Last week, the Ministry of Education announced that all schools would be closed for the Islamic New Year. Although we just had a long break, I am not complaining about receiving two more days off.
During my days off, I have ventured into the desert twice more to take photos and hike. On Wednesday night, we went back to a graffiti wall we had stumbled upon last month during photo club. We lit steel wool on fire and created interesting images with fire. While out in the desert, many cars filled with teenagers passed us going up to the Ridge. We can only assume what type of rowdy behavior occurred there.
On Thursday morning, two buses from the school traveled north of Kuwait City into the desert to hike the Ridge, the only geographically elevated landmark in the entire country. While hiking, we found bullet shells from the war, crashed shells of cars in the valley, and tires were raced. The Ridge was an important location during the war because it overlooks the Highway of Death.
After the Ridge, we travelled to a Burger King in the middle of nowhere. By the time we left the fast food chain, they only had three sandwiches left to offer. I am pretty sure they have never seen so much business. We set off for an old satellite station. I am not entirely sure when it was used, but there are no more satellites left at the station. They were removed a few days ago. It was very evident that this is a popular party spot and paintball arena for Kuwaitis.
While exploring one of the buildings, we found a few holes in the ground. Because so much sand has filled the building, it made it possible to climb down the sand into the basement. Of course, this involved army crawling between the sand and the ceiling. Whilst exploring using our flashlight, we found a tunnel that connected two of the buildings.
In the same building, we found graffiti inscribed on the wall. The picture below really made me realize where I am in the world. It is difficult to realize that we were only 50km from Iraq while exploring the satellite station because of how safe we were. However, seeing this on the wall was very eye opening.
Kuwaiti Fact of the Day:
There seems to be a class system here. Kuwaitis sit at the top of the food chain as first class citizens. Next comes the educated expats (teachers, doctors, businessmen, etc.). The working class is substantially below the educated expats, unfortunately. These people consist of the maids, nannies, drivers, construction workers, etc. Your class heavily dictates how much money you make and how you are treated in the society.