Day 50 - Kuwait

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To celebrate 50 days of being in the Gulf, and looking to be home in 13 days, I've compiled a list of 50 Things I'll Miss When I Leave the Gulf:

  1. The desert
  2. The sand
  3. The wind
  4. Open roads for driving
  5. My little Toyota Corolla
  6. Jazeera Airways
  7. Cheap falafel sandwiches
  8. Good shawarmas
  9. Hammour
  10. Rugby practice
  11. The view of the waterfront from my hotel room
  12. The breakfast buffet
  13. The friends I've made - Keith & Leah, Leo, Nina
  14. The students I've met
  15. Figuring out Cricket - that "baseball"-like game which schedules breaks for lunch and high tea
  16. Al-Hallab - the best Lebanese sandwich shop in Dubai
  17. Shuttle bus service from the parking lot to the classroom
  18. The hotel staff that knows me by name
  19. Duty-free shopping in Dubai
  20. Dubliner's - authentic fish & chips across the street from my brother's house
  21. Watching sports coverage with Arabic play-by-play (soccer goals are just as exciting in Arabic as they are in Spanish)
  22. Western stores with translated logos
  23. Crazy drivers (they made me feel like one of the gang!)
  24. Walking from the airport to my brother's house
  25. All the massive construction projects in Dubai (roads, buildings, housing)
  26. Dust storms
  27. Mais AlGhanim - simply the best Lebanese restaurant in Kuwait
  28. 120-degree days with 80% humidity
  29. Lemon Creme Girl Scout cookies in the breakroom at work
  30. Going to church and feeling at home despite being over 6000 miles away
  31. Watching Rugby Union games in person and on TV
  32. Solitude (it had its benefits at times)
  33. The Kuwait Times delivering headlines from the United States to my door on a daily basis
  34. Playing tennis twice a week, and finally figuring out how to hit a decent tennis serve
  35. Discovering quirky places that pass for normal (remember Kuwait Magic?)
  36. Gawking at the world's tallest building (still under construction)
  37. Figuring out Aussie Rules Football
  38. Grocery stores with American products in translated wrappers, and European products that I don't see on a regular basis
  39. Watching Al-Jazeera's coverage of the United States' presidential election (they even had a team of talking heads at the nominating conventions a la CNN and Fox)
  40. Fresh, home-made granola
  41. Spending time with my brother, sister-in-law and niece
  42. Being called "Sir" by every service worker that sees me (might not miss this one so much)
  43. Collecting new currencies (I'm carrying cash from 7 different countries in my wallet right now!)
  44. Collecting new stamps in my passport
  45. Sharing pictures of far-off places, and some that seem like they're right around the corner
  46. Answering questions about these far-off places from people who want to know more
  47. Attending Sunday School back home in Michigan via Skype
  48. Shopping in stores where neither Arabic nor English is spoken well
  49. Staring at an indoor ski slope while eating ice cream at the mall
  50. Giving directions in a country where I've lived for less than two months

What have been your favorite things to read about? Drop me a note and let me know!

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