We have finished our full, second week of school here at AUK. It's whizzing by a bit fast as I'm teaching a 4-week course. Personally, I find it RIDICULOUS that one might think a 16-week public speaking course can be condensed into a 4-week course. Not the same level of academic rigor folks, not the same. Regardless, I am getting paid and having a great experience outside of my own culture, both academic and personal. In fact, I do love that my students keep calling me "Doctor". At first I kept correcting them, telling them to call me Jill, but they insist on using such formality. Definitely something I can get used to! Even while grocery shopping this evening a student stopped me (in the Old El Paso aisle) to say, "Hello Doctor", and "How was my speech today?". I tell you, I did feel kind of important.
There isn't much to report on as the academic life and summer heat regiment our daily lives. (I realize for those of you reading both Cory and I's blogs, he shares waaaay more daily detail; you'll have to settle for my half-hearted effort. I feel I'm essentially living the same life I would at home, just in a different place and hard to find interesting things to blog about.) I digress. . .. Again, I still wake up during the 2:45 a.m. "call to prayer". This morning, I was lucky enough to wake up again for a different mosque's 3:20 a.m. "call", as well. My day begins each morning by heading to the gym (in our apartment building) with Emily. Really, it's a highlight as we have found a channel that conveniently shows the NBC Nighly News with Brian Williams as we plug along on the treadmill. The uncomfortable part of the workout seems to be the lack of full A.C. in the gym. (And when I say lack of full-A.C. I mean it's hotter than it should be with a well running A.C. but still cooler than if it wasn't working at all. ) Cory was so kind to look up what 28-degrees Celcius converted to in Fahrenheit and it's about 80-degrees in that room. Still, I would MUCH rather run inside with the heat (and Brian Williams) than face the sand/dust/stares of running outside in Kuwait.
Our commute to AUK is the same every morning. Emily and I make Cory "flag down" a cab and bargain for our ride to "American University". It's a new adventure everyday. So far, nothing too scary and no accidents yet. (Have I mentioned the driving is crazy here in Kuwait?!) The mantra might go something like this, "Life's like a Kuwait cab driver, you never know what you're going to get". Thanks to our American/AUK friend Amy, we have a ride home with her most afternoons on the way home from school. She's well-cultured and always has fun stories, expereinces, and advice to share with us as a single woman living in the Middle East.
I did attend a university faculty and staff meeting. The intent was to recap successes of the spring semester and look forward to goals for the fall. It was nice to see how a small, liberal arts university functions. I'm so used to the size and bureaucracy of a large university, so I very much enjoyed a view from a different perspective. The most personally satisfying moment, to me, was when the President mentioned the value visiting and short-term faculty bring to the university and its cultural diversity. That's right, I bring CULTURAL DIVERSITY for the first time in my life! It took coming to the Middle East to do it, but it happened. My American friends tell me it's really easy to spot me in the crowded Starbucks on campus. I'm the only one wearing a bright orange/coral shirt (thank you B Fritz) and blonde hair. Go figure. There is definitely no blending in for me on campus or elsewhere.
The evenings at the apartment are scarily similar. I fight off (sometimes fail) taking a nap. Emily and I find a ridiculously poor American movie to watch on TV such as, Ice Princess, Ella Enchanted, etc. We make some dinner, read our novels, and hope to catch friends and family on Skype, iChat, Facebook, or some other form of communication.
There you have it, the daily, regimented life I lead. Highlights of this week include: me cutting Cory's hair (only a slight patch was shorter than the rest), free ice cream day at AUK, our trip to the western grocery store Sultan Center tonight, and watching more episodes of Weeds. On a related note, Emily and I were sadly disappointed with the Oreos we purchased (not at the Sultan Center). Did you know formulas for Oreos are different around the globe depending on the ingredients and regional preferences? I did not know this. I naively assumed an Oreo is an Oreo. Luckily, I caught up with my personal cookie expert, Ms. Lindsey Small, who works at Kraft and knows much about this product. Unfortunately, she educated me about the variations of the recipe/formula around the globe. From now on, I'll be looking for Oreos not made in Saudi Arabia.
As most of you know, today is the last day of the work week over here. We are still formulating plans for the weekend, possibly a traditional Kuwait restaurant and our 4th of July celebration. More to come after our weekend!
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