Cats, cars, and construction

A few interesting thing about Kuwait . . .



First, cats. There are a lot of them. And I mean a lot of cats. Some have owners and I'm sure their owners love them but by far the majority of cats here are strays. They are everywhere. We noticed them within the first few days of arriving here. We went to the Gulf and there they were, on the rocks, watching us eat our dinner. I kept waking up at night thinking I could hear one of the kids downstairs calling out "Mom! Mom!" I'd wake up and listen carefully only to realize it was the stray cats that roam our yard meowing at 3:30 in the morning. I would walk from the car toward the kids' school and I'd pass dumpsters on the way. As I'd pass the cats would jump out of the dumpsters and scare me. One time Todd and I went out to eat at Johnny Carinos. It was a beautiful night. Carinos is right on the Gulf. We were eating outside on the patio enjoying the weather, the water, the coastline lights of Kuwait. Then 3 cats came and just sat there. Watching. If any of you want to start a cat rescue mission it'd be a good idea to start in Kuwait.



Second, cars. I could go on for hours about cars/drivers in Kuwait but it is almost something you have to experience to believe. The arrogance of the drivers around here is truly incredible. If you have any inclination for road rage, Kuwait is NOT the place for you because the drivers around here do things that will surely push you over the edge. Have you ever been waiting in a line--a long, slow, painful line--and then have people cut in? That's a common occurrence here except people don't just reserve it for the check out counters (although they do that too) but they do it with their cars. You can be in traffic waiting in a line to exit off the freeway and it's obvious we're all waiting in line for the same thing. But sure enough there will be several who will think we're all idiots and will drive up onto the shoulder to pass those waiting their turn in line. Traffic markings are only suggestions here. The same drivers who drive up onto the shoulder to get ahead are probably the same drivers who block two lanes of traffic waiting to see which lane is going to move faster. They are probably the same drivers that if a road is marked with two lanes but is wide enough for 3 cars abreast, then they will drive 3 cars abreast. They are the same cars who will flash their lights from behind you wanting you to move over because you're going too slow in the fast lane. Now this I can understand if traffic was actually moving along. I agree that the slow people should move to the right. But if all the lanes of traffic are at a stop and go and stop again speed, then don't flash your lights at me thinking I'm only going slow because I'm a cautious driver. I'd like to drive a little faster too but traffic is backed up thanks to these kind of drivers that have caused some sort of accident up ahead.



Another strange thing about cars here is that many keep the plastic on the carseats. You know, the plastic that is on the seats of brand new cars? The strange thing is that many of the cars with the plastic aren't brand new. The outside of most cars have dings and scratches due to the aforementioned horrendous driving but for whatever reason they are meticulous about keeping the inside looking good.



The road system here makes sense if you've been here a while. I won't go into it now but if you're ever going to visit Kuwait, let me know and I'll explain it to you to save you time trying to figure it out on your own. But let me say that someone should explain it to you because things are not well marked. You'll be driving along and see the 3rd Ring, the 4th Ring, the 5th Ring, so you know the 6th Ring is coming up next. In between each Ring exit are other "minor" exits. What's unfortunate is the marker that tells you it's the 6th Ring exit is like half way up the exit ramp. Once you've driven around a few times you know where to go but it is difficult the first little while. It's like a friend of ours said . . . Every few feet there's a sign as big as your house telling you what road you're driving on. But there aren't any signs telling you what the cross streets are so you never know if that's the road you're supposed to turn on or what.



They have freeways here but the other roads are a series of roundabouts for intersections. In theory I suppose it's a good idea that you don't always have to stop at every intersection for a light or stop sign (although again, the intersections with lights or signs are treated as merely "suggestions.") What's interesting about the roundabouts is that there are no lane markings. It's every man for himself. There will be 3 lanes going into the roundabout and 3 lanes going out but the roundabout itself has no lanes. So if you want to get out of the roundabout before the guy on your right wants to get out then you have to maneuver to the outside of the roundabout so you can get out. After several times of not being able to easily get out, I decided I would just stay to the outside of the roundabout. I'd be polite and let those who wanted out before me move over but this way, nobody would have to let me out since even my best efforts including using my blinker (which is way too much effort for most drivers here) didn't work. But then an interesting thing happened. I kept getting honked at because somebody in my blindspot on the drivers side would want out and they assumed that since I was on the outside of the roundabout I would be exiting and I was blocking their way. Now keep in mind, they were behind me in my blindspot. How annoying. I received some good advice though that has seemed to work. I keep my left blinker on for as long as I want to remain in the roundabout. Then it just appears that I'm really trying to move to the middle while I'm going around. When I'm ready to exit out I turn on my right blinker. I swear I'm the only one using a blinker but this advice seems to work--especially in heavy traffic.



Drivers here also don't accept the idea of four-way stops. If a light is out or if the intersection has no markings, again it is every man for himself. I was once at a light where the lights had stopped working but only coming from one direction. The other lights around the intersection were working normally. So when it came time for one line of cars to turn, they had the green arrow. But they couldn't turn because the oncoming traffic was still going through the intersection because they didn't have a red light. By this I mean that they were of the opinion that since there was no light at all, they could just keep going. They didn't have a green light. But no red light meant no having to make that pesky stop. Several of the backroads don't have any markings and again, no stop sign means no stopping so watch out.



Finally, construction. Road construction is similar to everything else. No warning. You can be driving along then realize you can't get through because the road is blocked off due to construction. I've had to take several detours to get around a crane parked in the middle of the road. What's interesting is if there is enough room, the cars will just slide by the crane. In the States there would be so many detour signs and the road blocked off way in advance. But here you just get to use your common sense that if it looks dangerous, you should avoid it. The government doesn't make it their business to inform you that it is dangerous. I actually kind of like that.

Building construction is very similar. You can walk right up to a building under construction no matter what type of heavy machinery is in use. Some of the larger construction sites may have a small barricade but many sites have no barricade. My kids--especially my boys--like being able to watch the cranes and backhoes at work. Again though, you have to use your own common sense and the "Mom" in me makes me keep them at a safe distance while their Dad encourages them to get far too up close and personal.

The scaffolding the construction workers use is also interesting. Basically the scaffolding is made up of old 2 X 4s that are old and falling apart. These boards are tied together with rope and this is what the workers climb around on. They aren't attached to anything and don't use those caribeanner (no idea how to spell that) things for safety. Yes, it is very dangerous but as the construction workers here are considered a lesser class I don't see the conditions for them changing anytime soon.

While there is a lot of construction going on here, things seem to take a long time to get finished. They've been working on a house right next door to us and an apartment building around the corner from us since before we arrived and these places still aren't completed. The only problem with that is we have been subject to construction noises since we arrived for what seems like all day every day. Because of the heat they start very early in the morning--the crack of dawn--with their hammering and sawing. As I've mentioned, the houses here are close together. Sometimes I swear they're on my roof doing their work.

Once I was out doing some laundry. The laundry room door is on the same side of the house where they're doing the construction. Nic was sitting in the doorway waiting for me when something like wet cement started falling on her head and legs. I'm still not sure what it was but I just took her inside and got out of the line of fire. There's no need to get angry or anything. We just use our common sense. I took her inside, cleaned her up, and we've been more careful when we're on that side of the house now.