Yesterday was my first day officially starting at the Fawzia Sultan Rehabilitation Institute. Meet Rasheed. Well, Rasheed is actually camera shy. He will not let me take a photo of him, but i will get one some day. Rasheed is A) probably my best friend, B) a wealth of information and C) one.crazy.solid.driver.
Rasheed works at FSRI and does pretty much anything and everything they need help with, primarily errands and driving. Rasheed picks me up every day to go to the clinic to work or, when I feel the rice, fried foods and desserts have headed straight to my thighs... to workout at the gym at the clinic. Although yesterday was my first day seeing clients, I've been to the clinic several times before hand for meetings and to workout, all courtesy of Rasheed. Anyway, Rasheed is from India. As I've been told and have noticed, most drivers, nannies, store employees and restaurant employees are either Indian or Filipino. There is still a class system that exists in Kuwait and you will never see Kuwaiti's working these types of jobs. Rasheed will go home to India every 6 months for about 15 to 30 days, or once a year for 30 to 40 days. He has a 4 year old boy and his wife is pregnant with baby number two, due any day now (don't worry I ask him every time I see him-- keep you posted). These vacations are also the same for the house staff at the house where I am living.
There is a new school going up across the street from the clinic, and Rasheed told me that the number one business in Kuwait is education. For private schools, it is 1000KD per student/year. That is Kuwaiti Dinar which is approximately 3.5KD = 1 USD. He said the private schools here have a different and better curriculum and many are also English schools. They are much better than the free, government schools. He told me this used to be the same in India, however they have recently changed this so that the curriculum at both private and public schools in India is the same.
Rasheed, like most drivers here, are not afraid to take some risks on the road. It should be noted (hi mom!) that I have never felt like I was about to die, but it seems like there are either no rules, no enforcement, or people really, really don't care. For instance, if you can visualize this...a left hand only turning lane with a line of cars and a red arrow. People will just drive up to the front of the lane and cut in front of the line, in front of the first car that is actually behind the line, and sit in front until the light turns green. Also- I was sitting in the car one day next to a car at a light. Behind the car was a cop car with flashing lights. No one was pulling over, no one was moving and the cop didn't even seem mad. I asked, and apparently, if the cop wants you to pull over, he will announce it over a megaphone. OK fine- still so weird to see. Why are your lights on, sir????
FSRI was supposed to have a 10K charity race last Saturday for "Road Safety Awareness", which at first sounded funny to me. Now it's not. You see crashed cars frequently on the side of the road. I heard they leave them there to make a statement. I'll have to take a photo when I see one again, it's strange to see. Rasheed had been running errands all week to get ready for the race. He was talking about it and asked if I had ever seen anyone driving or in a car with a baby on their lap? I was like, "Yes, Rasheed. Britney Spears, duh" (and Ivy Kublin circa 2007--bahhh). He laughed and just said parents don't care and you see it all over Kuwait. Very scary. The race, thankfully, ended up being postponed due to weather. It has been the coldest here (30 degrees in the AM) in 50 years... and there was a mini sandstorm or "dust storm" on Saturday. Looking forward to running it in a few weeks, and hoping it warms up. It starts at the Crescent Marina which I will mention in a bit.
Anyway, It's pretty exciting starting right now at the clinic, not only for the new experience, but also because they just expanded to take over another suite, and now Speech Therapy get their own (brand new) room. There is only one other speech therapist, Latifa, as the speech therapist I am temporarily filling in for is an American woman who happens to be out on maternity leave the same time I'm here. Funny how things work out. Latifa primarily works with adults in the afternoons doing home visits. I will primarily be seeing children, but also some adults, in the mornings and early afternoons in the clinic. The space is brand new so Latifa and I got to help design the space and get new toys and materials for children since the space was previously used mainly for adult clients.
On Friday (aka Saturday, aka the weekend), Latifa and I went to Toys 'R Us to get some toys for the clinic. She was asking me about how I liked Kuwait, etc. etc. and I told her some of the stuff I've seen and things I've learned. (This is where the retraction come in...) Latifa tells me, that that whole bit about the 10K for graduating is actually not the case. The family that I am working for here is actually part of the royal family of Kuwait. Thereforeeee, some of the information I am getting, may not be true for the rest of the population. Maybe note that. Latifa did not get any 20K for her academic achievements, although she did get a free education because she went to a public university in Kuwait. All are free. Oh- and they have valet parking at the university. (Kuwaitis really value convenience. You'd be surprised at how many places deliver or come to your home.) Howeverrrr, she did inform me that she gets the seven weeks vacation that apparently every other place in the world except the US has (unless you're in education), along with 4 personal days and 15 sick days. Also, for bereavement, funerals here are after the burial and last for three days. So you get three days for each. Also, since the health care appointments are government controlled, you are granted 4 "excuses" a month (you can only take one a week) and these are essentially half-days you can take for appointments. Mustbenice.
