The long run-32km

I tried to list all the things I was thankful for. I tried chanting "I am so lucky." But nothing seemed to help. Self- doubt had crept in and by KM7 I was already plotting an escape route by taxi. The beautiful sunrise , with its blood red and pumpkin bright orange helped to keep my mind positive for 10 minutes and somehow, by dragging one foot ahead of the other I finished my 32km training run.
Hopefully that is my bad dress rehearsal out of the way!
The Chiang Mai marathon is in 3 weeks!

 Not only did we have a beautiful sunrise, but the sunset was pretty good too! The sandpit has been looking particularly pretty this Winter so I have lots of things I can list during the run!

Change of seasons in the desert

Autumn is nearly over here in the sandpit. Soon our air conditioners will be switched over to heaters to warm the cold tiled buildings. Pupils are now wearing winter uniforms to school and the International Award expeditions begin this weekend (it always rains during the Bronze desert hike!).
We've had a couple of early sprinkles of rain, just enough to break the humidity and a couple of electric storms, that try hard to be as aggressive as their African sisters but just don't quite have the wow factor. But, the real tale-tale sign that winter is arriving in the desert...

First world signs in a developing country.

What I talk about when I talk about running...in Kuwait

I've not been very good at getting out during the week for my short runs; days off and weekends away (that take a few days to recover from!) are great but mess up the routine. But I have been consistent about plodding the pavement for my long weekend runs.

I ran 25.7km today. Why the.7 - well, it was converted from miles and I wasn't planning on doing a metre more than necessary! This marathon, my third, still seems like a VERY big challenge.
I was running with two male friends that are a LOT faster than me...so this was a slow run for them...but I was so grateful for the company. We talk about news in Kuwait, talk about holidays but mostly we talk about running; races, training and injuries. Even at times when we are all lost in our own thoughts, the presence of company makes the run so much more enjoyable...and also I'm so much more relaxed.

The majority of the time in Kuwait I feel very safe, but running attracts some unwelcome attention here. The weirdos seems to come out...or more likely they have stayed out from the night before. So instead, I would much prefer to have the attention diverted to Colin, who runs in tiny flappy shorts and a vest! Haram! (I'm just envious as I'm running in black leggings...and it's still 27 degrees Celsius when we are running!)

My early morning weekend runs is one of my favorite things but it does show the best and worst of the sandpit. The beach which is covered in litter from BBQs and picnics, left to be picked up by the Bangladeshi workers,  rather than fill the empty bins nearby. The sunrises turn the sky from yellow, to orange, to red. The smell of pure sewage making us momentarily gag as we run. The blue skies that spill like a watercolour into the sea. The idiots on their motorbikes, taking advantage of the quiet roads to stand on their bikes and do circus tricks.The reward of a freshly squeezed orange juice sitting outside at the marina. The best and worst, but still my favorite time of day.

I have 6 weeks to go until Thailand. This week I am going to get serious!

Misadventures

I like reading other people's blogs but I only have a handful of blogs I really love. People that type as if they are writing lyrics to a song. Only a few whose adventures I truly want to read about. Real sit up and pay attention stories-I'll read every single word. So, my blog. What shall I post about? I'm sure there is only so much you want to know about what I bake or only so many photos you want to see about my wonderful holiday. I started this blog in Uganda, when every day was an adventure, but now feel I have nothing more to share than my first world problems.

I've told you Kuwait is hot, running can be wonderfully special at 5am on the seafront or hell as you dodge rubbish, man holes and catcalling. It is unusual to have a date anywhere else apart from Starbucks. And driving in the expressway is mirrored to a rally car video game. So, I need to take a fresh look.  I am going to try and write again with a pen and paper...I have to practice my handwriting for class anyway (my mum knows I'm not joking!) and see what happens.

But, until then I will share with you how this weekend I took a day off to be sad. There are times when going to bed all afternoon is justified. Tears are tiring but goodbyes are exhausting.
I've had to say goodbye to a couple of dear people in my life recently and yesterday I said goodbye to my mum in Kuwait. She has been ill in hospital for over a month and now it's time for her to go to be with her family in Sri Lanka.

In the hospital room friends pretend there is hope, put on a brave face, but my eyes are covered with my sunglasses. Flying business class, we say. What an adventure a real treat, a lovely way to start retirement. Do you think she cares that she has a wine list or a glass of champagne at takeoff or a better magazine collection? She is just so tired she says. Sweet tea and goodies are passed around and memories are shared. But I'm not sure if the show is for her or us. I feel I'm part of the back stage crew, just popping in and out of the room, not getting involved in the script.

