Rainy day weekend

We are technically in the rainy season - Kuwaitis call it al-Wassam (there are fourteen distinct seasons which frankly I need to see to believe). What this actually means is that it may drizzle for ten minutes each day. It does not wash the dust away; it actually hits the ground already dirty from the dust particles in the air. The upside to this is that it is cooler, there is often a cloud cover for most of the day, and it feels like it is going to rain.

Our last day of school was on Thursday and we woke up Friday morning in a state of bliss, with nothing to do and nine days ahead of much the same. First order of business after we puttered around for four hours, read the International Herald Tribune (which is widely available and devoured), and cleaned up a bit was to head to the hardware store. There are two here - Ace and True Value. I knew where the latter one was located, and Sarah and Justin loaned us their car. It's incredibly nice when there is a lot of shopping to have a car instead of relying on taxis. We relished the freedom and because it was Friday, the traffic was light. We bought paint, rope for a clothesline in the spare room, drill bits, plumbing pieces, and tile glue. I think this may have been the highlight of Russ' time here in Kuwait. He loves projects and we now have four or five to work on.

We then headed to the Lulu hypermarket and stocked up on groceries for at least three weeks. Nice to have that out of the way. The store was stocked with all sorts of niceties because our school holiday is coinciding with Eid al-Adha (or "Festival of Sacrifice" which comes roughly two and quarter months after Eid il-Fitr and Ramadan). There were all sorts of sweet cakes and fruit platters; sales were plentiful.

Yesterday we painted the apartment after doing mounds of laundry in the morning. The one color we miss the most here is green and we found a lovely shade of moss that toned down the gold drapes and sofas in the room. It feels very comfortable now. Because we sponge painted, we were able to finish virtually the whole apartment in an afternoon. We listened to Prairie Home Companion and several cds, and it felt like a rainy afternoon.

Emboldened by the success of yesterday's painting which brought rave reviews from the neighbors, Russ went out with Justin, Harvey, and John to the ACE hardware store. His mission: paint for the kitchen. We are calling it cabernet to perhaps soften the effect, but it is essentially a bright purple kitchen. We kept thinking it would get better the more of the room we did. We'll probably get used to it soon. Russ did find this particular hardware store better stocked than True Value and picked up even more odds and ends, which helps him to feel more at home.

In between all of these home projects, we are working out at our respective gyms (although I was so sore from painting yesterday I just sat in the jacuzzi). Tonight we are going to a potluck downstairs at Gloria and John's place and we might catch a NFL game at Rob's later.