longest 4 hours of my life- can I tell you I hate the screen with the little plane on it? Apparently the Captain thought he'd just fly over Kuwait, then fly back. I was watching the little plane make a corkscrew on the screen, asking the flight attendant "Can we just park?"

Arrival: I was actually afraid no one was going to meet me, and I was met by Curly and Larry, my Principal and the IT Coordinator. One is Castillian Spanish, and the other is Kuwaiti. A very warm welcome, and they took me to my flat, gave me money and then took me to the most incredible Iranian food ever, on the next block. All things to make me very happy indeed. After, I went back to the flat and unpacked.

My flat: brand spankin new. Has trouble with the plumbing. I called the "Harris" (maintenance guy) about the inch of water on the bathroom floor. Notwithstanding, he shoved his arm down the drain and came up with six or seven piles of gravel that would have ballast a tanker. Problem solved.

Um, the floors are marble. The bathroom and kitchen is tile. Pictures will be later- I dropped the camera batteries while we were banking off Frankfurt. Beautiful, beautiful flat.

Our building (I don't have the address on me) is a building specificially full of teachers from our school, so I will be talking about them later.

Weather: it is hot here. There is no comparison for the United States so I will not bother. Turn your oven on to 350 and sit on the door for a while. That's what it is like, but all over your body.

Food: everything is tasty. Coffee is about the same price as there. All we're eating is Indian and Iranian food right now, because we're darting from Air Conditioning to Air Conditioning. Yes, they have a lot of junk food places but everyone avoids them on principle.

Country: I only got in last night- I'm 10 hours ahead of you guys so keep that in mind. I haven't seen anything but the driving isn't as insane as I thought it would be. The driving is the same side as the United States, nothing different there.

The funniest thing (to me) so far, has been being gawked at. The administration tries to prepare you for it, but they can't. It isn't sexual and it isn't invasive, it's just curiosity. The kitchen staff actually stopped what they were doing last night at the Iranian Restaurant, and came to the doorway to look at me! When I saw all the faces around the doorway I started to laugh so hard, I can't explain why. To me, I'm just me. To them, I'm not just me. It made me laugh.

Strange details: no sidewalks. Insides of stores, malls and flats are very nice. Outside, looks like a lot of laundry and the U.S. Army pulling out three hours ago. Inside, things, women, little details are just...nicer. Outside, men walking around in long white gowns. And if you've thought you met Macho, you haven't seen Kuwati Attitude making those long white gowns Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimp. They do.

I have to go do some shopping with some other teachers. I'll try and post at least once a day- my battery is getting low. email me with questions.