 This powerhouse of a lady that looks after me and everyone is tired and leaving us. She was the driving force behind collections for ladies who take refuge at embassies here in Kuwait. For ill-treated maids waiting for weeks and months on end in the safe house before legally escaping back to their home country, sometimes these ladies have nothing but these care packages lovingly gathered. My dear Pyaseli will be welcomed with two big arms.


I'll write again, hopefully with an adventure of sorts...one that doesn't involve gym changing rooms!
Bye 'til then...

Kuwait National and Liberation Day Celebrations

It is Kuwait Liberation and National Day coming up. The flags have been out for a couple of weeks now. Lights brighten the normally dull drive around the neighbourhood.

Friends who have lived here for many years all have there own stories of the Gulf War. 

I was with my family living in Scotland then, but we were aware what was going on in this far off sandpit.   My dad has done work in Iraq before, so Kuwait was familiar. For me, it was just a place near to Bahrain…a name that was used in stories of my past again and again. My mum was driving me to the hospital late one night with stomach pains when we heard on the radio that Iraqi troops had invaded Kuwait...we will always remember that.

Not long after Kuwait was liberated, my Dad returned to the Middle East for work. Shortly after Mum and I joined him. It was not unusual then for strangers to stop British/American men in the street and shake their hands and thank them for their support in the war. This happened.

My friend, a great story teller, spoke the other night of a few of his ‘great escape’ moments, when he was a POW in Iraq, taken when Kuwait was invaded. Stories can’t be told too lightheartedly, as his family and friends were back at home worrying about his safety. However, now, years later and over a good bottle of rioja, we heard of trip to the church with the other prisoners, when once inside, would sneak off to the local bar. In those months in Iraq he became a very devote Christian!

Nothing says ‘Happy National and Liberation day’ like Barney wearing the Kuwaiti flag!

 

PS - I am off to Spain TONIGHT!!! I am running the marathon in Seville on Sunday and then hanging out in tapas bars for the rest of the week! I'll send you a postcard!

White Noise in the Sandpit

Traveling makes writers of us all. We make memories and commit them to mind, if only to retell them on a postcard.

Even a short 45 minute flight to a neighbouring Gulf state is inspiring, making me a bit more wide eyed once more.

This was certainly the case when I popped over to Bahrain recently.

Apart from the usual pre-race nerves that makes my mind noisy with advice on everything from my morning routine to my self-doubt for the run, there was the welcome noise from outside; the sounds of night crickets flirting with one another.

I no longer felt like I was in the sandpit. Not my sandpit anyway.

I used to write about the African night, that brought the outdoors in (this is always a bit more intense on safari...like in Tsavo!). The screeching of the hyraxes, or Coco, 'my' guard dog, barking after a wild cat in the tree, or the chatter from the askari hut.

Now, the sounds that I fall to sleep to are of the local boys (who seem to be on a year-long holiday from school) playing football late into the night on a piece of dirt-sand that is used as a car-park. This, thankfully, is no longer punctuated by the fireworks or air-gun rifles that were available at Eid and lingered long after the holiday! Construction is always taking place. Through the night the sound of cranes, trucks and hammering...somewhere. Rubbish is being collected. Trucks are reversing. Horns beep. Bikes and cars race. Brakes screech. Oh, and then it is prayer time again. The mosque, that I can see through my window reminds my neighbours that it time to worship Allah (this is not a gentle reminder, more of a bucket of water poured on your head,with the drill sergeant shouting, "GET OUT OF BED!!!"), to me, it is a sign that a new day is here...but not just yet...5 more minutes or so.

It is not a peaceful place to drift off to sleep, but after a while, the noise that keeps you awake becomes familiar...like everything in the place that you live. My writing seems to reflect this recently, at a loss of how to report on the unusual, tending to recount the mundane.

I have such talented friends, who write about the region with more of a flair. If you are interested, check out these blogs.

Life in a Dust Storm - a great story teller (I actually want to retell some from dinner the other night), everything from being a POW to good old rants about low-cost airlines.

Sand in my Teacup - if we all gang-up on her, we may get her to write more!

Yalla Bo - an athletic idol of mine writes too!



Happy reading.

