Weather and other Gulf novelties

 Having mentioned previously that so far north, Kuwait is more under desert than Gulf influence than, say, the Emirates, let me relate an experience. I was enjoying afternoon coffee springtime when temperatures are balmy in the shade of apartments near Ras Al Ard, the port at the tip of Ras Al Salmiya (map), Ras meaning cape or promontory. It was halfway along the Corniche from my flat (facing Arabian Gulf east) the Aquarium & Scientific Centre (facing Kuwait Bay north). I was actually admiring "l'ombre du desert", French for desert shadow cast on the eastern horizon by the sun lowering to the west. That shadow is made manifest by the dust or sand in the atmosphere in desert regions, but little did I know it was accentuated by a sandstorm or haboob approaching from the north! Sitting by tower blocks I missed it, and I was neither on my phone nor on the radio to heed warnings. 

Eventually the pall gave us all the clue and we all headed home, on foot in my case. The storm was so swift however, that I took refuge in a Burger King on the corniche (above on clear day) halfway to my flat as the sand made it impossible ot proceed any further. The restaurant charged for the first F&B, but then offered subsequent beverages for free for as long as we needed to stay - evidently not the first time this happened - also the normally strict separation of men, women & families evident from cinema thru IKEA restaurant to shopping malls, were relaxed somewhat due to tight space packed with people with a very convivial atmosphere under force majeure - the storm subsided in a few hours however, and we all headed home even tho the storm lasted another two days but less violently. Contrast this view from my flat to that in previous post. Only thing is that I left my bathroom window open a crack, so my bathroom was coated with dust or fine silt not sand.

And this is what I looked like going home. Fortunately I wore a bandana either around my neck to pop onto my forehead if it became too hot and keep sweat out of my eyes, or around my water bottle: A trick I learned in Texas actually, is to put a ¾ full plastic bottle in the freezer overnight and carry it wrapped in a bandana to sip as the water melted in the 100oF~40oC heat... Keeps it fresh and stops you gulping it so it lasts all day... And wrap-around sunglasses for my scooter at home sure came in handy!

Here is it shot by a local friend:

And this is what a later dust storm looked like on my map using NOAA AIRS data:

Update: see this post on how it affected - or not as it turned out - my family visit... 

Another great place to learn about Kuwait was the Science Museum and Aquarium, chronicling the legacy of the dhows, sailing ships built ot this day, but which explored up&down the east African and west Indian coasts in cabotage or coastal navigation.

In fact at KISR located nearby at Ras Al Salmiya, I found this great book chronicling the history of dhow usage. Imagine a group going down to Zanzibar to fell, dress and bring back mangrove trees on a year round trip - three months to plan and go down, six months summertime milder down there and three months to return, unload and distribute thru the region - apparently the tradition for migrant workers locally 11 months and home for one come from that... but in reverse from west Asia or east Africa! It apparently all started when dhows also went down the Malabar Coast of NW India, and they started to bring back African and Indians to work the wood and then later on the pearl fisheries, before the oil business took over after 1930s.

Back in Kuwait City, the size of the malls is what impressed them most. This is the Marina Mall, one of many dotting the city, and what daughter loved was that there were both American and British stores there (she was born in Texas and we loved in California before settling in England). She was a sharp observant too. Women wear a variety of western, moderate and traditional eastern garb. By moderate I mean a hijab but otherwise tailored top and log skirt. Traditional is full abaya with face cover. Men wore either western or traditional, the latter being a long loose garb that looked cool, much like skirts are cooler for women summer-times in the west. What's curious is that men wear white and traditional women black, so dry cleaners look like piano keyboards with alternating black and white garb ready for pickup. But what our daughter noticed, is that teens like her wore hijabs but very tight tops and bottoms, and rarely skirts just like her... "So what gives", she says, "trad hijab and tight sexy bottoms!" More Mid-east ed... But a female co-worker I got to know a little admitted, that every day they have to make decisions about how to dress in the range mentioned above, depending on who they see and what the religious calendar is. Knowing western women have to also, this is an added layer of complexity.

Next let's explore the aquarium and other spots along the Corniche.