How to Dance When You're High on Life

I hope to be able to dance as good as this someday...enjoy!

June and July, my, how time flies!

Summer has officially been in full swing here in Kuwait for about the past month, with temperatures soaring into the 50's! Every couple days I try to keep up with the news back home in Calgary and when I went on the Calgary Herald website last week, they had a poll they were wanting readers to fill out. The question was: "How will you survive the current heat wave Calgary is experiencing?" My North American friends, you don't even know the true meaning of heat wave until you have spent the summer in Kuwait, I think it is safe to say this is the hottest place on earth most days!

June and July can both be summed up as months of transition, both for my family and myself. In June, my dad officially finished a huge chapter in his life. It was hard not to be in Calgary during this time. Especially for the farewell night they held in honour of my parents! But, luckily, I have friends who were on the inside of this evening, who asked me to put together a short video message to be played for them at some point during the evening. I was so excited to be able to be a part of this special night from so far away. I spent a good week thinking about what I wanted to say about my parent, what I remember about them. It was fun to be able to go through all the memories of our family together and choose some to share with everyone. My parents called me after the farewell and they were so surprised! I think even a few tears were cried *jackpot! haha*. So now, a new adventure starts for my parents and our family. And don't worry Rockpointe, my parents may be gone, but i'll still be sticking around.

June also means people here in Kuwait start to leave for the summer. Now that it is July, I can understand why no one would want to spend the summer here! Every week people are saying their goodbyes until they come back in the fall. It is very strange to see everyone leave, but still be here. It has also meant that my activities here are starting to slow down, so I have been able to challenge myself to find new things and projects to work on every week. I have become a lot more involved in the Trash to Treasure project, since leadership has now been handed over to my mentor. I also officially finished my last class for my Diploma with Rocky Mountain College at the end of June! Although the satisfaction of being done with school was short lived as I have now decided to go back to school in September when I get back to Canada and finish a degree! A bit scary, but I am also super excited about this! And overall, doing this will enable my to go further and become more skilled in the international work I wish to pursue!

July has been an interesting month. It started off really slow, but is now starting to pick up again. I have been doing a lot of organizing and helping get things here in Kuwait prepared for September when people start to come back and everything in Kuwait starts up again. I have also been paying a lot more attention to the news in Canada this month as July brought with it the Royal couple and the CALGARY STAMPEDE! It has been fun to live vicariously through all the news articles and photos and see the excitement everyone in Canada seems to be having during this time.

So there you have it, a brief summary of what has been happening these last couple weeks. It has been hard to get used to the fact that no one goes outside here during the summer. I am so used to living or visiting places in the summer where you can go out and explore and be free! But here, it is so hot that it is almost dangerous to go outside. You instantly become drained of all energy and prolonged time in this heat is just not good for your body. Basically, if you are going out somewhere, you try to go from one air conditioned space to the next with minimal outdoor exposure. This has all made me very grateful for 2 things, 1) growing up in a country where summer means being outside and 2) air conditioning.

Well, I am off to prepare for my next little adventure. I have to renew my visa one more time which means getting to choose a country to go visit for a couple days so that I can stay in Kuwait a bit longer! Stay tooned to find out where I went! =)

Oh and ps. My sister got engaged this past weekend! Congrats Steph and Martin!

A bit of what happens in Kuwait..

This article was in the Kuwait Times, one of the local English papers, last week. It gives a great and informative look into some of the situations maids deal with while working here. It is important to remember that not all maids are facing employment situations such as this. Some are treated very well, but this is an example of a case of extremity.

Abusive sponsors attack official at maids' shelter

Published Date: July 05, 2011
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: A Philippine Embassy labor official was attacked by five assailants at the embassy's premises on Sunday night whilst defending two Filipina housemaids who escaped from their abusive employers' home shortly before. The labor official was on duty at the Filipino housemaid shelter in Jabriya at the time of the attack. The five male assailants - three adults and two teenagers - who were identified by the women as members of their employers' families - rushed to the embassy upon discovering that the mai
ds had fled. The two housemaids arrived in a taxi minutes after the assailants.

On seeing the employers arguing with embassy staff at the gate, the two traumatized women attempted to rush inside the embassy, but were prevented from doing so by the five men, who grabbed the women by their hair and punched them in the heads and stomachs in front of horrified embassy personnel. The assailants then announced that two women were 'their' housemaids, accusing the women of stealing money from the family's home.

The commotion continued for a few minutes, with the five attackers then directing their rage at the embassy official who was guarding the gate and protecting the housemaids. The man was badly beaten, sustaining heavy bruising and swelling to his body and forehead.

The two women escaped from their employer's house in Jabriya at around 9:00 pm on Sunday, risking their lives by using an improvised rope made by tying blankets and bed sheets together to lower themselves to the ground from a third-floor room. The two traumatized housemaids, identified only by their nicknames "Jenny" and "Maria", were effectively imprisoned by their employers, locked inside the family's home for months.

Maria, 31, had not been paid since she began her second stint working for the family in January this year, whilst Jenny, 28, had been unpaid since starting work there three months later, in April. The two assert that they were regularly subjected to brutal abuse, torture and beatings by both the male sponsor and his wife.

