Thursday, October 27, 2005

Enough already!

I've just been reviewing my month's activities and realized I've spent more time in Kuwait than at home. That's it. I think I should be eligible to receive the government allowance that Kuwaitis get 'cause they're so damn rich here. I could give up bacon for that. Well, maybe not. I really like it, after all.

A friend of mine from Georgia bought me a Piggly Wiggly "Stickin' With the Pig" t-shirt and left it for me at the front desk here in Kuwait, which I was advised not to wear here because they despise pork. Man, they don't know what they're missing.

That being said, I'd like to add that I had a dream this morning in which I was living with some guy I was quite angry with for spilling macaroni and cheese all over the kitchen floor and not cleaning it up. The argument was getting heated, the b-word was getting flung in my direction and everything, and my dream boyfriend, Christian from Nip-Tuck was poised to intervene when my wake-up call came. Damnit, I thought. He's hot. I'll schlep through an ankle-deep river of cheese and noodles for that man any day.

Right now my schedule has me positioning home on the 29th, and I can only dare to dream I won't get extended and get to spend Halloween (my favorite day of the year) at home. Plus, it'd be nice to change out my suitcase because I brought a huge one this time and people have been making fun of me. Well, fuck them, I say. They're jealous of my fashion options. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

O, how slack am I...

I feel guilty about not blogging lately. Sort of like when you play phone tag with someone for awhile and you don't utilize opportunities to call them back. But I only had six days off this month. There, that's my excuse. Plus I've been congested and plagued by hellacious sinus pressure for about a month now, which makes me grumpy and lazy. And I've been flying a lot - no long layovers, much time spent sleeping. The funny thing is, a lot of times before I go to sleep, I compose future blogs which are then promptly forgotten.

That being said, I'm excited because:

1. I will have lots of overtime pay this month, and I've been greedily constructing
pie charts of how said extra money will be spent once received.
2. I got the days off I need for next month, so my attendance at my best friend's
wedding is secure. Huge sigh of relief.

I'm stressed out because:

1. I had a mole biopsied and have to wait until I get back to the States to check my
voicemail (which may be as much as two weeks) to find out if it's malignant.
2. My skin is getting very dry as a result of so much flying.
3. I've also been too lazy to work out lately, for which much mental beration has
taken place.

My battery's almost dead so that must be all for now. Ciao.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

I could live here!

I've become infatuated with this adorable little town, New Bern, North Carolina. Remember reading the play Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, in oh, eighth grade or so? Granted, that story was based on a real-life New Hampshire town, but still.

New Bern was founded in 1710 and went on to illustrious service as North Carolina's colonial capital, evidently thanks to its strategic location at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers, some 35 miles from the Atlantic.

I wandered around town yesterday and was thoroughly charmed. I happened on a church whose yard was littered with pumpkins and frolicking children engaged in Halloween activities. If I'd had more time here, I'm sure I would have spent a fortune in the various antique shops sprinkled through town. My favorite was one called Orange Cat whose namesake kept following me around after I pet him. Another thing I noticed were fliers and banners everywhere announcing things like, Greek Festival. Shag Dancing Nite. Farmer's Market. New Bern Civic Theatre presents... etc.

My impression is that locals are really invested in civic participation, and I like that. I'd pick living here over a large city in a heartbeat, simply because in comparison to this, cities are so anonymous. In this setting, one could really impact a community. I guess I don't know really how to say it. Places like these just seem so safe, so pocketed away from the chaos of the world, so quietly firm and genuine in their values. I see locals here as earnest and caring about their community.. maybe I'm getting caught up in some romantic notion of what it's like here, without truly knowing, but..

I get to feeling so jaded travelling as much as I do. I've lived in four different countries and been to about twenty. I never considered myself less than cosmopolitan since birth, really, never thought of myself as a small-town person. Granted, maybe I couldn't live here. But maybe if I were loaded I'd keep a summer home.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Beware the deadly flesh-eating sand flea!

So now that I'm safely ensconced back in the good old U.S. of A., I can share with you a disturbing rumor being gleefully spread by certain flight attendants who apparently crave more danger and excitement than life presently affords - that some of us have been attacked by flesh-eating sand fleas while sunbathing in Kuwait (the very activity, I might add, that I just spent the last week enjoying).