Running news

Running in Kuwait is not the most pleasant of experiences. It is flat, that is mostly nice really. Not so nice when you have to do hill training over a bridge over the busy expressway. It is often dusty and polluted, however, we have been lucky so far this year and we have had lots of clear mornings on the weekend for our long runs.

But even still, my runs are my favourite time of the day and week.

It is a time to catch-up and gossip with my running buddies and there is always something amusing that happens.

Like the other morning, when at about 17km my friend and I were followed by a guy (not because we were looking super hot in our running gear with water belt accessories, I think!) who was still partying from the night before. He was driving and smoking and holding out a bottle of Black Label...I'm guessing in the hope we would stop running and take some. He drove with us for about 500 metres, when he realised that we were not going to do this. Bow down at him, drink his whiskey and then what, carry on running. Ha. Too funny. I might have taken his drink if it was water mind


Anyhow - this race was a good experience. A clear day, water stations and pretty cool views (well as cool as they get here in the sandpit if I am honest!).

Kuwait Half Marathon - 2 hours 19 minutes

Changing seasons

I was giddy with anticipation all day. We knew it would happen. This week uniforms change from summer to winter, timely as ever. Gone are the gingham dresses, now it's stiff blazers and ties. It was only a matter of days.
Yesterday was as good a day as any. The clouds rolled over and darkened the sky, and as the last of the pupils were leaving the school an almighty crash filled our ears.
I felt like I should do a welcoming dance, tap my feet to bring in the rain. To ask it to stay a while. To bring the temperatures down. But this is not Africa. The storm brings back vivid memories and fills my mind. It sounds like I am back in East Africa, waiting out the storm in my classroom, waiting for the hour of rain to pass before I go, listening to the hustle and bustle of people heading for shelter, but we are far from the lush land of the pearl.
We don't really need it here. The farmers aren't waiting for it to come, we don't rely on it. People can't really cope with it here. Roads aren't build for rain and 4x4s are certainly not meant to go through those puddles here. No.
But all that banging and crashing was for nothing. It didn't come. Just sprinkled us with hope and dirtied the cars.
We don't need the rain. There are not many trees to drink it up or animals that are thirsty. Why have water? There is oil instead, buckets of the stuff. But I want rain. I want the temperature to drop from 33 degrees to 23 degrees by Saturday morning, only rain will do it, is that too much to ask in November. I am going to dance for that. If not for the weather, at least for a good run. My first half since Lewa (that seems a long time ago!!). I won't be spotting zebras and giraffes on this run, that is for sure, more likely to be counting fast-food restaurants-that is a good game actually!?

Fizz, Pop, Bang...and other news

So...

have you seen Kuwait in the news over the past couple of days?

You may have. Not because the Amir dissolved parliament last month, or because protests were held over upcoming elections (and the Amir' actions over electoral boundaries)-this is the 6th time since 2006 that parliament has been dissolved). You may not have even heard the news that last night Kuwait broke the world record for the biggest firework show to mark the 50th anniversary of its National Constitution (I don't think that made much of mark on the international news) in the same area that mass protests were held only the week before, or that the Amir woke up yesterday morning and announced that schools would have a holiday (messages went flying round at 6am...so I went back to bed with a cup of tea and The Paris Wife before a run )...hmmm...bribe for happiness much???


 Not that I am complaining of course, the fireworks were amazing, the pilots that came all the way from New Mexico were worth their 6 digit fee for their 4 minute show, lighting up the sky with shooting starts.

The constant golds and reds sparkled like jewels and reflected on the water as I watched from the beach. People had camped out from 10am to get a good spot for the show, to see the 77,282 fireworks. Where the roads were opened, Kuwaitis were partying in only a style they could, on top of their car roofs, waving flags and tooting (no, not as delicate as tooting...blaring) their horns and firing their air rifles. Everyone was up for a party under the dancing bright sky. Beautiful they were; creating a diamond and emerald covered sky for more than an hour. Worth 10 million pounds (4 million KD), I guess I can't judge as it is all just silly oil money anyway. Money here doesn't have the same worth as other places. A boy in my class was given 100KD from the tooth fairy the other day (that is over £220) and I was given a DKNY watch for my birthday from a parent of another child in my class. Silly money.

All that probably won't have made the news. What has made the new recently is Kuwait's fast-food loving society.
There was a special on CNN on Saturday night, did you see it? No, me neither... I was watching the fireworks...but you can read the article here.

