Today, in the staff room the other teachers were talking about Kuwaitis. None of the teachers are considered 'Kuwaitis', but from what they were telling me, neither are the Kuwaitis! Before Kuwait even existed, there were people here called Bedouins--which are very traditional, nomadic 'tribe'. As they became more non-nomadic, they needed more civilized people to help grow their country. So, Iraqis, Pakistanis, Jordanians, and many many other people from gulf countries began to reside in Kuwait. Therefore, became "Kuwaiti".
Except, once Kuwait became wealthy and free--those Kuwaitis rejected their origins of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. and only refer to themselves as Kuwaiti. All others' are considered 'poor' and 'worthless', even though that is their origin!
Because of ALL of this, Kuwaitis are deemed somehow more important than everyone else--which you can imagine leads to A LOT of special treatment. Something I've noticed, but didn't really put together until today.
Examples:
If a Kuwaiti student does something wrong, the punishment is less...especially if done to someone who isn't Kuwaiti.
If a Kuwaiti is flirting with a woman at the mall, and she isn't interested--the Egyptian guards blame the woman for looking to scandalous (even if she's fully veiled).
While driving, they can go anywhere and do anything without looking, by speeding...because if they were to get stopped, nothing would happen.
But the worst of all is the 'showing'. The materialism that Kuwaitis portray. The labels, cars, houses, and nannies. Everything needs to be the next best thing. THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING FOR A TEACHER. All of these kids are spoiled, rude, messy...they have NO independence. A nanny cleans for them, wipes them, gives them whatever they want.
So you can imagine the "miss miss miss miss MISS!" I hear ALL day. Because they don't care you're helping another student, or talking to a teacher. No, it has to be NOW. Right now.
**Side note of horror: Two of my boys got in a 'tiff', well apparently (as told to by my TA) they were telling each other in arabic that their dad has a big gun and will kill him...response "my dad has an even bigger gun and will kill you and your family"** They didn't get reprimanded for this...I mean, they are kuwaiti anyway.
Except, once Kuwait became wealthy and free--those Kuwaitis rejected their origins of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. and only refer to themselves as Kuwaiti. All others' are considered 'poor' and 'worthless', even though that is their origin!
Because of ALL of this, Kuwaitis are deemed somehow more important than everyone else--which you can imagine leads to A LOT of special treatment. Something I've noticed, but didn't really put together until today.
Examples:
If a Kuwaiti student does something wrong, the punishment is less...especially if done to someone who isn't Kuwaiti.
If a Kuwaiti is flirting with a woman at the mall, and she isn't interested--the Egyptian guards blame the woman for looking to scandalous (even if she's fully veiled).
While driving, they can go anywhere and do anything without looking, by speeding...because if they were to get stopped, nothing would happen.
But the worst of all is the 'showing'. The materialism that Kuwaitis portray. The labels, cars, houses, and nannies. Everything needs to be the next best thing. THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING FOR A TEACHER. All of these kids are spoiled, rude, messy...they have NO independence. A nanny cleans for them, wipes them, gives them whatever they want.
So you can imagine the "miss miss miss miss MISS!" I hear ALL day. Because they don't care you're helping another student, or talking to a teacher. No, it has to be NOW. Right now.
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