I have been living in Kuwait now for a week and I feel like I’m settled in. The people I have met have been great with helping me with the little things, getting a phone, car, finding the grocery store. But even though someone told me the general direction of the grocery store it still took me 30 minutes and asking 4 other people, 2 of whom I’m sure didn’t speak English, to finally find it. The littlest things that were once easy are now a big challenge.

So last week I got a car and could do some exploring. Before that, I would be picked up and dropped off at the hotel every day and not be able to see anything. The first thing that I noticed was that every American food franchise was in Kuwait. McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Friday’s, Chili’s, Starbucks. I even saw a Tumbleweed Grill, which I didn’t think was that big of a chain.

One the subject of fast food chains, I broke down and at a McDonald’s last week. My new Iranian friends took me to get a cell phone and afterwards wanted to go to dinner at McD’s. I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s for lunch or dinner in while I don’t know how long. But I was glad I went because I got to try the new McArabia. I had never heard of the McArabia and it was actually pretty good.

The weekend here is Thursday and Friday but where I work, everyone works Thursdays too. So Thursday night is the one night a week to go out. The same guys that helped me get my phone took me the local Kuwaiti hot spot, Marina Mall. After we found a parking spot, after driving around for almost an hour, we walked around the mall and then went to dinner. We ate a Lebanese restaurant and I had my first non-alcoholic beer. After dinner, we had a couple shisha, or what I would think is a hookah. I think the shisha is a special type of tobacco. When in Kuwait…

Friday is the one day a week I don’t have to go into the office so I mostly just relaxed. Since the Persian Gulf is right outside my door, I took advantage of the beach. After than I went to town and found it empty at two in the afternoon. I did find an empty barber shop and decided to go in for a shave (I can already hear my brothers laughing as I type this.) If you have never gone to a barber for a shave with a straight razor, I highly recommend it. It took about 10-15 minutes and afterwards I felt like I was wearing a new, smoother face. I think I’ll be frequenting Waseem’s barber shop.

Last night I stayed up and watched most of the first round of the NFL draft. ESPN is part of the cable package and I can usually catch the 11pm Eastern SportCenter in the morning before I go to work. I hope they have the Bear’s games on this fall too, but 3pm kickoffs this year are really going to kill me on Mondays.