Month: February 2015

Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – February 23

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Happy Monday Everyone!

I’m super excited right now, because tomorrow we leave for Egypt!  We are traveling with a few friends for a 4-day weekend to Cairo.  We plan on relaxing, seeing the Pyramids and Sphinx, and drinking beer!  Lots of beer!  We are so thankful for our new life and the opportunities it provides us to see the world!  After this trip, Rachel will be able to add Africa to her list of continents she has visited, and tied with me at 5 of the 7.  I’m not sure what the internet accessibility will be like in Egypt, so you probably won’t hear from us on here until next Monday for our weekly Happy Hour.  Until then, here’s what we’ve been up to:

  • Since we arrived in Kuwait, we’ve experienced a few sandstorms.  However, none compare to the one we had last Friday afternoon.  It was a beautiful sunny day outside, when suddenly all of the buzz here online, was about a fast approaching sandstorm.  In the horizon, you could slowly see it moving towards the city, like something you would see in a sci-fi movie.  Within minutes, in completely engulfed us!  You could barely see across the street, and you could hear the sound of sand tinging against our windows.  It started to clear up later in the evening, but it takes a few days for the visibility to return to normal.  The worst part though, is the thin layer of dust you find in your apartment.  Luckily for us though, our maid comes today!
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Here’s a picture from our roof top, with the sandstorm fast approaching on the horizon.

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The sandstorm has arrived!

  • One thing that has been hard getting used to here in Kuwait, is the lack of seat belt use in automobiles.  Adults hardly ever use them, and kids don’t either!  Apparently there aren’t laws that require them, so it is rare to see a child in a restraint system.  Even babies who are only a few months old, are usually just sitting on an adults lap.  Often times, they are sitting on the driver’s lap!  As the kids get older, they have free rein around the car.  It is not uncommon to see kids hanging out windows or sunroofs as the car is speeding down the highway in excess of 65mph.  It is hard to watch, especially for how many accidents we see on a daily basis.
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Nothing like driving behind a car with a kid hanging out the sunroof. You see it all of the time!

  • I love drinking coffee! I like it strong and black.  I never add milk, cream, sugar, or any other junk to it.  Here in Kuwait though, I often have to proceed with caution.  The coffee here is served in tiny little glasses, similar to the size of a shot glass (just a few ounces).  The first time I was offered a cup at a friends house, I thought to myself . . . . “could I have a bigger glass? This is going to be gone in about 2 seconds!”  However when I tasted it, it packed a punch!  There was enough caffeine in there, to shoot a tingling sensation up my spine.  Apparently they don’t mess around with the watered down crap that I’m use to back in America.  Instead, they put the equivalent of about 10 cups of coffee into a 3 ounce glass.  Every time I drink it, it still makes me pucker!
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My 3 ounce shot of coffee.

We hope everyone is doing well, until next time!

-Mitch

Golfing at the Sand Course

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A few weeks ago, I was talking to a guy who was telling me about a sand golf course here in Kuwait.  I had never heard of a sand course before, but it was described to me as, “a golf course without grass.”  Say what!?!?!?!?!  He went on to tell me that they give you a little piece of grass that you carry around with you.  Before each swing, you put your ball on your chunk of grass, and swing away.

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Here is what the tee box looked like at each hole.  They each had a little black rubber mat, that you could jam a golf tee into to set up your shot.  It was super weird hitting on an elevated platform, where your shoes would stick to the mat, and you were constantly worried that if you duffed your shot, you would snap your driver in half!

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Here’s my buddy Adam teeing off at one of the holes.

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Here is Adam with a shot in the middle of the fairway, no it’s not a sand trap!  You can see the little chunk of grass that we used to hit the ball.

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At this course, you definitely wanted to play down the middle of the fairway.  The “rough” was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.  I was constantly looking for snakes, scorpions, and whatever else lived in there!

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Another shot of the rough.

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Here is a picture of Adam’s approach shot at one of the holes.  You will notice that the “green” is even sand.  The greens (or perhaps I should call them browns) were a bit more firm than the rest of the course.  It seems like they sprayed oil or something on them to keep them packed and somewhat smooth.

