Birthday in Kuwait

On Friday, October 10th, I turned 24! Due to my work week, I had the day off which was a nice present. On Thursday Rola, the school secretary, put into our Daily Bulletin a birthday message so throughout the day I was receiving emails and birthday wishes from staff members. My assistant Rana surprised me in the middle of a lesson asking, “Ms. Rebecca would you mind if we took a 10 minute break?” After saying “no” and wondering why she had been pulling students out into the hall, she presented me with a homemade birthday card. The notes from the students were precious, spelling mistakes and all – “happy bithday tomorrow it will good in your life” along with their beautiful drawings of cakes and hearts. Rana had run out during her break to a bakery nearby and bought mini pizzas and donuts for the class. It was a very nice surprise celebration.

My second birthday gift came from my parents as I returned home from work. I have experienced a bit of difficulty setting up my bank account over here and am waiting for an e-pin number so that I may transfer money to my bank account back in Connecticut. That being said, my parents gave me permission to use their credit card to book a ticket home in December! I was able to find a relatively good price for a flight back home on December 6th and wanted to book it before the fair increased. Not knowing how long before I am all set to use internet banking with NBK (National Bank of Kuwait) will I was anxious to get my ticket. InshAllah I am hoping to get my banking in order by the end of the week so that I can pay my parents back. Less than two months and I’ll be home, inshAllah, from December 6th until the 31st :)

Friday morning I woke up to a Skype phone call from my sister Heather, niece Brenna and nephew Anthony. Of course I cried, almost not recognizing Brenna.. not really, but she has gotten so big since the last seeing her in July. Anthony was able to say Becca (sort of) and seemed excited to see me. After seeing and realizing just how much I miss their family, I have extra motivation to work as hard as I can and get in my tutoring hours so that I can afford a ticket to Okinawa, Japan hopefully during my spring break in March. I got another Skype phone call a few hours later from my parents - “Happy bir…” and then silence, our internet connection had cut out. A few seconds later we were back on and I was able to see and hear my parents singing and wishing me a happy birthday.

A friend that I met back in Iowa at the International Teaching Fair, Marisol who is from Washington D.C., is here in Kuwait and teaching only 15 minutes away. She and I share the same birthday and made plans to meet up and celebrate together. She had invited her co-workers to a café on the Gulf Road for dinner and drinks (no, not alcoholic drinks – delicious freshly squeezed mango and kiwi and lemon mint juices). Twenty three of her co-workers showed up and were really friendly and wonderful to talk to and get to know. We spent a few hours on the outdoor sitting area, looking out at the Arabian Gulf and watching the children and families walking by on the boardwalk and sitting together on the beach. After dinner a few of us had some sheesha, a water pipe with flavored tobacco and dessert. Alhamdullilah, it was a really nice birthday.

Today I slept in and then walked down the street to do my tutoring. I started with the 5th grade student on spelling and reading practice. We then ate lunch together as a family- Magda and her husband, her three children and me. She made a delicious meal of rice, salad, shrimp, and fish (still on the bone, heads and all.. she cleaned them off and gave me the meat. I felt like one of her children but she could tell that I didn’t know what to do with the whole fish on my plate). After lunch she gave me a birthday card that her family had signed along with a really beautiful wool scarf to wrap around me during the winter. I finished up helping her 9th graders prepare for their biology quiz on the properties of water and then walked back home.

I really have met such wonderful and genuinely kind people here in Kuwait. I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity and inshAllah hope to make the most of it. I started taking a one-hour a week Arabic class at school, taught by the high school Arabic teacher, and am looking forward to building up my vocabulary and working on my pronunciation. I am excited to be here in Kuwait but am also really looking forward to coming home in just a couple months. Please let me know if you have any special requests or items that you collect that you would like me to bring back for you.