Life in a Pod

WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT!

2009-11-05T16:27:00.003+03:00

BUCKLE UP! IT'S THE LAW!!!!! You better do what the Arab ninja tells you!!!! This sign cracks me up, I love that they actually picture an Arab in a seat belt, but it looks more like a ninja then anything. Good stuff.

Sundae School

2009-11-05T16:20:00.003+03:00

The Kuwaiti Towers are the main tourist attraction in Kuwait, it is their most well known monument. There is actually a restaurant in one of the balls and a viewing tower that rotates in another ball. As many of you know my family goes to Cape Cod every summer. It is tradition to go to a local hot spot called the Sundae School. The Sundae School will hang your picture up if you travel to exotic places wearing their t-shirt. So this is me in my Sundae School t-shirt in Kuwait. I think the photo of me wearing one of their shirts in Afghanistan is still up as well.

Ikea and Magic Planet

2009-11-05T16:12:00.003+03:00

We went to the mall today. Ronny and I had some fun in Ikea with some hats. Ronny had never been to Ikea and I now opened his eyes to the wonderful world of Swedish furniture and design! Go Vikings! We then went to Magic Planet which is like a giant arcade amusement park in the mall for kids. Ronny and I went on a ride...we both got a little woozy on it. But it was fun. The malls in Kuwait put American malls to shame!!! We also went into this fancy food store in the mall called Dean & DeLuca's. It is soooo good, they have free samples everywhere and really exotic fruits and delicious cheeses. We bought some goat cheese and some other cheese and breads. I cant wait to eat it tomorrow!

Kuwait Aquarium

2009-11-05T15:48:00.002+03:00

I went to the aquarium last week. Unfoortunately my batteries ran out halfway through. The auquarium was actually pretty darn good. The shark exhibit was outstanding and they even had a sea turtle. Here are some pictures of me and my new partner Ronny. And the penguins are part of the new display. Also, they had a desert exhibit. The cat was super cool becasue the hair on his ears made it look like horns! I tried to get a good photo but the picture does not do it justice.

Baby Camel

2009-10-25T21:21:00.002+03:00

This was the baby camel and his mama. HOW CUTE!!!! Also is the Daddy camel. My friend told me I could take the baby camel home with me. I would have LOVED to, I would have ridden him to work everyday!

Riding the Camel

2009-10-25T21:17:00.003+03:00

This is Morose. He was the camel we got to ride. Also this is Ed and Eli. Ed is our linguist. The camel's feet were roped together so he would not run off while we were riding him. He is ten years old and his Mother was away that day. The owners were worried he would try to run away while we were on him. When the camel stand up and lays down it is very jerky...obviously. But it was a very fun experience all together.

Photo Op!

2009-10-25T21:13:00.001+03:00

Ok, so I was a little nervouse being so close, they are really big and drool a lot and growl at you! I swear it wanted to chew on my hair!

Camel Corral

2009-10-25T21:02:00.002+03:00

Here is the camel corral. Also the little blue guy is the robot strapped to the camels. Up until about 4 or 5 years ago children jockied the camels, that has now been outlawed so the robots are strapepd to the camels. The trainers ride alongside the outside of the camels and use a remote control to whipe the camel as he gets closer to the finish line.

Finish Line

2009-10-25T20:57:00.001+03:00

Here is the race finishing up. The sun makes the photos somewhat dark. But I like the shadowy photo of the camel, in his desperate attempt to catch up...but he only got third. Also pictured are the many cars we were out there riding with. Not only are Kuwaitis worse drivers then the elderly in Tucson, but none of whom actually paid attention to the road because they were all watching the race. Good times! Oh yeah, and this is Eli, he came with me on the trip.

CAMEL RACES!!!!

2009-10-25T20:52:00.004+03:00

So you have all been waiting for it! The camel races!! Here are some photos of the camels running the race as well as them at the starting line. The camels can run upwards of 45 KM an hour...so I have been told. These races were about only about 3 kilometers long and took about 8-9 minutes. As the camel racing season progresses so does the distance of the races. The big race is 10 kilomters long. The camels begin racing around the age of three and will continue racing until they are about 10 years old.