Both of them hit us, especially when there was something wrong with our jobs; they would beat us using belts and cooking pans or whatever hard objects they could find close to them," recalled Maria. "They would also hit our head against the concrete wall. The 'mama' hates dust or any tiny amount of dirt on the table; I think, we scrubbed their house more than 100 times a day. I also used to wash clothes with bare hands so I have this allergy to chemicals. Really, we were suffering severely in that house a
nd we couldn't take it anymore, that is why we just decided to escape in whatever way we could.

Maria explained that she was first hired as a maid by the family in late 2009, although during her first stint with them, she was paid regularly. Since her first week working for them, she endured hard slaps and beatings, with another Filipina housemaid, "Leah", who began working there towards the end of 2010, enduring similar physical and verbal abuse. Leah, after two months of abuse and having received no pay, eventually convinced Maria to attempt escape with her.

During their attempt, however, using an improvised rope, Maria slipped and fell to the ground, breaking a leg. Although the maids managed to get away and Maria was taken to hospital, the employers subsequently filed a case against the traumatized women, accusing them of theft, an accusation which both categorically denied.

In January, whilst Maria were recovering at the embassy's refuge, her erstwhile employers visited the embassy and set about persuading Maria that they regretted their abusive treatment and wished for her to return. Reluctant but desperate for money, Maria went back to work for them. Leah remained unconvinced of their remorse and chose instead to remain at the refuge where she is still living pending the outcome of the theft case.

Maria quickly discovered that her sponsors' promises of kind treatment were wholly false, with the abusive employers redoubling their maltreatment in revenge for her escape. The three months until Jenny's arrival in April were an endless stream of abuse and backbreaking hard work, with Jenny also receiving the same treatment from the moment of her arrival until the two women fled.

I haven't been paid since I began working for this family in April," Jenny told Kuwait Times. "Every day we used to be addressed with cruel words, beaten and sworn at. They even told us that they could kill us at any time without anyone knowing about it. We used to work from 5:00 am until 2:00 am the next morning." As one example of the treatment they received, Jenny said, "We only had very little food - we ate once a day.

Both flatly rejected the sponsors' theft accusations against them. "How could we steal?" asked Jenny. "It was never true. We heard them saying if they wanted to create a problem against us [they could]; they told us that the authorities here would believe them rather than us. And how could we 'steal' money when in fact they weren't giving us our salaries for months?!

The Philippine Labor Attache to Kuwait, David Des Dicang, has promised to pursue the case of his country's mistreated workers. He said that he would take legal action against the five assailants for trespassing and assault on Filipino embassy personnel. "The case will be pursued till the end," he vowed. "The embassy, under the leadership of our ambassador, Shulan Primavera, is mandated to protect and defend our workers.

The embassy official who was beaten up at our premises will be dealt accordingly. We are happy that we have an official like him who can defend our workers when necessary. He tried to protect our workers and he was beaten up because of that. It is also totally unacceptable since it happened inside our own premises. The case is now in the prosecutor's office.

On the assailants' abuse of the housemaids, Dicang said that their case would be handled with the proper seriousness. "We will pursue not just their employer but we'll see in what way we can act against their local recruitment agency and hold them accountable," he said. He asserted that there are many questions left unanswered: "Why was the employer able to re-hire runaway housemaids despite his bad records?" he asked, adding "We will review all the possible angles until real justice is served.

Adventure Time!

Where do I even begin?

The end of May marked 3 months within the country of Kuwait, which meant it was time to go for what we call a "visa run." I decided to go to Jordan for 8 days to 1)Renew my visa 2)Reflect on the last 3 months and prepare for the next 3 and 3)Relax and come back to Kuwait refreshed and with a new level of motivation for the next part of my internship!

I started my trip in South Jordan, staying in a small town called Ras An Naqab (about an hour away from Aqaba), with a missionary family who kindly and generously welcomed me into their home. This family is part of a group who works at a clinic in the town, and a large part of their work is with the Bedouin people around the area. The first thing I noticed about Jordan was how different the weather was from Kuwait, cool winds and evenings were such a nice treat compared to the now constant heat of Kuwait (its now getting to 45-50 degrees daily!). The day after I arrived the adventures started! First stop, PETRA! As you might already know, I am a major Indiana Jones fan, so going to Petra was a real treat (think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the place where they find the Holy Grail, the outside part of that building is the Treasury from Petra. I also sang the Indian Jones theme song in my head the whole time there, and wore a fedora for the occasion - go me!)! The family who was hosting me for the week have 2 kids who came with me, as well as another guy who was visiting Jordan from the States. The four of us spend the day learning about the Nabetean people, the city of Petra (which comes from Peter, meaning rock) and exploring the various trails and sights. This meant a lot of walking, mostly uphill! I made quite a few friends with the Bedouin children who are constantly following you and trying to sell you postcards. Instead, I opted to share some of my food with them and also ended up giving away a few pens for their schooling. I even let one girl borrow my camera for a bit, she had so much fun taking pictures of me and my friend as well as the various tourists going up and down the trails. After our full day at Petra, our group made a quick stop in the town of Wadi Musa, to the place where they say Moses struck the rock and water came out (although when I went to Mt. Nebo later in the week, the people there were saying it was just down the road from the mountain). I filled up my water bottle and it is actually some of the purest water I have tasted.