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Trying to make a putt at this course was nearly impossible.  The greens were so bumpy, and you were hitting through sand and rocks.

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You can get a good luck at the greens in this picture.  Check out all of the footprints!  Apparently they go out every morning with a broom and sweep them, to try and smooth them out a bit.

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I got pretty excited that I was this close to sinking a decent putt, based on the conditions, but of course . . . . . . I came up short!

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Here is a view looking back towards the tee box at one of the holes.  Everything was so brown and dead!  At times, it seemed like we were on another planet, like Mars!

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Here is one of the sand traps at the “sand” course!  They were so deep, that you could barely see the green if you were trying to hit out of them. The entire thing was coated in concrete too, so you had to be super careful, especially if you would skull one.  Next thing you know, you would end up taking one between the eyes.

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I don’t know what the heck these things are, but they were all over the golf course.  They seemed like they were some sort of vent or something, from an old oil well.  They were making a slight humming sound.

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This is my golf ball at the end of my round.  Before I started, it was brand new!  When your ball is skipping through the sand and bouncing off rocks, it endures quite the beating.  It was completely messed up!

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Wow, what an experience we had!  It was a ton of fun and it will definitely make for some fun stories to tell our friends and families about next summer.  It was about $7 for 9 holes.  While it was fun to get out and hit some golf balls, I highly doubt I will be back here again.  It was a cool experience, but I would hardly call it “golf.”  It was more like a round of “desert ball!”

Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi

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Remember way back in October when we went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for our week long Eid break?  No?  Maybe this will refresh your memory….here, here, here, and here. One thing I never wrote about was the tour we took of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and it is far too awesome to just skip over!

Mosques are everywhere in Kuwait, I heard a fact that no matter where you are in Kuwait there is a mosque within a five minute walk from you.  I have no idea if this is true or not, but with the amount of mosques we come across on a daily basis, I would not be the least bit surprised.  So when we left for vacation, and I really wanted to go to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, I think Mitch was a bit surprised that would be my choice, but as always he quickly jumped on board with seeing something new.  IMG_4908 We arrived at the Grand Mosque an hour or two before sunset and realized that the term “Grand” was the understatement of the year.  This place was gigantic!  The Mosque itself covers 30 acres, this number does not include the parking areas or the outdoor landscaped areas.  It is big enough for 40,000 people worship at once. IMG_4919 This tour focused mostly on the building and architectural features.  The design and the materials come from all over the world to symbolize how the Islamic faith is all over the world.  Materials came from Morocco, Italy, Pakistan, Malaysia, Germany, New Zealand and the UAE to name a few.  IMG_4922 Of course as we entered into the interior of the Mosque, out of respect to the Islamic faith, we removed our shoes before we entered to prevent any dirt from the outside, from entering the inside of the Mosque. IMG_4926 The tile and glass work was amazingly beautiful.  Each small detail had been carefully planned out with a symbolic meaning attached to it.
IMG_4936One thing we have noticed a bit as we learn more about different Mosques around the world is that there appears to be a bit of a competition amongst themselves.  Which Mosque has the biggest dome, which one is the tallest, etc. etc. etc. This Mosque was no different.  Out tour guide made sure to point out to us their bragging rights….IMG_4945Largest chandelier…check…until the Grand Mosque in Doha put up one even bigger.  I can’t imagine a chandelier bigger than this one.  The picture truly doesn’t do it justice, but inside the chandelier is a set of stairs to help out the cleaners, that’s right STAIRS inside of the chandelier!

IMG_4947 The carpet inside the main prayer hall is the largest known continuous piece of carpet in the world.  IMG_4956 The part though that was most impressive to me was the view of the Mosque from the outside once it got dark outside.  The soft light given off from the hallways light the area up so beautifully.  IMG_4964This guy, looked pretty great too!
 IMG_4974It was a wonderful tour, all completely complementary and gave me yet another layer of understanding about the Islamic faith and the Arab culture.

Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – February 16

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Hey everyone, welcome to this week’s Happy Hour!  Here’s what we have been up to . . . . . . . . .

