glamorous.

that's the kuwaiti life. the five us often joke that we feel like we are teaching at some 90210 meets the hills kind of university. it's a high class fashion show five days a week. and i should have known. seriously, if students dress like runway models at university then how will they dress for a party? well, last night i found out. one word: glamorous.

i had the pleasure of accompanying mona to a family friend's graduation party. the party was held in their house--a modest flat from the outside but a marble filled palace inside. the first observation: this party was only for women (as many parties are gender-segregated). the second observation: the clothes and jewelry. first, let me tell you, every piece of it was real. second, the diamonds were huge enough to feed entire nations, i am sure of it. now, onto the clothes. think ridiculously nice cocktail dress to black-tie wedding apparel (and there i was in my favorite little skirt from my favorite thrift store in san fran). oh, and the most perplexing thing--these dresses weren't necessarily what you'd call 'modest' (even by u.s. standards).

the party, and especially the dancing, was fabulous (especially the palestinian dancing, of which there was much of). it was a strange feeling to be there in the presence with people where clearly i was 'the other.' but this is always a good feeling--to remember how uncomfortable, despite generous hospitality, that feels. the party continued on until almost midnight--replete with dancing, conversation, and food.

then it was time to leave--the most interesting part of the night. all of a sudden i saw women who were dressed, if i might say, quite scantily clad cover themselves again. first came hijab and then the abaya and off they went. you probably would have never guessed it. neither would i. i'm not sure what we think women wear under their abayas-but sometimes it's not what we'd think.

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p.s. sorry i don't have any pics of the night. given my outsider status it would have been less than appropriate.

technology.

stepped foot in a college classroom in the united states lately? if so, chances are you probably won't see students without this (ok, time for you to guess). if you guessed a laptop (and if you guessed a mac you get double bonus points), you're correct. but not in kuwait.


now, now, don't misread what i'm saying. the students are still little technological fenes, but their obsession seems to center more on their blackberries than on their laptops (and yes, even this luddite knows you can get internet on a blackberry). but in class, it's note taking the good ol' fashioned way--pen and paper. none of that electronic business for these wildcats (the school mascot). but maybe the reason there are no laptops is because there's no wireless on campus (i know!). oh wait, i'm sorry there is, but here's the process you must go through...


first, you must text (or SMS as they call it over here) a specific number at the phone company. second, you must wait for a responsive SMS from the company with a pass code. third, you must then enter said code when prompted to sign on. and fourth, said code only works for one hour. this ain't no VT-WLAN people!

but that's why everyone (and i mean everyone) has a blackberry. but never fear, there's no verizon contracts over here to subsidize the astronomical cost for a phone (i mean, it's a phone people!? enough ranting, meredith). ok, so as i was saying, there's actually no cell phone contracts over here. nope. you just buy the phone at retail price (around 150 KD= $500 USD) and then buy minutes on phone cards from these guys. oh right, but in order to actually have your phone work you have to have a sim card. and who can get the sim card? not just jenny from the block. you must be a citizen or permanent resident of kuwait. oh, don't worry, the five of us are sharing a cell phone (compliments of the university), although, seriously, who are we gonna call!? (if the first thing that came to your mind was ghostbusters subtract those earlier points you may have earned from correctly answering laptop :)

pictures galore.

friends, please forgive me for only posting pictures on facebook. i realize some of you do not choose to spend your lives on facebook, (and this is a good thing) . so, here's some pics to highlight some of the journey so far...

below is a picture of the arabian gulf which i walk along on my 2.5 mile walk to school each morning. don't worry, it's already 100 degrees by 8 am, but the beautiful scenery makes all the sweatiness worth it.

and in case you ever wanted to know what a fig tree looks like...

the ladies (left to right: jill, me, emily) getting some ice cream (i'm not gonna tell you where from but it was tasty).

below is a view from our apt building at night. one of our favorite things to do is just people watch. thing really start to get lively in kuwait at night (no, seriously...)

more to come soon. we're planning a little 4th of july celebration which i'm sure will have plenty of kodak moments. much love from the middle east.

subversion.

chances are you probably know about kuwait because of the iraqi invasion (and subsequent gulf war(s) which followed). and no doubt, kuwait is still recovering. there's buildings that remained bombed out, an economy that had a huge portion of its assets (oil, of course) burned, and a people who have lived through unimaginable war. but still, what remains in the media depictions, particularly of the women, are these veiled (read: oppressed) women who are second class citizens in their own society. well, as i found out in class today, these head scarfs have come in handy, particularly during tims of war.

so, the iraqi occupation of kuwait began in 1990. soon following many of the men were sent to war. and similar to women elsewhere during times of war, the women of kuwait (not kuwaiti women, again that whole citizenship thing) assumed traditionally masculine roles. but, due to the occupation, basic necessities (medicine, money, etc) were stollen or prohibited. but the women had a plan. women who covered used their hijab or burqa as a hiding place for documents, money, medicine, etc. subsequently, at checkpoints maintained by iraqi forces, the women of kuwait managed to smuggle necessary items. and so, the veil, so often conceived of in the west a sign of oppression became a sign of patriotism and courage.

if you're interested in more, check out this great article a friend just forwarded me on women wearing hijabs and burqas.