Incredible pomp

It was hard to determine whether we attended a graduation ceremony or a wedding last night.  It was in fact the school's graduation ceremony with all the glitz of an upscale wedding or event.  The ceremony was held in the ballroom of a swank hotel downtown.  As valets parked exotic cars, attendees flooded in, dressed in all sorts of finery - women with high heeled designer shoes, big hair, glittering jewelry, and for men flowing white robes and headdresses.  I felt incredibly under dressed in my new flowered sundress with matching sandals.  Mock-tails were served in the lobby under massive crystal chandeliers and amidst towering floral displays.  Inside of the hall, there were two large screens to capture every moment filmed by the 13 photographers and videographers.  Some students even had personal photographers who followed them around.  Graduates walked down an elevated catwalk and fortunately none of the girls broke their ankle.

Unfortunately, money does not necessarily buy class.  First example - first row of parents were VIP guests and during the ceremony they were filmed texting during most of the ceremony.  Second example - whole groups of Kuwaitis would chant and clap hands during the most inappropriate times (speeches, keynote address, US national anthem).  Not the best side of Kuwaiti society.

The reception afterwards was extravagant to rival any wedding I have been to, featuring fanciful displays of colorful and wonderfully designed foods.  Overall, a nice evening which brought us back to the apartment much later than our regular school-night bedtime.

Today has been a whirlwind with seniors coming in to school to pick up their transcripts and student records.  Many of them stopped in to say hello and goodbye to me, along with genuine thanks, hugs, and a few gifts of chocolate.  For all of their frustrating behaviors and demands, I enjoyed many of the personalities in this class.

Thinking of the faux royalty here, we did enjoy watching the Queen's Jubilee earlier this week, which was a highlight and diversion from the roaring dust storm outside.  Today it is thankfully sunny and hot which means that there isn't any major dust (minor dust is always around).

It's our last full weekend in Kuwait with a full social calendar.  Spending time with people has been one of the joys of our time here.