Should I leave that chat for another time. Maybe. But let me just say...as I ran past McDonald's (one of the 65 in this tiny nation), at 6.30am the other morning, it was jam packed. Packed. Some parents of mine still think giving their children crisps (chips) is healthy because 'it is potatoes'.  In my work place there are at least two teachers that have had  bariatric surgery (stomach stapling). And me...I have put on weight since I have arrived. I have never ran so much, but eating here is one of the few things to do...so we do it! (But that is different to the generation here that don't know that 'junk' food is unhealthy, I know it...) So my running buddy and I have decided to do healthy cook offs.

I think the Amir might be pretty peeved that the same night that he spent 4 million KD on fireworks, a programme on international TV was on, the the fireworks didn't even get a mention. Ah well-we enjoyed them!

PS- much much better photos are here.

Letters

Dear Friends and family, Thank you for all your birthday wishes. I felt like I had a week of celebrations, with my trip to Dubai, a weekend boozy brunch and then bowling on my actual birthday. Blessed.

Dear Jenn, Snail mail is great. Thank you for the inspirational card that I recieved on my birthday...what are the chances! Hollie, this was a great idea!

Dear Kerry, Thank you for my brilliant card! Honestly...love it! (The gift too-but the card was great!) I loved your positivity about the parcel getting here before my birthday! Brilliant! (Was very close though!).

Dear legs, I think you are tired from hill training the other night, (I ran over a bridge/fly-over multiple times...exciting AND good for you...not!) but you did ok on my 19km long run today.

Dear Avenues mall, You have outdone yourself. The new phase is pretty awsome-just like shopping outside...but inside. Loved William Sonoma and now own my first Kitchen Aid...go me....so grown up!

Grand Avenue, Kuwait

Saying that...think you might need to build a new carpark if it stays this busy...crazy busy!

It must be Eid

Sure signs that it is Eid in Kuwait:

• Teenage boys are left to 'play' and entertain themselves on the streets with their air rifles. Fun. (This goes on into the small hours of the morning!)
• Their are lots of happy Kuwaiti drivers on the roads, new cars are often given as gifts at Eid. (Nice gift huh!)
• The roads are much quieter in the morning (everyone stayed up too late shopping) - you'll be sure to be able to find a seat at your favourite cafe for breakfast.
• Blood stained bricks and cement from the slaughter is still evident (even though street slaughter is apparently , from this year, now banned in Kuwait).

All this aside, I realise that Eid Al-Adah (or 'big' Eid) is a very religious celebration for many muslims. Even I am drawn to watch the rituals in Mecca (on TV). There is something quite hypnotic about watching the masses of people circle the Kaaba. (It is forbidden for non-muslims to go to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, but the Hajj (the holy pilgrimage) is on nearly every local channel.)

(I would tell you why Eid Al-Adah is important-but I don't know if it is interesting. Basic fact-it is to remember Prophet Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice his only son- he didn't have to do it in the end, Allah intervened and he was able to sacrifice a ram, so it is tradition for muslim families to do the same).

On the Hajj, the men dress in simple white clothes and  move like waves (there would be little choice in the direction, toilet stops would be a tricky one!). Nearly 3 million people started the Hajj this year. Pretty much a logistical nightmare. Scenes on the TV showed men trying to create shade for a rest in any space they could find in the 35 degrees heat.

It is quite a sight at Kuwait airport alone. Planes are turned into buses, with hundreds of men (and women, but mostly men) just waiting to get onto the next one to enable them to start the Hajj. Sleeping at the airport until they are next in line. Many just hope to go once during there life time and save up all their savings to take the journey. After the Hajj, the airport is again heaving with the pilgrims and their gallons of holy water that they have brought back.

But then, the bit that we all love...the sales start!!

This week

Today is Monday, yet it is my third working day this week.

Confusing.

The schools are closed Friday an Saturday, that is the weekend here for most people. This past weekend though we had parent consultations on Saturday. One day weekends are no fun...I quickly found that out in Kenya...I would not enjoy a job where that is the norm. I don't know how my Dad has done it for all these years.

Thankfully though we are off from Thursday for Eid.

Meeting the parents is always quite enjoying. Such funny and bizarre stories I have stored away. And such lovely gifts (I forgot about that perk!), flowers (quite a treat in Kuwait), perfume, body cream...one parent even brought me a coffee and a bucketful of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (ahhh, so great...yet so not helpful!). I may not be in Africa, but bribery is still rife. Love it!

I have been clear though, I will not accept any bribes for an A...anything less than an i-phone that is. Joking. (Of course..!) Flowers will do!

