It's Official!

I am now OFFICIALLY a Resident of Kuwait! I got my Civil ID written in Arabic and I can't understand a darn thing. But that's ok! B/c I know the significance of that little laminated, light blue card. I'd take a picture of it BUT....I don't want to give out any personal info to any Arabic readers out there ;-)

So a Kuwaiti holiday just passed! These Kats had a whole week off! This past week many Muslims went to Mecca for the Hajj. That reminds me of this guy named Ali.

Ali (Turkey) - This Turkish man in bondage to alcohol saw Jesus in a dream and his life was changed forever. Desperate, he moved to Saudi Arabia — a place where alcohol
is forbidden. However, upon his arrival, he found liquor there. He then made the pilgrimage to Mecca, hoping to be freed of his addiction and to be led in the way of a true Muslim. To his surprise, he met Jesus Christ instead.

There's actually a short film made about him. You can watch it here: http://www.morethandreams.tv/ali.html

So have you guys heard all this ruckus about a woman named Asia Bibi? She's the woman in that picture. A Pakistinian who is sentenced to death for FALSE Blasphemy charges for 'defaming' Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam.

The Persecution that the Bible warns us about, with all it's realities & implications, were so conceptual as a Westerner. I was far away from archaic behavior and even when attempts of barbarianism did take place in the West, society around it rose up & against it all the way to the media with mockery & insults.

But here in the East- people are LESS educated, informed, literate, and aware. Villages look to terrorist organizations b/c Al Qaeda provides life's essentials for the impoverished people. The villages look to 'Terrorists' for protection, food, clean water, & medical help. So long as the people pledge their alliance to them, they're on the Terrorist's 'safe' list. It's completely manipulative because of it's twisted intentions.

Then you get a woman like Asia Bibi, who works for a Muslim family on their farm, surrounded by Muslim women who test, harass, mock, ostracize, and try to convert Asia to Islam- where generated lies put her in jail. JUST LIKE JESUS. Simply because she follows Jesus Christ. What a crown of glory she will get.

All world religions have had their dark times. People who did horrible acts in the name of Christianity are included. It's just so crazy how much I hear about someone being arrested, killed, raided, raped, etc., for their Christian faith. To some Westerner's surprise, when I talk about a "Christian," that includes the Catholic Church. Spare me on the non-essentials lecture as to why a Catholic may not be a 'real' christian according to your scholarly logic- but the truth is that there are CATHOLICS who sincerely believe Jesus is God (essential) and believe that salvation is by faith alone (essential) & are also risking their lives just to meet with other brothers & sisters to worship Jesus.

I have learned- at least for me- that as a Westerner, everything seems so cut & dry. Black & white. Very CONCEPTUAL but not REAL. Being AWARE of a certain reality, but not UNDERSTANDING.

The East doesn't get it and the West thinks they do. We live in such an un-equal world where we each want to make each other be on the same page & understand.

Well I pray that Asia (Pakistan) & Youcef (Iran), with all others, are strengthened by our God if this is the will for his people. God's ways & thoughts are higher than ours. Though I don't understand MUCH about life and the "why's" that come with it, I will trust in my God & believe confidently that one day EVERY KNEE WILL BOW & EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD. God will judge every man according to his deeds. But first I pray that God would save the wicked. That God empowers the weak.

And a special prayer for YOU, the reader. That if you have not met Jesus Christ- the glorious Creator God- may He capture your heart even as you read this blog entry. Lord give them sight & reveal yourself to them. Help them overcome their uncontrollable desires that keep them in bondage. Have mercy on every person who comes across this blog & save those who do not know you.

Cookies

kuwait has awesome pastry shops. Some are so elegant, with uniquely wrapped platters in jeweled cases.
I'll take pics & show you. They are big on nuts & dates. But they also make some gorgeous cakes.

You get lured by the glow of the pastries & the scent of fresh baked bread. Curiosity causes you to start buying bite sized treats as a new cultural experience.
You get lost in all its glory!

Then one day I realized one thing they're missing. COOKIES! They do not make fresh baked chocolate chip cookies or other types of this round goodie. There are PLENTY of fancy decorated donuts- heck there's a Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts no matter where you go. But cookies are not a Kuwaiti thing. However, the Sultan Center, which is like a Super Walmart, caters to expats & they carry a variety of international food, including cookies & brownies that taste soft & fresh.

Don't get me wrong, they sell packaged cookies like Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Keebler, and assorted sugar cookies in every grocery store. But no fresh baked cookies.

My attention to this was drawn when I was given a free Chocolate Chip cookie from one of the Indian workers at Subway on base. I learned quickly in the States that cookies from Subway were awful, so I hesitated to receieve it, but I like free things ;-)
I ate the cookie and it was DELICIOUS!

Thus, the only 2 places to get yummy, fresh, cookies here is Subway or your own kitchen.

Since we are on the topic of food, I will mention that my consumption of red meat has been reduced GREATLY since getting here & I usually just eat grilled chicken bc of all the yummy Chicken Tavouk dishes out here. But my soda consumption has increased since working on base bc every time there's an event with free food for the soldiers, there's always leftovers I get to have & the only beverage options they have are sodas, near beer, or water. I have access to water easily & usually drink that. I don't think a Non-alcoholic beer would satisfy my taste buds since I don't even drink real beer, and so sometimes a Coke, Sprite, or Mirinda sound like the better tasting option to go with my hot dog. And if anybody knows me, they know I gave up drinking soda in 2001. I drink 2 sodas a year if that.