The day after Petra was a day of rest, as it was Sunday. I attended church with the clinic staff which is held in one of their homes and we sang a couple of Arabic worship songs, which were beautiful. After church it was back to the home of my hosts to celebrate the birthday of their son!

Monday, the 30th, was my birthday, and I celebrated by going to Wadi Rum with my hosts children (they became my adventure companions!). Wadi Rum is famous not only because of its incredible desert beauty, but because Lawrence of Arabia spent a lot of time there as well. We rented a jeep for the morning and went driving around the desert, I even got to ride a camel too!! The boys in charge of the camel rides took us to the ruins of an old Nabetean temple. I asked them how old the temple was. The hummed and hawed until one of them quickly said in Arabic, "Just tell them its 100 years old!" My friend who speaks Arabic told me what he said, and we started laughing because the visitors center had told us they were around 2000 years old! We stopped in at one of the various Bedouin tents around the area and had some tea, after which I had the chance to dress up like a Bedouin! We also got to see some ancient rock carvings. It is astounding to be in all these places seeing and touching things that have been there for thousands of years! In the evening my hosts surprised me with a cake and sang happy birthday to me which was so thoughtful of them since I was feeling kind of low about not having any of my loved ones around me to celebrate with.

The next day was a bit quieter, but still had some adventure of a different kind in store for me. This adventure was going around with my hosts to visit some of the Bedouin people. This was a really cool experience. There is nothing quiet like sitting down and sharing some tea with Bedouins. Our last visit of the day was out at a Bedouin tent to visit a family, our group quickly grew as the lady we came to visit also had her sister-in-law coming over with her family! We all sat down just outside their tent enjoying the last bits of sunshine for the day and talking together (well, for me I must admit it was more like listening). One of the ladies went away to make tea, she came back with four cups (all they had) so we had to drink our tea at different times. I should not have watched her preparing my cup to put my tea in, because when I looked into the water bowl she was using to wash the glasses, I definitely saw some things swimming around in there. But I rationalized in my mind that the tea I was about to drink had been boiled and thus, should be fine to drink, so I manned up and drank every last drop! I find Bedouin tea quite good, but it is very sweet! After our tea and visiting, I took out my camera to take some pictures of the children who were playing with a skipping rope we had given them. This started off one of the best hours of my whole time in South Jordan. Seeing the joy on their faces from something so simple, and having them pose and showing off for the camera was so much fun to capture. They will be photos I cherish forever!

My time is South Jordan taught me a couple of things:

• I need to learn Arabic, especially if I want to continue working here in this area of the world. In Kuwait, everyone speaks English, and the women that I work with speak Nepalese so I haven't felt a need to learn it, but now I am extra motivated to start!
• I really love and am intrigued by the Bedouin people and other groups like them in the Middle East.
• As much as living in a city is great as it has everything you could ever want and need, being out in the countryside, in a smaller setting away from the city mindset is so refreshing and, dare I say, possibly more fulfilling for creating relationships and getting involved in the community.

The start of June marked the next part of my time in Jordan, North Jordan. The day was started by driving up through Amman where we stopped at an olive wood craft shop. My hosts bought my a gift for my birthday there, a beautiful olive wood bracelet. The products are all made by those in need, to help support them. We continued on from Amman up to a town called Mafraq (about 15 minutes from the Syrian border) where there is a lung disease clinic that I have heard so much about for years! I was so excited to finally see the place, and what is going on there. It is a really beautiful facility, and the staff are wonderful. They have a lot of Bedouins with TB and asthma who come there to get treatment. From Mafraq we went straight back to Amman to drop me off at my hotel in historic downtown old Amman. I stayed at a place called the Arab Tower Hotel, I was not quite sure what to expect, as I had only seen a couple of photos on the internet, but it was wonderful! The staff were all so friendly and helpful, it included breakfast, free internet and various day trip that you could sign up for at reasonable prices.

My first night in Amman I went for a walk downtown (which really was right out the front door of the hotel) and ended up walking over to the Roman Theatre to scope it out for my complete Amman adventure the next day. I ended up meeting a tour guide/driver who offered to take me up to the Citadel since the sun was setting. I was a bit tentative at first, but my spidey sense was not tingling so I decided "Hey, I am here to had an adventure!" so I went for an early evening tour. I am sure where my mom hears this story she will be mortified, but seriously, I never felt that I was in any danger, as I knew my protector was watching over me and he was driving slow enough that if I need to jump out of the car at any point I could make a clean getaway. The only downside of the whole thing was that he was trying to make me his 4th wife, and I had to constantly side step from his comments on how beautiful I am (haha). Aside from his attempts to woo me, he did tell me some very interesting things about the city and I got some really great shots of Amman at sunset. Amman is built on 7 mountains, which makes it very picturesque! The rest of my evening was spent in the souq, scouting out some souvenirs and gifts for my family (they are going to be very spoiled when I return to Canada).

