With a long weekend, it almost feels like Thanksgiving back home. The Kuwaiti government gave the country the day off today because the Islamic New Year was yesterday. No one much celebrates it, but just having a day off is good enough for me.
Russ and I started off the weekend by walking the beach at the Hilton and collecting shells. It is one of my most favorite activities, and I am glad he is feeling better and up to doing things like that.
Just because we are in a Muslim country does not mean that we can't celebrate Christmas, for a couple of reasons. One, there are so many Western ex-pats and stores, it would seem impossible not to. Two, Muslims recognize Jesus as a prophet so it's not like mentioning Him is taboo, plus there is religious freedom that neighboring Saudi forbids. So Christmas music playing in a store is not a surprise (although not too common either) and there are plenty of fake trees with trimmings for sale. What we do not see (nor do we miss) are brash decorations splattered everywhere proclaiming "Merry Christmas." It's much more subtle.
Shopping is a huge pasttime for Kuwaitis, and every weekend the malls are crowded by noontime. So this particular weekend after American Thanksgiving is not any different than any other weekend since we have been here. The Marslanders offered us their car yesterday (which is another thing I am adding to the last post of things for which I am thankful). It turned out to be a full day of shopping. First Maria and I went to what is supposed to be the best bazaar of the season at the British School of Kuwait. It was awesome. There were a lot of handmade items, books, jewelry, decorations, clothes, and Christmas items. We each pretty much finished our Christmas shopping. Then we picked up Russ at school where he was trying to get a few things ready for Monday before we went to the Avenues mall. Maria met up with another friend, and Russ and I went to Carrefour to buy a space heater and a few other odds and ends. Then we drove over to Ace Hardware and picked up some things for two of Russ' lighting projects. For as much as he does not like shopping, he could spend hours in a hardware store (we were there for over an hour and left only because I was really hungry). We went back to the mall, stopped for something to eat at Ikea and then finished up our shopping day there buying a few more things for the apartment and Christmas decorations. We unloaded everything at home in the late afternoon and then set up our Christmas tree and stockings. We only have three weeks before we head home and I love this time of year, so every day counts.
Today we put up the seven foot paper tree on the wall in the hallway outside our apartment and decorated it with cutouts, while streaming holiday music. That actually took most of the morning before Russ went to another hardware store with Justin, and I went to the gym where I watched the first half of the USC/UCLA game. Now we are settling into our routine of getting things ready for school tomorrow. It was a great weekend, even more relaxing than the Eid break, and full of good cheer.
No comments:
Post a Comment