December WHAT?

I officially have no new pictures, because I didn't use my camera at all during the month of November. Sure, there were lots of occasions when I should have used it, but of course, forgot it. I do have a good number of updates though, and some exciting ones to boot.

First, I am finally a resident of Kuwait! After four months of pushing paperwork and a few less than desirable medical tests, I have three pages of my passport taken up by Kuwaiti stamps and stickers. This will expedite the process of entering/leaving the country, getting my Civil ID card, obtaining a Kuwaiti driver's license, and lets me go to any government hospital for next to nothing in case of an emergency. Chris' residency is also complete.

In order to obtain this piece of gold, I had to go to the Ministry of Something-or-Other last week and have chest x-rays and blood work done. I am apparently free of communicable diseases, so they let me be part of the country. In perfect ESL style, the person that drew my blood could not exactly communicate with me well (sort of laughable now), and left a huge bruise on my inner elbow. The following day, I had to go to the Ministry of Something-Else and have my fingerprints taken. I guess that's in case I ever decide to rob a bank here or something, so I'll have to remember not to do that...

Last weekend, we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice. On Friday, we had a luncheon after our church service at the embassy, and on Saturday, we had a potluck Thanksgiving at a friend's house with a number of the Middle and High School teachers from our school. This week, the Social committee (of which I am a part) planned a potluck lunch at the school for in between conferences. I can honestly say that I have never seen so much prepared food in one place in my entire life.

On the same note, Chris and I finished this week with two days of parent/teacher conferences. I found that just like the Americas, Kuwait has a broad spectrum of parent involvement in education. I did end up seeing parents of about 40 students out of the 96 that I teach. Overall, these were extremely pleasant.

Finally, we are going on vacation! Next week, the Muslim world celebrates an Eid holiday and we have the entire week off of school. We'll be making a trip to Jordan (and another nearby place) on Sunday with our friends Kyle and Noah, and then we return to school for December 14th-18th. After that week of school, Chris and I will leave on the 20th to go to Egypt, staying in Sharm el-Sheikh to celebrate our anniversary for a few days, then heading to Cairo and Luxor for about a week. Although it's starting to get a bit too chilly for diving and seaside weather, the views and relaxation time should be beautiful!

We'll, I'm off to the corner store for some ice cream and to buy some minutes for my mobile. Maybe I should get some batteries for my camera, too.