Bowlings Abroad

For many, Kuwait brings up a particular image—for people of our vintage—it's likely pictures and video from the 1990 Iraqi invasion of the country and subsequent US led Gulf War.

But places are more than their darkest hours, and Kuwait is more than the grainy night-vision footage of missiles streaking across the sky—narrated by Christiane Amanpour—that we watched on CNN back in middle school.

When we moved to the Gulf, Kuwait was not on our radar for a visit but as soon as we arrived in the region, we met countless fellow Americans who raved about their amazing time teaching in the Kingdom. Those stories and the enthusiasm with which they were conveyed convinced us (Hope more than Nate), to hop on the just under 2hr flight.

The proximity is perfect for a normal weekend and that’s what we did.

As per usual when we travel, we ate our way through the weekend. Possibly due to its status as a dry state, the food scene in Kuwait is off the charts. Matbakhi by Sawsan came recommended and did not disappoint. The quality of the ingredients melded with the richness of the flavors. It doesn’t matter if you’ve tried kebab or mashi (stuffed marrow) before, you have not eaten it like this. Is this a whole chicken on pizza? No, friends, this is musakhan, a traditional Palestinian dish that somehow we’d missed in our six years of living in the UAE.

We tried to visit the Kuwait National Museum but it was closed for renovations.

Taking that as a sign from God, we decided to head towards some shopping.

First, we headed to the Souq Al-Mubarakiya where we wandered the stalls, admiring intricate thobes and abayas, and colorful arrays of olives and fresh fruit.

We stopped for coffee, tea, and the best date cake you could imagine.

Then, we experienced The Avenues, a 1.2 kilometer shopping center, the second largest in the region (apparently Iran Mall in Tehran is the size of the Starship Enterprise).

For Tacomans, you probably think of the Tacoma Mall or maybe our Califonian readers are thinking about The Block (aka The Orange Outlets), in Orange County and Mall of America is ranked 10 places below the Avenues.

The mall is large enough that—for reasons we still don't understand—it has three H&M stores and a Hilton Garden Inn.

What’s perhaps different than in the West, is how folks use the shopping mall. It’s a place to be seen. Everyone is out in their finery. Couples are strutting their cute outfits. Kids are dragged along, strollers abound, and there was more flawless makeup and expensive footwear than we’ve ever seen.

We on the other hand wore our customary shabby American wear. Nate especially in his customary unlogo’d t-shirt and comfortable Gap pants.

Since we hadn’t reached out vacation level 20k step count for the day, we strolled along the corniche (boardwalk) towards Kuwait Towers taking in the soft light of sunset and enjoying the sounds of laughter from all the families picnicking on the beach.

We didn't do anything extraordinary but yet found the time deeply enjoyable.

What made the trip truly worth it, was traveling with one of our dear friends who lived there for nearly a decade. Seeing the country through his eyes and stories, made it special.

It is unlikely that we will return to Kuwait. We kinda feel like we saw the whole joint but we remain grateful for the opportunity to have visited.

On to the next.