Grocery Shopping

The longer I'm here, the more I forget prices of shopping for anything in the USA. So I'll post about prices of fruits, vegetables, and meat here in Kuwait and you can make your own comparisons. Let me just brag a little about gas prices first, since groceries here are costly. It's only $10 to fill my car, nah nah nah nah nah. Yet, this less costly convenience doesn't make up for the amount of salary that goes into buying berries or imported goods.

I miss strawberries, and blueberries. These are items that don't even make it into my cart anymore. At a high price of 2KD for one of those small trays--that means $7 for strawberries. I'll take vitamins.

Things I do buy, and must buy are:
Bread: referred to as toast here (at least the bread you and I are both thinking of)..their "bread" means those circle pita pieces, which are insanely cheap at 50fils a bag. I'm pretty sure that's less then 15 cents for 5 pieces of pita. Bread, oh yeah, our "bread". It costs 150 fils for a bag typically AKA 50 cents. I store it in the freezer because we take forever to finish the bag.

Milk: I hate to even admit to this, but we buy the long-lasting milk. You know, the kind you don't 'have' to refrigerate. We get a 4 pack of that for 1.5KD or something. So, probably $5.

Eggs: 1KD for 18 eggs. $3.50 for 18 eggs.

Fruits/Veggies: Here is where you can either win or lose. I've transitioned a lot to the 'arab' style of eating. So lots of zucchini, cucumber, and other cheap things. Anything they can grow here or nearby=cheap. Anything imported=$$$$$$, too expensive for me to even consider on a weekly shopping list. The $$$$ is just for occasional treats for myself. Carrots--$1 for 5 large. Cucumbers--  >$1 for a bag full. Zucchini >1 for a bag full. Seems nice, right? ....Mushrooms pack $2.50, Bell Peppers $1.50











Meat/chicken:  8 chicken wing pack for $1.50; 6 drumsticks $2
Whole chicken (small aka normal non-steroid sized) $3

6 burgers made from fresh 90% lean beef $7
2 packs of beef strips $7

Maybe I should become a vegetarian. All my money goes towards meat.

Sweets: arabic sweets and local sweets you can find decently priced, it's (yet again) the imports. We have doritos, lays, cheetos, hersheys, mars, etc. All of it is here. But...it's all overpriced. So let's avoid them all together.

The cost of living here is decent here. You can get a nice savings over time if you know how to budget. I'm still unsure of how I'll ever leave and be okay with paying taxes. I ponder this often...I'm still not an "adult" it terms of paying taxes and all. Living here I have accommodation and tax free lifestyle. When making the move to USA it'll be major culture shock when having to go to the doctor, paying gas, and all of that. I guess I'll just keep enjoying my youth now. Living in a Kuwait Bubble.

Summer Recap; Finally

Apple from play

A lot has happened since January. The months have escaped me, and every time I attempt to blog, something else comes up. But now: I have a mother whom calls daily and reminds me to post. :/ So, I guess it's about that time.

February: National day. I celebrated this month here and witnessed all of the crazies throwing water
balloons and squirting water guns. And not to mention, the completely-stopped-dead-non-moving-traffic.

May: Completed most of my school activities, including a play with my little ones. We performed "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Of course, any thing you do with this age just looks adorable.

Apartment Living Room

June: Moving month..and let's just throw July in here as well, because let's be realistic; moving takes way more than 1 month. Abboud and I moved into a VERY nice apartment in Shuhada, South Surra (for if you decide to look it up on google earth). 2 Master bedrooms with a personal, rooftop terrace. It's glorious for Kuwait standards.

Shooting Range

August: Finally, someone has actually visited me in Kuwait! I have proof that this country isn't a country made out of sticks and mud. Proof of civilization. :P Krista (a friend from college) happened to stop by last minute on her tour-of-the-world. She stayed for a few days, which in Kuwait left a day to rest. :/ We did all of the touristy things (i.e. saw the Kuwait Towers, trip to Mubarakiya Souk, Green Island, Avenues Mall, Largest sculpted tower in the world, and the house of mirrors.)

During her visit she was offered a relationship and a marriage proposal. Don't come to Kuwait as a single American. HAH. I think the men here can sense you're unattached or something. They aren't overwhelming or anything, but they always find a way to drop the "are you single" "do you want to be my wife" into any normal conversation. For her it was during a trip to Green Island where the ticket booth guy took us on a 'tour' for free. By the end, he was lifting tree branches out of the way for her to pass and not caring about Heather nor me. The second was while shopping at the souk. We bought matching traditional dresses and the salesman offered to marry her in exchange for free dresses. I told her to accept like any good friend would. I wanted free things.

Well, she left Kuwait with knowledge of a kind people, crazy drivers...no, asshole drivers, good food, and really really hot weather.

Arckie and Chansey

Side note: I've been taking up hobbies during this summer in Kuwait and discovered that...hmm...maybe I can draw.