Who The Hell Forgot To Get Cornflakes? Oh Yeah, That Would Be Me

  I appreciate the picture,  but you forgot the hot peppers

Earlier this week I sent out a message; actually, it was a plea from a distant desert island. I wanted a Jimmy John's Vito sandwich (#5) with hot peppers and a little mayo.  It was so simple, I expected to be flooded with sandwiches – – but alas I only received one and that one was only a picture. It bordered on cruelty, except I probably would've done the same if places had been reversed.



Anyway, with the exception of requesting some real movie theater popcorn from my son, in March 2012, which I still have not received, I have not been dead-ended in my quest for just about anything.

Being a military brat and prior Air Force, I knew what to expect from a Base Exchange (BX or PX or AAFES). If you consider what their mission is and the small square footage that they try to do it in -- what they do is amazing. There is a wide variety of anything to a degree. You won't find everything you want there but you can find most of what you need there. Those things you can't find, you have to rely on friends and family back in the United States, try to figure out the Arabic conversion for what you need or order it via mail.

I've already mentioned how responsive my friends and family are to a sandwich request. Truthfully, everyone has been really great and offered to send me anything I needed whenever I've mentioned I need. I've been able to be fairly self-sufficient but for those times when I'm not, I appreciate my family stepping up.

The Internet has changed the degree of difficulty in dealing with an overseas assignment. I can reach out and touch just about any major retailer in the United States and have them send me whatever I need if they have it in stock and if they will mail to an APO. Two heroes at doing this that are worthy of mention are Amazon.com and Target.

I have never run into anything that Target stocked that they would not mail to me. That includes a 42 inch Vizio TV. They are awesome and they have my loyalty when I return to the United States.  Until then please patronize them on my behalf.

Amazon.com is also a major-league hero. I thought it was just me until I saw them bringing in a palette of mail one day and at least 4/5s of the boxes on the palette had an Amazon logo. I am not the only one that relies on them as a lifeline. I can order something from Amazon today and I will get it in about four weekdays. The only time that wasn't true was during Christmas when mail volume was way up. I have bought lots of stuff from them from food, to computer parts, software, books, and sundries. AMAZON ROCKS!

The stores here run the gamut from French and English versions of Wal-Mart (Lulu and Carrefour)to corner stores run by families.  Some products are the same as the American version, just with an Arabic label. In some instances I've tried some new things that have worked out very well. I did notice that there's a Sears about open at one of the shopping centers near where I live, I wonder if they will show Martha Stewart wearing an Abiya in their ads.

As far as instant appetite gratification goes, Kuwait has a wide abundance of American fast and franchise food. Not all of it tastes the same because no pork is allowed – – so anything that involves bacon is a nonstarter.  They also lack two things I really would love to have here but at least one that I know would have to go through major changes just to open: Waffle House and Jimmy John's. 

Maybe someday.

Until then, have a #5 for me and follow it up with some hash browns: covered, mothered, scattered and diced.

Pix of the Week

Picture skillfully borrowed from 248am.com

Not sure I want to know what a "Security probing" is.


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Breaking Bread & Learning Stuff

After almost a year of being in Kuwait, I finally went to an event sponsored by the Advocate for Westerners-Arab Relations (AWARE) Center [Link].  I've actually known about them since my first week here, when I was given one of their flyers.  Their telephone number has been on a Post It note stuck to my monitor since then. However, I never could seem to get it together to give them a call.

 About a month ago, Expat posted a list of their events on her blog [Link] and one of them was a Traditional Kuwaiti Food Exhibition that was being held on an evening that I did not have to work. So, I went online and signed up. In addition to sampling Kuwaiti cuisine there was also going to be a presentation on Kuwaiti clothing complete with the opportunity to try the garb on.

When the night arrived for the exhibition, I drove over to the AWARE center [Link] and went in. The facility was very nice considering it is a nonprofit, nongovernmental and nonpolitical organization.  I was greeted warmly and offered a cup of Kuwaiti coffee. This was my first of many lessons that I learned that night.  Having drunk Turkish coffee, I really expected the coffee to be both strong and dark. It was neither. Apparently Kuwaitis to not roast beans the same way or grind them prior to making the coffee the way we do in the West. So rather than being dark it was almost clear and rather than having a bold taste it was almost delicate.  It was explained to me later that it is traditional when welcoming someone into your tent to offer them coffee on their arrival.

After a short wait, it was time to start the event and we all exited the building going outside to a tent that they had set up alongside of it. Our guide, a very nice woman whose name I failed to get, explained the tent and the bold colors that were used inside of it. Apparently, you can only stand so much sand colored desert without needing a place to get a colorful respite.  Inside the tent small fire pit was going, even though it was not necessary as the evening was comfortable. She served us two appetizers. One was dates – – which I've become a fan of since my first Ramadan in the Middle East (at Iftar, the fast is traditionally broken by eating 3 dates as Mohammed did).  The other was a kind of deep fried dumpling that had sesame seeds on top. They were quite tasty as well, although I did not try one with the dip.

From outside, we went back into the center and downstairs where we tried on some of the traditional clothing. I put on a dishdasha, which is kind of a long white garment that reminded me of a priest's cassock, except it is white.  Over that I put on a traditional cloak (a bisht) that was normally only worn in the winter or during formal engagements and of course came the headdress.  I started with one person giving me a hand, but then a native Kuwaiti arrived who was very friendly and outgoing came and helped me add bit of panache to my outfit by ensuring that the crease was put in the front of my gutra so that I was wearing a proper style 7. The gentleman helped me arrange my gutra several different ways explaining how and when each style was worn. A lot of it had to do with climate, although some had to do with situation. I had difficulty getting the ogal (the rope on top) to set just right, but finally got the hang of it just as we finished the fashion show.

