Could the alarm be any louder this morning?!

Wow, a week off for Eid Al-Fitr, and one almost forgets what the alarm sounds like...

It's funny, though--Rosalee and I had to set our alarm most mornings while on holiday. I guess there's something to the idea that it's not so bad if you know you can just roll over and go back to sleep.

For our break, we stayed in Kuwait and relaxed (mostly). Our phone lines and internet went out for a good chunk of our break... you never realize how much you depend on the internet until it goes out, upsetting your plans for trip-planning, catching up on e-mail, and phoning family and friends. The plus side is that it forced us to look at more traditional forms of recreation: I did a lot of reading and writing; Rosalee finished at least one book and worked on a couple of paintings for our apartment. We went out for dinner a few times and slept as much as we could. All in all, a very successful holiday, we'd say.

But there's no putting it off: we're back at the old teaching-game again this morning. I wonder if I'll remember all my students' names... (jokes)

B(&R)

Turkeys et al...

So we're in the middle of a flurry of Thanksgiving hoopla...

To start things off, we invited a couple of friends from St. Paul's over for a small-scale Thanksgiving meal, which had all the trimmings: mashed potatoes, carrots, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce... everything a good T'Giving meal should have, apart from an actual turkey. (We have a little Iranian restaurant down the street that cooks up chickens for a few bucks each, so we substituted a coupld chooks for the turkey.)

This weekend sees us having a Building 2 turkey dinner Wednesday night, chicken at a friend's house on Thursday evening, and another turkey do tonight for AIS Canadians held at Building 5. Yipes. A person could almost have too much of a good thing!

Well, not really, but we haven't even hit American Thanksgiving yet, which is sure to bring another round of Sultan-Center-ordered-from-Australia-and-cooked-elsewhere turkeys.

Good times, eh?

Anyhow, we hope everyone at home enjoyed last weekend as much as we're enjoying this one!

B&R

Our Footie Fix...

Ever looking for ways to keep things lively during Ramadan, the government of Kuwait brought the Brazillian national soccer team for a friendly match against Kuwait's best club team.

The stadium was packed, and rumours abounded that the match was sold out. However, we were fortunate that a student (thanks, Hamad!) was willing to pick up eight extra tickets for us when he went to the stadium a few days before.

So, eight AIS staff went out waaaaaayy past our bedtimes (the game started at 10:30pm) and had a great evening watching some soccer and goofing off on a work-night.

Highlights: A rushed McDonald's meal and squashed entrance into the stadium. The Emir of Kuwait and other royalty attended the match. Pele--yes, that Pele--started off the festivities by running a lap around the field and acting as the honorary team representative. Some of Brazil's biggest names were there: Ronaldinho, Kaka, Lucio, Robinho...

All in all, it was a great night, even if we didn't get to bed until well past 1:00am! At least the school for Ramadan opens an hour later so we were able to sleep in a little.

B&R 

Brazil running roughshod over the poor Kuwait club team. 

A few local kids enjoying the game. 

It's kind of hard to see, but that's Ronaldinho on the screen, meeting the Emir of Kuwait. 

 

 

Brazil (in blue) warm-up. 

 

The Kuwaitis put on an impressive fireworks display... 

One of the guys we really came to see... 

Opening ceremonies, Kuwait vs. Brazil, Oct. 7, 2006. 

The Kuwait team did a walkaround before the game. 

We arrived three hours before kickoff. Cribbage helped fill the time. 

Our gang, but Brent forgot to turn the flash back on when he gave it to that nice kid who snapped the pic. Brent, Ron, Rosalee, Ray, Eric, Rob, Blair, and Derek. 

Stadium seating, Kuwait Style. 

Part of the Brazil vs. Kuwait crew eating some good local (ahem!) food. L to R: Rob, Eric, Derek, and Ron.