Cute animals saying ironic things

2009-10-02T14:00:00.003+03:00

As some of you may have received, Kierstin sent out silly postcards to many of my friends. They were quite funny so I have made a collage of them on my wall. Thanks everyone dor thinking of me!

A little life in my pod

2009-10-02T13:54:00.002+03:00

Kierstin sent me some plants. I planted some forget-me-knots and a chia-fish. This is my fish before his haircut.

This is my fish after his haircut. Spunky!

Volleyball

2009-09-10T15:01:00.001+03:00

So for those of you who dont know. I played on a volleyball team for a couple months. I wasnt very good, but not bad. Our team made it to the finals but we lost. I was here cheering for Hospital team which is part of the Navy. I know I know, Im rooting for the Navy, but it was either that or the Marines, so I went Navy. THe guy in the photo is a Command Master Chief, I just call him Steve, he is cool and he was easily the best volleyball player in the league. Unfortunately the marines won the championship.

Medals

2009-09-10T14:55:00.000+03:00

Getting our awards

Sea Horse Race

2009-09-10T14:47:00.001+03:00

I dont know what this race was. WE came in first but got cheated and had to take second, Im telling you...we were first!

4th of July Pool Party

2009-09-10T14:37:00.002+03:00

These photos were not taken by me. I downloaded them from the local MWR share drive. This was the Fourth Of July Party at the pool. My volleyball team came in second!

The sexy life guards

2009-09-04T13:38:00.005+03:00

The following are pictures of the life guards here on Arifjan. These were taken by the MWR photographer on the Fourth of July Pool Party.
So this is Zach and Travis. Two of my favorite lifeguards to look at, unfortunately they have t-shirts on. But still, when deployed, eye candy is always nice. :)

This is Rich and G. Rich used to be a competive swimmer so we chatted a lot about our competition days. I have no idea where G is from and I don't know how to pronounce his name, so I just call him G. He says hi to me everyday and he was the one keeping track of how far everyone else was swimming so I could get the competitive edge. I have no idea what he says half the time, but he cracks me up, such a sweetheat.

This is Eric and....well I forget the name of the guy with the beard. The guy with the beard is English and I neverknow what he says but I LOVE hearing him talk!! He goes to Dubai with Eric to play rugby everyonce in a while. He talks about his mates in flats and it makes me laugh because accent are fun!!! Well at least we know I am easily entertained.

Go Erika!

2009-08-21T22:37:00.006+03:00

So, you gotta love my Mom. She made me a sign before my English Channel Swim. She said she did it for me all through high school and college, so why should deployment be any different? I hung it in my office! I love my Mom, she's too awesome!!
And my partner and I had some fun taking pictures, he had me posing, he said I needed to look mean and determined. Whatever, we had fun!!!

English Channel

2009-08-21T22:13:00.004+03:00

So, Camp Arifjan is hosting an English Channel Swim. It began on August 12 and it will end September 26. People have 45 days to swim 21 miles. There are awards for first and second place in two age group categories and gender. There is also an award for the swimmer who completes the most miles over the 45 day period. So, being slightly competitive I wanted to be the first person to finish overall. So I thought I should swim it in 5 days. Well, then I heard someone swam it in four days last year and not to be outdone I decided to do it in three. Well my competitor inside my head got the best of me and I completed the swim in a day and a half. I swam 14 miles the first day and seven the next. I finished just shy of 29.5 hours and swam an aggregate time of just under 10 hours. My next goal is to complete 100 miles in the allotted 45 days. Right now I am a little over 42 miles and I hope to complete over 50 by the end of August.
OH! I was extremely fortunate because the two days I swam the race we had relatively mild weather. It was slightly overcast (AKA dusty) and it was only about 115 degrees with a water temperature of about 83 degrees. Which really was nice for out here! Unfortunately it is the time of year that the wind changes and we are now in tremendous humidity. It is almost 90% humidity which has effected the water. The water temp is now 92 degrees and climbing. Today I had to take a break every 20 minutes so I could stuff my swim cap with ice cubes to keep my body from overheating. A lifeguard tried to help me out by dumping a bag of ice in my lane, it melted in less then 45 seconds. This place makes the Walsh Intermediate School Pool seem like a dream to swim in!!!

