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!