Day 2 was spend going all around downtown Amman. I slept in and went down to have my breakfast and ended up meeting the manager of the hotel. He told me there was a shortcut to go up to the Citadel which made the usual 20 minute walk into a 5 minute walk. He said he would show me it, but he ended up accompanying me the whole way, and hung out with me as I explored the ruins up there (it is at this point that I am starting to realize what I am going to be spending most of my time doing in Amman; avoiding becoming any ones wife!). It was unfortunate, because with him there, I felt I needed to rush a bit and so did not take all the photos that I wanted to. Regardless, he was a very friendly guy, and it was interesting to discuss the hotel and practice English with him (I ended up teaching him a new word! Influencial. Maybe I should look into teaching ESL?). We parted ways, and I went down to check out the Roman Theatre. While there, I found a little trinket that someone had left with a tag on it saying for the finder to take it with them and put it somewhere new for someone else to find. I brought it back with me to Kuwait, and look forward to placing it somewhere in the next couple weeks. I did a bit of shopping and made some friends with some of the people in the shops. One thing I have noticed about this city is that people really remember who you are. Every morning in the hotel I was greeted by name, and shops that I had stopped in the day before would say hi to me as I walked by! The other thing I have noticed is that the people here can not pronounce my name - Rebecca. I think it is because North Americans pronounce it with a hard R, while here they seem to roll their R's more. So when they say it, it comes out more like - Rrrray-beck-ka. In the evening I went up to Rainbow Street, which is in a most Christian area of Amman. I would compare this street to 17th Ave in Calgary, its where the nightlife happens. I went early in the evening to enjoy a nice dinner at a place I had read about called Books@Cafe. After I went for a walk and stopped in at a coffee shop to enjoy a nice Latte before heading back to my hotel for the evening. Going to and from Rainbow Street also became an adventure since hardly any of the taxi drivers here speak English (yet another reason to learn Arabic!). My first taxi driver kept stopping the whole way there asking people for directions and then wrote them down on a piece of paper for me if I wanted to come again.

Day 3 in Amman was the big adventure day of my time up North! I got up bright and early to go on a day trip with 2 Russian women to Madaba (where there are some famous Mosaics) - Mount Nebo (where God showed Moses the Promised Land, and also where he is though to have died) - the Dead Sea (to float around, cover myself in black mud and take tourist photos) and finally the "supposed" Baptism Site of Jesus (Israel has theirs right across the river from the Jordan site). It was such a great day trip. We had a good driver, and the Russians made for some good company, even though only one of them spoke English. When I was at Mount Nebo, I ended up meeting a group of burn victims. One of them, a young guy, came up to me asking if I could take a picture. I though he meant of him, so I started to turn on his camera and line up the shot, but it turned out he wanted one with me. I obliged and this became the beginning of a long series of photos with every single member of the group, as well as a couple extra people after that. I found out from their leader that they were all Kurdish people from Afghanistan who had been attacked by the Taliban. I am not exactly sure why they all wanted a photo with me, I am guessing it has something to do with me being a female, and a foreigner, but it was great to meet them and encouraging to see them all out, enjoying life, despite their severe burns. The Baptism site was interesting, and regardless if that is where Jesus really was baptized of not, it was a great reminder of what He has done for us, and just knowing that he was in the same area where I was 2000 years ago is pretty cool to think about!

We got back to the hotel and I rested a bit before going out for my last evening in Amman. I wanted to try and pick up a couple more things from the souk so I went and walked my now familiar shopping route. I don't know if it was because it was a Friday night or what, but during my walk that night I was very aware of every single eye on me as I passed by the various shops. It is very uncommon here for a women to walk around alone, especially a westerner. As long as I ignored all the leering and cat-calling, I was fine. Despite this I did manage to obtain, an unasked for, number of the guy who sold me some perfume (he wanted to come back to Canada with me haha) as well as have a guy follow me around for a bit trying to get me to come up to Rainbow Street with him for the evening (he thought that telling me it would all be free, on him, would change my mind), I told him no, so he then decided it would be a good idea to accompany me on my shopping so that I would get better prices! As kind and thoughtful as his offer was, he eventually saw that I wasn't too into the idea, and then asked if it was not good for him to be with me. I told him yes, and that I was married and he instantly apologized and backed off like a gentleman (if I am planning to travel more here, I definitely need to get a more noticeable wedding ring, or perhaps start wearing rings on all my fingers for extra protection!).

The next day I returned back to Kuwait. My taxi driver to the Airport was a nice young man named Fadi, who was probably the most gentleman like guy I met while in Jordan. Even though he still gave me his card (you know, just incase I come back to Jordan and need a taxi driver) but he kept the conversation to a minimum and instead when he did talk, it was to show me things and tell me about stuff around the city, oh and he gave me a discount on the taxi fare to the airport, cha-ching! Aside from the unwanted male attention that you may receive if travelling alone, Amman was a really interesting place to visit, and Jordan as a whole was extraordinary! I really do hope to go back some day!

Oh and don't worry, I returned back to Kuwait husband-less.

It was so nice to have some adventure, as Kuwait doesn't really seem to have much (although I remain optimistic!). Also, it was amazing to be back around mountains again for a whole week, I miss the Rockies so much! And to see green trees that haven't been planted, and wildlife that is natural to the area! It was definitely a nice change of scenery, and made coming back to Kuwait a bit hard, but I feel so ready for the summer months now and am excited to get started on some new projects as things quiet down for the summer.

Ups and Downs..but mostly Ups!