But my fruit consumption has also increased! That's partly bc every restaurant I go to has mocktails made from fresh fruit. Sometimes I order a juice drink that is thick! Which is yummy but too filling with a meal. I've been drinking a lot of Guava juice lately. It used to be Mango bc that's my favorite fruit, but I've grown to love Guava.

Ok.... I think I'm done with my food rant....I could totally go on but writing this entry from my iPhone is a bit of a pain.

Until next time! I already have a future entry planned out about a "thought" that came to me when I went to Dubai about Charitable gifts, but I am going to need to dedicate time to focus writing it & want to write it on my MacBook Pro instead of my phone

Trip to Dubai

(Excuse any typos or weird punctuation. I wrote this on my iphone with limited screen access & my phone is adding apostrophes to words out of no where)

So on Halloween I get notified that my Residency Visa was granted!!! That day I was handed back my driver's license that I did not have possession of for 2.5 months. So two things happened on Halloween.
With my drivers license given to me' along with an insurance paper, that meant I was now allowed to drive. BUT, bc my residency Visa came in, I could no longer drive until I get my permanent Kuwaiti
drivers License. So remember my nervousness about driving out here? Well, guess I wont be driving anytime soon lol bc Kuwait has stopped issuing drivers licenses. How interesting lol. I was told that it is rare for a person to get their Insurance/DL back AND their Visa 18 on the same day... I actually said "hmmm... God is this you?"

Anyway, getting my residency Visa also meant I get my passport back too!
So when I got off Monday morning I made all the calls necessary to track down who had my passport & try to get it before end of day. Sure enough, arrangements
Were made and I would be getting my passport early evening on Monday
Nov. 1 so I did what anyone stuck in Kuwait with the next 3 days of work off would do- booked a spontaneous trip to Dubai. Bought the tickets, booked the hotel on the beach (all through Kayak's iPhone app), and was en route to Dubai by 10pm Monday.

The hotel I was at is called Amwaj Rotana, right on Jumeirah Beach. The hotel was not cheap and it had direct beach access.

Dubai was like going back home to the states! It was so liberating! It reminded me' of Downtown Los Angeles with all those towers & skyrisers. It has such a metro feel including a brand new Metro train system that is fantastic, convenient, clean, and inexpensive.

There are so many European tourists there and lots more that are Russian.
People were not dressed as fashionable as I expected. They were mostly dressed for the beach- but then again I only stayed in Beach areas.

I went to The Mall of the Emirates- the one with the indoor ski slope. What I like about Dubai, aside from being cleaner than Kuwait, is that although they carry Western clothing, they still embrace their own culture. There were many stores that sold luxurious clothing that Muslim or conservative Arab women would wear. I really appreciated that. In Kuwait, the malls are almost identical to the American ones, hardly anything Arab with the exception of Arab perfume shops.

There was alcohol and women who wore shorts, skimpy dresses, and short skirts. Not as many veiled women. There is so much more of Dubai to see but I was only there for 2 days. I'm fortunate that I have a job in a location that makes Dubai my weekend getaway destination once a month if I want. A roundtrip ticket for 1 only cost me' $156 through Kuwait Airways. I actually like this airline. They have very friendly flight attendants & there was actually a prayer before every take off, but what sold me' was that they gave us HOT bread rolls on the flight with our dinners. In fact, since it was only an hour flight I didn't even think they would feed us but they did! Even on our way back, which was a mere 45 minutes, they fed us.

Next time I go I want to venture into the city, visit the souks, go on a dinner cruise on the Creek, go to a nightclub, have dinner at the Atlantis underwater Aquarium Reataurant, have fun at Atlantis' Aquaventure Waterpark, go on a seaplane ride, and stay at a cheaper hotel since now I know how to get to the beach.

Getting around Dubai is a breeze bc of the Metro. There are plenty of maps provided to help you get around Dubai.

Dubai was MADE for tourism. Plain & simple. You feel enveloped in luxury. Even the cab drivers wear neck ties & properly use the meter. In Kuwait, you have to bargain the price as they illegally state their meter is broken, their cars are mostly dirty & tore up- and worst yet, the inside smells like the driver has been flatullating all day! Lol!

And let's talk about food for a second- SO MANY FOOD CHOICES! Just like Kuwait. But I was sad when I found that "Thai" restaurants don't have Thai Iced tea :-(

The currency is the Dirhams. $1 = 3.65 Dhs.

When I got to the airport, I didn't have a clue about the current exchange rate. In Kuwait the Dinar is 3.54 more than the dollar, so I figured the currency would be more than the dollar too. I took out 100Dhs and hopped in a cab to take me to the hotel. It cost me 73Dhs! I began to freak out bc even though I soon learned the dollar was more, seeing the large numbers had me freaked! In Kuwait the numbers are low- for example, it cost me 7KD to get from my apartment to the airport in Kuwait. But it cost 73Dhs! So when I started seeing things in Dubai priced at 200 or 300dhs I was sweating a little. I kept having to take out money from the ATM so for that matter, Dubai sucks you dry lol. Money GOES FAST.
But like I said, I'm thankful for my job. Even though I work crazy hours, it paid for my trip & experience and so long as I still have this job, I will be able to go back to Dubai AND other countries as well. Another trip to Dubai PLUS Abu Dahbi is next on my list.

I used to see Dubai as this far away land of luxury. I always wanted to go but never thought it would happen. But it did!

I loved it!