I don’t feel older

So, I celebrated my 26th birthday here in Kuwait. I really have set myself up for disappointment almost every year. I think “this year is going to be the best birthday ever!” This year, I had it in my head that it was going to be hard. I have always had Kyle. The only other time we have ever been apart on our birthday was when he was in Colombia. I guess the whole being in another country thing gets us. It’s weird. I just figured this year would be just another day…boy was I wrong.

We started a countdown at 39 days to Ms. Kelli’s birthday. 39 days we counted down. The kids were more excited about my birthday than anything! We also had a field trip that day, so they were uber psyched! When I got to school, Hannah (my absolutely wonderful assistant) had brought me flowers! Then, the kids got there with all of their gifts. To sum it up, I got a lot of expensive perfume, a cool Kuwaiti national dress, a Prada purse, a Thomas Sabo bracelet, Swarovsky earings and necklace, and a whole bunch of flowers. There was so much stuff. I cannot even begin to describe how awesome that felt.

When I got home from school that day, Ashlie gave me a DVD player and an alarm clock! Awesome! Then, I got to have dinner with Katie, Dave, Ashlie, Michelle, and Hannah! We ate at Johnny Carino’s. What a wonderful day!

Friday morning, I woke up and went to get my nails done with Hannah, Sarah, and Ashlie. We spent the whole afternoon out! It was also a wonderful day!

I could not have asked God to bless me even more than I already am. From thousands of miles away, I received so many birthday wishes from wonder friends. Thank you all for being a wonderful family to me!

National Day

You know. National Day is like the American 4th of July. Except, there is so much pride here. For a country that was only established in 1961, they have so much pride in who they are. Yes, Americans have a lot of pride. We really do. Especially Texans who have pride in both country and state. Kuwait pride is different. They see what they didn’t have. They remember what it was like before they were an established country.

I have students in my classroom that have parents who are around my age. They remember the invasion of Iraq. They have stories to tell. They lived it. I have students who have grandparents that remember not having running water and living in a tent in the desert. Yeah. We have ancestors like this, but these are GRANDPARENTS not great great great great grandparents.

Seeing my students in their national day outfits made me proud of who I am and where I come from. It made me proud to be an American who is accepted into this culture.

God has a place and a purpose for all of us. In the good times and bad.

Just on a different note. I know most of you already know what’s going on with a family in my church, but please…I ask that you pray for miraculous healing. Love you all so much.

Being Kuwaiti

I have a parent of one of my kids who is just awesome. She had been asking me for a while to go out to lunch with her. Well, the opportunity presented itself this past weekend. She came (with her driver) and picked up Ashlie and I to go to the mall to eat. Now, in Kuwait, the malls are the place to go. Everyone goes. Really. So, we go to the mall to eat at T.G.I.Friday’s (which I think should be T.G.I.Thursday’s because Friday/Saturday is our weekend). While there we have a great lunch. She then asks if we want to meet her family and go to the other mall with her sisters. We were excited to meet her family.

When I think of family meetings, I think of children and maybe a husband. Nope. We met the WHOLE family. I met grandma and all 5 sisters and ALL of their kids. Each kid had their own nanny, so there was some more people. That’s a lot of people to meet. It was AWESOME. We got a quick tour of the house. We had tea, water, and desserts. Kuwaiti style. I loved it. I loved meeting these wonderful people. I loved being able to get a glimpse into the life of my students.

We go to the other mall and walked around to the Versace, Gucci, Coach, and all those very expensive stores that you could only dream about buying things from. Haha. Then, by the time we met up with some of the kids, it was time for dinner! Dinner. We had been gone all afternoon! So…we went to a Lebanese restaurant and had humus, potatoes, and schwarma. Awesome. Loved it.

We then met up with the driver to take us back home. Now, although we had only shopped all day and arrived home at 10:00pm, my conclusion is that being Kuwaiti is tiring. It was so much fun and I wish everyone could have the opportunity to see into the lives of other people. The different cultures. Man.