I can not believe that it has been over 6 weeks since I left Calgary already! Time is just flying by here, and I find myself becoming worried at how little time I have left! There is so much I want to learn and accomplish, and I have less than 5 months left to do it all! Time has become my great motivator and I am happy that my outlook is currently one that is counting down the days until I get to return to Canada, but instead is counting down the precious days I have left here in Kuwait. This is not to say that I do not miss Canada, my family, my friends, my church, because I do. Being here in Kuwait has really made me so much more aware of how much I love my country, my family, my friends and especially the church I call home. But I have not yet come to a longing, homesick feeling of wanting to be back in the familiar and comfortable.

These last 3 weeks have again been filled with new experiences and faces. My fourth week here (the week that I sent out my first big email update and blog post) proved to be my hardest week since being in Kuwait. That week seemed to be when all the culture shock decided to culminate, it was hard to find the desire to engage in anything that wasn't mandatory for me to be a part of, and I found myself wanting to withdraw from the girls at the shelter. It was my lowest week, I felt overwhelmed with loneliness and really struggled with pushing my mind and body to get "back in the game." I had a good long sit down with myself during that week, evaluating why I was feeling that way, and came to the conclusion that I couldn't just sit around waiting for these feelings to pass. I needed to be the one to push myself to reconnect with everything and change my mindset back to wanting to be involved in everything going on around me. Whether it was the culture shock, or some other forces at work that week, I decided I wasn't going to let them hold me back from why I came to Kuwait in the first place. Philippians 4:13

The past couple weeks have been filled with many new spiritual experiences. I am finding myself in a very charismatic environment, and have been very challenged in what is going on around me. Even though I often find myself thinking, "Ok, what exactly is going on here?", it has been very interesting to be opened up to a whole different world of praising, using spiritual gifts and being in fellowship with the Almighty. I also went to a big spiritual retreat at the Lighthouse Church called Encounter. The whole purpose of this retreat is to have a realencounter with God. The use the story of Jacob wrestling with God, and during the weekend you are supposed to really wrestle with God. It was a very hard weekend to go through, both spiritually and emotionally, but in the end it was really good. I also met a wonderful little group of ladies from Texas who all live within a block of me! I have started attending one of the Lighthouse services with one of the ladies I work with here at the shelter, I really like this service, the people are friendly and the pastor reminds me of my dad! I have made a couple of friends at this service too! I continue to attend the Salvation Army services as well, and have been involved in the service almost every week. 2 weeks ago I taught the children's story in the service. I had to sing the hymn, "Come with Happy Faces", to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon" and didn't find out until 5 minutes before the service that the kids didn't know that tune, just because it is a popular children's song in the West, doesn't mean that it is in India! I thought I was going to have to sing the whole song all by myself in front of everyone, but was blessed to have 2 American visitors who sang along with me!

Sandstorms have become a weekly occurrence here, nothing like the one that happened on March 25th, but dusty enough that you do not want to open the windows or go outside. From what people have been telling me, sand or dust storms are the thing that mark the changing of the seasons, from winter/spring into summer.

I have been continuing to have opportunities to interact with Kuwaitis, which has been great! My mentor and I went to a Kuwaiti school to sell some of the crafts the girls make. It was really interesting not only to see what schools are like here in Kuwait, but to get to talk to so many Kuwaiti children. The whole theme of the morning was Old and Traditional Kuwait. I learned so much from being there. The children sang traditional songs, and the girls performed a traditional preparation for a wedding. Everyone was wearing old Kuwaiti clothing, and looked amazing! There was also a tent where an old Kuwaiti women had brought some of her things to sell. She wove bags and rugs, spinning and dying all the wool by hand; she had to be at least 80. Her things were beautiful. I saw a bag that I really liked, it was different from all the rest, and not made as well as some of the others, but all of its imperfections just added to its beauty. All the other bags were 8KD (about 30$ Canadian) so I was assuming this one would be about the same. The only problem was this bag didn't have a handle on it, I asked if there was any way the lady could put one on (her son had to translate for me) but she said no. So I stood there, contemplating, and decided that even without the handle, it would be a really interesting keepsake from Kuwait, as it was handmade and traditional. Just as I was about to say I would buy it, the lady told her son to bring it to her, and she had sound some extra yarn to put a handle on it! And on top of all that, this bag ended up being only 2 KD (because it was older and not made as well)! I tried to pay her more for it, since she did the extra work, but she wouldn't take anything extra from me. Every time I look at this bag, I will think of her.

Speaking of shopping, the malls here in Kuwait are amazing! I can not believe how big they all are, and elaborately decorated. Kuwait is a very materialistic country, and as there is not a whole lot to do here, people go to the malls. It is where they socialize and hang out. Also, I have never seen so many fast food restaurants as there are in Kuwait! I bet you can guess what the people mostly look like! It has been fun watching how the Kuwaiti people socialize here. One of the most important and noticeable forms of socialization is Diwaniya - this is only for men. As you go around Kuwait, you will see that almost every house has a little tent or a bunch of benches outside the front door. Every night men get together for Diwaniya, which is basically male socializing time, they drink coffee, talk politics and other current events. Whenever I pass by one, it generally looks like a party and can be just a few men, or a really big, loud group!

