Reflective Summary

http://www.ehow.com/how_8386027_write-reflective-summary.html

One of the learning objectives of the blog project is that the students focus on one issue to write scenarios and to find relevant research on the issue to make discoveries. Did your researched discussions lead you to revelations or discoveries? Did you take an intellectual and/or emotional journey?

Well my researched for this blog project did bring back some fond and missed memories. I will always remember my experience in Kuwait. I will be forever grateful for the chance to gain this experience.  The emotional journey that I took bought back the memories of the friend that I have meet from all over the nation. I am at this point of trying to go back, but waiting on more positions to get approved and authorized.

Compared to the traditional research project, did your repositioning research and documentation skills into a conversational, episodic online format construct new learning experiences for you?

Documenting skills were definitely learned doing this project, ones that I have not had the opportunity to use before. I also learned that once this project was put together with several posting and images, it was easy for someone to follow me and understand what I was saying.

Did this non-traditional, online format introduce you to aspects of learning that would not have developed with a traditional format?

 I found that this non-traditional research project was easier than the traditional way of writing. If I had to do it the traditional way, I believe that I wouldn’t have done so well because of that fact that it would have had to be written all at once and together, unlike the way you had us do in separate entries, which allowed to researched more and concentrate on that one piece.

What Entertainment is there in Kuwait?

    In the Arab world, people smoke, as part of their culture and traditions. Social smoking is done with a single or double hose, and sometimes even more numerous such as a triple or quadruple hose in the forms of parties or small get-togethers. Most cafés are widespread and are amongst the chief social gathering places in the Arab world.

     The water pipe, also known as shisha, hookah, narghile, goza, and hubble bubble, has long been used for tobacco consumption in the Middle East, India, and parts of Asia, and more recently has been introduced into the smokeless tobacco market in western nations (Neergaard, 2006).

 
     Shisha is a mixture of tobacco and treacle, honey or sugar, and distilled water with fruit flavors. Shisha tobacco is very light and flavorful with a wonderful fruity aroma. Shisha is not your typical tobacco. It's nothing like the tobacco in cigars, cigarettes or dip. No, smoking true narguile shisha is an entirely different sensation. Shisha Tobacco is smoked for flavor and not for any kind of effect. It proves a relaxing and peaceful pursuit. Shisha is very light and flavorful, with a wonderful fruity aroma. The most popular flavor is apple and others include strawberry, pineapple, apricot, grape, rose, mint and even cappuccino!

     In the Middle East, from Turkey to India, there are shisha cafes where people gather to smoke and drink coffee or tea. Smoking shisha can last two hours or more and is a very peaceful, social occasion, generally filled with friendly conversation. A shisha smoking session can last from thirty minutes up to an hour.

Parts of shisha pipe

http://www.texashookah.com/images/images002.gif

Setup of shisha pipe:

1. Fill the glass base with ice & water. Be sure to fill it to the point where the tube of the shaft is one inch deep in water once it is put in place.

2. Connect the shaft to the glass base. Make sure when you connect it that it is air tight. Using the small rubber insert, attach the hose to the shaft; again make sure that it is air tight.

 3. Pack the bowl with some shisha. Fill the bowl to the top by sprinkling the shisha and leaving a flat top layer. Do not pack the bowl too tight for it will make it harder to inhale and will not allow the shisha to burn properly.

 4. Attach the tray to the shaft.

 5. Attach the larger rubber insert to the top of the hookah shaft and place the bowl tightly on top.

 6. Once the bowl is put in place then you must place the charcoal screen or aluminum foil on to the top of the bowl covering the shisha. Cut a square piece of aluminum foil and wrap it around the top part of the bowl or use a piece of the precut hookah foils (recommended). Once it is wrapped around tightly, poke little holes in it using a toothpick or any other sharp object. Make sure you have enough holes to allow the charcoal to burn the shisha.

 7. Next light up a piece of charcoal until they are red hot and place them around the edges of the top of the charcoal screen or the aluminum foil. Length of time for lighting up of the charcoal depends on if the charcoal is quick lighting or not.

 8. Start taking a series of rapid small puffs to get the shisha burning. You will know that it is burning properly once smoke starts to build up in the glass base of the hookah and starts to flow easily through the hose.

 9. After you have completed all of these steps you should be on your way to a pleasant hookah smoke session.

Visited Ripley's Believe It or Not!

