It’s hard to believe that we really only have a couple of months left in Kuwait. The last time we left, I had a feeling that we may return one day {though I had no idea it’d be so soon}, but that’s not happening this time around. Our time here is nearly done and there will not be a round three. So, with that in mind, we’ve been trying to get out and enjoy Kuwait as much as possible in these final months.
For a brief period of time, I told myself that I could make it through the last few months of our time in Kuwait without a Hilton membership once it expired. Then I came to my senses, visited the manager to arrange for a pass that would take us through to the summer, paid the ridiculous fee, and breathed a sigh of relief. I also arranged for a pass for Brad’s mom to use while visiting, and I’m so glad I did. It sounds dramatic, but this place is our sanity in what can be a somewhat chaotic country. It’s where we escape the unbearable heat and spend hours in a chilled pool. It’s where we come to use a safe and clean playground. It’s where I come to spend some ‘me time’ walking at night. It feels normal and oftentimes, that’s exactly what we need.
The weather forecast called for rain and a dust storm, but we did let that come in the way of the beach day we’d planned with friends. Instead, we packed up family-sized bento of snacks and our bag of beach toys, convoyed out to Khiran, and hoped for the best. The afternoon worked out perfectly – the weather was warm but not too hot, the kids played happily, and the rain held out just until we were packing up to leave around 5 o’clock. It was a lovely day that ended with a filthy munchkin and a long bath, but all good days should end that way, shouldn’t they?
After months and months and months of wanting to go, we finally made it out to Yarmouk Recycled Art Park this morning. I’d love to say that it was due to my motivation to get out and see all of the things we want to see before leaving Kuwait in June, but we actually were invited to a birthday party in the park which provided all the motivation we needed. {Friends, a cool park, and sunshine? Yes please.}
Oh my goodness… Grae and I had the loveliest morning today. After an unsuccessful attempt at getting out to the Al Farsi International Kite Festival yesterday, this morning Miss G and got ready, jumped into our SUV, and headed south into the desert. We saw a huge herd of camels along the way, which is always exciting, but Miss G was extra impressed by the fact that there were two that were so light that they looked bright white. ☺ Not long after the camels, we spotted a group of huge, colourful kites on the opposite side of the highway and we knew that we’d found what we were looking for.
Despite the fact that we arrived an hour later than we intended to (an hour after opening), we were some of the first people to arrive and Miss G loved the fact that we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves. Arabic music was bumping, new kites were being put up by the kite team one after the other, and all sorts of bouncy castles were begging to be jumped in. It was a blast.
We ended up staying for a couple of hours, and Miss G was treated like a little queen the entire time. Everywhere we went, she got smiles, hellos, offers of face painting, and invitations to colour, and she actually ended up leaving with a mylar balloon, a Kuwait kite, and a wrapped gift. We also ended up sharing an order of french fries, which in our family, is pretty much the treat of the century.
Here’s our morning in photos…
Without question, one of the things we miss most about home while in Kuwait is not being able to just get up and walk to a park or playground. Not only is walking to a park simply out of the question where we live, but in general, finding playgrounds that are clean, safe, and well-kept is a bit of a challenge here. What we’ve found during our many years in Kuwait is that a playground will pop up and be really nice for a short period of time before being destroyed and becoming filthy. I’m not sure why there’s not more focus on maintaining what is already in place, but our strategy is normally to find a couple of great playgrounds, use them a ton while they’re in good condition, and then find a new ones when the old ones are no longer nice/safe/in full working order. It’s not ideal, but it works.
And so, one of our current favourites is the fairly new and fully covered playground at Anjafa Beach. While it’s got low, easily accessible areas for younger kids, it’s also got a teeter totter, a bike merry-go-round, and a rocking boat, which Miss G loves. It’s also right in front of the beach and fully covered, so it should be doable even when the weather begins to get hot {ugh – not looking forward to that after such a lovely cool winter}. The playground’s only downside would be the fact that it’s only got one working swing, but hey – here in Kuwait, I’ve found that a working swing period is quite a score!
Kuwait friends, you can find Anjafa Beach here.
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Gracen and I quite like The Scientific Center here in Kuwait… It’s an aquarium, discovery centre {much like a science centre back home}, and IMAX theatre all in one, and a great place to visit when you’re wanting to avoid the inevitable dust and heat that comes with living in the desert. We usually make a morning of it and arrive for opening {I love that it opens for 9 instead of 10 like most places do}. We roam slowly through the aquarium, then move onto Discovery Place, and finish off with a walk outside to see the dhow boats and a stop at Starbucks at the end. Ooh – and then a stop at the gift shop on the way out of course – this may just be my favourite part as they have all kinds of really cool things. It’s sort of sad to say, but unlike many places in Kuwait, The Scientific Center is very well-kept and always clean, which is a nice change {and why we’re happy to go so regularly}. We enjoy it so much, in fact, that we just buy the annual memberships and visit once a month to every 6 weeks or so. For us, if all we do is the aquarium and Discovery Place, we’ve paid for our memberships in just 5 visits, so it’s well worth it. Not to mention that having a membership gives you 20% off of all the very cool things in the gift shop, which is a pretty big deal if you love non-fiction books, miniature creatures, magnets, and other awesome things.