On another note…Tomorrow is February 7th and I am getting a new student. Woo! I will be at 24 first graders. Pray for me.

Please go wash your hands

You would never believe the amount of times I have to say “please go wash your hands” to my kids. Now, I am not a person who is afraid of germs, but let me tell you, I do not like being sick. As I am teaching, I have kids coughing without covering their mouth. I have kids with their hands in their pants (they are 6 and 7: to be expected). I have kids who are sneezing into their hands and then looking at their hand. Now…I know that you know what that means. That means that they have just blown snot into their hand. Instead of going to get a tissue, they simply wait until they think you are not looking and wipe it on their pants, desk, carpet, or hair. You name the object in my classroom, and it probably has had snot on it.  So, when I see this, I cringe inside. I now see the possibility of me getting sick.

You know that feeling when you think your nose is running, but when you blow it there is nothing? And THEN when you think your nose isn’t running, you have snot dripping on to your upper lip? Don’t lie. I know you know that feeling. Well, you don’t think about it when it is someone else. One of my little kiddos had green snot dripping from her nose. I asked her to go blow it and told her that was disgusting. Now, as I sit her typing this, I know how she felt. You don’t realize it.

Needless to say. I am sick. The nurse at our school told me to stay home on Wednesday due to a fever from Tuesday. I got it. Whatever the kids are wiping on their papers…I got it. My immune system is pretty good due to the fact that I’m not really afraid of germs, but man. This one got me.

I am now constantly telling my kids to go wash their hands. (I need one of those big bottles of hand sanitizer from SAMS…man, that would be AWESOME. And this is not just a Kuwait thing. This happens in EVERY country because kids are kids).

Please, for the sake of the teachers who touch your papers, go wash your hands.

Times are changing

As I talked to my mom on skype tonight, I realized so many things in my life are changing. It’s weird to really have this hit me 5 month into my adventures in Kuwait.

Tonight, my mom was telling me how my niece was making jokes in the car and she was outsmarting the adults at 8 years old. 8 years old? Really? No way!

She then started talking about how she went to Kyle’s new house last night and had dinner (that he made) and roasted marshmallows with the kids, Deana, April, Kyle, and my Dad. At Kyle’s house. We aren’t old enough to have a house yet, are we? My goodness. We just moved to Texas not too long ago. Now, Kyle is getting married (to one of the most amazing people I have ever met) and he has his own house. Soon he will live there with his wife. What? Yeah. Wife. Weird.

Then, I thought about me. I am living in Kuwait. I have travelled to Abu Dhabi, London, and states in the US that I hadn’t ever been to. I will be in Dubai and then Turkey this semester. Next year, Egypt and maybe Africa. Oh my goodness. A year ago, I was content living in Dallas and staying in the US. Living in the US for another 25 years. Now, I am in Kuwait and I have so many desires to SEE the world. Really see it. Not just read about it.

Who would have thought that I would be in Kuwait. Out of the twins (me and Kyle), I think everyone had Kyle pinned as the one to make the big decisions in life. Not me. I was content. Not anymore. Now, I want to do so much.

I will say this. Being here has made me see how much love I have for all of my family. How my times did I just shrug of a time to spend with my parents or my brothers? I miss them so much everyday. I wish I could pick up the phone and just call them (well, I mean…I can now that I have this really cool app called Viber, but you get my point). Kyle and April gave me he best present. A phrase. And so…I will love by it. I will go many different places, but home will always be where my family is.

I do have a lot of stories from the last time I updated this, but there are just too many to count. I will do my best to try and update this at least once every week from now on. It’s my goal. Also, to have one funny story per update from no on. I know you wanna hear about the country and all that it  cracked up to be. Inshallah. 🙂

“Life takes us to unexpected places, but love brings us back home.”

