Hello.
It's Tuesday already.
Time flies when you think about dousing your hair with government-subsidized gasoline and lighting it on fire.
Speaking of fire, there's a free two-day "first aid" class offered by the Patient's Helping Fund (صندوق إعانة المرضى) --they need a new name, really-- in August. I wonder if its worth the time or more of the stop, drop, and roll stuff.
Moving on. I've been deeply disturbed by a sight a saw a couple of days ago at a mall.
I walk into a toilet, with my pregnant friend who seems to be more interested in the mall's toilets than the stores, and I notice three girls standing around the sink areas. Two of the girls, not older than 14, looked like hookers. I'm sorry they really did! (The third girl was a young kid ,probably no more than 7 years old, hadn't lost the baby fat yet, and had a strand of peroxide-blond hair --one streak--on one side of her head! These girls looked like they were working!! how disgusting!)
Back to the 'older' ones; one of them was wearing a tight knee-length black dress that was rouched around her curves (well, where her curves would be if she was old enough to have any). With her hair all done up and the berry colored lip gloss she had on, her look was very fitting for a cocktail party. If only she was going to one. Mind you it was around 7 p.m. at a shopping mall.
The other girl was wearing tight yellow capri pants, a tight t-shirt with a slit down the back which she was wearing a tank top underneath it.
They both had teased updo's on their heads embellished with fancy shmancy hair accessories. They looked like they were going clubbing, or to a wedding, only we were at a mall...AND THEY'RE 14!!!!
So of course, they're primping at the mirror putting more lip-crap on...(bright colored lip crap) and I'm just standing there... staring at them, disgusted, amused and in shock. They gave me quite a few dirty looks, which I probably deserved seeing as to how I was staring at them since I walked in.
Another lady, who was there since I walked in, was looking at me and smirking and looking back at them...sort of saying "look at them..."
A few minutes later, as I continue to stare at the child prostitute wannabe's, a lady steps out of a stall, approaches the sink to wash her hands (thankfully) and asks the cocktail-dress girl a question. The lady, wearing a pink hijab and cakey makeup, gives me a look, as of course I'm still staring at the girls. The girl answers.
"La Yuma..." Her mother! My whole body stiffened up...Her freggin' mother! An electric charge jolted up and down my spine...Her @#$%^^& mother!!!!
Now, I understand that everyone's free to wear whatever, and trust me it wouldn't have bothered me one bit if these were older women making a conscious decision about the way they would like to represent themselves visually...it's their body, it's their choice...but these 14 year olds can't tell their backside from their frontside...and they're dressed like prostitutes! That's not a matter of choice and expressing themselves through what they wear.
And I try to not be too quick to judge the parent because I understand that teenagers can be difficult...but my God you're a parent!!! As a parent you must draw a line somewhere... and that line isn't forcing hijab or anything crazy like that, heck it's not even about religion, but decency and protecting children from themselves.
You have to know that something is wrong when when your baby looks like a hooker. (I'm not even talking about the peroxide blond strand the 7 year old was sporting.) It's sickening.
I know there 's probably much more to these people than what I got to see in the the few minutes I spent around these girls...and I'm wrong to judge a parent by looking at a few seconds of her life...but the image I saw was sickening.
I wonder in a few years' time, like when they're 16 or 21, what they're gonna look like. My heart goes out to children and the mother as enraged as I am at her.
Of course, I didn't say anything to the mother and we waited a few minutes after they left the bathroom to leave. I've seen enough as it was.
I've thought of them many many times since.
31 July 2007
28 July 2007
Konscious Kuwaiti Konsumption
I've become much more interested in conscious consumption over the past few years. I found this Get Rich Slowly post very interesting. I think the writer would probably have a heart attack if he were to visit Kuwait.
Which brings me to this scene:
[Family gathered at female relative's (Mrs. T's) apartment for meal, male relative (Hondaizer) telling family about new cheap rug store he found in Farwaniya]
Mrs. T: ...which reminds me I really need to get my area rugs professionally cleaned.
Hondaizer: how much would cleaning them cost?
GE&B: I can't really remember but maybe around KD 20 a piece or so...
[Mrs. T looks down at her stained carpet while trying to balance a cup full of red fruit juice, a baby, and a tray full of half-empty teacups and candy wrappers in her arms.]
Hondaizer: It's not worth spending that much money when you can get a new one for KD 50.
**GE&B thinking ( voice-over): 7aram! wallah, your rugs aren't even eight years old and besides its not like they are the cheap "disposable" kind.
The conversation ends abruptly as a little glass dish is shattered, luckily not on the concerned rug.
I've been wondering what Mrs. T's gonna end up doing with her rugs since that day, yesterday, but I really hope she decides to clean them.
