Wasta

We were warned about wasta from the very beginning. Wasta is influence and that's worth as much as money here, if not more. Wasta is "I know this person who knows that person, and that is why I am important" or "I am related to the doctor who treats the emir's sister". "I am Kuwaiti and will therefore get what I want". I am pretty sure Kuwaiti wasta only extends to within this country, although one could probably find it all over the world. I have not seen it at school yet, but know it exists because of the stories.

Yesterday, forty-four teachers were hurried from school onto two busses to drive across town to be the first ones in line for fingerprinting which needs to happen to send our information to interpol and then process our civil id's. We were indeed the first and filed into chairs at the head of the room. The office was due to open at 4 pm, we were there at 3:00 just to be on the safe side.

It was not too much longer than the room filled up. Slowly we watched one Kuwaiti after another walk in with their workers and go right to the head of the line. The person helping us through the residency process, Adam, is great but Egyptian, so there is no wasta to be had on our part.

5:00, 6:00 roll by and nothing, although Adam is starting to get agitated, which actually is the wrong thing to do in this situation. They ignored him and we continued to wait. The mood of the group was great though - people went out and bought sodas and snacks, and it resembled a cocktail party except for the desperate condition of the building and the lack of alcohol. Around 6:45, we started to move. The attendant grabbed each hand with his own grimy claw and pressed it down on pieces of paper. I am pretty sure I had some smudged prints, but he didn't seem to mind. Who knows if it will actually go to interpol anyway?

We finally got home around 8 pm, ate a snack, and crashed. This should be the last step in the process, but one never knows.

Tomorrow is the start of the weekend. It is amazing how quickly time flies. Some highlights of the week:

We got our first paycheck, and we were reimbursed for shipping costs.

Russ won the football pool, which ended up being like USD 70.

We discovered 6alabet, which is a food delivery service that rivals NYC (www.6alabet.com, type in Mahboulah for our neighborhood). They even deliver ice cream which I think is a fantastic idea.

One of the teachers mentioned to me today that she loves how I dress, and I thought boy, it's just a Goodwill wardrobe I built over the summer, but it was the same feeling one gets with a really good hair day. A couple of the students commented yesterday that they liked my blouse, which always makes me feel young and somehow cool.

Today, there are clouds in the sky with some humidity. It's not going to rain, but it's nice to feel a change in the weather.

With money in our pockets again, we will be upgrading our internet service this weekend at the apartment which will help to normalize things.