NicoleB's blog/

After waking up at 1 a.m. in the morning thanks to the motorcycle guys, we thankfully went instantly back nightnights. I hope, they stop that after Ramadan.

In the morning we (the dogs and I) went for a short jog down to the beach and played, enjoying the rough sea and even the humidity. It wasn't bad, because the air was still cool. You could almost imagine a day in autumn :).

When we were heading back, falling into a slow jog again, we saw our "favorite" trash guy. A man, hard to guess how old he is, with a weathered face. He spent half an hour watching the dogs the other day.
This morning he kept waving at me, I figured, he wants to tell me something. But he had another surprise. He had picked some fresh Dates for me from the trees behind their barracks.
Did you ever taste fresh Dates? So sweet and good.
I thanked him and he was so happy that I took & liked them (ate one right there :).
On my way back home I thought of something to show him my thanks, not money, even if they do need it, not food, their taste is way too different from ours, but I figured something that he wouldn't get anywhere else. One of my small picture frames from the very beach that he cleans up every morning. I think, that's a fine idea.

You know, when you live in a country, so foreign to you, you really have to look for the small good things that are there, or you'll easily drift into a deep dark hole.
I usually am easy to please.
Give me a Computer, Internet, a camera and at least some decent things to shoot, some good books are needed as well. (Maybe I should put my husband and my dogs at the beginning of that? ;)
That will make me happy, no matter the place.

This country makes it a bit harder for me, because I'm a friendly & open person. But these things can lead most men here to believing that you are similing at them, because you want a Date with them. So I started not to look and smile at anyone anymore. Which makes me pretty unhappy.
I'm slowly turning back to my old self. Saying "Hello" and being nice. If someone crosses me though, he gets a taste of the mean German in me, not a problem at all.

It feels good to be myself again :).

And btw. the Dates with coffee are great :)

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This morning (Friday 5th of October) on our way to the bank (I needed to get rent money and instead of taking the cab this afternoon, I took the dogs there for a walk in the morning, it's Kuwaiti weekend, so it's not nice at the beach for us anyway ;)), we passed by a restaurant patio with 4 cats laying there. All relaxed and watching us walk by.

We have figured that cats in Kuwait are not really afraid of dogs, but what happened this morning was pretty amazing.

One cat started to follow us. Mh, I thought and "parked" the dogs, got my camera out and started to take some pictures when a Baby cat came around the corner. OK, more pictures. Not that they would be any good. My camera is not a fan of low light. Anyway. A few seconds later two more cats came for a look. More pictures.



When I finally had enough, the dogs got up to and made a step towards the cats. All hell broke loose that moment, because the last two cats started attacking.



Nobody got hurt though. I had King very short anyway and the cats kept a little distance.
I was laughing my butt off and trying to take pictures the same time.
They are not good, but they show a bit of the fun that we had :D

(Video will follow asap ;) )

Hey, for most of you out there it's getting close to the weekend. Here in Kuwait, the weekend is already there. When I arrived it was on Thursday and Friday, last month they finally changed it to Friday and Saturday.

But what's even better: It's the end of Ramadan - Yippie :)

Why this makes me happy? Because now I can a) drink some water again when I roam the markets and b) you can have a coffee and some Lunch again when you go somewhere.
I got my Life back ;)

Hubby even called me this morning when he got to work and I was at the beach, to confirm that it's over :).

We had a fun time at the beach, some pictures of it:

Blurry pic of the early fishermen taking the net in - not successful today

Not much

It's dark at 5.30 a.m.

I was taking pictures of the dogs at the beach behind me when this one almost got my camera ;0

Wrong direction - Hello? I'm over hhhheeerrrreee!

Waiting for me - to stop taking crappy pictures of the waves and throw that Frisbee. Well guys, you gotta give it to me ;)

Grainy beach scene - On one hand I wish for another cam - on the other: would I take that one so close to the water??? ;)

Hoppla  

That happy smile

Miss Goofy

OHOH - trouble's coming her way

Trouble arrived

Trouble's taking the Frisbee ;)

Sunny boy with the Conquered Frisbee

At around 5.30 a.m. I started hearing some weird sound. Like music / singing. When it went on and on, I thought that either someone is celebrating Ramadan here at the beach or it's the prayers from the mosque to celebrate it.
It was the latter.

When I came closer to the Apartment I caught the last of it: (Will follow later)

And I caught some pictures as well. I hope, I'll not go to jail for taking / posting these ;)

End of Ramadan - Friday prayer gives extra points in heaven and end of Ramadan prayer even more?