     Ripley's Believe It or Not! Is a franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims? The Believe It or Not panel proved popular and was later adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, a chain of museums, and a book series.

     The Ripley collection includes 20,000 photographs, 30,000 artifacts and more than 100,000 cartoon panels. With 80-plus attractions, the Orlando-based Ripley Entertainment, Inc., a division of the Jim Pattison Group, is a global company with an annual attendance of more than 12 million guests. Ripley Entertainment's publishing and broadcast divisions oversee numerous projects, including the syndicated TV series, the newspaper cartoon panel, books, posters and games.

The Cozmo's Bowling Alley

The fellaz hanging out

     After I finished my work for the day, I was back at home thinking of my responsibilities and the pressures of my job. What I really needed was to refresh my mind and take the time for some physical fitness. Then a friend of mine called, and feeling the same, she suggested we go bowling at Cozmo. As a bowling lover, I agreed immediately.

     We met at 7pm at Salmiya City Centre on the 1st floor, where the Cozmo bowling centre is located. The place was not crowded, and my friend and I paid 2 KD each for an hour of bowling.
It was my first visit to Cozmo; I was impressed by the atmosphere, and its other fun activities such as billiards, videogames, and the shop for gaming gear, and so on,

Grabbing a bite at the mall.

A quick bite while shopping

 

              

     Can you imagine an excursion without eating out? I’m sure your answer would be a resounding and unequivocal ‘no.’ Good food has always been a key part of all special occasions and events in my life, and when it comes to traveling, eating out becomes as important and attractive as sightseeing. Taste takes the center stage with sights and sounds of the place you’re visiting and becomes one of the best things to remember about your trip.

     Like all bustling cities of the world, Kuwait’s capital city is also teeming with amazing eating out options serving not only Kuwait’s tantalizing traditional food, but also cuisine from around the globe.

Hookah. (April, 2010). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 4, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooka

Hookah setup. (n.d.). Texas Hookah. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from http://www.texashookah.com/setup.html

Neergaard, J., Singh, P., Job, J., & Montgomery, S. (2007). Water pipe smoking and nicotine exposure: A review of the current evidence. Retrieved from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. December 5, 2011.

Triple, N. (2010). Enjoy bowling in Cozmo Salmiya. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from http://www.kuwaitagenda.com/en/sports-a-outdoor/general/462-enjoy-bowling-in-cozmo-salmiya.html

Ripley’s Believe It or Not. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 5, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripley%27s_Believe_It_or_Not

What is Shisha? (n.d.).Retrieved December 4, 2011 from http://casahookah.com/index.php/history-of-the-hookah/what-is-the-shisha

Why would you want to work in Middle East?

If you are persistent, this could be your view from your apartment balcony

Working in the Middle East was an ideal job option for me. I was the adventurous type and wanted to make some quick cash and just wanted to add an interesting chapter to my life. But no matter my reason, I think every Professional Adventurer should have the chance to live overseas at one point in their life. Plus you can’t really call yourself a tough guy if you have never even left Virginia. So I sweat it out in the Middle East for a year, bank some tax free cash, spent numerous vacations traveling around the world (or just buying lots of gear) and paid off my credit cards at the same time. Sounds great right?

Well it doesn’t always work out that way for everyone, if you are stupid with your money and blow it all on girls and booze wile vacationing in Bangkok, or Thailand and buy tons crap on Amazon.com then you may end up extending your career in the Middle East indefinitely. After working in the Middle East for close to 1 year, I have seen all sorts come and go, some do good and others cant hack it for a week (Christian, December, 2011).

But even if the worst happens life will still be pretty sweet, living in the Middle East isn’t all that bad, in fact some ME countries are pretty fun. Unlike working in the States you will make tax-free money, have a free place to stay, ample vacation time (sometimes up to 2 to 4 months off a year) and a pocket full of cash.

So how do you get a job in the Middle East? This is pretty much like applying for any job back home, you search the internet for gigs in the Middle East and just apply.

                                                                            Civilian Contractor Jobs

This is a job working on three month to one year contracts (90% of the time they are 1 year contracts) for defense contractors that have contracts with the US military in the Middle East. If you are a US, EU or UK citizen then this is one of the best choices for employment in the Middle East.

