Today’s blog post is more of a News Flash for everyone. We finally published the “About Us’ section on our blog! (Nothing like procrastinating a bit) So check it out to learn a bit more about your authors of The Might As Wellers!
Posted By: Mitch
The Internet is Coming!
We are so excited to announce that we are getting internet soon!
Perhaps the biggest adjustment that we have had to deal with thus far during our life in Kuwait, is not having high speed internet in our apartment! Back home, we are so used to having the fastest possible internet at all times, streaming Netflix 24 hours a day at our fingertips wherever we are. When we see that little wheel spinning on our screen and the word “buffering”, we just cringe.
Since arriving in Kuwait, finding an internet provider has been mission #1 for us! We can live without cell phones, groceries, money, etc., but internet is non-negotiable. We have been constantly talking to veteran teachers and other Kuwaiti expats trying to get some insight on the best internet possibly. After all of our conversations, we have settled on a company called WiMD. Apparently it is the only high speed internet available in the county, and not everyone is able to get it. We were lucky enough to find out that we are eligible, because our apartment building is tall enough and already has a certain kind of satellite on top of it. Some of the teachers in the apartment building next to us are not as fortunate, because there building isn’t tall enough. Their building is only 6 stories tall, and is surrounded by buildings that are 15+ stories tall, so they cannot get a strong enough satellite reception because of all the buildings around it. We were super excited to find out that we were able to get WiMD at our apartment!
The interesting thing about WiMD is that you have to pay for a full year of service, UP-FRONT! The price for a full year of internet with unlimited data is 375 KD (the local currency) which is about $1,200 US dollars. At first we thought that price was outrageous, but when we broke it down by month we realized that it really wasn’t that bad. Back home in the States, we paid about $90 a month for internet and cable, and since our internet here is also going to serve as our cable TV, we thought it was very comparable to the prices back home.
Once we have internet access in our apartment, things will be glorious! Not only will we have unlimited access to search for things around Kuwait, but we will also be able to connect with our friends and families through FaceTime, Skype, Email, etc. at all times of the day. Currently we have to walk over to the Game Room at our apartment complex and access the slowest possible internet ever, if it’s working! Once we have internet access in our apartment, we will also be able to update our blog more frequently. We can’t wait to share photos of our apartment, school, and the other sights around Kuwait.
Our days without internet our numbered, we can’t wait!
The Things Mitch Misses Most – Volume I
We have officially been in Kuwait City now for about a week, and it doesn’t really seem real yet that this is our permanent residence for the next 2 years! It still seems like we are just here on vacation, and will be back in Minnesota in the next week or so. Before we departed the States, we talked about each of us doing a blog post about what we will miss most about living there. Well, I apparently came up with a good enough excuse not to complete my part of that post. So instead, I’ve decided to do a quick version of what I miss thus far since we have been in Kuwait.
1. 80 Degree Weather
On the lake, and wearing long sleeve shirts. Perfect weather!
I cannot begin to describe how freaking hot it is here in Kuwait City! The temperatures that last few days have ranged from about 109-119 degrees Fahrenheit. Frankly though, anything over 90 degrees to a Minnesotan is unbearably hot. Before we left, we joked with friends that it was a “dry heat” in Kuwait. However when we arrived to the airport, the members of the school who were there to greet us, informed everyone that a wave of humidity moved into the area and it would be a few days before it moved out. Lucky for us, the temperature Gods provided a little welcome gift for us! Regardless of the humidity, it is smoking hot here. The other day there was a slight breeze off of the Gulf, and it was not pleasant like one would think. It felt like when you are sitting in a sauna and someone blows a small stream of hot air at you, but instead it was over your entire body!