I wonder where stained, abandoned rugs go to die? eeh, probably Friday market.
Yesterday's lesson: Speak your mind before the glass shatters or forever hold your peace.
If you're wondering about the title, I've been really hungry for some Krispy Kreme. (I'm heading the Avenues Mall to get some right now :D)
Which brings me to this scene:
[Family gathered at female relative's (Mrs. T's) apartment for meal, male relative (Hondaizer) telling family about new cheap rug store he found in Farwaniya]
Mrs. T: ...which reminds me I really need to get my area rugs professionally cleaned.
Hondaizer: how much would cleaning them cost?
GE&B: I can't really remember but maybe around KD 20 a piece or so...
[Mrs. T looks down at her stained carpet while trying to balance a cup full of red fruit juice, a baby, and a tray full of half-empty teacups and candy wrappers in her arms.]
Hondaizer: It's not worth spending that much money when you can get a new one for KD 50.
**GE&B thinking ( voice-over): 7aram! wallah, your rugs aren't even eight years old and besides its not like they are the cheap "disposable" kind.
The conversation ends abruptly as a little glass dish is shattered, luckily not on the concerned rug.
I've been wondering what Mrs. T's gonna end up doing with her rugs since that day, yesterday, but I really hope she decides to clean them.
I wonder where stained, abandoned rugs go to die? eeh, probably Friday market.
Yesterday's lesson: Speak your mind before the glass shatters or forever hold your peace.
If you're wondering about the title, I've been really hungry for some Krispy Kreme. (I'm heading the Avenues Mall to get some right now :D)
27 July 2007
Kuwaiti Geisha's and Arab Fish
Last night I went to another play, حلم السمك العربي (Dreams of Arab Fish) performed by the جيل الواعي troupe. I've seen a different one of their productions a while back (I can't remember the name) but they were both pretty cool.
The play was a free-event at the Jamal AbdelNasser Park in Al-Rawdha. I thought there would be a stage set up in the middle of the park and my friend and I were willing to brave the heat to see it. We thought, based on the production we'd seen before, that it would probably be worth spending two hours in the crazy weather (and it was humid yesterday...which is quite rare in July here) and of course we felt we had to support these people who are doing something 'different' by Kuwaiti standards with their lives.
Anyway, to our relief it turns out that the production was actually being held in a small building in the park ( I wonder if a patch of yellow dried up grass with lonely looking palm trees qualifies as a park...but anyway, I digress.).
For more information about the troupe please checkout www.jeelwa3i.com
I'm always surprised by the audiences who show up at these events. They're always a mismatched sample of Kuwaitis. There were quite a few dayin people around (I guess by looks we could be considered part of that population.), then there were obviously shia'a looking people, guys in their early twenties that cannot be labeled but as Marina rangers (in reference to Marina Mall), and the girls sitting next to me.
Girls sitting next to me, if you're reading this please don't take it personally.
Ahh! The girls sitting next to me were definitely a class of their own. They were really dressed up, yeah even by Kuwait's standards! (And we were in a shack in an all but deserted park--on a humid night.) I was kind of amazed, as I always am, at the care and dedication it takes to be soo dolled up all the time. Their outifits were very matchy-matchy (the shoes were the exact shade of pink the lipstick and hair clip were...isn't that amazing!) and their faces were painted like Geisha's. Henceforth the girls' sitting next to me shall be named KG's or Kuwaiti Geisha's.
I wonder if, like Geisha's, they step into character when they have their face-paint on. (Although if last night was any judge of the character they step into...rudely chewing gum, talking on their cellphones and texting, leaving and coming back atleast three times--we had aisle seats and they were in our row...their character's are really annoying!) If war paint is supposed to make a warrior feel more powerful and dehumanize him/her--i read that somewhere--what's the KG's makeup about?
Do KG's really thing that their makeup makes them look good? Or do they really feel horrible without the makeup that even though they stop looking human with it on they still look better with it than without it? Or is a mask they hide behind? (I can keep going on forever with the philosophical/psychological questions.)
But more importantly, (since I did admit my slight admiration for them) I wonder how much money the spend on makeup--because it really can get quite expensive. Do they use the cheap eyeshadow, the huge cases with 900 colors that are probably full of carcinogens? And how does it keep from melting away in the heat..is that due to technique or product? Do they sleep with their makeup on? Do their significant others/family see them without it? How long does it take them to put it on? what happens when they need wudu'u in public? (coz taking it off always takes longer than putting it on) or do they only go out at night?
I'd love to one day interview a KG to delve into her psyche and uncover any myths. But till then I'll still chuckle every time I see one and continue to wonder.