My local flower stall in Nairobi

First World Problems

I live in a country where it costs less to fill your car tank with fuel than it does to buy 12 litres of drinking water.

Where gifts of I-pods and expensive perfume are the norm from parents at school.

But where men are bused in and out to long shifts working in the desert and the spend the evening collecting cardboard from the skips to sell for a little bit of money.

Where international schools are described as inner-city schools for the rich.

It is a country full of contrasts, like any city...to be expected in a country built on sand by expats.

This is, in many ways, a developing nation with first world aspects. Therefore it has first world problems.

Like when the barista asks so many questions (not sure what you call this-over selling?) and you just want your coffee.

Or when the Internet is slow on the weekend.

Or when there is no more parking at the beach club that you are a member of.

Or when you can only find Diet Pepsi and not Diet Coke in the supermarket.

It can be frustrating...for a moment....

Coming back

I'm happy.

Just thought I need to share that with you. Yes, the dust and air is drying my skin and messing with my sinuses. But I am happy. Yes, I miss the lush greenery of Africa after the rains and I miss the smell of it. I miss the happy faces and the monkeys that I saw on a daily basis.

I haven't really talked about what it was like to 'come back' to a place I used to live.  I've been a teenager here. Had teenage fights with my parents here. Huffed and puffed and squeezed lots of spots here. Studied for exams and pretended to study for exams. Went out to my first party. Got dressed up for my first formal dance. And sat those exams here. Then later I came back and worked here. Travelled and met life long friends. I've lived here for a total of six years, the periods of my life separated with university and the start of my working life as a wanna-be-adult.

A couple of folk that I was friendly with, but who were not in my circle of friends, were so surprised to see me back and took a double take when they saw me in the staffroom- not realising I was coming back, but also not able to believe that the three years I was away went by with a blink of their eye.

Lots of people have asked why I came back. Kind of complex. Kind of not. The answer is, because I could. The money is great. I was happy here before. It is a great place to travel from. I can do it again. Well, as I said, it is hardly for the scenery, although I do still love the Kuwait Towers at the coast...so they deserved a visit last week!

One thing about 'coming back' is that it has made the world seem a lot smaller.

The three years in East Africa now seem a little bit like an extended holiday. I'm just back to the day job now, my norm, my routine. But I like it.

 

 

 

Adjusting

My body is still adjusting to Kuwait.

My body clock seems to have cracked it. On a week day I seem to naturally wake up around 4.45, just time to put on my trainers before my run.Then on my weekend,(the day I don't do my long run) I sleep-in for an extra two hours.Sorted.

But, now that I am getting into the groove of things, I keep thinking I am getting sick. My eyes are all puffy and my throat is scratchy and tight. Damn the dust. It comes in through the a/c and covers every surface in the flat. When I run I get a fuzzy nose, all the dust filtering through.Nice. It is not even that dusty yet. Some nights I wake up thinking, 'I'm sick, I'm sick'-but no, I'm not...my body is just adjusting to all the dust. Although, today, I really am sick...and I am playing tennis later. Rubbish.

My beautiful yoga teacher from Uganda was in touch recently. She did a few breathing workshops here in Kuwait in the past and was complaining about the air, asking how I find it. The false air in the hotels, the cafes, the cars, the school buildings. Like I said, my body is readjusting. It isn't nice. My skin is cracking round my mouth and peeling at my forehead.  I need to get some thicker moisturiser.

 Yep-this is life in the sandpit.

On the upside. The polluted air and dust does make the sunrises and sunsets quite pretty.

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!

 

The Little Things

There were times in Africa, like after a long day at school, when I longed for a coffee in a paper cup. A coffee to go, so I could take it back to my classroom, ready to work again after a caffeine fix. Coffee ‘to go’ started appearing in my last few months in Uganda, in a Styrofoam cup…and there was never any rush for the customer. Kind of defeating the purpose.

Times like that I would go on Google and find where my nearest Starbucks was.  Egypt. Quite far for a coffee fix.

Now I can nip across the street (well, two) come back with an iced latte and get back to work. Or grab a double skinny capachino while I go round the supermarket.

Seriously.  How great is that!?

I tell you-it is easy to forget, but these little things make me happy.

Another thing that makes me happy, is finding all the ingredients to try a new recipe. After seeing these this recipe for Nutella Stuffed Cookies on a couple of websites, I just had to try them.

 

(It is the sea salt that make them great by the way!)