Unlike most jobs in the Middle East the majority of Civilian Contractor Jobs are blue collar or semi-skilled jobs. Only certain technical or experience based skills (like IT and high risk security) and high up management jobs will require a college degree or years of specialized experience. Jobs range from Security Guard to Information Technology to Pushing Paper.

Some people get hired and are living overseas within a week (extremely rare) but most folks will have to try for months before they are hired, sometimes longer.

Average Salary: 60K to 300K+ with 80K being the average for new guys.

Contract positions are available throughout the Middle East, but the most lucrative by far, are located in a danger zone such as Iraq and Afghanistan (Nelson, n.d.). In addition to your base salary and overtime, you may be authorized hazard duty pay, post differential and foreign service pay. These allowances add up and are often calculated on your base salary. Thus, the higher your base salary, the higher all your other entitlements will be. Many people often exceed $10,458 every two weeks. This makes for a very lucrative year (Nelson, n.d.).

Advantages: Lots of Jobs in the Middle East for people with almost any skill or lack of skills, a college degree and tons of experience are not always required. Kick-ass pay, lots of leave time, full coverage medical insurance. And once you are in the hiring “loop” you can pretty much always count on eventually finding another job in the Middle East.

Disadvantages: Depending on the ever changing contractor job market it could take between 3 to 6 months or longer to get a job. You will have to constantly apply over and over again for jobs, the more jobs you apply for, the faster you may get hired. Some jobs are in “scary” countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, but those jobs almost always pay the big 6-fig salaries.

Where to Look: Besides being in the loop you can check out Civilian Contractor Jobs, or apply directly to any defense contractor that has contracts in the Middle East. There is bit of “luck of the draw” in this type of employment, so you will have to be patient and apply to many companies.

Once you find a position(s) that interests you, apply for these jobs and most of all follow-up. It's true that there may be hundreds applying for that same job but many will do so and forget about it. You need to track the jobs that you apply for. Keep a log and follow up with both email and over the phone. So many people have told me that they applied for a job and gave up because no one called. It takes persistence, and no one is going to be as persistent as you the job the seeker. Who knows, even if the job is filled, you're resume will still be on file and they may call you for another opening (Nelson, n.d.).

In my time in the Middle East I have worked with nationals of at least 5-10 countries. I have learned not only from the native cultures of the Middle East, but from everybody I have worked with – Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Hindus, Bhuddists, Zoroastrians and Taoists. I have learned to look beyond the caricatures through which the western media often presents the religion and cultures of the region, by talking to people, socialising with them and hearing their stories. I feel enriched beyond wealth by the experience.

CCJ. (n.d.) Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://civiliancontractorjobs.com/.

Nelson, A (n.d.) Focus and persistence will land you that job! Middle East contracting jobs Retrieved December 2, 2011 from http://www.middle-east-contracting-jobs.com/focus.html

Nelson, A (n.d.) You’re not too old to work in a danger zone. Middle East contracting jobs Retrieved December 2, 2011 from http://www.middle-east-contracting-jobs.com/not-to-old.html

 

Can you endure the Kuwaiti climate?

                         A nice sunny day in Kuwait    The Kuwaiti towers on a beautiful day

         It is difficult to breath. The air is dry and causes your throat to tighten. The sun is overly coruscating, blinding the eyes. The sun instantaneously depletes your energy, making it difficult to get the motivation to do anything. It’s smart to wear long sleeves to protect the skin, but that only instigates the personal sauna made by your own sweat. Moisture is begging for release, opening every pore in the body. Beads of water escape, trickling down the hair line and small of the back. The level of discomfort has risen; along with being hot, you are now sticky too. Clothing clings to the body. There’d be more room for air to circulate if you’d have painted your wardrobe on that morning.

        The next possibility of relief: a glass of iced water. The content of the glass is screaming to get out. As condensation collects outside the sacred H2O holder, it scampers down your arm, and a trail is left where the salty sweat previously resided. In one gulp it’s gone… if only it were a bigger glass. Determined to relieve the sensation of having eaten a package of cotton balls, as mucus collects at the back of the throat, you pour another. The excitement of the cold beverage, or perhaps the quickly depleting hydration, causes some of the content to accidentally spill onto the concrete. It evaporates quicker than sadiki (illegal alcohol) in a dry country. For a moment the water has helped, but only long enough for your pores to release the recently consumed fluids.