Also- because Latifa was heading to a wedding later that evening, she informed me that receptions are strictly women, and are held some time after the wedding/honeymoon. If a Kuwaiti man wants to marry a Kuwaiti woman, the government will give him 4000KD (~14K USD) for the dowry, half of which he must repay (without interest, obvi). Since times have changed, they are thinking about now changing in to 6000KD, but they will still be required to pay half back to the government, and the rest is a gift. Latifa informed me that dowries range from 7000KD to 20000KD ( 24,5000 to 70,000 USD). yowza. She also told me that there is one area of Kuwait that is not as modernized and is less cultured than where we live, however they are extremely wealthy, just not flashy. There they do not have the luxury cars or extravagant and elaborate houses, rather, they live in modest homes and drive average cars. These women, you will hear talking about dowries from 20,000KD to 25,000KD. Also- if you pass a home in Kuwait that is decorated tastefully with white lights and decorations, these are not their Christmas decorations, I assure you. Rather, when there is a wedding or a celebration, families will have their houses decorated with lights, and some are really, really beautiful. Here is one I saw from the back from the highway.
The best, or my favorite part about the new suite is that, so far, we're the only office being used (very quiet), and it comes complete with a sizable kitchen space and a bathroom with a shower. So I'm able to use the gym downstairs and then shower before, after, or, like yesterday, in between seeing clients. It's essentially a small apartment. In fact, when coming to Kuwait, the family was going to put me up in a furnished apartment, which happens to be the same building that the clinic is in. Many of the staff members at FSRI actually live in the building. As part of their work contract, they are offered a placed to live (conveniently close, and very nice). Many of the professionals are westerners. I would say most from Canada, but also the US (psychologist from UCLA- whatsup), and parts of Western Europe.
The office is located in Salmiya, which is more of a downtown, city-like area with taller buildings, more traffic and shopping. It's located right near the Marina Crescent, which reminds me somewhat of LA (Marina Del Ray/Santa Monica pier-ish) but cleaner, with bluer water, and much, much less touristy. I went for lunch there at a Lebanese restaurant (think Mediterranean food) and then to The Chocolate Bar (everything chocolate. everything amazing)... because apparently it's OK to have dessert after every meal.
This post was a little all over the place, but I have so much information, little tidbits and things I want to share that it gets difficult for me to organize. eeeeek.
xo Mary
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| This is my best photo of Rasheed. That is his hand. |
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| This is how close Rasheed likes to stop behind cars. Also- Rasheed's forehead. |
Rasheed works at FSRI and does pretty much anything and everything they need help with, primarily errands and driving. Rasheed picks me up every day to go to the clinic to work or, when I feel the rice, fried foods and desserts have headed straight to my thighs... to workout at the gym at the clinic. Although yesterday was my first day seeing clients, I've been to the clinic several times before hand for meetings and to workout, all courtesy of Rasheed. Anyway, Rasheed is from India. As I've been told and have noticed, most drivers, nannies, store employees and restaurant employees are either Indian or Filipino. There is still a class system that exists in Kuwait and you will never see Kuwaiti's working these types of jobs. Rasheed will go home to India every 6 months for about 15 to 30 days, or once a year for 30 to 40 days. He has a 4 year old boy and his wife is pregnant with baby number two, due any day now (don't worry I ask him every time I see him-- keep you posted). These vacations are also the same for the house staff at the house where I am living.
There is a new school going up across the street from the clinic, and Rasheed told me that the number one business in Kuwait is education. For private schools, it is 1000KD per student/year. That is Kuwaiti Dinar which is approximately 3.5KD = 1 USD. He said the private schools here have a different and better curriculum and many are also English schools. They are much better than the free, government schools. He told me this used to be the same in India, however they have recently changed this so that the curriculum at both private and public schools in India is the same.
Rasheed, like most drivers here, are not afraid to take some risks on the road. It should be noted (hi mom!) that I have never felt like I was about to die, but it seems like there are either no rules, no enforcement, or people really, really don't care. For instance, if you can visualize this...a left hand only turning lane with a line of cars and a red arrow. People will just drive up to the front of the lane and cut in front of the line, in front of the first car that is actually behind the line, and sit in front until the light turns green. Also- I was sitting in the car one day next to a car at a light. Behind the car was a cop car with flashing lights. No one was pulling over, no one was moving and the cop didn't even seem mad. I asked, and apparently, if the cop wants you to pull over, he will announce it over a megaphone. OK fine- still so weird to see. Why are your lights on, sir????
