New School Year- New Goals!

It's not all about the cat!

 Look at the date!  It's been less than a week since my last post and I am hoping that this will be a weekly event.  It is Saturday night here in Kuwait. I have been here for less than 24 hours, and slept for at least twelve of them.  It is hot.  The AC is not working and I have had several "technicians in and out, but no luck yet.  Keeping cool with a cup of green tea and a wet towel around my neck. The cat, as you can see, is very much alive. She has cried a lot since I have been here; her way of saying "Meow I missed you!"

The day before leaving for Kuwait, I had my teeth cleaned by my dear friend from elementary days, Muriel. She is an independent Dental Hygienist working in west Ottawa on Preston Street. Not only did I have the dental job done, but I joined  Muriel for a walk to a beautiful Thai restaurant, where we caught up with one another's lives (after all it's been more than a year since we chatted) and immensely enjoyed our food and drink. After dinner we went to an Italian bistro for a latte. Although tempted, I skipped dessert, for obvious reasons. This got me thinking about some of my goals for the school year- Goal #1- Stay in touch with friends and Goal #2- FLOSS!

I am so proud of my friend Muriel- almost 40 years as a dental hygienist! 

 My final morning in Canada was spent at home finishing the final packing for travel to Kuwait. My dear husband waited patiently while I checked and double checked for the essentials- passport, Kuwait identification card, toothbrush and floss, sweater and socks for the flight. I said bye bye to dear Mika, loaded the truck and set off to Ottawa to meet my favourite brother for breakfast at Joe's Pizza. No kidding, that is the name of the best breakfast restaurant in his area of Ottawa. Thanks Rick for the breakfast! Goal #3- Stay in touch with family

Now the trip was one of the best I have experienced. After clearing US customs in Ottawa, it was the waiting game. My husband had arranged for my laptop to be cleaned,( while I was having my teeth cleaned),so I was able to putter around on the web, keep track of the Olympics, and enjoy a cup of Tim's. Goal #4- Take better care of technology (laptop, iPad, iPhone, Kindle) and Goal #5- Cut back on coffee consumption

I boarded the plane to Newark and enjoyed the hour trip to Newark airport, just outside of New York City. The three hour layover there passed quickly and with no need to change terminals, I walked for an hour, then settled in to a lovely glass of Pinot Grigio while watching the end of the women's soccer match and the beginning of a men's. Goal #6- Cut back on pinot. 

The second plane ride of the day was a bit late departing Newark, but arrived only a few minutes late in Frankfurt. Upon landing I thought I had picked up some type bug...upset stomach, cramps, and a horrendous headache. It could have been the six hour flight with no bathroom break- window seat- or it could have been the pinot. Long story short, I found a quiet place to lie down and sleep, and woke up with some relief. Happily when I arrived at the gate, a colleague and her friend were waiting for the same flight. Fortunately, he had some extra strength headache medication, which helped. Big thanks to Mike and Hannah! Again, it was a three hour layover, and spent the time walking around, browsing the duty free shops, and a monitoring the Facebook chatter.

Plane number three out of Frankfort had me seated at the back of the plane in an aisle seat, I was happy to be able to get up and go when the need arose. I watched two different inspirational films, both which told the stories of about athletes who overcame great odds- tennis player Althea Gibson and diver Greg Louganis.

Tennis Star Althea Gibson

Greg Louganis is an accomplished athlete, LGBT rights activist, mentor to US divers, and auther

Goal #7- Must read this book!

Now, back to present day...I arrived in Kuwait at around 8 p.m. The line for passport control was extremely large; however, I was so impressed with the courtesy of the other travelers. When my turn came, I was stamped and then able to collect my luggage, which came out almost immediately. The taxis were also available and I was in the apartment by 9:30 pm.

After a bit of unpacking, I decided to get to sleep at 11 pm, thinking I would get up at 7 am and go for a swim. Not to be!  I did not even hear the alarm. A headache woke me up at 10:30 and after a black coffee and about a litre of water, I fell back asleep until noon. I noticed the apartment was a little warm and despite being on, it appeared that the air conditioning was not working. I fiddled with the settings, but could not get the temperature to drop below 27.5. As I write, I am awaiting the technician. Goal #8- Practice patience

In the meantime, I checked out what food was left in the apartment, and was pleased to find some vanilla ice cream and pita bread in the freezer, plus plenty of tea and peanut butter in the cupboard.
Goal #9- Shop for groceries tomorrow morning. 

If you know me, you probably realize that I like change. The rest of the day was spent moving furniture. The apartment is quite small and its furnishings are quite big, plus I had acquired some extra "things", so it was necessary to reorganize. The result is what you see below.  Goal #10- Get rid of (give away or sell) some of the extra things that are not being used. 

The dining room/den

The bedroom/workout room

The living room (TV in the corner)

The reading corner (and cat)

The cozy kitchen/laundry room- fridge is in the corner

That is the end of the apartment tour, the end of the goals (almost), and the end of this blog post. I have landed. I am feeling refreshed after a lengthy trip. I have wonderful memories of summer holidays. Finally, I look forward to a new school year with a class of new children, a new and improved positive attitude, and a long list of promises to keep.

Until next time,

Bee Rich

PS The AC is now working. Present temperature is 25.5 C. YAY!

YES- it has been a while!

It is MAY!

May- like you mean the second last month of the school year? Maybe in Canada, yes. But in Kuwait, it has just been announced that the final day for students is on Thursday, June 2, due to the beginning of Ramadan on June 6.

Ramadan is a month long event which occurs once a year, but not at the same time. In fact, Ramadan comes eleven days earlier each year, due to the difference in the Muslim (354 days-based on the moon) and the Gregorian (365 days) calendars.

Ramadan is known as the most holy Islamic holiday. All Muslims over the age of puberty are required to fast (no food or water) between sunrise and sunset during the month. Originally Ramadan occurred during the summer months and its name means "scorcher". Many of the people will stay indoors and rest during the day, so as not to break their fast. As teachers and support staff are working until until June 14, it looks like the length of our days at school will be reduced; no official word on that yet.

I am keeping busy!  Just prior to our trip to Ireland in April, I changed apartments. Gradually I am decorating and making the tiny place my new home. The cat has settled in and so have I. Since moving, my days have been simplified. The apartment building is much closer to the school, the pool and the local grocery cooperative. Consequently, I have more time at the flat, enabling cooking, reading, web surfing, and other pleasant past times.

We are in the middle of a three day weekend. We had Thursday off, due to another Islamic holiday, Isra and Miraj, which was actually last Sunday. Today was supposed to be a fishing day on the sea, but a sandstorm blew in last evening, thus cancelling those plans. Instead, I took a walk with friends along the seaside and had breakfast out.

This afternoon has been one of school work- lesson planning, preparing for upcoming meetings, and marking, This is also the time of year to work on transition planning, and we are in the process of planning for the 2016-17 school year. And yes, I plan to come back for at least one or two more years.

Until next time,

Bee Rich

PS New flat pictures are below

Cat at Home

Cat Nap

Living Space

Eating Space

Down the Hall

Water Closet Space

The View from Here