Warba Beach Resort

Our complex is called Warba Beach Resort. Sounds very exciting! :-D I went visiting with Susan earlier which was nice. It's like a little community here with most people knowing each other. An Egyptian lady said she had an air bed so we went to pick that up and had some homemade mint tea. I wish I'd had my phone to take a pic as it was in a lovely glass with mint leaves on top! We've already been invited to a BBQ tomorrow. I get the impression there is a lot of BBQing as there are loads dotted about the complex. I met some Filipino neighbours which was nice and also saw the Scottish New Yorker too who's flying to Scotland next week.

About the blow up bed....we thought our problem was solved but the pump wasn't charged and that takes 12 hours!! If we go to bed at midnight that'll give it six hours charge....it's not looking like we'll have a very comfortable night!

All in all a nice start to our time here.

Moving day (again!!)

That's us moved into the complex in Mangaf now. I can't believe we have moved again but only one more to Scotland now, then that's it for at least five years!! (she said! haha)

The complex is lovely, it has a summer holiday feel to it when the sun's out and there are people by the pool. It's lovely seeing and hearing the sea too. The sea is choppy today so the waves are coming right over the sea wall. We saw a little shop that sells inflatable toys. That's when you know you're really at the beach
:-D

The flat is really big, bright and airy too which makes a nice change from the dark, stuffy hotel apartment in the city.

We've just about settled in, we just need to get hold of a bed for tonight!! The one we were meant to get today fell through so we're praying something comes up quick!
Susan, who leases the flat is really nice and I think she'll be easy to live with. Her accent reminds me of my Manchester family so that's nice :)

I visited the British (I use that term lightly!!) clinic today so I have got to go back on Saturday to see the midwife. It's all beginning to feel real now!

Downstairs from apartment

Blackpool type shop along the road lol

Fridge magnet - good sign ;-)

Living room

Kuwait city

We ventured further into the city last night as I tracked down an 'Inasal' restaurant (BBQ chicken & rice) which was our favourite food in Philippines. I was so excited to eat it again! :-D When we arrived at the address the Filipino receptionist gave us I realised it wasn't a franchise or branch of the 'Mang Inasal' restaurant we went to so often. The meal we got wasn't as good as that but it was pretty close and I enjoyed it, despite it being quadruple the price! Haha. The restaurant was like a little piece of the Philippines in the midst of Kuwait city, all the staff and customers were Filipino and they even had the much loved karaoke on the go! It made me miss Gensan even more! (Not the karaoke part! Lol)

It was good to see all the high rise buildings in the city all lit up.

IKEA

We went to IKEA today to buy some things for the new apartment. Our bedroom is unfurnished but we should manage with the bare minimum. A family from the complex are moving to Texas so they are selling us a bed and we'll be able to pick some things up in Hawally before we go. The IKEA is weird as its exactly the same layout as the Braehead one (I suppose they must all be) but smaller. It's not as cheap either which sort of defeats the purpose of IKEA! Lol

*Updated again!*Jets

We were out for a walk today and a jet flew over head really low! It was lower than some of the skyscrapers! Shortly after that six jets in formation did a fly by! It was very cool to see. We think it might have been for the Kuwait National Day celebrations.

Laurence went out for his lunch break yesterday to try and find a router for new apartment and saw more jets! This time they were creating patterns in the sky with smoke the colour of the Kuwaiti flag. He caught one on camera drawing a love heart in the sky.

Holidays

I am off work for a week for Spring Break. I don't have much planned but we are moving to Mangaf at the end of next week. Looking forward to being near the beach and pools! Also looking forward to being MUCH closer to the school!

National Day

We had a show at school today for Kuwait National Day. Yes, another one!! Thankfully the Arabic teachers were in charge of this one so no stress for me :) The kids all looked great in their national dress.

Birds

One of the chicks that was on our bathroom window cill has flown the nest but the second is more reluctant! The mother bird is back sitting on two new eggs, so it's the mum with her eggs, the second chick and sometimes the dad all squashed on the little window cill.  Hopefully the chick, which is actually very big now, will pluck up the courage to take flight before the eggs hatch or it'll be pretty crowded on the little window cill :-D

big brother and two new eggs

Mangaf Seaside

We went to Mangaf today to see Susan's flat and we were very pleased with what we saw. Her flat is really big and spacious and the complex is great, with four pools and a huge gym. It's right on the beach so there's a lovely view from the living room and only 10 minutes from school. We've decided to move in at the beginning of March until the end of June. After seeing the flat and meeting a few of the neighbours, including a big New Yorker originally from Peterheed as he called it :-D, we walked along the seafront to Fahaheel where the school is. There's a nice area there with shops and restaurants beside a marina. It's literally a breath of fresh after being in Hawally for two months which is very built up and congested with traffic.  We're so blessed to have found such a great place for free effectively!!

Pool 1 - this is the heated one so the most popular (except at the height of summer!)

Infinity pool looking over the Gulf - so excited to use this one!

gym

view from flat living room

our new room - need to find a few pieces of furniture!

on the way to Al Kout  in Fahaheel

Fahaheel marina

dates mmmm :)

Possible flat

We may have found somewhere to live. A colleague of mine from Swinton in Manchester has a big flat on the beach in Mangaf near the school and she said we could rent a room there.