This past week, I went with a friend of mine to the Filipino Embassy to help out with her "Trash to Treasure" ministry/project. These Filipinas are domestic workers who have run away from their employment and are just waiting to go back home. This is my second time at the embassy, and again, sooooo many girls are living there, it is so hard to believe. But despite their tight surroundings, these girls are filled with joy! The lady in charge of Trash to Treasure has taught these girls to make toothbrush rugs, which she then sells and give the girls some of the profit, and then uses some of it to support the embassy. The rugs these girls make are amazing! The night I went, we held a design workshop. We had just been given a bunch of new materials, so we told the girls to try and come up with some new ideas that they could make with these materials! It was so much fun to work with them and see their talent in action. I hope to get more involved in this project in the upcoming weeks. After our time at the embassy, I went back to my friend's house, and stayed the night and most of the next day with her and her family. She shows me hospitality, but also makes me feel at home and useful to whatever is going on around the house. Helping to price rugs or making dinner, it is nice to be put to work and feel productive! She has 3 kids, 2 daughters and a son. Her oldest daughter is in her first year of university back in America, and her other 2 are in grades 11 and 9 (i think). I stayed for dinner, and it was wonderful to sit around a table with a family and have conversation and joke around; it reminded me a lot of my family dinners back home.

That is a basic rundown of the last 3 weeks. I am in the midst of my last two classes of my Global Studies Diploma (as of June I will be all done!). It is nice to be learning, but is hard to find the balance between school and my duties here. Also, we have had a couple girls from the shelter go back home which is such a good thing, but leaves the other girls upset and depressed for the rest of the day because they are still "stuck" here. Seeing these girls leave tears my heart in two ways: 1) I am filled with sadness to see them leave, and sorrow for the girls who are loosing a friend and reminded of all the reasons they are stuck here in Kuwait, not knowing when it will be their time to go.

2) Filled with joy and hope that the girls who leave will make a better life for themselves and be re-united with their families.

I think seeing them go will become harder the longer I am here.

Next up is a big fashion show that the girls have been making Jamaican Carnival Head dresses for the models to wear. I am so excited to be a part of this and promise to take as many pictures as I can!

Run for cover!

Well, I am currently in the midst of my first SANDSTORM! Wow, this is one of the strangest weather occurrences I have ever seen. It was such a beautiful day, I went to church, then went to watch some outdoor baptisms, then out for lunch with some new friends on the patio at T.G.I Fridays, then over to the Chocolate Bar for a sweet treat, and the whole time it was nothing but blue skies and sunshine. These storms really do come out of nowhere! And when they do happen, they happen fast!! You look up in the sky and you start to see this big cloud formation starting (it kinda looked like a dark Chinook to me) and then the wind starts picking up, and before you know it, there is sand blowing everywhere and the sun gets totally blotted out. It is DARK outside! I had to go out and answer the door for someone here at the shelter, and let me tell you, I was only outside for about 20 seconds, and that was more than enough, you do not want to get stuck outside during one of these things, and if you do, you better have a scarf or something to cover your face with! Anyway, now I am all safe up in my room with the curtains open, watching the palm trees outside get thrashed around by the wind gusts and listening to the cars driving by, honking at each other because you can hardly see anything in from of you.

Oh Ps. Can you believe a month ago today I was leaving on a jet plane to come to this sand trap? Time is going by so quickly!!!

Settling In

**Please excuse how scattered and all over the place I am in the following update. I have attempted to condense 3 weeks worth of events and hope you are able to follow the way I have written down all my thoughts and observations. Enjoy!**

Well, I made it, I am officially in Kuwait and getting all adjusted to my new surroundings. I spent my first couple days here at my mentor's flat, which was a nice way to ease into life in Kuwait. We spent these days driving around and seeing the city, as well as an opportunity to get me introduced to the Lighthouse Church community and the women's shelter (where I am now living). The jet lag fully kicked in, and it took me about a week to get over it. I joined a women's bible study, and we meet on Tuesday morning's. I am the youngest person there, but I don't mind because it is nice being surrounded by a bunch of mothers who are always checking up on how I am doing. My first time attending this study group, I ended up getting sick (the only time I have been sick since getting here, and it was from eating an apple of all things!). Luckily, the women from the group took pity on me and put my in a bedroom to lie down and let my stomach settle. They were bringing me 7up and crackers and took such good care of me. Although I was very embarrassed (this was not the shining first impression I wanted to make), it was probably the best place for me to be sick because I was surrounded by mothers who cared and knew I was a long way from my home and my mother. By the end of the morning I was feeling well again and was able to go to the women's shelter to see where I would be spending my next 6 months.

Things here at the shelter have surpassed my expectations. First of all, my room is wonderful! The staff here did a wonderful job of preparing it and providing more than I needed to make it feel like home. Second, the girls are wonderful! They are so friendly and full of smiles, despite what some of them have been through. There is a wide range in age between them, the youngest being around 17 (maybe even a bit younger as some just guess what their age is) and the oldest being in her 60's. The house mother is Ethiopian and her room is down the hall from mine, she is full of energy and really cares about the girls and their well-being. 2 of the ladies here are seen as mother figures or "older sisters" to all the other girls. The older sister (we will call her DeeDee) told me on my first day that I look like her daughter and she has taken a special liking to me. DeeDee is a sweetheart, every morning when I come down for breakfast she makes me fresh chai (with milk, not water, its delicious and my guilty pleasure while here). Some of the women here speak English, some better than others, which means that I am needing to learn a lot of Nepali in order to converse with them. So far, I mostly just know about things in the kitchen. One girl has taken me as her student and is always testing me on things around the house. Slowly though, some of the other girls have started trying to teach me things, we laugh a lot and this has become a great way for me to spend time with the girls.