I wish you all a wonderful day!!!

Bis Dienstag - until Tuesday :)

Morgen frueh get's nach Bahrain - und ja, ich freu mich schon drauf!

We are off to Bahrain tomorrow morning - and yes, I'm looking forward to it!

Bis naechste Woche

Catch you next week

Es war SEHR schoen und wieder einmal wuerden wir am liebsten direkt wieder retour. Gaebs 'nen Job dort fuer Floyd, wuerden wir wohl umziehen :)

Diesmal haben wir nicht nur viel geshoppt, gegessen und getrunken, nein, wir haben auch den Versuch gestartet uns den Heritage market anzugucken, ein von Frauen geleiteter Markt, der von Frauen hergestellte traditionelle Waren zeigt, allerdings war der genau an dem Tag wegen umdekorierung geschlossen, also sind wir doch zum naechsten Mall. Wir haetten zwar am naechsten Tag gucken gehen koennen, sind aber lieber auf eine "Dolphin Tour". Und die war der absolute Joehepunkt des Ganzen! SCHOEN!!

Bilder kommen in den naechsten Tagen, bin grade mit runterladen, und durchgucken beschaeftigt, Batterien muessen auch geladen werden, die Bilder bearbeitet und dann sind da noch die ganzen mails von den letzten 4 Tagen. Es ist schoen mal eine Zeitlang komplett ohne Internet zu sein ;)

Hier ist eins von den Kormoranen direkt am Yachtclub :)

Bis spaeter :)

We are back :) And like usual, we would return there in a heartbeat. If Floyd would be able to get a job we would move there asap.

This time we didn't spend our time only with shopping, eating and drinking ;)

We tried to visit the womens heritage souq (market). A market governed by women, selling the traditional wares that they produce. But they were closed that day for redecoration. Oh well, so we went shopping instead ;) They would have been open the next day, but we rather spent that one on a Dolphin Tour which turned out to be the highlight of the whole trip. It was awesome!

Pictures will follow, I'm busy downloading the and recharging my batteries, working on some shots and trying to catch up with my emails. 4 days not reading any mails is weird, but very relaxing ;)

Up there you see one shot from the Kormorans (?) at the Yacht Club entrance.

Catch you later :)

As usual, we were at the airport way too early. One hour before boarding, we still had time to grab a coffee and a croissant and for Floyd to smoke a cigarette and we, once again, waited for boarding to happen any time soon.

Wie ueblich waren wir mal wieder VIEL zu frueh am Flughafen. Nur eine Stunde bis zum Check-In und wir hatten massig Zeit, Kaffee zu trinken, ein Croissant zu schnappen und fuer Floyd eine Zigarette zu rauchen.

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But this time we were smart enough to buy a newspaper before we went through the passport control. You can buy anything in the area after the passport control, just no newspapers. Don't ask! ;)

Diesmal waren wir schlau genug, vor der Passkontrolle im oeffentlichen Flughafenbereich eine Zeitung zu kaufen. Hinter der Passkontrolle gibt es zwar alles moegliche, aber keine Tageszeitung ;) Und wieder einmal durften wir dennoch ewig lange warten.

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Meanwhile I got watched by the Ladies in black with a mixture of interest and distrust. I don't blame them ;)

Derweil wurde ich von dem Damen in schwarz misstrauisch bis neugierig beobachtet, was ich ihnen nicht verueble ;)

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On the plane it was all about waiting again. Three people decided to check in their luggage but not themselves. Every time we have at least one that does that. So they had to sort out the luggage of those three. Fine with me. Better than getting blown up ;)

Im Flieger hiess es dann noch einmal warten, da mal wieder einige Passagiere sich dazu entschlossen hatten, zwar ihr Gepaeck aber nicht sich selbst einzuchecken. Rekord diesmal: drei Leute, die gefehlt haben. Gepaeck der Herrschaften wurde aussortiert.....was mir allerdings lieber ist, als "in die Luft zu fliegen".

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Finally, about 20 minutes too late: Take off.

Endlich, 20 Minuten zu spaet, fertig fuer den Abflug.