 

 

Looking forward to starting Kuwait Cook Club again!

Paradise

For a few years now, Kuwait has been a bit of a shopper’s paradise. Shiny malls everywhere, full of well know British and American high-street stores, as well as all the designer shops. In the three years I have been away in East Africa more malls have been built, more sections have been added to the existing ones and more shops have opened. I have been to Dubai a few times, but I have to say the malls I visited had nothing on the ones here in Kuwait…but maybe I was in the wrong ones! It is hard to imagine the size of some of these…in one there is actually a walking track. (Probably just so we all know how far it is from one Starbucks to another!) I texted my mum the other day when I spotted a Lakeland shop, joking that I may never be leaving Kuwait now…a baker can never have enough pretty cupcake cases or plastic from this shop!

The other day I was taken to one of the new supermarkets. When I was previously here there really was a monopoly on the supermarkets, but now we have other supermarket chains with local produce and more affordable imported treats for the expats…and…two-for-one offers and discounts (previously quite unheard of!).

Well, recently I wrote about my shopping experience in Scotland for Laura’s blog (here-on Yummy Laura), when I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the supermarket. Well, I was a bit like the other day, picking up in disbelief Weightwatchers frozen meals, Rachel’s yogurts, Goldfish, Kingsmill bread (bit random-but it is here! ) and other well-known items that you can find in Kuwait.  Some things about shopping in Kuwait have not changed  (thankfully!) though; waiting at the fish counter while they shell and clean the biggest King prawns that are as cheap as chips or getting your bags packed and carried to the car. Yep, it is a shopper’s heaven!

I heard Harvey Nichols is opening…shame it won’t have the champagne bar though!

 

PS- Actually – they are still missing a good bookshop. I would go for it…but with the censorship, I don’t think my café/bookshop/gallery would work here. Back to the drawing board on that one...

Running in Kuwait

The other day I was asked if I was running here in Kuwait. Yes, I am.

The weather has cooled (ha ha ha!) to a high of 45 degrees Celsius. Running in the morning is the only way to do it. By then the ground (be it sand or cement) has had time, in the dark hours of the night, to cool slightly. My running buddy and I (hooray for being reunited with Kirsten!) have been experimenting with the time we can start our runs, as we have found by 6.30am the sun is just too hot...meaning we have to have very early starts; allowing time for us to cool down, shower and get ready for work, we have to be out by 5am...we had a lie-in on Friday (the equivalent of Sunday) and started at 5.30am! (Our even-more-committed-runner friend, Colin, started at 4.15am!)

Picturesque, the runs are not. But you find beauty in it some where (sometimes!). The dusty and polluted skies make for beautiful sunrises at the moment, like watercolour paint soaking into the paper and spreading out across the page. Those help, while we hold our breath on certain corners where the smell of sewage is pretty unbearable. Or where we jump to avoid the man holes and metal rings (do the metal rings have a reason...?) and the piles of rubbish that didn't quite make it into the skip.

We were laughing the other day as we thought of the Rave Runs in the Runner's World magazine, it would be tricky to find one here. But, mine would certainly be along the corniche (well, more of a promenade), by the coast of the Gulf, where the constant water sprinklers keep the grass green. It is too hot to run there at the moment, with no shade from the powerful sun, in a months time it will be cooler...(about 30 degrees C) and that is where I will be running.

PS- There is an 100km Ultra Marathon in Kuwait this November. 100km on sand. I dare you.

Friday

Dear Kuwait, You are starting to look a bit like home again. 
Dear Friday, Now you are the start of the weekend. Two days off work, Friday and Saturday. Friday, the quiet day; the mosques are busy but the breakfast cafes and roads are blissfully quiet for a few hours. I love Fridays.
Dear Call to Prayer, Some new expats may complain about the noise, where as I love the sound of the call to prayer at our neighbouring mosque. It brings with it a rhythm to the day, plus I know I have one hour extra in bed before it is a time to get up!
Dear Morning Runs, Yep-it is still hot. But even on my day of rest (a Friday) it is worth getting outside before 5.30 am and I feel soooo much better for it.
Dear Dear Running Buddy, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed without you, even if I feel good after the run! Thank you!
Dear Immigration Offices,  Although I love the weather here in November, it would be great if I could get my passport back before my half term break, I really want to get on a plane then!
Dear Friends, I am a still a bit here, there and everywhere. I will be better at keeping in touch in a couple of weeks.