It's really almost February?

This morning, Chris left to Yemen for a short stay, nearly completing his quest to visit all of the countries on the Arabian Peninsula. "While we're here, why not?" is a motto that I think I've heard more than once. After this trip, that leaves him Qatar (where we plan to go at the end of the month), Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. That last one is going to be a bit tricky if we both go, so I'll post details if I go along. After Yemen, he will here for a few days and head off to Greece with our friend, Kyle, who is currently teaching at a school in northern Iraq.

Since I don't have the same vacation time and already took my jaunt to France, the guys are going to check out the "old rocks" (as I call ancient ruins) without me.

Tomorrow I begin the new semester with a new set of students. I will still be teaching three 11th Grade English classes, but because we have the same block schedule everyday at my school, the courses are completed in one semester instead of over a whole year. I'm going to miss the girls I had first semester like crazy, but I think I will like the classes coming up just as much. I also have plans in the works to do a photography club this semester, though I don't know all that much about it myself. I am hoping that by having to teach it and work with others, I will learn a lot and build my own skills. If nothing else, it will be fun!

Around Kuwait this weekend, one can see the signs of "Hala February," or "Welcome/Hello February." This is a great time of year because there are lots of store sales and festival-type celebrations. I don't know why exactly they have it, but I think it has something to do with the national holiday and liberation holiday being the 25th and 26th of the month. I will investigate further and provide details if I find any...

There are about five months until we return to the States for some summer fun, Lord willing and if we both live that long! I'm especially looking forward to it this time around, because I will have a new niece/nephew to cuddle in addition to the rambunctious 2 yr old family comedian. There should be a few new friend babies to hold, too, so I'm sure I will find lots to do with my time. Before we actually get there, Chris and I have decided to stop in Italy for two weeks, and perhaps a neighboring post-communist country or two. "While we're here, why not?"

Failaka Island

On Saturday of this past weekend, we went out to Failaka Island, about a 30 minute boat ride into the Gulf from the east coast of Kuwait City. We enjoyed a classic car show before we left, clear skies and waters on the way to and from, a great Arabic lunch when we got there, checking out old and broken pianos, and visiting with friends, horses, and camels for seven or eight hours. We were surprised at how quiet everything seemed compared to the regular noise of the city, and enjoyed our time immensely. I think my friend Anita and I are going to head out a few times a month for riding lessons, so that should prove an enjoyable weekend diversion. Here are a few pictures: Failaka and Car Show

What are my thoughts on Paris?

Gosh, so I never finished posting about France. A lot of times I think, "Wow, I should really do that," but as one can see, that hasn't happened. Time to give a concise answer to the question, "What did you think of France?"

First, the weather was amazing. Although my sinuses suffered a little from it, I loved the snow and the 35F and below temperatures (around 1C).
Second, the sights and lights are gorgeous at night, especially because it was the Christmas season. I suppose there's a reason for calling it the City of Lights.
Third, the food (and coffee, because that's its own food group) was delightful. I was particularly fond of fresh French baguettes, Camembert cheese, Chardonnay, and cured ham. And, that's solely what I ate for breakfast and dinner one day, minus the wine.
Fourth, the public transportation is cheap, clean, and easy to navigate, albeit fairly crowded at night.
Finally, the city's architecture has an aesthetically pleasing blend of medieval and modern styles, due to the rich history and preservation of many areas.

All and all, it's a place worth going at least once. Because it's Western Europe, the cost factor comes into play when thinking about a vacation there. It's certainly not the cheapest place to travel, but for a week in a nice (for Paris) hotel, visiting most of the tourist spots, transportation, food, and splurging on a few gift items, I spent less than 300Euros (not including airfare). All that to say, I loved it!

Students

Some cuties from my 4th Block class
photo courtesy of D.Bell

What did I do In Paris?

Well, I definitely ate a lot of bread and cheese. I didn't have too much wine, but it was nice knowing that I could have if I wanted it.

People like lists, right? They're easier to read than narrative and certainly do the job of getting out information in a short amount of time. So, here's a list (though not exhaustive) of the places we went to or saw and activities that we did. First, we stayed in a great little neighborhood in the 16th arrondisment, at the "Hotel Auteuil Tour Eiffel." We also saw:

The Eiffel Tower
Different parts of the Seine River
Les Cars Rouge (red bus tour like in London)
the École Militaire
Église de la Madeleine (a church where we saw an orchestra & choral concert)
Boulevard Haussmann (window shopping)
Rue Royale (window shopping)
Galeries Lafayette (amazing, gigantic department store)
Place Saint-Michel
Notre Dame Cathedral
Hotel de Ville
Bazar Hotel de Ville (odds & ends department store and cafe)
Avenue de l'Opéra, Paris Opéra (formerly the National Academy of Music)
The Louvre Museum and Tuileries Gardens
Place de la Concorde
Champs-Élysées, Christmas markets up to the Arc de Triomphe
Sacré-Cœur basilica in Montmartre
Red Wheelbarrow Book Store (and numerous other boutique shops)
MANY patisseries, bistros, and yes, Starbucks
the Château at Versailles

We spent a lot of our time just walking around and looking at things, because the city was so beautifully decorated for the holidays. One day, we tried to go to the menagerie and gardens in the Latin Quarter, but it was closed because of ice; we went from one weather extreme to the other!

Next Questions:
What did I think?
What was my overall impression/experience?

Why did I go to Paris?

Let me start by saying that Paris is one of the most interesting cities that I've traveled through, but keep in mind that I was there during the Christmas season. That means the weather was cold, extra city decorations were abundant, and people were generally more busy because of preparing for the holidays. With that said, I had a truly amazing trip.

One reason Paris was so exciting is because I like the comfortable amenities of the western world. Yes, I can deal with squatty toilets, among other things, but there's just something so nice about clean public restrooms! On to the real stuff...

As part of my school year, I have more than two weeks off for a winter break. This year, our vacation was from December 18th- January 4th. (It was rough going back today.) Because Chris teaches at the university level, his vacation schedule is different and we only have national holidays off at the same time. Since we couldn't travel together and I was craving all things Christmas without the possibility of going to the States, we agreed that I could travel with one of my friends to somewhere that had snow, cold weather, Christmas lights, Christmas celebrations, and good sights. With the idea of Western Europe in my head, I mentioned it to my friend some time at the end of October, and Darlene and I devised a plan.

I booked our flight, and after settling on a hotel, we had reservations through the morning of the 24th. *Note: At this point in time, I was not aware that Turkish Airlines is notorious for mishandling baggage, so when we experienced the suitcase debacle, I was somewhat surprised.* Each of our flights was delayed at least two hours due to weather and one other problem, and we had a connection in Istanbul both ways; that made for lots of good airport reading time. In instances such as those, I have to remind myself, "Better late than dead." I can say that I wasn't thrilled to be stuck in an airport on my 4th anniversary- especially without my husband.

"You left Chris on your anniversary?" you may ask. Yes; however, we spent a good amount of time together beforehand and went out the day before I left. I made sure that even if I had missed an entire flight, I should have been able to make it home before Christmas. Indeed, I arrived in Kuwait at 3am Christmas Day, stopped at the grocery store by 4am, was home wrapping presents by 5am, and hit the pillow around 5:30am. My wonderful husband made French Toast (I think a coincidence) for us at around 11am on Christmas morning.

Next Question:
What did I do in Paris?