         Kuwait has a desert climate, hot and dry. Rainfall varies from seventy-five to 150 millimeters a year across the country; actual rainfall has ranged from twenty-five millimeters a year to as much as 325 millimeters. In summer, average daily high temperatures range from 42° C to 46° C; the highest recorded temperature is 51.5° C. The summers are relentlessly long, punctuated mainly by dramatic dust storms in June and July when northwesterly winds cover the cities in sand. In late summer, which is more humid, there are occasional sharp, brief thunderstorms (Coutsoukis, 2005). By November summer is over, and colder winter weather sets in, dropping temperatures to as low as 3° C at night; daytime temperature is in the upper 20s C range. Frost rarely occurs; rain is more common and falls mostly in the spring (Coutsoukis, 2005).

                            Powerful sandstorm blankets Kuwait   Kuwaiti wrap up from sand

Kuwait sandstorm

         Kuwait and Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, were among the hardest hit by sandstorms, which in some cases last for as long as two hours, both had to shut down their airports, close schools and advise people to stay indoors (Dolasia, 2009).  The storm came in so rapidly, that traffic halted to a stop, as drivers struggled to see the road ahead. Kuwait, one of the world's leading oil producers, had to even shut down its ports for a few hours, disrupting all exports. When the ordeal ended, the entire city was covered with sand and the bright blue sky had turned an eerie orange-brown (Dolasia, 2009).

          As a result of the sand, a lot of people had difficulty breathing and were rushed to hospitals (Dolasia, 2009).  Sandstorms occur when strong winds pick up a lot of dry desert sand and carry it across to populated areas. They are a common occurrence during spring in the Middle East, because the high desert temperatures, causes the air to get hot and create an unstable low atmosphere (Dolasia, 2009). This in turn, creates high winds near the surface, which lifts as much loose sand as it can, and blows it to other areas. The amount of sand lifted, depends on how dry the conditions are. In this case, Kuwait has had hardly any rain for the last three years - making the conditions optimal for such a massive storm (Dolasia, 2009).

         As for me I felt pretty comfortable in Kuwait. Although the weather was hot and dry, I managed to stay cool and drink plenty of bottled water. I would dress appropriately and stay inside most of the time, where the air conditions were available (malls, restaurants, living quarter, and work areas).

There were some days when working and all of a sudden its starts getting dark, and you can actually see the sand storm spreading over the area. My first experience was in a sandstorm was just that an experience. I was amazed at how a sandstorm could develop so suddenly, then go away an only a few hours.

 Articles Cited

 Coutsoukis, P 2005, March 27). Kuwait climate. Photius.com Retrieved October 24, 2011,from http://www.photius.com/countries/kuwait/climate/kuwait_climate_climate.html

Dolasia, M (2009, March 15). Spectacular-sand-storm-blankets-kuwait-and-saudi-arabia. Dogo news.com. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://www.dogonews.com/2009/3/15/spectacular-sand-storm-blankets-kuwait-and-saudi-arabia.

Kuwait Sand storm ( 2011, March 27).Youtube. Retrieved October 31, 2011 from http://youtu.be/GQr27ReYui0 

The Kuwaiti Money, the Fils or the Dinat?

                                       Kuwait set of six coins, 1, 5,10,20,50,100 Fils

Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) KD 20, KD10, KD 5, KD 1, KD 0.500 and KD 0.250

            The Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) is the official currency of Kuwait. The KD (international currency code is KWD) is accepted worldwide and complies with International Monetary Fund regulations. KD 1 is equal to 1000 fils. Notes are issued in denominations of KD 20, KD 10, KD 5, KD 1, KD 0.500 and KD 0.250. Coins are in denominations of 100 fils, 50 fils, 20 fils, 10 fils and 5 fils. Since the beginning of 2003, the dinar has been pegged to the US Dollar. There is a small margin for fluctuation, so the exchange rate will always be somewhere between 289 and 310 fils to the dollar.
Exchange rates are published daily in all major Arabic and English newspapers (Kuwait, 2010).

         Cash is the preferred method of payment although credit cards are generally accepted. Traveler’s cheques are widely accepted although it is recommended that you take travelers cheques in US dollars or UK pounds sterling to avoid additional exchange rate charges. The use of cheques is not common. Foreign currencies can be changed at any of the numerous foreign exchange offices, hotels and banks. A passport is not always required in order to affect a currency exchange, although it would make sense to have it with you just in case (Explorer, 2010).

