Sandstorm, working out and goats

Only three things to report, they may not be that interesting, but its all i got.

I experienced my first kuwaiti sandstorm this weekend.  while a very mild one on the local scale, not being able to see beyond 100 yards due to sand is a storm to me. 

as i mentioned a few weeks ago, im working on loosing the small gut i grew when i first got here.  While pretty crappy, there is a bench press and some dumbbells downstairs and i've been taking advantage of them.   I haven't maxed out since high school, but im gonna boast a little and say i can still press 255 lbs, which i think is really close to my max back then.  i might have been able to lift 5 or 10 more pounds, but that didn't feel too safe considering i was lifting by myself at 3:30am.

I also saw some goats on the side of the road.  I have noticed one guy and about 20 goats a few times on the side of the road near the base, but considering we were really out of town and there was at least 30 yards between the road and fence of a sand field, i didn't seem to weird.  this time was really wierd because he wasnt on the side of the road.   i was driving under an overpass using the uturn lane, and saw the guy between the uturn lane and the raised freeway.  there was a 30 ft wide and maybe 70 ft long patch of sand and grass for the goats to enjoy.  This just caught my attention because it was in the city at 5pm, and those goats had to cross a road at some point.  i also talked to a guy one day who had a friend who hit a camel in Saudi Arabia.  not only did he have to pay a few thousand for the camel, but he had to pay thousands more to compensate for the camels that the hit camel would have made.  just thought that was crazy considering in Texas we just worry about how much its gonna cost to fix the truck.

Avatar and watching a movie in an islamic country

I made a run north tonight to run some errands, and ended up checking out the 360 Mall in kuwait.  Overall I was disappointed, not only did it not have any resturaunts i was interested in, there were no starbucks. The Avenues Mall has 8 starbucks.  While im not a huge fan of starbucks, there seems to be a correlation between how many starbucks a mall has and how much i like it.  The Avenues Mall also has an Ikea, and a Super Walmart like grocery/electronics store, and another huge electronics store.  Oh yea, and a dip-n-dots, but the 360 Mall has a Marble Slab Creamery, so i'll call it a tie on frozen treats.

Anyways, I also ended up watching Avatar in 3D, which was pretty cool, i had already seen the movie, but it has great special effects and great special effects look even better on a 60 ft screen.  Not sure if i've mentioned this before, but if you watch a movie with anything more than a boy and girl sharing a quick kiss, and you happen to be in an islamic country, be prepared for editing.  I watched Sherlock Holmes with greg and becca a while ago and i remember them cutting out a couple of minutes during a scene involving Rachel McAdams in lingerie, and ending with holmes on the bed in cuffs.  No warning, no blackout, just like that the picture changed, the dialog is different and you're thinking, man, that conversation didn't really have an ending.

It was funny to be that they cut out a couple of scenes from Avatar.  Luckily i have already seen it so i didn't miss anything, and i noticed every edit.  Jake and the blue chick 'mating' -cut     Jake and the blue chick laying in hammocks talking - gone.   What was weird, and i dont know if this was for islamic reasoning, or trying to shorten the movie, but there was also a few dialogs cut out.  Like when the soon to be chief first meets Jake, the second half of that meeting was cut.  As were a few other conversations.  It was weird to me.  Oh yea, the first scene i mentioned was cut, the second was actually blacked out.  When i say black out, i mean a black shadow rose up from the bottom of the screen because it was obvious someone in front of the projector was putting his hand in front of the lens.   I had to laugh out loud during that one, as did a few other people there.  It happened once more but i forget during what scene.

Old Pics

I just remembered I haven't posted some of the pics i've taken so in case you're interested, here are a few:

Here is the middle of one of the malls really close to where i live.

Entrance to the other mall (its across the street, not sure why so close)

Same mall as the first pic, from the other side.

One of the boxes i shipped here.

another box, pad shipping appropriately

Getting Used to It

I'm happy to report that im finally getting used to night crew enough that I dont need 3 large coffees to stay focused the whole time.  I only had one large coffee tonight, have one hour more to work, and im not feeling more drained than i should considering im working in a large, empty building which is way to warm for my comfort.  I have always hated the situation where when its 50 degrees outside that someone thinks it wise to set to heater to 80 degrees inside.  While it may feel great at first, why not just the inside temp at an understandable temp.  I just dont understand most people.

On a separate note, I have decided to lose some weight for Curtis' wedding.  While I dislike the idea of new years resolutions, I have resolved to lose the gut i have developed since arriving in Kuwait, and then some.  My dislike is not because new years resolutions are a bad idea, its just that people are generally lazy and people should evaluate their actions and lifestyles much for frequently than once a year.

I personally hate running, but I love the relief, sweat and strength it brings.  I feel relaxed, and mentally detoxified after I run a few miles, assuming I can push myself that far.  I'm also really, really lazy and if I don't push myself, or provide adequate reward, I wont do anything.  I can look back on my college days and I can't say I worked out very much compared to high school.  I used to work out for at least an hour, and didn't take a lot of breaks.  I can't say I've followed that regiment recently.  I also remember keeping track of everything so I've decided to try that again.  For now on, I'm going to report my weight and how much I've worked out at least once a week in hopes that in publishing my results, I can publish my success. 

We shall see.

Christmas Overseas

It was a different Christmas this year.  Growing up it was always a beautiful madhouse.  Tons of kids running around, lots of food, never quite.  It was a great tradition.   If only i had the writing ability, i would describe in more detail how great it was, but i dont, so i wont. 

I was able to join some friends from church for brunch, and it was a pretty good brunch.  All the guests cooked something connected with their holiday tradition, it was an interesting potluck.  One guy had this dish that was like eggs, sausage, cheese and peppers mixed up on top of bread.  it was baked like a quiche.  It was my favorite dish.  We also made gingerbread men, and no, the candy beard was not my idea, but it was awesome, so i did it.

settled in

while i can't say i love or hate working nights, im starting to adjust.  Either that or all the sugar from a few candy canes is really helping me stay awake.  regardless, the last two nights haven't been too difficult.  thank you americans who support the military, there are boxes of candy canes and homemade cookies all over the place.

on a different note, i'll be moving to a new apt in a couple of weeks, hopefully close to the new year.  i haven't seen the new place, but i hear its a little smaller.  can't say thats gonna bug me, i have no objects to small living quarters.  my sophomore year i lived in a 12x13 foot room with Joe and i loved  it.  although i wont have a bunk this time, and im sure they will have a queen sized bed, what a waste of space. im pretty sure i'll be closer to greg/becca and scott/sarah, so that will be nice.  i'll also be closer to the mall, grocery store, and papa johns.  i'll say this, the large pizza may be a little smaller than the US version, but they deliver really quickly.  you can get almost anything delivered here.  craving burger king, delivered.  groceries, delivered.  not sure about starbucks, but i only order papa johns and have eaten at least 6 large pizzas since being here.  luckily im working out now.

third night shift

so im 3/4 done with my third night shift, and while i do enjoy the time to read, its pretty boring here at night.  I just finished "Christian Jihad" by the Caner brothers. its basically about the war the "official" church waged against the non-official church (mostly muslims and jews, but also a lot of christians who cared more about the word of God than what the church leaders thought)     im not even catholic, but as a christian i'm ashamed of all the evil done in the name of god. there is a lot of argument as to why the church should not run the state, since man is always corrupted.   its a fairly dry book, as im sure you guessed, but there are a lot of historical accounts that would open the eyes of many americans who think christians have always been peaceful people and the muslims are a warmongering people.  while both sides have killed and murdered, i believe its important to know the past of whatever group you associate yourself with.  in the end, only God can judge.