The play was a free-event at the Jamal AbdelNasser Park in Al-Rawdha. I thought there would be a stage set up in the middle of the park and my friend and I were willing to brave the heat to see it. We thought, based on the production we'd seen before, that it would probably be worth spending two hours in the crazy weather (and it was humid yesterday...which is quite rare in July here) and of course we felt we had to support these people who are doing something 'different' by Kuwaiti standards with their lives.
Anyway, to our relief it turns out that the production was actually being held in a small building in the park ( I wonder if a patch of yellow dried up grass with lonely looking palm trees qualifies as a park...but anyway, I digress.).
For more information about the troupe please checkout www.jeelwa3i.com
I'm always surprised by the audiences who show up at these events. They're always a mismatched sample of Kuwaitis. There were quite a few dayin people around (I guess by looks we could be considered part of that population.), then there were obviously shia'a looking people, guys in their early twenties that cannot be labeled but as Marina rangers (in reference to Marina Mall), and the girls sitting next to me.
Girls sitting next to me, if you're reading this please don't take it personally.
Ahh! The girls sitting next to me were definitely a class of their own. They were really dressed up, yeah even by Kuwait's standards! (And we were in a shack in an all but deserted park--on a humid night.) I was kind of amazed, as I always am, at the care and dedication it takes to be soo dolled up all the time. Their outifits were very matchy-matchy (the shoes were the exact shade of pink the lipstick and hair clip were...isn't that amazing!) and their faces were painted like Geisha's. Henceforth the girls' sitting next to me shall be named KG's or Kuwaiti Geisha's.
I wonder if, like Geisha's, they step into character when they have their face-paint on. (Although if last night was any judge of the character they step into...rudely chewing gum, talking on their cellphones and texting, leaving and coming back atleast three times--we had aisle seats and they were in our row...their character's are really annoying!) If war paint is supposed to make a warrior feel more powerful and dehumanize him/her--i read that somewhere--what's the KG's makeup about?
Do KG's really thing that their makeup makes them look good? Or do they really feel horrible without the makeup that even though they stop looking human with it on they still look better with it than without it? Or is a mask they hide behind? (I can keep going on forever with the philosophical/psychological questions.)
But more importantly, (since I did admit my slight admiration for them) I wonder how much money the spend on makeup--because it really can get quite expensive. Do they use the cheap eyeshadow, the huge cases with 900 colors that are probably full of carcinogens? And how does it keep from melting away in the heat..is that due to technique or product? Do they sleep with their makeup on? Do their significant others/family see them without it? How long does it take them to put it on? what happens when they need wudu'u in public? (coz taking it off always takes longer than putting it on) or do they only go out at night?
I'd love to one day interview a KG to delve into her psyche and uncover any myths. But till then I'll still chuckle every time I see one and continue to wonder.
25 July 2007
I hate my job.
I hate my job.
Okay, maybe I don't hate it. Hate is a strong word. I probably don't even care enough about it to hate it; and that's my problem.
I'm extremely apathetic about my job. It's not sooooo bad, but its not something I ever look forward too. I stick with the job because I'm working in the field I trained in and it pays okay. The problem is that's not enough motivation for me to wake up in the morning and suffer through the morning traffic in sweltering heat. I lie; I work like five minutes away from my parent's house...but nonetheless five minutes in hell. Every time I zoom past someone working in the heat, while I'm driving in my A/C'ed car, I feel like crap! They probably don't enjoy their job either, but you don't hear them complaining. My friends don't help either (that's why I'm reaching out to the cosmos, cosmos) because unlike many of my friends, I'm not really motivated by money. I'm provided free food and shelter (and car) courtesy of my parents (hi mommy, daddy! *wave* *scream TRL-style*) and I can live on very little money otherwise...most months anyway... So money doesn't really get me out of bed in the morning.
I want to do something I'm passionate about...if only I had a clue....
Oh well. (This post reeks of quarter-life crisis! Phewy!)
Anyway, so I'm left wondering how to approach looking for a job in Kuwait. Since I work somewhere pretty prestigious, or so it seems from people's reactions when I tell them where I work** people usually come back with, "weeh intay ma i3ajbich il 3ajab!" That could be true, but how about wanting more than decent hours and decent pay...I digress. And of course, there's always the "bes bacher laa tizawajtay...." excuse for sticking with my job. That phrase is usually my cue to start thinking about rainbows, ants, and lollipops.
Anyway, so I'm just gonna plow along...trying to find a better job...and ignoring stupid people.
If anyone has any clue about how to find a job...please don't be shy to share...
**(They act surprised...should I be insulted?!)
EDA: I quit my job sometime in August.
Okay, maybe I don't hate it. Hate is a strong word. I probably don't even care enough about it to hate it; and that's my problem.
