Kuwait Days 10 and 11: Sea Scavengers

Tuesday, we got REAL international. We went into the city for the International Fair, where vendors from all over come to sell their goods. We saw booths from Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, China, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Morocco (Mom said, after buying her 5th nightgown that day: “He was Moroccan. I couldn’t resist him! He started speaking French and I melted.”)
We saw beautiful clothes, handmade jewelry, perfume and incense, spices and dates, painted bowls and toys, wooden tables and colorful shoes. Jonny bought a dagger and some prayer beads from an old Yemeni man.
We drove to the new 360 mall (named for its circular shape) for lunch in the food court. We had fresh falafel pitas and salads. Yum. We also looked around the mall in all of its modern marble/glass/multifloored glory…and found a few huge/abstract/multimillion-dollar glass sculptures by the famous Dale Chihuly.
Then we did some snorkeling around our closest buoys and I found two sanddollars! That evening we drove to Fahaheel for dinner at Pizza Hut! (Our family has many memories of eating here. It was one of the few American restaurants in the country when we first moved to Kuwait in the 90s.) We had delicious icecream for dessert at the KDD (Kuwait Danish Dairy) store, and did some last minute souvenir shopping in the dirty old Bazaar (we found some pretty interesting books in the bookstore too). Mom let Natalie and I pick out our own perfume oils and had them poured into beautiful little bottles. Mine is called White Diamond. (Last year Mom brought me some called Arabian Nights!) We headed back to our car in the dirt parkinglot where the men were smoking the sheesha pipes (called a Hooka in the states…flavored tobacco and steam), in the diwaniya and the Indian ‘teaboy’ was warming more coals. Dad paid a few KD (Kuwaiti Dinars) to the man who washed our car while we were at dinner. That night we took pictures of everyone in their new comfy nightgowns (the boys’ are Egyptian, the girls’ are Chinese), and sorted through our seashell collections. Can you believe our bounty? We found all of these colorful pieces of glass and rock and shell right out in our backyard…in the warm, clear waters of the Arabian Gulf (some people/maps call it the Persian Gulf…but not around here). Jonny has taken it upon himself to only look down when he is outside, afraid he’ll miss the best find if he glances up for only a second!
Wednesday: beach day. We got up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise. After going back to bed, we lounged around in the morning and then suited up to take the kayaks out. Dad took the day off of work to be with us! We climbed into our seafaring vessels and took off, using our own arms as power against the strong currents around the point. The water was so smooth and the air was still and humid and hot. Jonny and I both returned with pink backs. We paddled out to the island (its just a large sand bar) but the tide was too high and it was completely waterlogged. So we continued out to the reef and donned our masks and flippers and jumped into the water. We saw hundreds of fish, colorful coral and miles of sandy bottom. Jonny found a couple of spindly starfish hanging on rocks, and Natalie even came home with a baby one. Dad floated with the ‘yaks tied together as the four of us dove down to see what we could see. When we got tired of drifting and thirsty from the salty water, we climbed back into our small boats (think walrus or beached whale) and forced our tired arms to carry us back to our home shore. We rinsed off all of the gear and headed inside for some rest before the journey into town. Jonny went with me on the golf cart over to (now house 44) Villa 24, our old home. The family living there now was gracious enough to spoil me with memories and let me peek around their house. Even though it looks very different with painted walls and a stranger’s décor and furnishings, it was neat to be in the actual rooms where I lived with my family as a child. The floorplan is identical to Mom and Dad’s current house except for 2 rooms. (Sisters- I mentioned to the current homeowner that the windows in the extra bedroom upstairs used to leak on stormy days and she said they still do! Ha).
On the drive into town we watched the huge mansion-like houses whiz by in the car windows on our way to Salmiya, to the old Radisson SAS hotel. We walked around the largest handmade wooden ship in the world and had dinner at the Al-Boom restaurant. It is inside of an old wooden dhow. The nautical atmosphere is incredible. Dark teakwood planks and brass fixtures lined the walls and ceilings of the vessel. Oil burning lamps with sailboat designs lit the darkened cabin. We enjoyed a large display of appetizers on the buffet, grapeleaves and samosas, lentil soup and cheeses and hot breads, and of course, pickled vegetables. The main course was from the grill, sirloin steaks and woodfire-grilled hamour (traditional Arabic fish, similar to a seabass). Even I liked it, and I don’t eat fish! (Natalie asked about the catch of the day, so he brought it to us so she could choose her fish! Ha). It was all delicious. Arabic rice and grilled vegetables on a skewer filled us up to the brim before the waiter brought dessert….fresh lemon sorbet and fudgy chocolate cake, sliced melon and kiwi…mmmmmmmmm. Still salivating. After dinner we explored the ship and marveled at its beauty and authenticity.
Sadly, our day ended with another trip to the airport, to say bon voyage to Nat and Josh. We sure enjoyed every day we had with them!…it was an experience none of us will ever forget.