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Taking off from Kuwait (and Bahrain the same) means rolling along the Runway for at least 5 minutes. You start thinking: Are we gonna DRIVE there or what? Until you finally hear the engine fire up, then you are in the air, get comfortable, as well as you can in those small planes, and before you can fall asleep the pilot talks about landing. This time, because of the delay, the flight only took 30 minutes (instead of 50) ;)

Von Kuwait abzufliegen ist immer wieder irritierend (Bahrain ebenso). Wenn es denn endlich soweit ist, rollst Du erst mal fuer mindestens 5 Minuten mit dem Flieger durch die Gegend, bis Du denkst, FAEHRT der Typ bis nach Bahrain? Dann geht alles allerdings sehr schnell, ab in die Luft, gemuetlich machen im viel zu engen Flieger und bevor Du einschlafen kannst, wird schon der Landeanflug gemeldet. Diesmal war's mehr als schnell. In 30 Minuten (anstatt 50) waren wir in Bahrain ;)

To be continued

I got this via email this morning, made me chuckle big time - have fun ;)!!!

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Finally - a decent chain letter!
 
Hello, my name is Billy and I suffer from guilt for not forwarding 50 billion fucking chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe, if you send them on, a poor six-year-old girl in Scotland with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her redneck parents sell her to a travelling freak show.

And, do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give $1000 to you, and everyone to whom you send "his" email?

How stupid are we?

Ooooh, looky here! If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by a model I just happen to run into the next day!

What a bunch of bullshit.

Maybe the evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my house and sodomise me in my sleep for not continuing a chain letter that was started by St Peter in 5AD and brought to this country by midget pilgrim stowaways on the Endeavour.

Fuck 'em!!

If you're going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing.

I've seen all the "send this to 10 of your closest friends, and this poor, wretched excuse for a human being will somehow receive a nickel from some omniscient being" forwards about 90 times. I don't fucking care.

Show a little intelligence and think about what you're actually contributing to by sending out these forwards. Chances are, it's our own unpopularity.

The point being?

If you get some chain letter that's threatening to leave you shagless or luckless for the rest of your life, delete it.

If it's funny, send it on.

Don't piss people off by making them feel guilty about a leper in Botswana with no teeth who has been tied to the arse of a dead elephant for 27 years and whose only salvation is the 5 cents per letter he'll receive if you forward this email.

Now forward this to everyone you know. Otherwise, tomorrow morning your underwear will turn carnivorous and will consume your genitals.

Have a nice day.

Billy Connolly

PS Send me 15 bucks and then fuck off.

Yesterday (October 23rd 2007 ? ) three American contractors got arrested for dealing with drugs.

Pretty darn stupid. I mean, it's stupid in any country to deal with that shit. But in a country where it can quickly get you hanged???

I will keep you posted if I hear any news about this.

Ok, here's it:

 Three Americans arrested in drug trading, marijuana grown in home

KUWAIT CITY: Police have arrested three Americans for trafficking in drugs, reports Al-Rai daily.
The daily quoting a security source said police acting on information put the suspects under surveillance for some time and caught them in possession of 250 grams of cocaine in a suburb of Salwa.
Police then raided their home in the area and seized from the garden a 'shrub' of marijuana.

www.arabtimesonline.com

Wie macht ihr Leuts das mit den wunderschoenen Anordnungen der Bilder in den blogs?

Bei mir klappt das alles nicht :(

OK, I'm seriously thinking about getting a web host for a decent web Site and my blog.

Recommendations anyone?

It should be inexpensive, but good ;)

Easy to handle.

And wordpress compatible.

Yes, I know the ones that WP suggest.

Laughing Squid comes in a close runners up, but I wait, maybe one of you out there has an idea?

Thanks David, for getting me on that track again ;)

The red Fort - Das rote Fort ~ Al Jahra, Kuwait

We have been there in May. We were at first not allowed to take pictures. I don't know if they changed it by now. The museum had been changed recently and I guess they wanted to publish the pictures first. After some begging and promising not to publish the pictures, we could take some. But that's 4 months ago, they should be done by now ;)

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Wir waren hier im May und zuerst hiess es wir duerfen keine Bilder machen. Nachdem wir etwas geheuolt haben, durften wir ganz inoffiziell unter dem Versprechen nichts zu veroeffentlichen Bilder knipsen. Das Museum war gerade renoviert und mit neuen Sachen bestueckt. Sie wollten wohl die ersten sein, die etwas veroeffentlichen. Das ist jetzt 4 Monate her, ich denke, jetzt kann ich die Bilder endlich auspacken :)

Al Jahra or Jahra is a small town 32 km west of Kuwait city. Lots of Bedouins live here, people that have no passports and no nationality. (I might tell their story another day) You get warned not to go here alone, especially not as a woman.