We had a 3-day weekend this week, so I enjoyed a day out on a new golf course.  It is still under construction, and currently only 9 holes are open, but it has grass!  I went out by myself, and apparently they only have 4-person golf carts.  Driving the thing around the course was like driving a school bus around.  It was a decent course, and pretty close to our house.  It is located out in the desert, and I saw about 40-50 camels on the side of the road while I was driving there.  Then at one of the tee boxes I looked over, and noticed a bunch of camels at a farm.  It was yet another reminder that we live a pretty cool life!  I mean, how many other golf courses can you stare at camels from the tee box?????

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The camels are located in the center of the picture, near that tan colored camper.

 

We found a new walking trail this week in the suburb of Jabriya.  We were so excited about this one, because it is lined with trees! (which are super hard to find here in the desert).  Every weekend, we have been going on walks in the different areas of Kuwait City.  We usually find a nice area along the beach to walk, but it was fun to find a different area this weekend.  There are not a lot of sidewalks or walking trails here, so unfortunately we always have to drive to find a nice place to walk.  The temps have been in the mid 70s lately, the weather has been absolutely perfect to be outside and enjoying whatever kind of nature we can find.

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Here is a quick snapshot of the the Kuwait’s signature water towers.  I’m not sure if all of the Gulf Countries paint them like this, but you can find them on a lot of artwork, postcards, t-shirts, etc.  They are all over the city, and always in clusters of 9.  It is such a nice splash of color in an otherwise brown, and dusty country.  At night, they light up with a bright blue glow.

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Kuwaiti Water Towers

On Friday night, a group of us went into downtown Kuwait City to view the light show on the Kuwait Towers.  They are located right on the Persian Gulf.  At the end of the month, Kuwaiti’s celebrate their independence and their liberation from Iraq during the Gulf War.  For the entire month of February, there are lots of parties, celebrations, and national pride displayed wherever you go.  The Kuwait Towers have a laser light show every night that is pretty sweet.  The Towers have been closed for renovations for a couple of years, but we have heard rumors that they are expected to reopen at the end of the month.  You can go inside them and view the entire the city, and there is also a restaurant in them.  We are excited to check them out when they open!

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The picture on the left is of the Kuwaiti Amir and the picture on the right is the Kuwaiti flag.

 

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There is a ton of Kuwaiti pride this month.

My 5th grade girls soccer team was supposed to have their first game last Thursday, however it got canceled due to a dust storm!  The girls were pretty bummed, but now we have two games scheduled this week.  Anytime the wind blows hard here (over around 20 mph) dust fills the air.  It doesn’t labor your breathing or anything, they just recommend not doing excessive physical exercise in it.  After a dust storm, it seems like it takes 4 or 5 days to fully clear the air.  I felt so bad for one of my players, because she wore her soccer uniform, new cleats, and shin guards the entire day at school!  From 6am until I told her the game was canceled at 1pm.  I don’t know how she could wear shin pads that long!!!

Strike 1 . . . Strike 2 . . . Strike 3 . . . You’re Out!

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baseball

Since moving to Kuwait, it seems like we have so much more free time on our hands, to just relax, enjoy hobbies, hang with friends, etc.  We are no longer homeowners, who are constantly working on renovations, mowing the grass, or chipping away at the “Honey Do List.”  While I miss tinkering in my old garage, my free time here has allowed me to do some things in my life that I have always wanted to do, but couldn’t ever find the time.  One of those things, is umpiring Little League Baseball!

Before moving here, I read online about the Kuwait Little League.  I sent an email, and before I knew it, I was attending my first Umpire Clinic of the season.  The unique thing about the league over here, is that the season runs from September to March.  Baseball players are always known as the “Boys of Summers,” however since it is so hot here, they play their season during the (cooler) winter months.

The Kuwait Little League is just like any league you would find back in North America.  There is multiple age divisions ranging from T-Ball to Seniors Baseball.  This year I chose to umpire the Majors Division (ages 11-12).  I would estimate that about 60% of the players and coaches are expats from countries other than Kuwait (U.S. Canada, Australia, Venezuela, etc.)  Teams practice twice a week, with games on Fridays.