I moved into the shelter on the Thursday after arriving. As exciting as it was to move in and unpack, the Friday proved to be the worst day I have had while being here. Let me start by saying, I love the women here, and they are amazing cooks. Really, the food they make is great! But man oh man, do they ever eat a lot of food. Their portions are about 3x the amount that I would normally eat back in Canada, and so my first day here really tested my stomach. For each meal, I would be presented with a huge plate of rice, and then everything else that the girls are eating in separate bowls (I would have about 5 different items on my tray). I would eat what I could, and then say thank you, to which they would all reply, "no, eat eat!!" So, I would eat a bit more, and this would continue until I was feeling very sick from being so full. Doing this same routine for 3 meals did not sit well with my body and by the end of this first day, I was very fearful of whether or not i would be able to make it through 6 months of this. After a tearful phone call with my parents, I slept and woke up with a renewed stomach, and a mind that was not going to let my food fears defeat me. My prayer every morning has now turned from "Dear Lord please bless this food to my body" to "Dear Lord, please bless my stomach and make it strong as I eat today." And God has blessed my stomach, I have not been sick at all from the food since being here, and now after 2 weeks of living in the shelter, the women and I have learn how to accept each others views on food. I have learned that them feeding me all this food is because a)they want to fatten me up so that I will look beautiful, and b) that they show their love through feeding me. The women have come to accept that I am not able to eat all that is given to me, and we are now at a point, where I am starting to serve myself and make some of my own food for myself, without me feeling like I am disrespecting them.

The way people drive here is crazy! And the accidents are even worse, cars flipped over and totalled, causing major traffic delays. I think I could handle driving here (with some practice of course) but I am glad that I will not have to.

I have been attending the Salvation Army services while here, and I am one of the 3 white people in attendance. Everyone else is Indian, and they are some of the most kind hearted welcoming people I have been around. I am planning to get more involved with their congregation, hopefully with the children's Sunday school and the worship. I have also started attending the Young Adults Ministry (YAM) at the Lighthouse compound. This has been a really good place for me to connect with people my age, as well as to see an old friend of mine from Calgary who is also here in Kuwait doing his internship with the Lighthouse. The young adults pastor and his wife are really great and they have two adorable younger children. I hope to be able to spend a bit more time with them while I am here as their kids haven't really made many friends since getting here.

On my second week here, I went to the Lighthouse church to attend their staff meeting and meet all the Pastors. I met 2 Canadian pastors here, one whose son attended Rocky Mountain College in Calgary (like me!) and the other (Pastor Warren) attended CBC with my parents way back in the day and was an international worker in Indonesia before coming here to Kuwait. One thing that has been strange to me is if you are a pastor here, everyone refers to you as Pastor (insert name here).

We have a bit of a cockroach problem here in the shelter. Luckily they are mostly just residing in one room of our villa. Not so lucky: that room is the kitchen. So once a week we go pest spray crazy in an attempt to be rid of them.

Gas here is RIDICULOUSLY cheap. I am not trying to rub it in (as I know prices have been soaring over in North America) but 1 litre here is about 0.065 fils which is just under 25 cents Canadian/litre. To fill a tank of gas here only costs about $20! And that is based on a HUGE vehicle.

We have lots of volunteers that come in to the shelter every week. The girls learn English, sewing/quilting, cooking and nutrition, they have some exercise classes and bible studies as well. The girls here have the potential to learn a lot, but sometimes they seem to lack the drive and motivation to learn from these volunteers. While I am living here, I am going to start an art class and do some additional exercise with the girls. I look forward to having a project to call my own and to be able to connect more to the girls through these activities. One of my goals while being here is to get someone new involved regularly in the shelter. When I first said this goal out loud (it kind of just came off my lips without me thinking about what I was really saying), it seems like the biggest, most unattainable goal in the world. I mean, how can I, a young white Canadian girl hardly knows anyone here, find someone to come and volunteer? But low and behold, God is opening up doors for this already!

Last week I went for the first time to the Filipino embassy here in Kuwait for a medical mission night. I am hoping to get more involved here in the future with a unique ministry called "Trash to Treasure." This ministry was started by an American women who goes around to tailors around the city, getting all their scrap cloth and then taking it in to the Filipino embassy and teaching the girls there how to make rugs. She then takes the rugs and sells them, the money from these goes partly to the girl who made the mat, and partly to help provide for the girls at the embassy. The work they do is beautiful and unique! Anyway, I went to the embassy for this ministry night that happens once a month. I could not believe how many girls were there. I would guess it was around 200 girls all packed together in a small room. I was there with my mentor to pray for the girls who wanted prayer. We were able to pray for about 8 girls that night, 2 were leaving the next day to go home to the Philippines (they were both filled with joy, but also sad because they were leaving so many close friends behind), and the others were all still waiting to go back. They all told us some of their stories, and by the end of the night, I could barely hear anymore of what some of these girls have been through. One older lady had been living in the embassy for a whole year. It was a good night, but very hard, and my first real eye opening experience into what the embassy are having to deal with here, as well as the women.