Al Jahra is the place where 1920 invading troops from Saudi were defeated and where the infamous "Turkey shoot" happened, the destruction of an Iraqi convoy by Allied troops as it retreated.

No signs are left from those battles.

Only the red Fort, which was originally the Summer residency of the Amir. He used it as a base for hunting trips. During the 1920 Saudi attacks it played a key role in defending Kuwait.

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The museum inside the Fort

Replica of a hunter - watch that guy in the left corner ;)

Jaeger - man beachte den Kerl unten links ;)

The Amir's guns (Emir - von arabisch امير‎ amīr und türk. emir )

Die Gewehre vom Amir (Emir (von arabisch امير‎ amīr und türk. emir )

Hunting tools - Jagdwerkzeug

The Amir and his hunting party - Der Amir und seine Jagdgesellschaft

His falconer - Sein Falkner (?)

More pictures from the museum inside will come

From the Kuwait Times Newspaper (Wednesday 24th of October):

KUWAIT: The Manager of Ahmadi Municipality Abdullah Al-Hees announced that the municipality would soon post notices warning all Kuwaiti citizens assembling spring camps at the beginning of November not to build their tents on the left hand side of the King Fahd Expressway until the Nuweiseeb area. He warned that the municipality would also demolish any tents built in restricted areas in order to conserve the desert environment. He asked all to abide by the camping regulations such as keeping away from high voltage electricity grids, petroleum installations and other restricted governmental authorities. He also asked citizens to keep the desert clean especially since the municipality has now placed garbage containers in close proximity to all camping areas.

OK, this is all good and a wonderful start. Can we continue doing so in protecting the ocean and the beaches as well???

Yesterday (October 26th 2007)morning at the beach. The Leftovers from a few Partys

I was so pissed, I could barely hold the cam still :(

The Collection

Clean again - But that's only a small part of the beach, let alone all of Kuwait

The beaches look like trash piles & nobody really cares, it seems.

Trash on a cemetery right beside Fahaheel beach

Or the areas around construction sites? We literally live on a trash dump - no kidding.

Gestern habe ich meinen faulen Hintern endlich mal am hellichten Tag nach draussen bekommen. Bei 36 Grad und strahlendem Sonnenschein grade so machbar. Festellung nach dem "Spaziergang": Hunde und ich sind voellig konditionslos.

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Yesterday I finally got my lazy butt out and about for a walk with my camera in broad daylight. At a sweet 36 Celsius and blazing sunshine managable. Statement after the "walk": Dogs and I are completely out of shape.

I'm sure I wanna rent these. I mean, come on, such a lovly sign - the apartments MUST be nice.

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Das wuerde ich gerne mieten. Ich bin mir sicher, die sind schoen, so viel Muehe, wie die sich mit dem Schild gemacht haben ;)

Nice, old, trusty Taxi - Nettes, altes, vertrauenswuerdiges Taxi

Cars come in all colors in Kuwait - Autos kommen in Kuwait in allen Farben

How many cars can you fit in an alley? - Wieviel Autos passen in eine Gasse?

Which proves once again: People can't read, nor do they care. --- Und es bestaetigt sich immer wieder, Leute koennen nicht lesen und kuemmern sich 'nen Scheissdreck

Auf dem Weg zum Souq Mubarakiya am Montag habe ich recht viele Bilder geschossen.

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When heading towards Souq Mubarakiya on Monday, I was taking a lot of pictures along my way.

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Unter anderem habe ich versucht, die Szene im Hintergrund einzufangen, was mir nicht so ganz gelungen ist, als....

I was trying to catch the scenery there at one time, which didn't really work out, when....

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....er das Auto angehalten und gewunken hat. Ich dachte, er will mir sagen, dass nicht fotografiert werden will. Stattdessen, will er, dass ich ein Bild von ihm und seiner Frau mache. Uh? Klar :)! Falls jemand die zwei kennt, sagt's mir :)

....he stopped the car and waved at me. I thought he was going to tell me, I shouldn't take pictures of them, but instead he wanted me to take a picture of him and his wife. Uh? Sure :)! If someone knows these two, let me know :)

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Als Dankeschoen dafuer, dass ich ein Bild von ihnen gemacht habe, das sie wohl nie sehen werden, haben sie mir einen Saft geschenkt....

As a thanks for me taking their picture, which they probably will never see, they gave me this juice.....

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....welcher mir das Leben gerettet hat, als ich zwei Stunden spater auf dem

Heimweg war :)

....which saved my Life on my way back home, two hours later. :)