O give thanks

I love the festivities of Thanksgiving, for being able to reflect on my blessings. Here are a few from the past three months in Kuwait:

I am thankful for Russ who takes care of me whether I need it or not. He makes me laugh. He brings balance. He has turned our apartment into a home.

I am so glad to have yoga class once a week. Tuesday evenings are blissful, and a lot of hard work (but in the best possible way). I am glad we have space to host it here, and it is a good group of women. Russ rigged the shower so that it no longer leaks everywhere and I take a twenty minute steambath when we are finished. It is always my best night of sleep.

I am grateful for a friendly work environment at ASK. I enjoy my coworkers Nancy and Nadia quite a bit, and things seem to go as smooth as they can during the course of a week. Overall, a fairly nice place to work. It is also great having student aides, who are not only a bright spot in my day, but incredibly helpful.

It is good to have friends here - Maria is someone I can easily call up anytime to talk with or do something, and there are a few other people as well I can count on. Russ also has made some solid friendships. There is a much larger group whom we often see socially - a really fabulous group to be around.

I am so glad that we have skype to regularly talk with family and friends. Our internet is reliable and has been an invaluable link.

Margaret comes in once a week to clean our place. I am immensely grateful for her and the work that she does.

We have a comfortable apartment in which to live, and have been able to find most anything in the stores. This surprised me initially, but just about everything can be found for a price. We have organic produce, free-range chickens, heart-healthy foods, and more.

Speaking of food, I was pleased with the side dishes we made, each with a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor - couscous salad with pecans and dried cranberries for our office potluck on Wednesday, roasted curried cauliflower with chickpeas and spiced lemony brussel spouts with pistachios for Thanksgiving dinner last night. We have another potluck tonight down in the complex but I think I will just bring green beans we got from the farmer's market (a farmer's market was the last thing I expected to find in Kuwait but I am very thankful for that too).

We had to work yesterday, but Russ prepped all of the veggies, so there was no rush. We stopped over at Sarah and Justin's for hors d'oevers before joining the science department at Nancy's for dinner. Russ pulled out his Thanksgiving trivia for the group, with a nod to his Uncle Don's long-standing tradition. Most of them were Canadians and we had a good laugh through the whole thing.

I am incredibly thankful that we are in a three-day weekend. The Government announced earlier this week that because the Islamic New Year falls on a Saturday, the next day should be a day off! And we don't have to make up the school day at the end, unlike snow days.

Despite small annoyances and complaints, life is good here and we have much for which to give thanks.