The Little League Complex here is gorgeous, and opened just a few years ago.  There are 4 fields for T-ball, Minors, Majors, and Seniors. There are lots of common areas, an office, playground, multiple batting cages, and 3 concession stands!  One of them sells your typical concession food (hotdogs, hamburgers, popcorn, candy, etc.), there is also a coffee shop, and the other is a Taco Bell!  Yes, after a long day of umpiring, you can grab a chalupa and some cinamon twists!

I have a ton of fun umpiring and have met some great people.  It is a very close knit community among the players, coaches, and umpires.  The thing I enjoy most is watching the kids develop their skills during the course of the season.  Back in September, there were a lot of walks and not much action in the games.  However the players have come a long way this season, just in time for the upcoming tournaments which begin in a few weeks.

This year we are sending a Majors All-Star team to a tournament in the Phillipines, Dubai, and they will also play in our national tournament here in Kuwait at the beginning of March.  I have already been asked to umpire in the tournaments, which I’m pretty excited about.  They typically pay for your flights, hotels, food, and compensate you for each game.  I’m hopeful that I can make them fit into my schedule, because I would love to go.

In addition to umpiring Little League Baseball, I also umpired some softball games for the adult league.  From September to December, Kuwait Little League offered an Adult Softball League, and we had 16 teams register.  It is a co-rec league, and I had a ton of fun.  I would usually do 4 games a night, and got to know a ton of people.  I’m hoping next year that I can join a team to play with too!

Kuwait Little League is a great organization to be a part of, and I’m so glad that I was able to get involved with them.  It has become a part of my weekly routine, every Friday I head to the ballpark.  A lot of our students also play in the league, so it is fun to see them playing a game that I enjoyed so much as a part of my childhood.

We Found a Bookstore!

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Before we moved to Kuwait, we made sure to fill up our Nook and Kindle with as many eBooks as possible, because we had read online that bookstores were hard to find.  However a few weeks ago, one of the parents at our school was telling us about a new bookstore that had just opened here, and they had a great selection, especially for kids.  Rachel was looking for a specific book that she wanted for school, so after work one day, a bunch of us went on a little adventure to find it.

The crazy adventure all started AFTER we arrived at the bookstore!  It was located in a mall, and super easy to find.  We got there at about 2:30pm and found this sign, stating that the store hours were from 2-11pm:

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Open Hours: 2-11pm

However, the store was CLOSED!  It wasn’t all that unusual that it was closed, because most places here in Kuwait close for “lunch” between about 2-5pm, then reopen from 5pm-11pm.  However we were bummed, because we drove all across the city, and the hours were posted!  After peeking through the glass windows, we saw the worker sleeping inside, in the children’s reading nook.  So . . . . .  we politely began knocking on the window until she woke up!

She finally came to, and gave us a nasty look. You could tell that she wanted 10 more minutes of sleep, however there was a bunch of teachers outside ready to spend money!  She meticulously (and dreadfully slowly) put the children’s nook back in order before she greeted us with a warm welcome and let us in.

Once inside, we were super excited to see the nice selection of books they had for all ages!  You could even get a Ronald Regan book:

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Anyone looking for a Ronald Reagan book?

About half of the books were in English and the other half were in Arabic.  Here’s a few of the Arabic children’s books I found:

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Notice the book spines are on the right side? That is because in Arabic, they read from right-to-left, opposite of English.

Rachel was trying to find her book, but soon realized that they were not in any sort of organized order!  She asked the worker if they had the book she was looking for, and after a quick search of their inventory on their computer, the worker confirmed that they had a few copies.  So the search for the book (more like a needle in a haystack) began.  After about 30 minutes of looking through hundreds of books, the search was called off.  Bummer, we didn’t find it!

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So many books, but none of them were organized!

One of our friend’s bought a bunch of books he was looking for, so the trip was definitely worth while.  We might try to go back in a couple of months after they get more organized.  The worker said they had just opened a couple of days prior, so they just kind of tossed the books on the shelves without organizing them.  Regardless though, it was a nice little outing after school.

It was fun to see the different variety of books they had!

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They even had Barack Obama’s book Uncle Dougie!

Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – February 9

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour!  We are officially 1/2 done with our school year, and celebrate our 100th day of school next week!  Here’s what we are up to this week:

  • Last weekend we went to our first Kuwaiti Farmers Market.  It is called the Qout Market, and it is held once a month, from November to April in downtown Kuwait City.  It is pretty neat, because it is held on the top level of a huge parking ramp, with great views of the sky scrapers and downtown scenery.  The market had such a variety of items including, flowers, fruit, crafts, baked goods, clothing, bicycles, and tons of other stuff.  It was such a refreshing experience, and the entire time we were there, we kept saying, “it doesn’t even feel like we are in Kuwait right now!”  We didn’t really buy anything, just a few little treats to snack on as we walked around.
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Qout Market

  • This weekend, I also had my first run in with the Kuwaiti Police Department.  We were just cruising down the freeway, in the slow lane, minding our business, when I noticed a police officer pulled in behind us and started his siren.  I pulled over right away, he checked my license, and let us on our way.  No questions, no explanation of why we were pulled over, but no problems either.  I was pretty lucky that I had a valid license and all the appropriate paperwork with me, because I know quite a few people who are “rolling the dice” and driving here illegally.
  • My search for Miracle Whip has commenced!!!!!  During our first trip to the grocery store, when we arrived in Kuwait last August, we picked up a jar of Miracle Whip for my sandwiches. (I hate regular mayonnaise!)  We thought nothing of it, until a few weeks later when we ran out, and couldn’t find it any grocery store.  I literally drove all over Kuwait to different stores, in search of the most important ingredient in my daily turkey sandwich for lunch!  In fact, even some of our friends would check stores when they would go shopping!  We soon realized that a lot of our favorite american products are “hit and miss” when we try to find them.  Therefore we have to make sure we stock up on products when we see them, hence the reason I bought 3 jars of Miracle Whip yesterday. Yikes!!!
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Woohoo . . . . . I found Miracle Whip!

 

  • Last week, I started a new gig at school coaching the 5th grade girls soccer team!  After 2 days of tryouts last week, and 2 days of practice this week, we have our first game this Thursday against a neighboring school.  Wish us luck!  So far, the #1 thing that I have learned . . . . . . . . . is that 5th grade girls love to talk!!!! They’re full of questions, random facts, jokes, gossip, and humor.  They also brighten my day, but hopefully we score a goal or two this season too! (winning a game this season is not a goal yet)

Ma’a As-Salaama (goodbye in Arabic)

 

 

Sri Lanka Through the Eyes of Mitch’s iPhone

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I was going through the pictures on my iPhone the other day, and found a few candid shots I took while we were in Sri Lanka. They are nothing special, just a few little tidbits I captured during our trip. Enjoy!

This is called a tuk tuk.  There are millions of these little micro-tricycles all around Sri Lanka. Since gas is so expensive, they are the most popular form of transportation in the country (2nd is a moped). They operate on a little 50cc engine and get good gas mileage. We rode these all over place and they are super cheap! A 5 minute ride would cost about $0.50.  The fun thing about them . . . . each one is personally decorated by the owner! There was a variety of colors, advertisements, posters, sound systems, etc. I would always pick the “coolest” looking one before we would hop in with the driver.

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Check out all the chrome man!

In Sri Lanka, they drive on the left hand side of the road.  It is always a little weird getting used to at first, but luckily we didn’t do the driving.

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The view from the back seat of a tuk tuk.

This was the sound system in one of the tuk tuks we rode in.  The driver was about 20 years old, and OBSESSED with Tupac! He decorated his entire tuk tuk in memory of him. There were posters, paintings, stickers, and all kinds of other stuff. Being Mr. Obvious that I am, I asked him, “Do you Tupac?” He smiled and responded, “You like?” After I nodded “yes,” he pumped up the sound system and we listened to “California Love” bumping through the speakers for the rest of our ride!

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Rachel jammin’ out to 2Pac!

This was the main road through the town of Unawatuna.  It is about the width of an alley back in the States. When a car would come down the street, everyone would have to pack to one side of the street so that it could pass. This is also a good view of all the tuk tuks lined along the roads.

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Beep Beep

Here is a cool panorama picture I took at Jungle Beach.  It is located on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, about a 15 minute tuk tuk ride from Unawatuna.  You have to hike down a dirt path for about 15 minutes to reach the beach.  It was a super nice beach, and very quiet compared to Unawatuna Beach.