Pool

2009-08-21T22:05:00.004+03:00

Alright everyone, here is the pool!!! The pool is not regulation 25 yards, it is more like 22.93 yards. Apparently if the lanes were placed going the other direction the pool is 25 yards. But last summer the pool got retiled and the brilliant Kuwaities put the T-lines going the wrong direction. But I guess this is better, it gives other recreational swimmers a place to goof around and play water basketball. On weekends the lifeguards remove most of lane lines to put in the volleyball net for people to play. It's a good time!

Deep Fried Oreos!

2009-08-21T21:56:00.002+03:00

So yeah, we are really living the hard life out here. While poolside my buddy Dwayne (in the yellow shirt) and I were discussing things we missed from home. I mentioned Deep Fried Oreos. Our other friend, Eli, (the Puerto Rican guy) had never even heard of these deliciously diabetic dessert. So we scrounged up some supplies and we ate until our arteries were about to explode. Note to all, Swiss Cake Rolls and Reese's do not Fry well. We attempted to freeze them, but our freezers dont work well. But the oreos and twinkies came out AMAZING!!!!

My room decorated

2009-07-11T19:30:00.005+03:00

So, as promised three months ago, here is a video of my room, finally decroated through the assistance of my sister, Mom and cousins. Thanks for all the decorations guys!!

The Beach Goers

2009-07-05T12:31:00.002+03:00

Here are some pictures of the beach and people. Keep in mind these were Lebanese people, that is why they could wear such skimpy suits in Kuwait. There is also a picture of a boat plane. There were a lot of events that day, including a fun trip on a banana boat!

Sunsets

2009-07-05T12:24:00.001+03:00

Here are some photos of the sunset along the coast of Kuwait. I like the palm trees against the skyline.

Dunkin Donuts

2009-07-05T12:15:00.002+03:00

I was thrilled the other day when we passed a Dunkin Donuts and had time to stop. I could not help but laugh out loud when I saw their donuts. They actually have camel shaped donuts here in Kuwait! I took a picture just to prove it to you!!

Nothing going on

2009-06-26T19:21:00.003+03:00

Hey guys!!!
I know it has been almost a month since I have visited. Truth is, nothing has happened! Literally I have done nothing of news worthy discussion. I have read 8 books in about as many weeks and I am about to begin and soon finish the fourth Augusten Burroughs book. I will have to order his fifth book online. Again, sorry I have no news, but I wanted to write something so you all did not think I had forgotten. I wish you all a very Happy Fourth of July!!!

Hunter

2009-05-29T22:24:00.007+03:00

So here is a link for a blog to Hunter, my awesome puppy! Angel is posting pics. He sends me updates almost weekly and he has some up now. So if youre curious about my puppy, feel free to check up on him! He's getting so big and his tongue is HUGE!
www.hunter02192009.blogspot.com Sorry I could not edit this to make it a link, you will have to cut and past

Awesome Dining

2009-05-21T23:18:00.003+03:00

Alrighty,
So tomorrow I am going to a Lebanese beach party...should be interesting, Ill do my best to get as many photos as I can! But for now I just wanted to tell you all about the lavish lunches I have been having. The Lebanese food here is incredible! I eat lots of hummus, barbecued cheese, tabouli, which is like pico de gallo but with more greens, and pita bread. What I think is funny is the bottled water. You are not automatically given water, you have to buy bottles of water. And when it is brought to your table they present it to you like a bottle of wine. Like I am supposed to check the lable to see if it's a good year or something, IT'S WATER! They also pull the chairs out for you and place napkins on your lap. And these are at the average restaurants. My absolute favorite part is the hot towels. Yes, they bring you hot towels before you eat so you cant wash up. And these aren't the thin tiny towels like on airplanes. They are even scented with a nice perfume. SO COOL! And at the end of every meal it is customary to have tea or coffee. A lot of people drink Turkish coffee, but I was spoiled with my awesome Turkish roomate, Ayse in college, and no one makes Turkish coffee better then a Turk! So I go for the French coffee myself. Anyway, Ill be in touch after my beach party. Take care!