Initially we thought that would be too weird having 'flat mates' at our age and stage in life but the more we've thought about it, the more appealing it has become. We'd be sharing with her and another teacher from Canada. However the rent she's asking would be covered by my allowance from the school so we save more for coming home, it's a posh, westerners only complex with three or four pools, a big gym and right on Mangaf beach. It's also next door to the Hilton and its private beach which I already have my eye on for my birthday! ;-)

It would only be for four months too which we think is manageable for all the benefits it offers. I'd be able to share lifts to and from work with the lady who has the flat and another teacher from the school who lives across the road. The flat has Internet but we'd have to buy a bed although we already know of a family leaving to go to Texas who are selling a bed etc so should be easy to get hold of everything and it'll be a lot cheaper than four months rent.

We are just waiting to hear that the room is free from the 1st March and then if so we'll go and see it tomorrow. If we go tomorrow I'll take pics for the blog.

There's also a British clinic within walking distance of the flat that I'm going to inquire at about a scan! Eeeekk :-D

The picture isn't of the flat haha it's just an enormous 'house' I pass on the way home from work every day. Think it must belong to the prince or Amir!

Apartments

We have until the end of February to find ourselves an apartment here as that's when we have to leave the accommodation the school initially put us in. I'm looking forward to being closer to school for a shorter commute so we're looking in a place called Mangaf where a lot of the teachers live. It looks like a nice area and on the coast so we'll be able to go for beach walks. I've been to see a few flats there so far and they range dramatically from horrible to stunning lol. There were a couple with sea view which were fab.

The problem is that the rentals here are very expensive, especially furnished places. We are praying that we get a decent place for a good price in the next couple of weeks. I have a week off for spring break at the end of the month so that'll be handy for moving.

It's funny because when I moved away from the UK I had it in my head that we'd be away a while so I never thought about going back at all. However, now that Laurence and I know we're going home we can't wait to get back to familiar surroundings and into our own house! I keep imagining myself doing little things like making a cooked breakfast in my own kitchen haha :) You're welcome to join us for that :)

View from a flat on the Gulf Road. This is looking towards the main coastal road but a lady at work who used to live in this building said it's like a drag race track at the weekends. All the rich Kuwaiti boy-racers in their super cars use it to race and apparently it's extremely noisy. That makes me feel better about not being able to afford this one haha

Sarah from work and her Kuwaiti husband took me to see their friend's building. This is the one with the view above. It was a very nice flat and the building had a lovely pool.

Weather

Finally the weather is heating up! I've been desperate for it to get warmer as I really felt the cold when we arrived. After being boiling all the time, it took some getting used to the temperatures here.

However, now a dilemma is dawning on me. The weather is getting warmer-great but how am I going to keep cool in these temperatures?! In the Philippines I could wear shorts and T-shirt, however I can't wear short sleeves here! Technically as long as knees are covered, short trousers or longer skirts are ok but to be honest, I wouldn't go anywhere in public here without being completely covered up. One saving grace is that everywhere has air conditioning and it didn't occur to me last week how warm it was outside until I finished school as the school building was still freezing :-D I may just not be able to go outside much. I've been told the summer temperatures here are 'disgusting'! It won't help that I'll have my own hot water bottle strapped to my belly (bump) Hahahaha.

The news is out....

It seems a certain Celtic-supporting, Carhartt-wearing father-to-be couldn't keep our news to himself any longer :-D We were going to wait until the traditional 12 week mark but the news is out already and once again I'm AMAZED at how quickly it can travel! If you haven't already heard, a baby Deary is due at the end of September this year so we are heading home at the end of June for the foreseeable future. We're looking forward to being back in familiar surroundings with our friends and of course getting ready for the new arrival.

School show

Today was the day of the school show for Book Week. I was optimistic as our two songs, 'Ten in the Bed' and 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' went really well in rehearsals. The kids were singing loudly and doing the actions. However that all went out the window when they got on stage! The music teacher started playing the second song first so I had half the class singing the correct song and the other (musical) half going with the music. The false start totally threw them so there wasn't much singing after that. The two loudest singers started crying so they were out the game and another of my main singers was bothered with his mask slipping down his face. It's very hard trying to give kids instructions (like stop crying or take your mask off) while singing a song and doing actions! The first song was 'Ten in the Bed' so the children were supposed to sit down one by one or two by two. However nobody sat down! We (or I) was singing 'there were four in the bed' and there were still about 9 children stood up aaaarrrggghh. When I was gesturing for them to sit down they just stared at me like they'd never seen me before hahaha It was pretty stressful. One little Indonesian boy shouted 'there's my father!' as soon as he got on stage so that got a laugh. Anyway it's over now thankfully, until the next one. The school actually has a proper auditorium with stage, lighting, theatre style seats etc so no wonder it's scary for the kids. Of course they were also concerned about seeing that their parents were there too.

The pics aren't very good but I've posted one to show the class and the bear masks.