2. Green Grass
Green Grass, Green Trees, & Green Bushes
From the color of the buildings to the ground, everything in Kuwait is brown. In kind of reminds me of some of the new residential neighborhoods in the suburbs of Minnesota, where all of the houses are one of three shades of tan. It’s hard here to tell the taxi driver, “drive down the street, and my house is the brown one on the left,” because everything is brown! There are a few palm trees and other green plants around some of the neighborhoods and freeways, but they are far and few between. At the school though, we are lucky enough to have 3 beautiful outdoor courtyards. They are covered with trees, bushes, vines and other lush green plants and foliage. It is a great place to have lunch or just gather to enjoy the colors.
3. iPhone
I heart my iPhone
I never thought I would be the kind of guy who would admit that they miss their iPhone, but I officially think I have become one. A few days before we left the States, my phone was shut off, so I have gone about a week and a half without it. I don’t miss the access to email, Facebook, or Twitter, but rather the ability of having a map showing my location or the internet accessibility to find the answer to a simple question. As soon as Rachel gets her Civilian ID in October, we will be able to get a cell phone package with iPhones.
4. Mountain Dew
I think I miss Mountain Dew more than booze!
More than missing the ability to drink booze, I miss drinking Mountain Dew even more! A couple of times a week, usually about 3pm in the afternoon when I would hit a wall, a 12 oz can of Mountain Dew is all I needed to perk up for the rest of the night. The thought of its refreshing taste and carbonation is making my mouth water as I type this. Multiple times over the years, I have tried giving up pop with zero success, however maybe this trip to Kuwait is all I need to make it a reality.
5. Friends & Family
Our Little Triplet Nieces & Nephew
It has to be a given, that I miss our family and friends. We have been able to connect with a few people over FaceTime so far, but its definitely not the same as a face-to-face conversation, or the simplicity of sending a quick text message. Wherever we are in the world, we will miss them dearly, however knowing that they support our decision to move overseas, we feel their love wherever we are!
Mr. Pillow
(Rachel might kill me for this post, but here it goes anyway)
Long before I met Rachel, she had another special man in her life. Someone who was by her side at all times, through thick and thin. Before I became her travel buddy, he filled that void. He traveled the world with her and they experienced a ton of cool things together. He even slept by her side every night! That special someone is a guy I call: Mr. Pillow.
When I met Rachel 8 years ago, I noticed she had this dilapidated old pillow. It was an old feather pillow that looked like it had about 30% of its fill left. I didn’t think anything of it until our first weekend away. She came downstairs with her bag of clothes in one hand and this weird old pillow in the other. I questioned the pillow and told her that the cabin we were going to had plenty of pillows and all of the bedding was provided. She informed me about how special this pillow was, and that it goes everywhere she goes. Rachel could probably tell you the exact date she got it, but I think she’s had it since she was like 9 years old. Knowing how important Mr. Pillow is in her life, I have never questioned the importance of it since that first weekend away 8 years ago. I simply smile when I see her pack it for a weekend camping trip or for our adventure across the countryside of Peru. I honestly don’t think she has slept one night without Mr. Pillow in the last 20 years!
Meet Mr. Pillow. This is a picture of him naked, after we threw away his old pillow case that was keeping him looking classy!
Fast forward 8 years to today, that pillow is still around and the third wheel of our relationship! The only difference in Mr. Pillow nowadays is I think he is down to about 5% of fill left. He weighs about 1/3 of an ounce and without the pillow case, wouldn’t even look like a pillow. As we prepared for our adventure to Kuwait, I knew Mr. Pillow would make the trip with us in the carry on bag. Over the years Mr. Pillow has found a soft spot in my heart. Mostly because I know how special he is to Rachel, but also because I’ve slept with him on a nightly basis for the last 8 years. We both know that Mr. Pillow is priority #1 when it comes to precious cargo. Well . . . . . I regret to inform the rest of the world that I LOST MR. PILLOW THE OTHER DAY!