FSRI was supposed to have a 10K charity race last Saturday for "Road Safety Awareness", which at first sounded funny to me. Now it's not. You see crashed cars frequently on the side of the road. I heard they leave them there to make a statement. I'll have to take a photo when I see one again, it's strange to see. Rasheed had been running errands all week to get ready for the race. He was talking about it and asked if I had ever seen anyone driving or in a car with a baby on their lap? I was like, "Yes, Rasheed. Britney Spears, duh" (and Ivy Kublin circa 2007--bahhh). He laughed and just said parents don't care and you see it all over Kuwait. Very scary. The race, thankfully, ended up being postponed due to weather. It has been the coldest here (30 degrees in the AM) in 50 years... and there was a mini sandstorm or "dust storm" on Saturday. Looking forward to running it in a few weeks, and hoping it warms up. It starts at the Crescent Marina which I will mention in a bit.
Anyway, It's pretty exciting starting right now at the clinic, not only for the new experience, but also because they just expanded to take over another suite, and now Speech Therapy get their own (brand new) room. There is only one other speech therapist, Latifa, as the speech therapist I am temporarily filling in for is an American woman who happens to be out on maternity leave the same time I'm here. Funny how things work out. Latifa primarily works with adults in the afternoons doing home visits. I will primarily be seeing children, but also some adults, in the mornings and early afternoons in the clinic. The space is brand new so Latifa and I got to help design the space and get new toys and materials for children since the space was previously used mainly for adult clients.
On Friday (aka Saturday, aka the weekend), Latifa and I went to Toys 'R Us to get some toys for the clinic. She was asking me about how I liked Kuwait, etc. etc. and I told her some of the stuff I've seen and things I've learned. (This is where the retraction come in...) Latifa tells me, that that whole bit about the 10K for graduating is actually not the case. The family that I am working for here is actually part of the royal family of Kuwait. Thereforeeee, some of the information I am getting, may not be true for the rest of the population. Maybe note that. Latifa did not get any 20K for her academic achievements, although she did get a free education because she went to a public university in Kuwait. All are free. Oh- and they have valet parking at the university. (Kuwaitis really value convenience. You'd be surprised at how many places deliver or come to your home.) Howeverrrr, she did inform me that she gets the seven weeks vacation that apparently every other place in the world except the US has (unless you're in education), along with 4 personal days and 15 sick days. Also, for bereavement, funerals here are after the burial and last for three days. So you get three days for each. Also, since the health care appointments are government controlled, you are granted 4 "excuses" a month (you can only take one a week) and these are essentially half-days you can take for appointments. Mustbenice.
Also- because Latifa was heading to a wedding later that evening, she informed me that receptions are strictly women, and are held some time after the wedding/honeymoon. If a Kuwaiti man wants to marry a Kuwaiti woman, the government will give him 4000KD (~14K USD) for the dowry, half of which he must repay (without interest, obvi). Since times have changed, they are thinking about now changing in to 6000KD, but they will still be required to pay half back to the government, and the rest is a gift. Latifa informed me that dowries range from 7000KD to 20000KD ( 24,5000 to 70,000 USD). yowza. She also told me that there is one area of Kuwait that is not as modernized and is less cultured than where we live, however they are extremely wealthy, just not flashy. There they do not have the luxury cars or extravagant and elaborate houses, rather, they live in modest homes and drive average cars. These women, you will hear talking about dowries from 20,000KD to 25,000KD. Also- if you pass a home in Kuwait that is decorated tastefully with white lights and decorations, these are not their Christmas decorations, I assure you. Rather, when there is a wedding or a celebration, families will have their houses decorated with lights, and some are really, really beautiful. Here is one I saw from the back from the highway.
The best, or my favorite part about the new suite is that, so far, we're the only office being used (very quiet), and it comes complete with a sizable kitchen space and a bathroom with a shower. So I'm able to use the gym downstairs and then shower before, after, or, like yesterday, in between seeing clients. It's essentially a small apartment. In fact, when coming to Kuwait, the family was going to put me up in a furnished apartment, which happens to be the same building that the clinic is in. Many of the staff members at FSRI actually live in the building. As part of their work contract, they are offered a placed to live (conveniently close, and very nice). Many of the professionals are westerners. I would say most from Canada, but also the US (psychologist from UCLA- whatsup), and parts of Western Europe.
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| View from Office |
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| Kitchen |
The office is located in Salmiya, which is more of a downtown, city-like area with taller buildings, more traffic and shopping. It's located right near the Marina Crescent, which reminds me somewhat of LA (Marina Del Ray/Santa Monica pier-ish) but cleaner, with bluer water, and much, much less touristy. I went for lunch there at a Lebanese restaurant (think Mediterranean food) and then to The Chocolate Bar (everything chocolate. everything amazing)... because apparently it's OK to have dessert after every meal.
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| S'mores. Yum! |
This post was a little all over the place, but I have so much information, little tidbits and things I want to share that it gets difficult for me to organize. eeeeek.
xo Mary
Sounds so much like the P.I.; the driving (no rules ego/guts driving), the food (carbs and sweets), the caste system...
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