Heading South....

Thursday we left for our first visit to the Gulf States region - specifically to Kuwait.  This small country lies south of Iraq and has Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf on its other sides.  It is famed for its oil and being invaded by Iraq a little over 20 years ago.  We journeyed there to visit our special friends, the M'hallahs.  This family is Tunisian but have lived in Kuwait for more than ten years.  Rym teaches operations research at Kuwait University while Kheireddine is an engineer in the private sector.  Their older son Sadok was born in Opelika. Alabama and spent the summer of 2011 with us in Auburn.  Alice was invited to Kuwait University to give two seminars and meet with faculty and students and this seemed like our best chance to see the M'hallah family at their adopted country.

We landed on Turkish Air (through Istanbul) near midnight.  I had a visa waiting for me which was located after some search while Randy got his on the fly at the airport (quite easily and free of charge).  Our faithful friends were waiting for us and we were taken to the Regency Hotel.  This is the best hotel in Kuwait and is a lavish five star hotel on the beach.  After a slow check in we were taken to a large and immensely comfortable room.  The king sized bed was just what we needed at two AM, way past our usual bedtime.

Each morning brought forth a huge breakfast buffet with a combination of Middle Eastern foods and Western (U.S. or European) ones.  We skipped lunch each day so as to actually be hungry by dinner time.  We were especially happy to see smoked salmon on offer and made full use of it.

Our activities on Friday (the first day of their weekend which runs Friday and Saturday) included a brief tour of Kuwait City and then a drive north through the desert (well, actually the whole country is desert).  Alice had told Rym that she wanted to see the authentic Kuwait and not spend time in shopping malls (currently their main form of entertainment).  The M'Hallahs obliged by driving us up to the Iraq border - we did not attempt to cross it for obvious reasons.  Along the way we saw remnants of the invasion by Iraq (these are scattered pretty widely over the country) and herds of camels and goats.  There is enough scrub for these animals to eke out food.

Hachemi, Rym and Alice on the gulf front near the Aquarium

Traditional fishing boats on display near the Aquarium

The smallest version that purposely takes water in to keep the fish caught fresher

The old Kuwaiti flag

Randy with a magnificent set of palm trees along the sea front

The landmark Kuwaiti Towers, sadly closed for renovation during our visit

Alice and adorable Hachemi at Casa M'hallah

Kheireddine (yes, he is tall!), Randy and Sadok in front of the building housing Casa M'hallah

Randy, Sadok and Alice together again

Herder with his goats in the Kuwaiti oil fields

Ruined government communication center which was destroyed during the Iraqi invasion

The war ruin where Alice picked up a few spent bullet cases as souvenirs for Nick and Alexander

Kheireddine checks out the abandoned buildings from the war over 20 years ago

Detail of pine tree trunk

The weathered pine tree near the ruins - it is obviously tough to withstand the extremes of the Kuwaiti desert

Randy does not like desert terrain but enjoyed this outing

A couple of camels grazing among the desert scrub

Randy and Sadok hide most of the Iraqi border which lies behind the back car window (photos are not allowed)

A covert photo of the Iraqi border with Kuwait

The goal was a "farm."  These farms are famous in Kuwait and exist in both the north and the south region of the country.  They grow an amazing breadth of plants (and some farm animals as well) through clever use of irrigation and reuse of water.  They are not really money making enterprises but rather avocations of affluent Kuwaitis who visit them on weekends during the cooler months.  This farm was founded by the father of one of Rym's colleagues, Suja.  It is impressive in its ambition to grow almost anything in the desert.

Arriving at the "farm" in northern Kuwait.  Suleyman, Suja's friendly husband, welcomes us.  Suleyman also has his own farm nearby but apparently not as in such an advanced state as this one

Can you believe this is the middle of the desert?

The lovely farm house which was vast and included awesome porches and even a fireplace

Suja showed us the farm's activities and had prepared a feast of Kuwaiti foods which featured some of the fresh fruits and vegetables of the farm, or nearby farms.  The food was truly delicious and had Turkish aspects along with Iraqi, Lebanese and Persian influences.  The spices were unique and fit the food so well.  Our hosts were not only hospitable but also responsive in answering our questions about the region.  Suja's husband, Suleyman, is a native of Saudi Arabia and together they are very knowledgeable about the history, culture, politics and religion there.  They were also fully frank and open and it was so interesting to learn about this important world region.

Suja shows us the fruits of her family's labors

They reuse the water for irrigation but keep fish (tilapia) in the tanks to keep the water clean and algae free.  This was a great idea and so eco-friendly

Alice and Randy in front of the corn crop

In the green houses all sorts of vegetables and fruits are grown including these eggplant

A flock of geese

Suja spoils their cows

Some of the thousands of tomatoes growing

The largest green house houses an incredible array of trees including this banana tree

Dinner is being prepared both inside and outside

There were three or four ladies devoted to the cooking of the feast

The ladies grill outside and also made bread in a traditional oven

Olives and salad

Stuffed grape leaves - very similar to Turkish but not served with yoghurt

A fresh grouper fish from the Persian Gulf was outstanding

Rym and Suja's older son enjoy after dinner juice boxes

Our first day in Kuwait was unexpected in many ways - the Americanization of the city is pretty complete to the point of obscuring its history and culture.   The variety of dress among both men and women is vast but traditional dress is dominant (white robes and headdress for the men and black robes and head scarfs for the women).   The country side lived up to our expectations with regard to desert - no big sand dunes but mile after mile of desolate sand.  However amidst this difficult landscape a farm mentality flourishes.  This shows both the mental toughness and creativity of the people who live there (as well as the money. as the cost must be considerable). 

Alice relaxes at the farm on the massive hammock there.  The weather was beautiful - not hot and not cold with just the right amount of breeze

The early evening skies over Kuwait - the same as found in Alabama or Ankara but yet so different...