I was in charge of the carry on bag with all of the precious cargo including, our laptop, iPad, passports, travel documents, and Mr. Pillow! He didn’t fit in the carry on bag, so we strapped him on the outside of the bag. When we arrived to our apartment from the airport, it was about 30 minutes later when Rachel asked where her pillow was. (I’m the only one who refers to him as Mr. Pillow!) A sense of panic fell over me as I tried to back track my steps with the carry on bag. I knew I had the pillow at the airport, but somehow it must have slipped off of the bag during our trip to our apartment. I endlessly apologized for my mistake and Rachel kept reassuring me that “it’s ok.” However I knew deep in her heart that there was a void. I had killed off the man who had been with her through so much over the years. The thing that has always been by her side and was the most comforting thing to home that she had in Kuwait. Rather it was the jet lag or just a lapse in responsibility, I knew i was the sole reason that Mr. Pillow had gone missing. I had zero faith that we would ever see Mr. Pillow again 😦
(Fast Forward 48 hours)
So today we are strolling through the courtyard at our apartment building complex after work when SUDDENLY, out of the corner of my eye I spot a ray of sunshine. (which was difficult to see because the sun is freaking intense here). Near the security gate, on the ground, tucked back in a corner along a wall, was a small bundle of something. We were about 20 yards away when I shouted, “its your pillow!” I don’t think Rachel could quite process what was going on in my mind. I knew right away it was Mr. Pillow and ran to him with glee. Rachel stood in awe as I joyfully embraced him. I had to shake all of the sand and dirt off of him, since he spent the last two nights sleeping under the stars of Kuwait, rather than in our bed. Rachel was a bit shocked and skeptical until she looked inside the pillow case and found her sleep mask and ear plugs. Just then, she realized that she had been reunited with her pillow. It was a joyful couple of milliseconds before our excitement wore off and we were back to normal life. I’m happy to report that Mr. Pillow is back in bed with us tonight!
Here’s Mr. Pillow in his brand new, baby blue tuxedo pillow case that we bought him at Ikea last week. He loves it.
Perhaps you caught the line in the last paragraph about my wife’s sleep mask and ear plugs, we’ll save that story for another blog post later. 😉
Roll Call – Mitch? Here!
Since last winter, when Rachel and I decided to take on our adventure across the world one of the first things out of her mouth was, “OMG, we should start a blog!” I’m sure the look on my face was less than pleasant and probably portrayed the image of “you’re kidding me right?” For all of you married guys out there you are probably very familiar with the phrase of “a happy wife is a happy life.” So with that motto in mind, I jumped on board!
Until today I was able to find enough excuses to avoid my contributions to the blog. Until just two weeks ago, I was working at my previous full-time job, working on projects around the house to get it sold, and all of the other “to do items” in order to prepare for our lives living overseas. However as of today, I’m about 10,000 miles away from home, in a country where I know only one person, and unemployed! So with that being said, today is my first blog post!
Our initial goal with this blog was to keep our friends and families up-to-date on what we are doing, but we are slowly developing a following of readers from around there world. Perhaps they stumbled across our blog through Google, or maybe another friend recommended it to them. We have expanded our goal of this blog to provide the entire world with an insight into our lives. I’m assuming most people don’t know a couple who quit both of their full time jobs, and sold their house, both cars, and over 95% of their possessions to take an adventure and experience life abroad as an expat. We want people to know that the world is an amazing place with so many cool places. We hope to visit some of those places and put our experiences on our blog so our readers could follow along.
I can’t thank my wife enough for all of the hard work she has dedicated to get this blog up and running. I’m slowly finding out that it takes an enormous amount of time to develop topics, gather your thoughts, put it to paper, and attach photos, all with the hope that someone from around the world will take just a few minutes to read it. We hope to make people laugh, cry, and mostly say, “holy crap, that is so freaking awesome!”
We can’t thank our readers enough for the support and love on our blog. We have received so much positive feedback, and that’s really what keeps us going. So feel free to share our blog with others and comment with your thoughts, suggestions, questions, or other comments. I’m excited to join my wife Rachel on our adventure in Kuwait and to share our thoughts and experiences on our new blog.
Cheers!
The Might as Wellers 