The Kuwaitzy Streets

During orientation, evenings were spent exploring Salmiya. This included finding places to eat, and getting used to the area. The big mall in our area is Marina mall. It's okay if you like malls. It's an interesting place to go, we found. It seemed the later we were there, the busier it got. 11 PM and the mall was packed.

It makes sense though. It is so hot during the day that people hide out during the day and go out at night. A sister school for ACA was being built across the street from our building, and parts of it were literally going up over night despite no work being put into it during the day.

The cars in this country drive like maniacs. There don't seem to be any rules on the road. You can turn left from the far right lane, even if cars are going straight in the middle lanes. Try to figure how that one works out. Walking the street is no better. There isn't really a side walk, and when there is, cars are usually parked there as they park anywhere.

Crossing the street is an adventure.

Keeping that in mind, one thing I like to do is play frisbee or toss the baseball around on the beach. I should add that the beach is the Arabian Gulf, a 10 minute walk from my apartment. I do have to cross two pretty busy streets which is an adventure in itself. One of these roads is Gulf Road, location of the craziest driving I have ever seen.

Imagine a country where gas is 20 cents a litre, and there isn't alcohol to entertain you. What would you do? You might purchase a gas guzzling muscle car, or something that drives really fast. Don't forget the apparent lack of road rules. How fast can you go? What is the stupidest, most adrenaline inducing thing you could do? I feel like these are the questions people try to answer on a given night.

One night, after an exhilarating round of frisbee, Gulf Road held me up for longer than usual. Beyond cars driving super fast (part of the reason I was unable to cross), I saw an ATV or 4 wheeler driving down the road. Not a huge deal, except it was only on it's back wheels for the duration that I saw it. Possibly a half kilometer to a full kilometer. Not crazy enough for you? There was also a passenger riding on the back of it. After that, I also saw some car speeding down the road with some guys sitting on the window ledge with their feet dangling.

Unfortunately I had no camera on me to catch the ordeals, but that doesn't make it any less of a crazy site!