Contracts that go BUMP, in the night....

There are so many things I will miss about Kuwait...and so many things I won't miss a bit.
Here's a little free style thinking on which is what...

I will miss...

The MOON.  Enormous, the colors of burnt orange, brilliant gold and gleaming bone white.  Amazing and breathtaking as it rises over the Persian Gulf.

The SUN and the sunrises.  Also on the gulf...big, fiery, red, magenta, fuschia, then the familiar golden-white blinding light that burns intensely all day long.

130 degree heat.  Really I will.  It's a cleansing, hot, convection oven heat...and holds you like a freshly spent lover on a hot Carolina night.

My friends...Bob, Erika, Andrea, Berdine, Todd, Helen, Mac, Kris, Jamar, John, Julio, Dawnie, MG, Oliver, Terrie, Ashraf, Imran, Danny, Alwyn, Ashley, Velwyn, Sid, Vishal, Prashant, Paul, Eknath, Joshy, the Hot Firemen....and more I can't even remember at the moment.

Running along the Persian Gulf.  Utterly amazing. Surreal.  I mean, who gets to do that??

Delivery sushi...quality, delicious and cold every time.  And the miso soup? Piping hot.  Every time.

The sight of the oilfields just before dawn.  Eerily beautiful, like another planet. 

The bedouin barbecues...

The diversity and richness of this place and the astounding contradictions between extreme ridiculous wealth and not ever being taught how to clean or care for things or surroundings.  (that's a toss up between "will miss" and "will not miss".)

Building security...on watch 24 hours a day.

All tile floors and no carpet.  I love tile.

The call to prayer.  While not religious at all myself, I find these times very endearing and try to give them the reverence they deserve. 

Air that smells like warm, spicy sugar. I think it is the shisha cafes, not sure - but it is delicious.

The best Indian food I have ever had. Bar none. 

Meetings with the Legion of Doom, which I found particularly amusing and entertaining.

Some things I won't miss quite so much....

The way the bathrooms smell at Arifjan...you shouldn't walk into a bathroom and almost wretch due to stench.

Toilets where toilet paper isn't allowed. (I mean, ICK!)

Kuwaiti drivers.  STAY IN YOUR LANE!

The role of women and the inequality of women. 

Feral, unfriendly cats.

People who don't like dogs.

The phrase "Insha'Allah".  I'm a fan of personal responsibility. Owning your choices...

That weird Australian dude in the gym who stares and gets in my space..BACK the F off, dude. I'm working out, not here to be chatted up.

The Chicken Hawk.  Ya'll who know, know who I mean. 

Edited movies...although a little funny, still frustrating.

The distance of my friends and family in the states.

Paper shredding. 

Incoming IPC's.


I may come back and add to these as I remember....I'm going to sleep now for tomorrow is a HUGE and long day...but at the end of it all, I'll be on US soil the day after...

Ma' salaama.