Why yes, I would love to have a Halloween party…

As a first grade teacher, I was so super excited to see my little kids come dressed up to school for a holiday that I thought was really only celebrated in the states. Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays. People in costume freak me out.  I am always so terrified that they will come up to me and touch me or something. I figured that the kids would dress up and be cute and all of that fun stuff. Boy did they dress up. I had a ghost and three skeletons. I had one kid come as something with bones and blood.  I had a lot of princesses. I had a batman and some soccer players.  However I had the best one being Captain America with the puffed up chest and everything. Now, my kids didn’t go as all out as some of the classes.  One girl in my friends class in the 4th grade dyed herself blue to be a smurf. I mean that’s awesome, but half way through the day she broke out into a rash and had to go home. Sad day.

So, Halloween at an American school in Kuwait is not much different from the states.  Except, I don’t know if the little kids are allowed to dress up in the states. Anyway, along with Halloween comes the Halloween party. I was super excited about this because all I kept hearing was the parents bring in so much. Boy were they right. Halloween was yesterday, but I still have enough food left over from that party to give my kids a snack everyday for the rest of the week. Whew. We had mac and cheese. We had candy, doughnuts, pizza, cakes, cupcakes, sandwiches, croissants, chips, and some other things that are Kuwaiti. Man. It was so much. I brought some home, I gave some to our wonderful security guards, and I gave boxes of food to our nannies in the first grade hall. I still have food left in my classroom. I don’t know what to do with it.

Food. Lots of food. I didn’t buy a lot of groceries this week because of the Halloween party. So, thanks to all of my kiddos and their parents for making the holiday I didn’t like into something that I can see as a time to have fun. I am still not a fan of Halloween and probably never will be, but at least I am getting a little better.

Costumes still freak me out.

You don’t miss it until it is gone…

So, I am sitting here tonight thinking about all of the things I miss from home.  I really miss my bed.  The bed I have here is a king and it is made out of two twin mattress and poorly made at that. When you sleep in the middle of the bed, it is not a fun experience.  I really miss bacon.  Now, I will say, I did not eat bacon every day when I was in the states.  I didn’t even think about bacon in the states.  It was just there.  No big deal…but here.  Oh man do I miss bacon…

I really miss being able to wake up by an actual alarm (no I have not bought one, but I think I will look into that tomorrow). I miss being able to walk around in shorts outside. I miss being able to sing at the top of my lungs when no one was home.  At home, you could do that with no one able to hear you. Here, anyone who gets off the elevator on the 8th floor can hear me singing.  Annoying, but funny none the less.

I really miss my church family and the support they gave me. God continues to bless me here.  As hard as some days may be, God always gets me through it.  I am excited to see what all will happen here.

I really really really miss my Mom. Next to my relationship to God, she is probably the only one in this world who knows me inside and out. She can predict my next move. She knows me. It is hard to be away from that kind of bond.  I need someone who isn’t afraid to tell me that what I am doing is stupid.  Here, I can just make up my mind and get in trouble for it, but back home, momma could tell me before I did something stupid that it would get me in trouble.

Now, don’t go thinking that I am getting in trouble here in Kuwait, because I am not.  I am following rules and being a good girl.  I am trying to not think too much about the culture and just be a part of it. So far so good.  I mean, it has now been 76 days here in Kuwait, and I don’t really notice that I am in Kuwait.  Honestly, I forget. It is a lot like home. People are people and you just have to know how to respond to it.  Truly, Kuwait is fun. Now, I cannot wait to go on vacation and get away for a week, but I do like it here.

Vacation…I am going to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.  It is like the middle east’s Vegas. I am excited to get away for a little while.  I am excited that my plans are planned for now until after the break (Eid). We are staying in a hotel close to the beach, and we plan on relaxing and taking it easy for the week. I’m looking forward to it.  If you know Lisa Mickler, she is going to be working in Abu Dhabi, so I am hoping that I can catch up with her.

