Things are different in terms of driving. It is possible to get a car and driver's license as an expatriate. However, the process requires wasta (clout). There is no particular way to get wasta. However, I can assure you that after about four months of living in Kuwait, I do not have it. If I decided to go through the long, gruesome process of getting my license, driving on the roads would bestow great stress upon my life. I choose to entrust my life on the Kuwaiti roads to the taxi and professional drivers who have years of experience driving with absolutely no rules. If my taxi driver uses his blinker, I automatically will pay him more. Don’t worry, it’s only happened once in recent memory, so I have not been wasting too much money.
Things are different in terms of women. The following will seem like a generalization, but I am simply just speaking upon my own experience. I am not claiming that my personal experience is indicative of every family situation. Two days ago, I was refereeing a JV girls soccer game when a few of my soccer players came up to watch the game. At halftime, the boys were upset because the JV girls get to play on a much nicer field then they get to play on every week. Granted, they are in middle school, so that is the reason. However, the boys were claiming that because they are girls, the girls don’t need such a nice field and rather the boys deserve it. After reminding the boys that the girls are equal to them, they looked at each other and demonstrated disagreement at this sentiment. However, in my experience with parents, I can only think of two mothers of my students who actually work; they are both teachers. I tend to call many mothers, both in a positive or negative manner every week. Calling at 11:00am has never been an issue because it seems many women do not work. There is nothing I can do in the society, but at the school I will continue to instill the ideology that men and women are of equal status inside the parameters of the school.
Things are different in terms of marriage. This week, I had an awkward conversation with a student. Last weekend when conversing with one of my students during a volleyball game, we discussed Kuwaiti culture and family life. During this conversation he informed me that women do not change their last name when they marry. So, on Thursday I attempted to use my new knowledge with another student. When I was asking for his mother’s first and last name, I noticed that him and his mother have the same last name. So, being the inquirer that I am, I asked him why this is the case because I thought women do not change their names when they marry. He told me his mother and father are cousins. Needless to say, I changed the topic very quickly. Lesson learned: DO NOT ask a student why their parents have the same last name. In addition, it is not uncommon for a student to have two mothers. However, this does not mean the students come from a same-sex household. That would be very haram (forbidden). Instead, the father has multiple wives, but the wives must be treated equally so the women will raise all the children collectively.
Instead of the Kuwaiti Fact of the Day, I just wanted to acknowledge the tragedy in Paris, Beirut, and everywhere around the world that experiences these tragedies on a weekly basis. It is not difficult to imagine why so many refugees have been embarking toward Europe. They are giving up their homes and past lives and find a safe haven away from the horror in their homeland. I am not sure what the solution is, but I do know that love always triumphs over hate. However, alienating and blaming a particular religion or area of the world is exactly what these few want. So, today, let’s pray for the people of Beirut and Paris, but remember that when we stand together to help humanity, we will always triumph.