Ikea

2009-05-21T23:15:00.005+03:00

For my Swedish Family out there, here is the Kuwait Ikea! Unfortunately it is not as frugally priced here as it is in America. But I can vouch that they do still sell the Swedish Meatballs in the cafeteria here!

Hookah

2009-05-21T23:07:00.007+03:00

We are smokinig out of a Hookah, otherwise known as a Hubbly Bubbly here in Kuwait. The tobbacco is called Shisha. There are like 20 different flavors, I was smoking apple that night. It is a smooth tobbacco that does not burn the throat and there is no nicotine to make it addictive. It gives you a mild high that goes away approximately 15-20 minutes after you stop smoking. Again this is the night we went into town.

Election Night

2009-05-21T22:54:00.008+03:00

Hey yall!
The photos I am uploading here are from a night adventure. We went out to observe the local populace before the elections. We started having dinner outside on the roof until a wind storm came in. The nook that we ate in was fabulous. It resembled a big sofa bed with pillows to just lounge on. Also the drinks you see are delicious! I am drinking a pomegranate juice, and my buddy Logan had something called a Hawaiin Sunrise. Jon is drinking a frozen mint lemonade, mint is a big thing here, but I havent tried it in a drink yet. The juices are incredible because they are all fresh and organic. They better taste good since there is no rum or tequila in this country!!

Parks and mosque

2009-05-09T19:43:00.002+03:00

These are photos of an amusement park, but I have been told it has never been opened, Jon joked that he believes it is a tax write-off. I apologize for the next two photos, we were driving somewhat fast. But I thought it was funny because it is a photo of a Burger King right nextdoor to a mosque, you can just barely see the mosque on the left side, the next photo is of the mosque.

Tour

2009-05-09T19:25:00.004+03:00

Here is a video of us driving around the city. In the car is myself, my partner Jon, and in the back is Ed, our interpreter. The volume is a bit low, I apologize. Enjoy!

Restaurants

2009-05-09T19:21:00.001+03:00

Here we have a Popeye's and Little Caesar's pizza, notice the writing is in Arabic and English. Also pictured is a Burger King Drive-In and a local taxi cab

Homes

2009-05-09T19:18:00.001+03:00

Here are some photos of the local buildings. I think the first is an apartment home being built. My favorite is the purple hourse.

car wreck

2009-05-09T19:14:00.002+03:00

Here is a photo of an obviously beat up car. The car was brought to the police station to be inspected. There horrible accidents here on account of the terrible drivers out here who speed over 160 kilometers an hour! There were a lot of beat up cars like this one in the parking lot.

Oil refineries

2009-05-09T19:11:00.002+03:00

Here are some photos of the oil refineries, or oil plants or something. You can see the tall stacks with fire burning. They completely pollute the air, which is horrible for our lungs. But the upside is the smog and smoke it creates keeps some of the hot sun out.

