More differences

A few more things I've noticed, nothing drastic, but they are differences.

1. Stop signs don't mean stop. People literally drive right through them and out into traffic. If you stopped at them you would get hit.
2. In buildings, we call the main floor, the 1st floor. Over here the main floor is the Ground floor, our 2nd floor is what they call the 1st floor.
3. I have seen only 1 or 2 motorcycles over here, a few scooters for deliveries, but hardly any MC's.
4. Stores that sell the same products tend to be clumped together. literally 200 cell phone/computer companies side by side, the next street 50 bike shops, then 200 clothing shops. Not in the main, modern malls, but in the street stores.
5. Indians do all the manual labour, with Filipino's looking after the service sector.    

walking to the Shawarma place

 

Just walked over to the Shawarma place, bought two chickens, that's buddy getting my birds in photo 5. So 2 birds, two French fries, two big things of bread and pickled veggies for about $11. The building in the centre of photo's 4 & 6 is my building. Amazing view on the walk, the scenery is beautiful this time of year. 

 

One week in….

 

Alright so there are obviously some cultural difference between Kuwait and Canada, I will list what I have observed so far:

 

1. Hot.

2. Males can wear almost anything they want, anywhere, tank tops, no, but that appears to be the only limitation. For the most part women may not show their shoulders, cleavage, tight pants, or

arms above the elbows.

2.       Taxis are a flat rate, but you can negotiate. Still not the best at this, but working on it.

3.       You can negotiate price at many places.

4.       People are friendly and helpful.

5.       Few people know how to use their turn signals.

6.       Turning right from the far left lane and turning left from the far right lane is not uncommon.

7.       Parking spaces do not exist.

8.       You must have eyes in the back, right and left side of your head while driving, courtesy does not exist on the roadways. You must drive aggressively and defensively all at the same time.

9.       Some people will just stop, turn around and watch you walk past

10.   Litter and garbage is everywhere. People just drop their wrappers, cans, and whatever when they are done with it.

11.    Construction zones are wide open, anyone can walk in.

12.   Sand and dust is everywhere.

13.   Cars involved in accidents will sit on the side of the road for days or weeks.

14.   Feral cats are everywhere. Kinda like squirrels back home.

15.   Did I mention hot?

16.   Good foods, great variety, generally good pricing for local fare.

 

Likely many more I haven’t thought of yet.

For the most part I am enjoying the experience, I don’t like not having a car, if I did I would be out driving around exploring the place, but I’m confined to taxis and the school shuttle.

The old Souk, The Dhou and the Persian Gulf

 

Time

So back home, when you tell someone 4:00, it means 4:00. Over here it means about 4:00, never before, generally 15 - 60 minutes afterwards.

The Grand Mosque

Home

10th floor, second from the top, furthest to the right

scary construction

10 minute walk

 

There are 200+ computer/cell phone stores, and 50 jewelry stores, all within two blocks.