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Jungle Beach

This sign was posted outside a small surfer bar in Unawatuna called Koha Surf Cafe & Lounge.  It was one of my favorite places, because they didn’t have any tables to sit at. Instead you took your shoes off, and climbed into like a king sized bed. There tons of cushions and pillows, and you just made yourself comfy there. A super hippy place, just how I like it!  I took advantage of the “free smiles” but didn’t want a hug.

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Free hugs & free smiles!

These little rigs were all over the streets and highways in Sri Lanka! they basically took the front end of a large garden tiller, put bigger tires on it, and attached a homemade trailer to ride around in.  I think they did it because it is so much cheaper to operate that little gas engine, rather than buying a pickup truck.

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Weirdest invention ever!

I know it’s 2015, and there is free wifi virtually EVERYWHERE . . . . . however I still get pumped when a place offers it.  I usually keep my excitement to myself.  However one night when we were looking for a place to chill at, I blurted out, “let’s go here, there’s free wifi!”  Rachel and our friends gave me a look of, “really dude? You get that excited over free wifi?”  Of course, from that point forward, it became the joke of our trip every time we saw another sign advertising free wifi!

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Woohoo, free wi-fi!

One of our favorite things about Sri Lanka was all of the fresh seafood!  Just about everyday for dinner, one of us was enjoying a plate full of fresh (and cheap) seafood.  All along the southern coast of the country, you would see these little fish stands on the side of the road.  The fisherman would literally park their boat on the beach, and unload their daily catch at their stand.

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My favorite was the fresh tuna!

During our time in Unawatuna, we had a chef come to our chalet to make us breakfast.  Everyday he said we were going to have sausage.  We quickly realized that the word “sausage” in Sri Lanka was not the greasy, fatty, pork that we so desired.  Instead it was a grilled Oscar Meyer hot dog that tasted like it was grilled the night before, then microwaved before breakfast.  Yuck!

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WAIT!!!! That’s a hotdog, not sausage!

There was so many fruit stands along the roadways too!  There were so many different kinds of exotic fresh fruit you could buy for a couple of nickels.  Our favorites were the mangos, papaya, bananas, coconuts, passion fruit, and pineapple.

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There was so much fresh fruit!

Our favorite place in Unawatuna was the Kingfisher Hotel & Restaurant.  They had the best food, best service, and was just a super nice place.  One night we were all sitting on the beach for dinner, when Rachel excused herself to the bathroom.  Moments later she returned with a look of disblief on her face!  She stumbled for the proper words to describe what she had just encountered . . . . a dog in the women’s bathroom!  Apparently, she opened the door and started walking into the dark bathroom when she heard a dog growling. She JUMPED back, turned my iPhone’s flashlight on, and realized there was a dog snuggling up to the toilet!  So she did what any tourist would do . . . . SHE TOOK A PICTURE!  (then used the men’s restroom).

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That dog must have had too many Lion Lagers the night before. He was snuggled up to the toilet all night!

Say What’s Up on WhatsApp!

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Like many people around the world . . . . . I would be lost without my iPhone!  It goes with me everywhere!  To work, out to dinner, for a walk down the beach, and even into the bathroom. (admit it people, we all do it!!!)

I like the iPhone, because it is literally like a Swiss Army Knife.  It has so many tools, that I use all of the time.  It is especially helpful when you move to a new country like Kuwait, because you find yourself using it for much more than just making phone calls and sending text messages.  I find myself using it for things like capturing pictures of something crazy I see on the side of the road, or converting the price of an object from Kuwaiti Dinar to American Dollars, calling our family back home on FaceTime, converting the daily temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit, and even using the GPS on the map app to find your way around.

However my favorite thing about my iPhone is the app called WhatsApp! It is an app that allows you to send text messages to anyone around the world for free!  You can use it if you are connected to wifi or off your data plan.  You can send pictures, send group messages, and now you can even send voice recorded messages.

It is free to download, and you can find it in the App Store.  Just search “WhatsApp Messenger.”  Here’s what the icon looks like:

 

Once you have it downloaded, your contact list is based off of the contacts you already have in your phone. You just have to add the Country Code to it. Here is the list of International Country Codes.  In the U.S. it is +1 and in Kuwait it is +965.