Here’s today’s visit in photos… The Discovery Place was closed due to an exhibit change, but we still had a great time and will be back to check out what all the ‘Bon Appetit’ theme will include very soon.
While living in Kuwait certainly comes with its challenges, the perks are undeniable… Today, thanks to very generous friends, Miss G and I spent our day out at a private villa in Khiran soaking up Kuwait’s gorgeous fall sun. The company was fabulous, the food was delicious as always, and the kids happily played all morning. It’s easy to forget the challenges on days like these…
While everyone else may have stopped visiting weeks ago, I think fall may be the Hilton’s very best season… The season of playground play and beach exploring! Both are pretty much out of the question during the hot spring and summer months, so Miss G and I are taking full advantage now that we can bear to be outdoors without being in a pool. This morning we had all kinds of fun on the beach digging for creatures, collecting treasures, and writing and reading words in the sand, and next week we’ll try doing a little playground tour with Miss G’s bike. ☺
Here’s our morning in photos…
Today we kicked off Brad’s week long Eid vacation with a family trip out to Khiran. We love it out there. It’s peaceful and beautiful and you really don’t feel like you’re in Kuwait while there, which makes for a nice break from the everyday. Of all of our visits, today was by far the busiest with around 25 others spread between several groups {great minds think alike, apparently}, but it was chill and lovely, as always.
While driving all the way out to 4th Ring Road and the 55 to pick-up groceries isn’t my favourite thing {especially when the drive takes an hour and 25 minutes like it did today!}, gosh do I ever enjoy shopping at Saveco… The bright white interior, the wide aisles, the specialty and organic selection… It’s all so lovely and civil. Gracen loves it too. Not only are there adorable mini shopping carts for munchkins to push around, but there is also a pretty awesome indoor play area for munchkins upstairs. It’s part of the Hamad & Shahad toy store and it’s very much like the Hilton’s playground that Miss G loves so much.
Besides nature and long days outdoors, one of the things we miss most while living in Kuwait is hanging out in libraries and bookstores. Back home in Canada, Miss G and I visited our local library weekly. We’d make a morning of it, curling up to read several books before selecting 25 or so to take home. She’d sign them out at the check-out computer herself using her very own library card and then we’d do it all again the next week. We loved our library routine. On top of that, many rainy mornings were spent visiting our local bookstores. We’d browse, play, read books, and then pick one or two favourites to take home to add to our collection – a pretty fine way to spend our soggy days, I’d say. Here in Kuwait it’s not quite the same. While there are {some} bookstores and small libraries, most are filled primarily with Arabic books {rightfully so} and the English books that do exist are often of the cheap, generic variety. There is, however, Q8books, a very cool little used bookshop we finally made time to find and this afternoon.
This morning as my little love and I snuggled in bed as we always do, I asked her what she’d like to do today. Her response? ‘Go to a farm!!’ Oh dear. While I do know of one organic farm in Kuwait that I’d actually really like to visit, I wasn’t prepared for today being the day. After taking a moment to give it some thought, I remembered the horses I’ve seen at the 207 exit while travelling down the 30 recently… Luckily Miss G thought visiting horses on the side of a highway was close enough to a day spent at a farm, so that was that.
Oh my word… We very possibly may have visited the most beautiful place in Kuwait today – Khiran Beach. We’d heard about it through several different friends, and today we finally made a point of going. After a family breakfast at The Early Bird and an early ‘rest time’ for Miss G, we packed up the vehicle and headed waaaay out towards Wafra. The drive itself was pretty interesting as there were literally hundreds of tents and bouncy castles set up in large pods along the highway, and as we got nearer, several different herds of camels, sheep, and goats.
We followed the directions we’d been given to a tee, but ended up at a point where we were 99% certain we were somewhere very wrong. We were in the middle of a new residential area, and the place was absolutely deserted. Several streets were lined with large sand embankments, fences, tractor tires, and ‘Construction Zone – KEEP OUT!’ signs. What we didn’t realize initially was that that was exactly where we needed to be. After Brad had been sent ahead to scope out what was on the other side of the embankments, we piled out of the vehicle, made our way through a mess of sand and tires, and found this. An absolutely gorgeous beach all to ourselves.
Despite the fact that it had been raining on the way out and we came dressed in hoodies and scarves, it wasn’t long until Grae was in the water. Lucky for us, the sun came out and completely made the day. We enjoyed a picnic, wrote ridiculous things in the sand upon the request of Miss G, and took her home salty, sandy, and exhausted. It was a good day.