 Kuwait has an excellent, internationally recognized banking system with a wide range of commercial and personal services including money exchanges and transfers. A number of the banks have first-class online facilities.
The majority of banks are located in the central area of Kuwait City, with branches throughout the country. Kuwait is in the process of granting licenses to a number of international banks to open branches in Kuwait, including BNP Paribas, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Citibank and HSBC. Banking hours are from 08:00 – 14:00, Sunday to Thursday. Some do open for one evening a week but this varies from bank to bank (Explorer, 2010).

 In addition to the services offered by the banks, there are a number of reputable independent money exchanges in Kuwait. Rates are better than those you would be given at major hotels. These exchanges will also transfer money to an international account for a fraction of the price that a bank will charge. The majority of the exchanges operate Saturday to Thursday, from 08:30 – 13:00 and 16:00 – 19:00. A limited number of exchanges open on Friday afternoons (Explorer, 2010).

 Article Cited:

Kuwait. (2010). Explorer.  Retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://www.liveworkexplore.com/kuwait/general-information.

How would you like to be a woman in Kuwait?

                                                                Domestic Violence Kuwaiti

While in Kuwait for several months, I knew some frightening stories. However, I can only vouch for one. A woman living on our compound was walking back from a short shopping trip at dusk when she was attacked. She fought hard to fend the man off and he was finally scared away when a passing motorist stopped to help. She came away bruised, shaken and with a broken finger. Now, I know worse things happen more frequently back where I come from. However, there it is just a little different. So, dress appropriately and, as a woman, do not walk around at night alone unless you are in a very public and crowded place. Even then, be mindful.

Whenever I see a stylish, appropriately dressed, Western, woman around Kuwait, she is usually a teacher, working for a Kuwaiti company or married to a Kuwaiti. When I see a hoochie mama with skin tight jeans, low cut tops that are so tight you can count that they have more rolls then a bakery on Madison Avenue she is almost always a contractor. They have short tops with their tattoos showing and low cut jeans with their muffin tops visible to all. I am not saying all contractors dress inappropriately, but it seems like the majority just let it all hang out.

Several of the woman that I knew talk about how they see Arab women at the malls dressing in very revealing clothes and so they are going to wear what they want. Well, if they jump off the Kuwaiti towers are you going to follow them as well? Do you want attention for being a beautiful, appropriately sexy, well-dressed woman who shows respect for herself and represents her country well while in Kuwait? On the other hand, do you want attention for looking like you have served more men than McDonalds on Gulf Road (a Road in Kuwait)?

 Domestic violence on woman in Kuwait is an issue that has been ignored for years. Research is evident that woman in Kuwait are abused more than what is actually reported (Conrad, 2011). For most women, their marriage is everything, yet there are some unlucky women whose marriages end up in nightmares (Conrad, 2011).

 Many officials insists,” that problems doesn’t exist there because the culture and family traditions that woman are protected” (Conrad, 2011). A lot of woman there are scared to file police reports because they know that the police will not do anything to protect them. Theses woman are raised to marry and cater to their husbands because that is their way of life (Conrad, 2011).  When “a woman does file for divorce because of abuse, they must provide at least two male witnesses (or a male witness and two female witness) to attest to the injury suffered” (Conrad, 2011).

 Women are scared to not abide by these standards because of fear of scaring their family’s reputation. To them it is like sacrificing their lives; family and marriages mean a lot to them.

 While I do not agree on the laws concerning domestic abuse of woman in Kuwait or any country, I could only hope that the times are changing to include laws that prosecute the abuser.

Article Cited

Conrad, L. (2011, July 5). One in three woman in Kuwait a domestic violence victim’. Kuwaittimes.net. Retrieved September 19, 2011, from: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTE4OTM2OTMxOQ==.

          I will be blogging about the country of Kuwait. Some parts of Kuwait were destroyed during the Iraq war, but have since been rebuilt, and is a very beautiful country.
         In 2009 I had the opportunity to work as a contractor in Kuwait. I enjoyed my time there while making a host of friends. Given the opportunity I would go back.
         I have chosen to blog about this issue because you may want to go visit this country some day and should be aware of some serious issues that relate to woman, money, your safety and the weather. It relates to me because I have been there and have experienced and gained knowledge concerning the issues that may affect the lives of outside visitors.