Reflections from Lee & Kitty: May 2011

Kuwait University

Kuwait University consists of 16 colleges or faculties. My host teaches English in the Faculty of Science, Shuwaikh campus, so that's what I got to see. Since English is the medium of instruction, some students take a foundation year and others just take required language classes.

Between classes.

Faculty of Science

Students between classes

Faculty of Science

Our delicious cafeteria lunch.

Women's cafeteria

English class - reading

Women's English class

Men's English class

Between classes

Kuwait University


Faculty housing

Kuwait University

Kuwait

My week in Kuwait was the first time I had been in the (non-African) Arab world. My first impression was that it's just a hot, dusty, urban center.

However, my guide N, who's been teaching there for five years, helped me see more. First a little history.

Not too long ago, Kuwait was simply a fishing and trading port.

Bedouin roots can be seen in the city's livestock market.

Oil wealth has created a gleaming metropolis with interesting modern architecture.

The invasion by Iraq and liberation by Allies is already 20 years in the past.


Besides the 20-year anniversary of the liberation from Iraq, this year Kuwait is celebrating 50 years of independence (from Britain). Read more at http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDAwNzM0Nzk3

So, what is Kuwait's current identity? Some unique buildings?

Islam?

Cultural institutions like the "diwaniya?"

The diwaniya is both the place and the gathering, where men get together and talk. (http://www.kuwaitagenda.com/en/uncategorized/254-al-diwaniya-in-kuwaits-culture.html)

Multinational institutions, like the universities which attract faculty from around the world?

The teaching staff from Kuwait University's Faculty of Science, Department of English, include people from Lebanon, Sierra Leone, the U.S., India, and more.

The ability to enjoy a comfortable life-style?

The oil-rich government subsidizes mortgages

Shopping is a common past-time. Here: a traditional perfumery. (Frankincense originated in this part of the world. "Bukhur" and "oud" are special forms Arabs especially value.) (For more see http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NjMxNjc4Nzc1)

"The Avenues," expanding to become, they say, the largest mall in the Middle East.

Picnicking at a waterfront park.

Enjoying jet-skis on the waterfront.

Such a lifestyle comes with costs:

Most of the unskilled laborers, from household help to trash collectors to builders, are immigrants from places like Bangla Desh, Pakistan and the Philippines. Even entrepreneurs, bankers, and professors may come from Egypt or India.

Huge income gaps between locals and unskilled immigrant labor (with policies that provide no hope of moving up in society) creates a two-tiered society.

Kuwait has the potential to make our interconnected world work well together. Let's hope they get it right!

Nizwa, Oman

Nizwa is a town of 700,000 about 140 k from Muscat, in the Hajar mountains. built along two dry riverbeds or wadis.

Water brought from the mountains by historic canals, "falaj" in Arabic, nourish surrounding date plantations.

Nizwa is known for its fort and its souq.

A little of the old town remains...

but many people prefer to live in palatial homes on the outskirts of town.

School letting out in time for a big lunch at home.

Here are some more pictures of the neighborhood I stayed in, in the oasis-like center of town.

Boys after school. (Note the irrigation channel.) The white dishdash and embroidered cap are school uniform for boys and typical dress for men.

Girls on the way to school.

Less than an hour's drive from Nizwa are two interesting villages.
One is Al-Hamra, at the foot of the mountains. A section of this town still has a few remaining old-style multi-story mud brick buildings.

View from the roof.

One family has turned their old home into a "living museum." They demonstrate weaving, bread baking, incense and perfume preparation, and (shown here) coffee roasting.

Al Hamra traditional interior.

The other village is Misfat al Abreen, above Al Hamra, tucked into the mountains. Hundreds of years ago the villagers created a system of waterways, gardens, terraces for growing dates, and three- or four-story rock homes.