Apparently at least three of us have been mercilessly struck down by this sudden scourge. One poor soul, (and I swear to all that is holy that I am not the one making this up) has had the tip of his, um, manhood, er, ravaged and now must get his member circumcised (apparently for the first time). Again, not making this up. But I can't promise that it's not fiction. Another victim has had her entire body mottled by the pests, again according to the grapevine.

Alarming, isn't it? Or is it merely a cunning scheme to obtain workman's compensation for more mundane ailments? My guess is, for at least the first case, illicit sex leading to some really nasty case of V.D., coupled with a very imaginative cover story.

Things get so distorted; who can really say? But I have to admit, the speculations are endlessly amusing.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Make..it...STOOOOPPPP!!!!

Okay. I know maybe it seems like I bitch a lot. Or something. But I'm really fucking sick of weird male chanting and singing accompanied by fast-tempoed tinkly, crappy music outside my goddamn window until 2 a.m. every night.

There is a so-called "Ramadan tent" situated smack in front of my window where whatever festivities that entails are based.

Maybe if it were somewhat normal music, without inexplicable crescendoes and long instrumental interludes (whose instruments I cannot for the life of me recognize) accompanied by wailing, spiritually driven men, then it would actually lull me to sleep.

Wtf? WHAT, please tell me, IS THERE TO FREAKING PARTY ABOUT UNTIL 2 A.M. IN A DRY COUNTRY? For the love of all that's holy. Shut. them. the. fuck. up.

Maybe I'm just an ignorant Western infidel, but whenever I learned about Ramadan in history it always seemed like a rather solemn affair. Fasting. Stringent rules. No activity during the daylight hours. Yet despite this, it's a free-for-all!

Also, there is someone who apparently has very dire and urgent business in the vicinity of my hotel room that requires rapid pacing, then stopping, more pacing, stopping, and repeating, in high heels on marble floors. (yeah, it's a pretty nice hotel...but still)

Why? Why? What? You're saying I took this job so I could immerse myself in other cultures for my own benefit and education? What's your point?

Look, whatever. I'm a lot bitchier when I don't sleep.

By the way.. I think (dare I hope?) that they stopped...!


Can you tell which one's me? I'm the sexy one. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Ramadan makes me thirsty

Okay, so I'm still in Kuwait and now the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has begun. This means I can't be seen in public eating, drinking, chewing gum, or smoking during the sunlight hours (officially, this means 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.). This includes drinking water at the hotel's gym, by the pool, or on the beach. Since these are the main activities left now that the whole city closes down during the day, I've been courting dehydration... luckily as long as we're in our rooms, we can do what we want, but that's kind of boring. We've been playing a lot of travel yahtzee. Thank God for room service, eh?

Monday, October 03, 2005

P.S...:(

Oh yeah. Being stuck in Kuwait for a week means I'll miss my best friend's bridal shower.

I hate my company.

Middle Eastern detox

Ahhhh. That is the sound of my relief at leaving the dismal isle of Ireland for sunny Kuwait. No offense to Ireland, but it's just hard for me to get motivated when constantly encircled by a blanket of mist (and mental haze, if you count the alcohol). Plus, their food sucks.

And now, for the next week, I will be in an enforced state of sobriety, which I'm sure at some point will prove irritating, but for the moment I'm embracing healthy living. I will be on a rotating schedule of sleeping, eating, working out, and sunning myself. How do people live without easy access to a body of water? I can see the Gulf of Arabia from my window. I think I need the water, its vastness precludes my becoming too wrapped up in my own little egocentric world.

I was observing some women in burkas over breakfast this morning and was pursuing what I'm sure will be an unpopular course of thought - that, in a sense, the burka is liberating in a way. Of course, I don't agree with women being forced to cover themselves, but knowing so many women (okay, pretty much every woman I know) with hang-ups about their bodies, elaborate methods of enhancing their bodies, concern hinging on obsession with their appearances in general, etc., wouldn't it be lovely if we didn't waste so much of our lives in the throes of this overriding, constant evil?

Okay, that was an interesting thought. Now I have to add that I like wearing the least amount of clothes possible (though not in an obscene way) in hot weather. It is imminently pleasurable to feel the sun shine on your skin, and the breeze cooling you. It must be damn hot in those things.