Kuwait 2000 - Email Two

Kuwait City, Kuwait

September 2000
 

More ramblings from Kuwait: 

Well, it is Friday here.  Only one more day!  We leave tomorrow night late.  Fridays are the only day off here, since it is the Muslim holy day.  I loaded my camera with a fresh roll of 36 and we left at 5:00 today to see the sights of Kuwait. We were back at 5:30.  Now I have to take 34 more pictures so I can get the roll developed.  

It seems that a few years back the Emir issued a humanitarian edict here that anytime it exceeds 50 degrees Celsius (123 degrees Fahrenheit) workers are to be sent home and businesses shut down.  However, after a few days in excess of 50 degrees, it became obvious that this rule would have an adverse impact on the economy and subsequently the Kuwaiti’s bank accounts.  However, to rescind the edict would be to accuse the Emir of being wrong. This could cause your head to be relocated to someplace not your shoulders. So, the Parliament passed a law that any thermometer in the country could not display a temperature higher than the official government temperature.  And, quite conveniently, the governmental temperature never exceeds 50 degrees, although virtually every private one owned by individuals display numerous days in excess.  Last year, these private thermometers hit 60 degrees (140 degrees Fahrenheit) and the government’s thermometer broke 50 degrees for the first time since the official temperature law. 

The cars here, like the cars in Qatar, have a beeper that goes off when they exceed 75 mph.  However, virtually everyone knows how to pull the fuse to disable.  Cars that we would refer to as sedans are referred to as saloons.  Not salons, but saloons.  I figure the name derived from the fact that if you saw them drive, you’d just assume they’d been drinking.  The other day, I was riding to a vendor with an Egyptian Accountant from Ernst and Young that lives here.  After about a dozen cars well in excess of 100 mph passed us, I made a comment about unenforced speed limits.  Adham quickly told me that there are cameras on the roadway about every 5 miles to slow down speeders and showed me one as we passed it.  “Oh, they take a picture and send a ticket to the registered owner?”  I naively asked.  He replied that although the cameras had been up about 5 years, they have never loaded them with film.  And, duh, everyone is aware of this. 

Of course, in addition to the regular speeders, virtually no vehicle laws apply to Kuwaiti citizens.  Oh, the police may pull them over and write a citation, but it seems every one of them has an influential friend that dismisses any charges with a phone call.  As a result, they are primarily the ones driving easily in excess of 100 mph.  In addition, they often cut in line or take advantage of other shortcuts.  After being almost run onto the shoulder by yet another one of them speeding by yesterday, I made the comment that the country should be called “Kantwait” instead of Kuwait. 

We went to a Lebanese restaurant with one of our local Superintendents, an Iranian.  He sometimes uses an “Archie Bunker” and inserts an almost-correct sounding word with a different meaning into a sentence.  At one point we were talking about our families in the States, and he suddenly interrupted stating he hoped none of us owned one of those awful Ford Exploders.  I need to keep my pencil handy whenever Mayahi is around because I’ve forgotten many of the good ones.  

The hotel, a Crown Plaza, is nice, but it is hilarious to note some of the arrangements of plugs, light switches, fixtures or furniture in foreign countries.  They have one of those safes in the room you can leave valuables in.  This is a state-of-the-art, because instead of punching in four numbers, you swipe a credit card, any credit card, while it is open and lock.  Then, only that credit card will reopen.  I was impressed until I noticed that it is bolted to an 18 inch square shelf in the closet that lifts out for easy removal.  This is actually convenient according to my warped way of thinking.  This way, if thieves break into the room, they know to just steal the safe and not ransack the room.  And, I don’t have to reorganize my stuff to determine what has been stolen.  

Wish you were here, 

Keith