Schwarmas

2009-05-03T10:21:00.002+03:00

Well Hello,
Sorry it has taken me so long to post something. It is Sunday morning here. OnTHursday I got to conduct my first liaison meeting. It was fun and interesting to see inside these buildings. They are so wealthy, with servants and all. I had some Turkish coffee, which unfortunately was nothing compaired to the Turkish coffee my Turkish roomate, Ayse who I miss dearly, made for me in college! I also tried Arabien coffee, which tastes like paint thinner, I mean tis stuff is gross! But I had to drink it while eating some dates, a great delicassy here. They have a variey of dates, with almonds or sesame seeds and other fillings and powders. THey are quite sweet for me though, even though they are all natural.
After our meeting we went for some lunch and my terp (interpreter) took me to a schwarma stand. Schwarmas are these opn face type sandwiches. They look a lot like philly steak sandwiches with no cheese. They put on onions and tomotoes and this special sauce that resembles mustard. But the crazy thing about them is the way they were cooked. I will have to get a photo at some point.
The meet is skewered on a vertical pole that is about 4 feet tall. They layer thin strips of lamb, well i think it is lamb, on top of each other. After putting on about 11 inches of lamb they throw on about 6 5 inches of fat and keep alternating. There is a heater behind the skewer which slowly cooks the meet. Every few minutes the meet stick is rotated about a quarter turn. The meet is shaved off the sides. AS the meet cooks the bottom section eventually is cooked or shaved off allowing for more meet to be placed on the top. The shaved meet is placed on hot dog bun looking pieces of bread and served. Typically three schwarmas will fill you up.
So that is my first experience eating local food. The schwarmas are quite good, I dont love the sauce, but it is something different to eat. OH! And served with the schwarmas are carrots, hicama root and these long skinny green peppers that have all been soaked in this vinegar type mixture. Not deliciouse, but again edible.
Ok, unfortunately I dont think much will be going on for me this week, but if anything happens, Ill be sure to keep you all posted. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Fun facts

2009-04-26T10:19:00.000+03:00

So I was telling my family about some fun pieces of info I have discovered and my Dad thought I should blog about it. So here ya go!
In Kuwait City the Kuwaities can pretty much dictate how they would like to dress. For example there are basically 3 types of dress the women will wear. The completely tradtional outfit with black from head to toe, with only their eyes being shown. The moderate with the women wearing modern but somewhat tradtional clothing including the head-dress; we see a lot of these muslim women back in the states. And the completely modern, with no head wear, they dress like us but more fancy...or uppity. The men have two basic styles, the tradtional and non-traditional. The traditional; in a white man-dresses with a gutra and agal (turbin) or non-tradtional; completely casual. For those of you from Branford, th casually dressed look like Easties, completely over the top guido with gold chains, tight jeans and gold watches. Even the women look like they're from 'Staven, they have big hair stilletos and too much make-up. But the watches and make-up are very key. For the super traditional women since only the eyes are seen they completely whore up their make-up because it is the only piece of body they have to attract men, so they go ALL OUT. Even though over the top, they truly look pretty. And as for the watches. The tradtional men only have 3 status symbols, watches, sunglasses and rings. Their watch is a major symbol, so they will purchase $45,000 watches. The cheapest pair of sunglasses i saw out here were $200 and they were on sale! They also all drive Lexus', Bentleys, Ferraris, and tons of Porsches. Porsches are the honda civics of Kuwait. But both males and females have these nice rides, no discrimination there!
Now, socializing. This cracks me up! There is no drinking in Kuwait, it is a dry country...bummer. So for fun the only thing there is to do is go to the mall or an evening restaurant. They will attend juice bars or a sheesha shacks (sheesha is the flavored tobbaco smoked here, quite good actually, and Im not even a smoker!). But when they go out on a Friday or Saturday night they arent supposed to talk to each other, boys and girls I mean. They either signal across the room using hand gestures to give out their number or use Bluetooth to find people. Once they have exchanged numbers they will text each other to chat! How wierd is that!
Now clubbing. Oh this is hysterical. They do not even go to the same clubs, if they wish to go dancing there is a dance club for women and a dance club for men. Even weddings, once they are married, sometimes they wont even celebrate together, they celebrate separately!!! And dating is funny too. They date but its very very secretive. Think of Kuwait City like a miniature New York City, with all five burroughs. If two people in the Bronx wish to date then they have to go on dates in Brooklyn so no one will see them. Very hush hush.
Oddly enough, when my partner and i go out, it is perfectly natural for me to talk with a Kuwaity man or for Jon to speak to a Kuwaity woman directly. This is because they understand that it is our culture to do so and we are not bound by their traditions. Once more, when Kuwaities leave the country they can dress however they wish. Many women who wear the all black clothing will wear perfectly normal clothes underneath and sport that outfit when outside the country or when only around women. It is only in public when they cover up. Even on vacation, they may wear bikinis, but just not while in Kuwait.
So that is just some social insite to the Kuwaity lifestyle. I think it is so comical because they are so wealthy and so modern yet they have so many super traditional and out-dated cultural habits. Very interesting if you ask me.

