Guilty Pleasures

The week went by so quickly that I hardly realized it when Friday showed up and I didn’t have any plans! As most of my colleagues left for exotic destinations: Istanbul, Fiji, Georgia (the country, not the American state), Lebanon, etc...I had to admit something: I’m obsessed with travelling. Is travelmaniac a word? According to (Microsoft’s) Word, no. Hmmm. Well, if such a person exists who can be described as someone who is obsessed with travelling, feel free to use my photograph. I haven’t travelled the world, and by today’s standards I’m not even well travelled. However, I just LOVE to travel and I know it’s weird, but I like being out of my comfort zone. That challenge is awesome! For example, when a certain someone told me I would hate Kuwait (hey, that rhymes. Geek, Mik), I refused to listen to the negativity and accept that there would definitely be things or aspects that I wouldn't like at all. I wasn’t surprised when I, quickly, came to the realization that I really like Kuwait. So now that I feel I’ve learned how to live in the desert in the Middle East, I’m already wondering where else I could possibly go that would be new and different. Honestly, ANYWHERE would be different and exciting to me, hahaha!

I lazied in bed watching documentaries all day Friday, but were they ever good documentaries! I watched one about the French Revolution, sharks, lions, the Serengeti, and tried to watch one about the global phenomenon of war in the 20^th century (and how it is continuing today), but man, that last one was looooong and dense. I’m all for being historically informed, but it was too much information to process on a day off! Saturday, I went out with one of my students. She and I had been talking about going out and doing something for awhile and finally were able to meet up. She needs something to wear to a wedding this week, and I just wanted to get out of the house, lol! We went to the Avenues and ate lunch at a place called the Chocolate Bar. I really think that the Kuwaiti have a love affair with chocolate. Maybe it’s sweets in general, but it’s amazing how many dining spots are dessert places! We had pasta and then we decided to get the Oreo Cookie sundae. This was almost as heavy as the coffee and cookie sundae I’d ordered the week before at Cacao! However, my student and I SHARED this dessert, so we were able to eat a modestly-sized dessert which we weren’t even able to finish.

 Top View of the Oreo Cookie sundae @ The Chocolate Bar

Front View of the Oreo Cookie sundae @ The Chocolate Bar

We decided to catch a movie before shopping and chose the new Jackie Chan movie, Chinese Zodiac. Now since I’m not in Canada, I have NO idea how this movie is being promoted, meaning is this movie being shown in Chinese with English subtitles? Regardless, it was not as enjoyable to watch as Jack Reacher for the simple reason that the dubbed English and English AND Arabic subtitles were so distracting. Not good. No popcorn again either since I was stuffed silly from lunch. After the movie we went on the hunt for a perfect dress, but the fashion these days is so terrible. Honestly. I’m not a fan of wearing clothes that make you look heavier than you actually are, or pregnant. I like to wear modest clothing, but c’mon! It’s not the 60s. That fashion revival wasn’t inspiring either of us and a few hours later, after not finding anything that suited her well, we gave up and settled for eating again, hahaha! We got frozen yogurt at Pinkberry. It was delicious! I LOVE frozen yogurt, ice cream and gelato, so I was in heaven. I got mango and pomegranate covered with fresh raspberries and blackberries. YUM!!! As the day went on and we talked, I learned more about this girl and how intelligent she is. It inspired me because she’s not like most young Kuwaiti girls. She hopes to study and live abroad one day and I hope she does. I think it’s a shame that these smart women aren’t always able to live up to the full capacity, especially when they want to.

We laughed a lot and people watched and even made a quick stop in Sephora where we probably sprayed every perfume imaginable. She loves perfume and inspired me to buy a new fragrance, one that didn’t remind me of the past, or of Habibi, but rather one that signalled change…I am going to be 31 soon! I settled on the lovely Gucci Guilty Intense which has hints of mandarin, pink pepper (say what?), peach, lilac (thinking of my mother, who loved lilacs, subconsciously?), geranium, patchouli and amber notes. I wrote the expensive bottle off as an early birthday gift. Hey, I need smell nice when I visit Dubai this week!

Happy (early) Birthday, to Mik: Gucci's Guilty Intense

By the way, I was mentioned on Twitter!!! It was awhile ago, but check it out at: https://twitter.com/expatvoices/statuses/252175481737203712