A friend of mine here told me last night that he’d soon be turning in his letter of resignation with the American School of kuwait. It was sad to hear the news. In the long two months I’ve been here I’ve considered him a good friend of mine. About a week ago he told me he didn’t know how much longer he would be in Kuwait, that New York/Jersey was where he belonged. I guess it was on the way home today when it kind of hit me, after another of several daily gasps in response to the ruthless Kuwait traffic, that my friend would be going home to America (which I looked at eon a world map recently and for the first time it seemed like a foreign land). And...I felt a slight home sickness come over me.
It was the comfort of home that I imagined he’d be going back to that made me feel so far from home. For my friend: no more language barriers, high-maintenance parents, blocked websites, unpredictable desert traffic (literally-on the sand with no marked lanes!), getting swindled by cab drivers claiming they can’t speak English, and no more absence of cold beer. He’ll be going home to familiarity and newspapers in English, family and trees, and hospitals that check your vitals with each appointment. He’ll have a nightlife and 24-hour diners. He’ll have the “greatest country in the world”.
I really believe in giving myself chances to “test myself”, to not always take the easy way out - not to say resigning and facing a board of admin is an easy thing to do - and to always give myself specifically chosen opportunities to improve in body and mind...hence, Kuwait. (I love to hear children practice reading because I know there is a lot of thinking going on there, a lot of essential growth and learning that’s leading them toward a fuller life. That’s how I feel living here. It’s like I’ve just learned how to read and there are all these unread words and books in front of me with the potential to sculpt my life in a very omniscient way (don’t know if I used that word correctly...I might be mixing it up with omnipotent...)). Yeah, I’ve got to take a cab or bus most everywhere I go and my alarm clock is set anywhere from 4:15 to 5:15 in the A.M. But, f*%#, I’ve got too much of a good thing going on here. I really like to reserve my use of the word “love”, but I’m not far from using it when I think about my job and the people with whom I live and work.
You know how you never realize what the best memories of your life are until a long time has passed since those events actually happened? In the first two months in Kuwait, I can feel some of these memories already scaling there way toward the upper echelon of my remembrances. Sure, the lure of home is there, but maybe I come upon some greener grasses - even if I have to sift through dunes and sandpits.
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I just read your blog post out loud to Daneah. We're so excited to chat with you about your experiences. We totally know what you mean when you say those memories are some of the best you'll have. Part of it is because it's so hard and so foreign but at the same time so amazingly cool that you get to experience another culture from the inside.
ReplyDeleteWe once paid a taxi in Bulgaria $30 to drive us 10 minute...should have cost us $1 at most. But that's part of it...you learn overtime and before long there isn't a taxi drive in the world....including America that will swindle you out of an extra $1.
Yes....living overseas isn't for everyone...and living in a place like Saudi or Kuwait is as tough as it gets. But there is a good reason why school admin look for people who have made it two years in those places and still want to be overseas. Those are the people who can adapt and overcome harshness...and there is plenty of it (as we sit here in our house with our street completely flooded after the all night rain storm and another making thunder on the horizon). But as you state it becomes part of you....and you look at a map for the first time in whole new light....and you visit places and have these moments where it just hits you that you can't believe you are here....a kid....from Silverdale in Kuwait....so cool!
Daneah and I still turn to each other and will say "I'm having one of those moments" and it's that time when you can't believe that this is truly your life. You'll have one in Sri Lanka I'm sure of it....and that feeling of amazement will never go away. Just remember that life is an adventure and remember to laugh when things get rough (Like missing your plane in Brussels), as it's all part of the experience!
As we like to say "Live It Like You Love It!"
Thanks, Jeff! It's crazy to picture you there in a rainstorm when I haven't seen a drop of rain in months!
ReplyDeletep.s. it was exciting to the pics of your new place in Sea-town!