Pray for a smooth end to this week.  Pray that God allows me to be the woman he wants me to be and not what this world wants me to bed.  Pray for safety while on our way to Abu Dhabi. Pray that the next weeks go by rather quickly, because I am getting antsy to see my momma and my family!

More to come…because tomorrow is my first Halloween as a first grade teacher!

It needed to be clean…

So, this is week 5 in school here in Kuwait.  I am super tired.  I have been eating out a lot.  For many reasons.  I really took my mom for granted.  She did so much for me.  Even as I was living at home being 25 years old.  The dishes were always cleaned, there was food in the pantry, cable tv to watch, a cell phone in my pocket, a car to drive, and dinner cooked almost every night.  As I sit here in my apartment, I can see that my dishes are dirty, my floors look like I haven’t ever mopped them (because I haven’t), my bathroom is a disaster, my bed is not made, my pantry is almost empty, I am having easy mac for dinner, and my maid is sweeping.

That’s right…I said my maid.  I couldn’t handle it anymore.  I hired a maid.  I really just hired her for once a month, but she is super nice, and she needs the money just as much as anyone and I figure she does this for a living so why not employ her.  She works at my school as one of the nannies in the bathrooms.  She is so nice.  I already love her.  She will be getting a Christmas gift from me.

It all just needed to be cleaned.  I miss my mom.  Haha.

So, a lot has happened in the last few weeks.  It has been super busy.  I have made some pretty awesome friends.  I love being able to go do things with friends, so this is great! Also, I kind of fractured my ankle.  Really, it is nothing.  I can walk.  It is just a hairline fracture and I will soon be okay.  The nurse at school would wrap it for me almost every day.  I am well taken care of.  I did cry when I had to go to the hospital.  I was really nervous about going to a hospital in a foreign country.  However, one of my friends went with me, and it was totally fine.  Best part…I didn’t have to pay one cent (or fil her I suppose).  One fil.  Nothing.  It was awesome.  I have never done that.  I mean, I think I will now go the doctor if I have one sniffle.

I am learning some more words in Arabic.  My kids taught me how to say Smurfs in Arabic, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin on the spelling.  Ohh…funny story.

So, my aide in my classroom is Arabic.  Her mom is American and her dad is Kuwaiti.  Such a sweet girl! She teaches me a new word everyday.  On Thursday she taught me the word mushkila.  I loved saying it, but when it comes to remembering what the word means the next day…I fail.  So, on Friday I went to the mall with a bunch of people to go bowling.  My two friends and I decided to stay and shop some after.  We left the mall and grabbed a taxi at about 7ish, which is MASSIVE traffic.  So, when we tell the taxi driver where we need to go, he says something and I hear the word mushkila.  I tried so hard to remember what it meant.  I knew it wasn’t a good one. So, I text Hannah (my aide) and I ask her what it means.  She responds with “problem…why?” Umm.  Well, if I am not at work on Sunday you will know why.  So, I am freaking out silently in my head.  The very next text I get from her says “but mu mushkila means no problem.”  I am praying the whole time that this taxi driver said mu mushkila and not just mushkila.  Well, I made it home with mu mushkila, but I was super creeped out.

Anyway, those are just a few things of what is going on in my life right now.

Prayer Requests: I am praying that my kids are well-behaved this week.  We have progress reports to go out on Thursday, and I am super nervous about some of my parents’ reactions. I have a ton of work to do with grades and stuff within two days.  Pray for that.  Also, I bought my plane ticket home for Christmas break.  I will be seeing Texas again on December 16th all the way to the 28th!  I cannot wait. 🙂

If you see my mom, give her a hug for me. Love you all so much!!

Kelli

Ms. Kelli does not tie shoes

So, I know I have not written in here all week.  I do apologize. As much as I want to write about how my week went, I cannot.  I will have to send out an email about my first week.  If you read this and would like the email, I will be writing it tomorrow.  I will need your email address. You can send me a quick email at kellileighwelsh@gmail.com or you can reply to this post with your email address.  Let me know!  I would love to tell you all about what happened this week.