 

From here, we went to try many different Kuwaiti dishes that they had prepared for the occasion.  I recalled the comment that was made when I first started writing my blog over here last March from a local who said he enjoyed my writing because it was a lot like Kuwaiti cuisine because of the mix of spices that I put in to my essays. Now at last I was getting to find out how much of a complement that actually was.  I have been eating a lot of different Arabic traditional food since I have been here, but this was the first time I ate truly Kuwaiti dishes prepared in a Kuwaiti style. 

  

Some things had a familiar feel and taste to other things I had eaten. But my two favorite dishes were the Margooogah -- a very spicy chicken dish that was hot in the style that I like my American chili -- not a sudden blast but a slow burn. Delicious. The other was a rice dish made with dried shrimp; I don't recall the name of that one.  

Near the end of dinner, our guide gave a slideshow about all the different parts of Kuwaiti traditional dress for both men and women. Again I learned a few things I did not know, like most Kuwaiti men do not wear gold or silk because they are considered feminine. It is traditional to wear perfumes, which explains the plethora of perfume dealers in the malls here. 

The Kuwaiti gentleman who had helped me in the wardrobe room was also available and eager to answer any questions that anyone had. I really wish I'd had more time to have a more thorough discussion with him because he presented things in such a clear and entertaining way. For instance, many Kuwaiti fathers will put their sons into a dishdasha and gutra as soon as they turn 16 not just for tradition but because of the young man is wearing it he has a tendency to act more mature and because he is not experienced in wearing it the young man has a tendency to be slower and more graceful because he is trying to keep it from falling off his head. Sneaky but effective parenting, as a father I can admire that. 

One question I always had was about the ogal.  Almost every man that I saw was wearing a black one. But, in a lot of the pictures I saw people were wearing ones that had gold thread on them.  He explained that back during the 70s, people would wear them as an outward display of their station in life or if they were educated. It kind of faded away when everyone started wearing them and it no longer had a distinct meaning. I told him that I thought it meant they were royals, he explained that my assumption made sense since in the pictures of the older Imirs they are wearing those golden ogals.

 

As I said, I could spend hours speaking with him just asking the questions that I've built up over the past year. I really wish I had gotten his name and contact information before he left. Although, I wouldn't want to appear rude by having so many questions.

The AWARE center [Link] has many activities to include language lessons. There are two events that are of particular interest to me. I want to go to the camel races before the season ends this year and they will have a desert camp in the middle of the month.  It is too bad that almost everything is done on Saturdays, which is a work day for me, so in order for me to go I have to take vacation days in order to go, if I can get the time off.

I congratulate the AWARE center [Link] for making that event so fantastic. I truly feel that their goal of mutual cultural awareness was met and by the end of the evening everyone felt a little friendlier towards each other because in the end we are all just human.

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Wonder If Noe Can Make That Green Jell-O Stuff

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where my historical realities and traditions are a little different than a lot of folks.  

When I was a kid growing up I ate many Thanksgiving feasts with my parents and brother in an Army Chow Hall or at the Officer's Club.  Once when we lived in Oklahoma,  my Dad was the sponsor for several allied students (from Ethiopia and Thailand) so my Mom prepared a full traditional American meal from scratch so that they could experience it.  To the best of my recollection that was the first time I had cranberry sauce with bits of fruit in it instead of the impression of the seam of  can.

A True Butterball Turkey

I ate one Thanksgiving Day meal while doing a 50 mile hike up the Chisholm Trail with a group of Boy Scouts.  Our troop's meal was provided by the Chow Hall at Ft Sill that sent out a 2 ½ ton truck full of the meal with all the trimmings.  I still remember sitting around the campfire later that night as we passed around a shared turkey leg, told stories,  and sang songs.

  

I have eaten a few meals in Air Force Dining Facilities (they were sensitive about the name).  It was an opportunity for the food service folks to show off and they did.   Several of those Thanksgivings I was on duty too in Germany, Guam and Missouri.

Some meals were family and friend gatherings.  Enjoying the company and all of those dishes that you only saw once a year.  My Grandmother used to make this green Jell-O stuff that had mini marshmallows and walnuts in it that was my favorite.  There were great deserts and trimmings that got snacked on all day.

This year found me in Kuwait and having my dinner at an Army Dining Facility (DFAC) with about half of the folks from my shop.  We all met at the DFAC, and happily it was not too crowded and still had lots of good food.  For a few hours we forgot where we were and shared some memories of Thanksgivings past.  Aside from the standard decorations and food/fruit carvings each place setting included a letter or picture from an American school kid.    Mine was from Noe Rodriguez who is a 6th grader.  Can't tell based on the name if Noe was male or female,  but I was assuming female due to the little hearts above the 'i's .  It was a sweet letter thanking me for my service and wishing me a happy day.

My 2012 meal consisted of turkey, fried shrimp, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas with mushrooms, cornbread, a green salad,  and iced tea. All of this was served up on some fancy china and a place setting of the finest sterling silver.

So now I have a new Thanksgiving memory and someone else to be thankful for;  but I do wish I could have just a little more of that green Jell-O stuff.  

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