I'm extremely apathetic about my job. It's not sooooo bad, but its not something I ever look forward too. I stick with the job because I'm working in the field I trained in and it pays okay. The problem is that's not enough motivation for me to wake up in the morning and suffer through the morning traffic in sweltering heat. I lie; I work like five minutes away from my parent's house...but nonetheless five minutes in hell. Every time I zoom past someone working in the heat, while I'm driving in my A/C'ed car, I feel like crap! They probably don't enjoy their job either, but you don't hear them complaining. My friends don't help either (that's why I'm reaching out to the cosmos, cosmos) because unlike many of my friends, I'm not really motivated by money. I'm provided free food and shelter (and car) courtesy of my parents (hi mommy, daddy! *wave* *scream TRL-style*) and I can live on very little money otherwise...most months anyway... So money doesn't really get me out of bed in the morning.
I want to do something I'm passionate about...if only I had a clue....
Oh well. (This post reeks of quarter-life crisis! Phewy!)
Anyway, so I'm left wondering how to approach looking for a job in Kuwait. Since I work somewhere pretty prestigious, or so it seems from people's reactions when I tell them where I work** people usually come back with, "weeh intay ma i3ajbich il 3ajab!" That could be true, but how about wanting more than decent hours and decent pay...I digress. And of course, there's always the "bes bacher laa tizawajtay...." excuse for sticking with my job. That phrase is usually my cue to start thinking about rainbows, ants, and lollipops.
Anyway, so I'm just gonna plow along...trying to find a better job...and ignoring stupid people.
If anyone has any clue about how to find a job...please don't be shy to share...
**(They act surprised...should I be insulted?!)
EDA: I quit my job sometime in August.
19 July 2007
Around town: plays, hooligans, and friends
I went to see Loyac's summer production, Galatia, tonight at the Abdulaziz Hussein cultural center. I was quite impressed that 1) the play was actually in Classical Arabic and the Kuwaiti actors didn't butcher it*; 2) the actors took themselves seriously. Of course the depressing part was that as soon as the director finished telling the audience to hold their applause to the very end and to shut off their cell phones, the crowd started cheering like hooligans in a soccer field. How sad is that?! I was mostly annoyed but somewhat amused by how silly the audience was acting; the girls next to me were calling out "Go Hussa!"; Hussa was playing the ivory statue at the center of the story. Did they really expect Hussa to acknowledge their screams?! There needs to be more culture in Kuwait as most people, myself included, are waaaay under-exposed!! Anyway, congratulations Hussa and the rest of the cast on a job well done!
Its really nice to be able to do something different in Kuwait. As I'm not a big fan of commercial theater I don't attend very many plays; although I do enjoy amateur troupes' productions. (A couple of months ago, I saw a production by Al-Jeel il-Wa3id...if my memory serves me...it was quite good as well.) Anyway, I try to do my part to "support the arts" by going to events like photography exhibitions, theater, and film screenings around town. The problem is I usually don't find very many people willing to go with me, I've been wanting to go to the Tareq Rajab Museum's Calligraphy exhibition for sometime now (I don't know if its still on...but I think/hope it is). I'm still kinda bummed I didn't find anyone to go to the Jazz Festival with me a couple of months ago, that would've been fun.
Today's lesson: I need more interesting friends.
*butchered Arabic always brings the old time cartoon Adnan w'Lena to mind. (I must say the song is worse than I remember.)
Its really nice to be able to do something different in Kuwait. As I'm not a big fan of commercial theater I don't attend very many plays; although I do enjoy amateur troupes' productions. (A couple of months ago, I saw a production by Al-Jeel il-Wa3id...if my memory serves me...it was quite good as well.) Anyway, I try to do my part to "support the arts" by going to events like photography exhibitions, theater, and film screenings around town. The problem is I usually don't find very many people willing to go with me, I've been wanting to go to the Tareq Rajab Museum's Calligraphy exhibition for sometime now (I don't know if its still on...but I think/hope it is). I'm still kinda bummed I didn't find anyone to go to the Jazz Festival with me a couple of months ago, that would've been fun.
Today's lesson: I need more interesting friends.
*butchered Arabic always brings the old time cartoon Adnan w'Lena to mind. (I must say the song is worse than I remember.)
12 July 2007
Wild World!
Since my last post, I've been out of the country for a few weeks and quite sick when I got back.
On a happier note, Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens performed at the Hamburg Live Earth event. I love you Mr.Stevens!!!! (Mr. Islam just sounds weird!)
Enjoy!
On a happier note, Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens performed at the Hamburg Live Earth event. I love you Mr.Stevens!!!! (Mr. Islam just sounds weird!)
Enjoy!
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