On a side note, I have been getting 4 hours of sleep a night and I decided it would be best for me to stay home from church today so I could get some sleep.  I woke up at noon with a solid 13 hours of sleep.  That was nice.  I feel refreshed and I am looking forward to starting on my planning for the week.

Last night, we went out in a group of about 9 Americans to go to eat.  We were headed for some Mexican.  Imagine my disappointment when we couldn’t find the place.  I love Mexican.  We decided to go to Applebee’s instead, and as I walk up the sign out front says “Mexican Night.”  I was super excited.  Then, we got closer and it said every Tuesday night.  Man.  I was so sad.  I really miss it.  But, I do plan on going back on a Tuesday.  One of the girls got a taco salad, and I saw sour cream for the first time since I got here.  That just made me night.  I will be finding some soon.  Anyway.  It was a good end to our week.

Thank you for all of the prayers and encouragement while I have been here.  I can still use them!

Don’t forget to let me have your email address! Even if you think I have it, let me know again.

Love you all! Give my mom a hug when you see her and tell her it is from me! 🙂

Greens

No, not the vegetables.  No, not money.  I’m talking about the color.  I miss it.  There is no grass here.  Sand is everywhere.  Oh well.  I should have known.

I really wanted to title this something like “shooting at the Americans,” but then I thought that sounded a little bad.  Really, though, tonight that is how I feel.  Let me explain…

So, Ramadan ended last night and the Eid started.  Eid after Ramadan is like Christmas and the Fourth of July combined.  They travel to see family and give gifts and they shoot off fireworks.  As I sit here at 11:00 at night typing this I am listening to a pile of kids across the street shooting this toy gun thing.  It reminds me of a cap gun from my childhood, but much much much louder.  When they first started shooting it, I ducked.  I didn’t know what it was.  But like any idiot in the movies that follows the creepy sound, I got up from the couch and went to the window to look.  Luckily, it was just this group of 5 boys playing with this toy gun.  They were actually just playing.  But, it seemed at first like they were shooting at the building full of Americans, now I know that’s not true.  That’s that.

I have been trying a lot of new things here, but so far the most adventurous I have been is sushi.  Yes, you CAN get that in the states, but I am not IN the states and I am trying new things here.  We went to this really nice sushi place the other night, and the first few things I tried were okay.  I would even venture to say that I liked the shrimp and the salmon.  Even the pea looking things (I don’t know what they are called).  I was doing so good, until the california roll was put on my plate.  It had orange ball looking things on the outside, so I asked what it was.  I was informed I needed to try it first.  Okay, I am being adventurous, so what the heck.  Right?  No. Never again will I try something without knowing what it is.  If you know me well enough, you know that I do not like biting into foods that “pop” in your mouth.  That’s not natural.  I took a bite of the california roll with the orange ball looking things, and I chewed.  I chewed and chanted in my head “don’t throw up” over and over again until I swallowed.  When I finished, one of the other teachers said “oh yeah! flying fish eggs” as she looked at my california roll.  My response “flying what?” Fish Eggs.  Nope. I was done with sushi after that.  I had to go get some ice cream to get the taste out.  Eww.

I did try it though.  Some people would be very proud of me for the things I have tried.  Some of you may think I am just strange that I haven’t tried this stuff before now.

Those are my funny stories.  I still need a lot of prayers, guys.  Here are some requests:

I still need my civil ID.

I still need to purchase a very expensive flight home for Christmas.

I still need to plan my classroom and we start on Sunday.

Prayers for my new class and good behavior.

Prayers for my fellow new teachers who are also overwhelmed.

Prayers for homesickness.

Love all of you.  I am so blessed to know that you read this and are praying and thinking about me.  If you have Skype and would like to talk and get some more details on my adventure, let me know.  I would love to communicate with people from home! Thanks guys!