This past week I had the amazing opportunity to go to a big Kuwaiti Expo that was happening at one of the fair grounds here. We had a booth in the "Reuse" area of the expo to sell the handmade crafts that our ladies make here at the shelter (made from material scraps left over from the "Trash to Treasure" ministry and plastic bags) along side the rugs that are made by Trash to Treasure. I was there for 1 whole day out of the 5 days the expo was on. This event marks what will probably be the most contact and conversation I will have with Kuwaitis while I am here. It was such a valuable experience for me, and even though I was there to sell products, I was given many opportunities to talk about who makes the crafts and had some really great conversations. Also, we were able to open up the people of Kuwait a bit more to the idea of recycling! People here usually just toss their garbage wherever which can sometimes make the city seem really dirty.

I am sorry if by this point your eyes are getting tired of reading, but we are quite near the end now! I am happy to report that as of this week, I am starting to feel more able to use the kitchen here in the shelter as my own. This has been such a wonderful answer to prayer. Although the women still are wanting to cook for me and serve me a whole bunch of food, I was finally able to sit down and make myself a peanut butter sandwich the other night, and let me tell you, peanut butter has never tasted so good! This is still a learning process for me and the women, but I have been able to show them that I feel comfortable making some of my own food, and slowly I think me doing this will help to bridge the gap between us. Because I am a guest and because I have white skin, I do get treated differently. I know that this is how these women show their love, and I do appreciate it, but I also want them to see me as their "equal." And, it is nice to be able to feel like I am contributing in some way, even if it is just contribution to myself, like when I did my own laundry the other day. Such a simple task, but doing it for myself was such a wonderful feeling and an encouragement to me, as there have been times in the last couple weeks where I have felt very useless. I hope that as time goes on, this gap will continue to grow smaller.

This week the Salvation Army have been hosting the Texas Brass Band who are here ministering to us and the people in Dubai through their music and testimonies. I have always heard about how amazing brass bands are, but wow! These guys are amazing! They had a big concert at the Lighthouse compound last night and people loved it, such a treat to have here in Kuwait. We have been blessed by their time here, and I am amazed at how they are still able to function (they are over here in the Middle East for a total of 6 days and have been going full steam ahead since getting here!).

Tonight, we had one of the women staying here get the call saying that she is going home tomorrow! It is such a mix of emotions, all the girls are excited for her, but inside they are hurting, as they all want to go home so badly. I could see the tears welling up in their eyes. DeeDee (the lady who says I remind her of her daughter) is next on the list to go back home. While I am sad she will be leaving, my heart is filled with joy at this news because she has been in this shelter for over 6 months!

Ok, I think that is a pretty good rundown of what has been going on here. My first week here was really hard, missing my family has been one of the biggest emotional obstacles. Also, adjusting to being part of a new church has been difficult too, showing me how much I love and value RockPointe and my church family back home. But, God is faithful and has been my source of comfort and encouragement through these times, and he continues to send me what I need. I am in a house where I am greeted every morning by 20 girls, each kissing me on either cheek and giving me a big hug. I am surrounded by a bunch of motherly figures who all check in with me regularly to make sure I am doing ok and have offered their homes to me if I am ever having a hard time and need to have a night away. I have wonderful mentors who have been so generous to me and who have wholeheartedly taken me under their wing and are sharing this all with me. I feel pulled and stretched in new directions everyday and look forward to the upcoming months.

Does God Exist ? Albert Einstein

Great video I saw on Facebook today:

How to get a woman to fall madly in love with you

So, I just finished watching Pride and Prejudice for the billionth time. This movie always reminds me that deep down, I am a true romantic at heart. I mean, who doesn't want to meet their Mr. Darcy? Especially after watching this scene. Gets me every time. Honestly, if I ever find myself walking in a meadow at dawn, and see a handsome man walking towards me, my life will be complete.

**for all the ladies out there, enjoy. **

Side Note: the soundtrack for this movie is equally as romantic as the story itself, I mean really, who doesn't want that playing in the background of their love life? Oh just me? ...awkward.

Extra Side Note: I am not this sappy in real life. This movie just really brings it out in me.

Peace

So, tonight I had the pleasure of experiencing the talented Martin Sexton. This was my second time to one of his shows, and man, he is pure gold. If you ever get the opportunity to go see him, DO IT. You will not be disappointed! Truly amazing.

Also, I am leaving for Kuwait in less than 3 weeks! Time is passing by so fast now, and I am realizing that I am really in need of getting my act together and starting to figure out all the small details. I am feeling so at peace about this whole trip that it is hard for me to find the focus to get the things done that need to get done, like, cancelling my cell phone. Or, making sure I enough light weight clothing for the hot weather there. I am definitely going to need to start making a list to make sure that I am not in a panic the night before I leave.

But back to the peace thing. It is really amazing the peace that comes when you life lines up with what you know is part of God's plan for your life. I still have feelings of nervousness, and sometimes I am scared for what is to come, but I am still filled with an overwhelming amount of peace. Peace the surpasses understanding. God knows what is to come, and that is all I need right now, knowing that God has my back and has prepared me for this moment. I can't think of a better way to describe it.