Friday Market

Today I spent the day with two married couples, teachers from Fawzia Sultan. They have a car that they are renting and have been all over Kuwait exploring. When they heard that I had never been to the Friday Market they decided it was a must, “something that everyone needs to see while they are in Kuwait”. I’ve posted pictures online so please take a look. I’m not really sure that my description will do it justice.

We parked in a sandy lot and followed the crowds of people in through the front gate entrance. Once inside all I could see was racks upon racks of brightly colored womens clothes. Dresses, abayas, hijabs, shoes.. you name it, it was there. As we walked on down the aisles we were bombarded by people trying to grab our attention and purchase from their selection. At the end of the first row I realized that the Friday Market was more than just clothes. I believe the next section we came to was cushions. Long cushions, skinny cushions, round cushions, couch-like cushions, fat and square cushions.. each one available in what had to be at least 50 different colors or patterns.

After the cushions came the curtains in every color imaginable and then couches while followed suit. Never before had I seen so many brightly colored couches. Bright purple and lime green. There were couches with fancy swirly patterns and tassels and artistic wooden backs. Just like with the mountains of cushions, I was tempted to sit down and try a few out but decided to move along and not give the sellers false hope.

The most interesting section of the market was the rugs. Just as with the couches and cushions, the rugs came in every color and pattern imaginable. What I found most intriguing was the size of some of them. These were rugs that were bigger than any room I could imagine. While I realize that many of the Kuwaiti homes are humungous, I was just baffled by the rugs which appeared to be larger than my entire apartment (which I think is pretty good sized, especially when it is just one person occupying it). While walking up and down the aisles, I tried imagining having a room big enough to fit on of the massive rugs. There was one very great picture opportunity that I decided to not take advantage of, one of the men selling rugs looked as if the mid-day heat had gotten to him and was taking a nap on top of one of the piles of rugs he was looking to sell.

Another interesting part of the market was the people. Many were Kuwaiti families, women in abayas and men in dishdashas with their maids and children following along behind them. There were also tourists, like myself with cameras in hand. You may be wondering what people do after buying all of these goods. There were no carriages or storage places to keep your belongings as you continued shopping. Instead there are men (I must have seen about a hundred), mostly Indian or Bangladeshi, who follow you around with wheel barrows to carry your goods and work for tips.

I ended up only buying one thing at the market. While the electric blenders, plastic watches, kitchen cabinets, mattresses, fake plants, old coins and washing machine soap (I told you, this place had everything) were tempting, I settled on a small, metal bowl for my mother. She loves small containers and I thought that for the bargain price of a half KD (which I talked the man down to 350 fils) was doable.

After the Friday Market I tagged along with one of the couples to the Fish Market on the Gulf. When we walked in I was immediately in awe by the amount of seafood. There were crabs, lobsters (different than the Maine lobsters I am used to seeing, these were smaller and had much skinnier and shorter legs), squid, and fish of all types and sizes. There was one area in which at least 150 men were gathered around. We ventured closer to see what was going on and realized that the men were waiting to bid on the seafood that was just brought in on one of the boats. The middle of the bidding area was full of hundreds of plastic laundry baskets filled with shrimp. As the bidding began the men were shouting and baskets were being allocated to different vendors around the marketplace. Cheryl, one of the women I spent the day with, finally found the crabs she was looking for but not before I spotted a plate full of squid and some ink stains on the floor below it (see my pictures).

Although I didn’t buy any seafood, I did take advantage of the fruit and vegetable stands next door. I bought some fresh green grapes, lettuce, yellow raisins and the most delicious dates that I have ever eaten. I only bought a small amount, thinking that they would last me a while but quickly realized my mistake after getting home and trying one and then proceeding to eat six more and several more throughout the night. As I’m writing this I am fighting the urge to get up for another one.

As you can see, I had a little extra time and decided to play around and make my blog a little more fun. On the right hand side you can now click on the labeled album links to be taken to my online pictures. I have added to the October picture album and encourage you all to take a look. I couldn’t help but include some of my students’ work and answers to their tests. Their answers made me smile while correcting their papers and I thought I may be able to pass that along to you as well. I have also posted some of the pictures from my adventure today. Enjoy!