The Big Things

It is pay day!! A heavy weight is being lifted off my shoulders.

We all know there is more to life than money. But in reality, we know money helps.

This month, my first pay in Kuwait, will equate to about 4 months working in East Africa, where I was for 3 years. (This is partly due to exchange rates as well as outgoings on my salary).Now that I have left, I really don’t know I how I managed to go on safari, own a car, have a few holidays (yes I do-thanks mum and dad!).  People will say, 'oh, but it is cheaper in Africa'. Well, only people that haven’t lived there will say that. Nairobi is expensive. Yes it is cheaper, than London, Dublin, New York…what are you comparing it with? Kampala and Nairobi were both cities where the cost of living was rising monthly. (Not helped by the UN and big Western NGOs that paid big housing allowances and salaries).

I didn’t leave because of my salary. But I know that I would have had to soon, if I hadn’t gone this year.

It is such a nice thought that soon I will not have to worry about reaching the end of the month. Or have to scrape together my glass bottles to take back to Nakumat, just to get a few more thousand shillings!

Saying that, there is a downside to getting paid in Kuwaiti Dinar (only a tiny one mind)….

My friend and I treated ourselves to a coffee and macaroon at Laduree the other morning.  Only after we left I  converted  the money into dollars and we had just paid over $9 each for a coffee. Bit crazy. Eeek!...it doesn’t sound that much in Kuwaiti Dinars! Once I am paid, I will stop converting money, it is the only way to spend it! (Ha!) Anyhow, it was worth it, for an hour or so, my friend and I happily pretended we were on an avenue in Paris...quite hard to do in a mall in Kuwait…but we tried!