just a tourist

i got to go down to kuwait city yesterday. we schedule medical consults through civilian providers for services we don't do here or at the larger base nearby. after stopping by the starbucks, where there were several western looking people and where the third country nationals speak english, we dropped of our patient at the dentist office. there isn't really a city i've been to that i could compare kuwait city with. there are still old bombed out buildings from the first gulf war that are fenced off and being torn down. patches of these ruins are hidden among towering hotels and new apartment buildings. the city is as clean as a desert city can be with the garbage and rubble that litters the ground kept to back alleys and small one way streets.

we took a drive down the strip that runs along the persian gulf. the number of outrageously expensive cars is mind-blowing. if you are a kuwait citizen you get paid a stipend just for being born here. once a year you have to go out in the desert to live like your forefathers and set up a tent. maybe bring your horse, atv and of course your servants. kuwaiti citizens are loaded. 50 kuwaiti dollars is about 180 us dollars. none of the people that work in kuwait are kuwaitis. usually Pakistanis, Philippians and Indians. the kuwaitis instead drive around in range rovers, Ferraris, corvettes, Porsches and cameros.

we went to the mall. they have everything from american eagle to burger king. baskin and robins is thriving over here, which makes me insanely happy. rainbow sherbet everyday!!!

we ate lunch at the food court. i got chicken curry. it was good but i was still disappointed. i am craving some providence indian like woah.

i am hoping once the unit we are replacing leaves i will have a more standard schedule. right now we are going places and doing things so they can show us how it's done. i just want to sit in my office and do homework, which i have been doing all day today.

then i can incorporate a good workout routine. i haven't worked out since i've been here but i have been walking every day. i don't even know how many miles i cover per day but we walk to the chow hall, the barracks, the px, the flight line, the laundry trailer. i know i said i'd expand but i need to focus on school work and i have to do a bit of research for my post about how awesome walking is.

i'm waiting for the other girls that are buying skates to order their stuff. i'm going to get a new helmet so i can use it when i buy a bike to ride around on post. then i can email Dee and have her put it all in one box to try and keep the shipping costs low.

like i said, life is pretty simple  here and i'm just passing the time with school and working out. there is a movie theatre in one of the tents near the px, so maybe i'll have to go see what's playing.

i have found that netflix doesn't work over here and even if it did, the internet speed is probably too slow to stream anything. i want to download music too...grumble...grumble...grumble.

i guess send me cds with musics and burn me some dvds!

back to homework. i'm almost done!