Download it today and send us an email at themightaswellers@gmail.com and we will send you our Kuwaiti cell phone numbers.  Then we will be able to send text messages back and forth for free!  I figure it is probably best if you email us, rather than posting our phone numbers on here for the entire world to see!

The only downside to WhatsApp is that you have to be sure to put your phone on silent every night.  Otherwise when your buddies are watching the big football game in the U.S. and start trash talking you over text messages, it doesn’t wake you up at 3am because of the time change!

Don’t forget . . . .  send us an email at themightaswellers@gmail.com so we can connect on WhatsApp!

Mitch’s Monday Happy Hour – February 2

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As Salam Alaykom!

***That is how you say hello in Arabic!  It is pronounced Ahl sah-LAHM ah-LAY-koom and is the typical greeting here.

We’re back to work now, after our awesome 3 day weekend!  As always we jam packed as many things as possible into our weekend.  If we were meeting for a happy hour this week, here’s what I would have to share with you . . . . .

  • We booked 2 trips this week!  The first one was for our trip to Jordan in April for Spring Break.  My parents are coming to Kuwait for a few days, then the four of us are heading to Amman, Jordan for a week.  We have been talking about doing this trip for a few months, but we finally purchased our tickets from Kuwait to Jordan.  We are super excited, as it is going to be more of an “adventurous” trip rather than a “chill at the beach” kind of trip.  We are going to rent a car, and traverse the countryside and explore the Dead & Red Seas, visit Petra, camp in the desert, and some other stuff.  It feels good to finally have it booked so that we can start finalizing our itinerary and get our accommodations settled.  This weekend we also booked a trip to Cairo, Egypt!  We are going there for four days at the end of the month with a couple of friends.  We are excited to visit the Egyptian Pyramids, Sphinx, and explore the history of the country that dates back hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of years!  We found a nice 5 star resort for super cheap that we’re going to stay at.  We “upgraded” our room (for $12) so we have a view of the pyramids from our balcony. SCORE!
pyramids

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.famouswonders.com

 

  • On Friday, a group of us piled into our car and headed south towards Saudi Arabia to visit one of our favorite beaches at Al Khiran.  We went earlier this year, and you might remember that Rachel wrote a little blog about it here.  The air temperature was in the 80s, but the water was ice cold!  We just chilled out at the beach, got some sun, tossed the frisbee, and just hung out with friends.  It was a great way to spend our afternoon!
  • After last weeks ridiculous round of golf at the local sand course, I had the itch to do some more golfing.  So on Thursday, a buddy and I headed to the Sahara Country Club here in Kuwait City.  It was a BEAUTIFUL course, definitely the nicest one that I ever played on.  The grass wasn’t as lush and green as it was when I was there in August, because apparently the type of grass survives better during the intense heat of the summer months.  I guess it goes dormant during the winter months here (70s-80s) and was a bit brown.  Regardless though, we had a great time and it was so nice.  The course also has lights on all 18 holes, so we are going to try and go again in a few weeks and play at night.  Here is a link to the course we played: Sahara Country Club.
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  • This weekend I also scored a few freebies!  In our apartment building (all teachers that we work with) I found out that someone had an old dryer they wanted to get rid of it.  Apparently it worked fine a few weeks ago, until it suddenly stopped working for some reason.  They said that they weren’t very handy and didn’t want to bother trying to fix it, and just wanted it gone.  I jumped at the opportunity to tinker on project, so we are the new owners of a broken dryer!  Then about an hour later, one of our friends told us that someone was looking to get rid of a broken treadmill.  They knew I was pretty handy and always looking for a project, and the next thing you know . . . . . .  me and a friend are humping a huge broken treadmill back to our apartment. So for the first time since moving to Kuwait, I have myself a “Honey Do List.”  I bought a few basic tools this weekend, and am going to start tackling my projects during my spare time.  You may think I’m a hoarder for collecting this broken stuff . . . . . but I’m pretty excited to have something to tinker on.  I’ll keep you posted if I’m able to fix them.

That’s all for now folks, we’ll see you next week.