What's this America you speak of???

My husband says that I've forgotten what America is like. And quite possibly, he's right... I did manage a short visit a little over a year ago - and I remember suffering from a HUGE amount of reverse culture shock.

I officially became an "expat" in 2008 - cutting all American ties (aside from family, of course). We moved from Los Angeles (with our ONE little baby at the time) and arrived in Helwan, Cairo two days later. Cairo is a horrifyingly polluted city filled with an utter excess of people all of whom live in red brick apartment buildings. This excludes the filthy rich, of course, who are living it up in Maadi, Zamalek, or even New Cairo. Lucky.

Helwan was once a vacation spot; it now has been relegated to the bottom of the totem pole of Cairo neighborhoods. There are donkeys in every street, stray dogs, dead cats. Trash is piled up on every street. This was my husband's childhood home.

We arrived, not knowing what our future held. I gave birth to my younger daughter two months after our arrival in a private hospital here. Don't let the picture in that link fool you - there's nothing close to that OR there.

My husband was so devastated with our new home that he opted to moves us all to Kuwait after we had spent a great deal of money finishing an apartment here. (It stands empty to this day.)

We arrived in Kuwait on the 4th of February, 2009. We began our adventure in an area of Kuwait that I would never choose to live again (Salmiya). Overcrowded, small over-priced apartments. Although, Salmiya offers a great deal of American food and drink for the home-sick expat.

We moved to a lovely area called Abdullah Al-Mubarak four months later. It is a true neighborhood filled with villas. There are modern public schools (which my children will not be allowed to attend - rant some other time), large grocery stores (co-ops), and they just opened a brand new Body Shop, Payless and Starbucks! I began driving (totally necessary for happiness - believe me) and began taking my babies on daily adventures.

Seven months ago I gave birth to my son via VBA2C at the most amazing hospital on the planet. Don't let THOSE pictures fool you either - it's a billion times nicer!

I genuinely am happy here. I confess I spend a lot of time taking my kids to the mall which is something I would never do in America. I just discovered that there is a Little Gym in Jabriya so I will be signing my kids up soon.

I write all of this as an introduction, and because I am leaving for a visit to the US on the 26th of June. The kids and I will be visiting my parents, following an extended layover in London. They will be experiencing their first swimming pool, taking dance classes, and playing on safe playground equipment in green, grassy parks "insha'allah."

We will see how different the two worlds truly are, and how Kuwaiti I have become!

Thanks for reading!

♥
Q8 Queen
PS: Since i mentioned two hospitals, this is where my oldest daughter was born!

Expatriatism.

So, I've been reading blogs recently exaggerating the problems for an expat living in the Middle East (more specifically Kuwait). Maybe I have grown accustomed to the challenges, due to my stint in the true "third world?" More likely, however, is the idea that expats from the US expect a culture and lifestyle similar to America. They are often intolerant of outside cultures - even when visiting another country. Americans impose themselves on other cultures and attempt to change others - and if that doesn't work - then they just like to bitch about them.

And so this is why I am creating this blog. I feel the need to provide a positive account of expatriate living in the Middle East. I hope I can provide someone with an outlook that promotes equality and allows them to see that a different culture does not make someone dirty, rude or lazy because they live differently...

(Although every little expat misses home once in a while!)