Mom's Birthday!

2009-04-24T19:48:00.000+03:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! Hope you have a great day, Love ya!

First Day In Kuwait City

2009-04-24T19:12:00.000+03:00

So here are some photos of my first day out in Kuwait City. Unfortunately my batteries died before I saw any of the good stuff. What you are looking at are some new homes being built, the highway and some other buildings. The photo of the grey building is actuallyone house for one family. But remember, over here the WHOLE family lives together; Grammas, Grampas, Aunts, Uncles, Mother's in law, you name it they live there.
The rest of the day was good. We say by the marina and had lunch outside. The boats there are incredible and the mall is aweosme! I hit a sale at H&M. Most of the stores are high end and WAY out of my price range, like Prada and Valentino, etc. But it is still fun to shop. Watches here are a HUGE status symbol. Which is funny because muslims seem to have zero concept of time. But they have watches here for over $45,000!
But the city is beautiful, I cannot wait to get some good photos. The architecture is quite unique. Along the coast is very pretty. Oddly enough, in the states we put our fancy restaurants by the water, but here the coast is lined with Burger King and McDonalds. But we aren't talking any McDonalds. This thing is like 3-stories of McDonalds Glamour style!
I dont't know when Ill get out next, but when I do I'll make sure to charge my batteries. Tomorrow is my day off so I'm excited to sleep. Oh! And by the way, if anyone wants, I use Yahoo Messenger a lot, under my name. Im usually on between noon and 4:00 EST. Take care!

Hunter, the best Puppy

2009-04-23T01:37:00.000+03:00

Sorry, I know this is a lot, but i think he is just the cutest. Besides how often will i be able to put my boxer in my purse and pick him up onto my lap!! Enjoy, Im sure Ill be sharing more as I get them!

Life starts in Kuwait

2009-04-22T23:40:00.000+03:00

Hey guys. So it has been quite a few weeks. I arrived around April 2 and on April 9 my apartment got robbed. So I flew home for ten days to take care of business. It was somewhat depressing but I got to spend some quality time with Angel, my sister visited, and best of all I GOT A PUPPY!!!! Thankfully we had insurance, unfortunately we lost all my jewelry including some of my Grandmother's, so even though everything else is covrered we are out a few thousand in jewlery. But my Hunter was a nice consolation. He is just soooooo darn cute and well behaved! Ill be posting pictures, don't worry. Now, onto the things i think you all want to know. Kuwait. Not much to say, desolate and boring. I live in a pod which is a connex (shipment cargo looking thing). Its grey metal. But Im working it to make it look like home. I am going to try to link photobucket to my blog. I hope you will all be able to watch videos through this as well. I cannot leave Camp Arifjan yet because i do not have my Representation Credentials. But hopefully Ill be going soon. The weather is warming up, high 80 low 90. The food is pretty good, we have a big PX (store) an amazing gym with a rotating climbing wall, AWESOME! And my favorite, A POOL!!! Even though the amenities are incredible, I do not expect to be to happy because the operations tempo is very low here. I like to be much more stimulated and I do not think i will find that here. I am on the liaison team so I will be speaking with a lot of government officials, generals and governors etc. But thats life in the Army, speaking of life in the army I have 463 days left!!! Woo Hoo, and Hopefully Ill save 30-45 days of terminal leave, so even less! Ok, Ill be in touch. Im gonna try to figure out how to post pictures. Take care everyone, I should have a lot of time, so Ill try to stay in better touch this year! love you all! Erika