First off let me start this post by saying jet lag is a BIT*H! In all of my travels, I have never been affected by jet lag the way that this has hit us. Kuwait is 7 hours ahead of the East Coast USA and 4 hours behind Bangkok. I’m really not sure if the problem lies in the fact that we were in the states for a month before coming here or what. Our bodies just can’t seem to get with the program.
Arrival In Kuwait
Usually, the easiest way for me to combat jet lag is to land at night. This way I can go straight to sleep after a long journey. It forces your body to be in sync with the time and you don’t have to worry about staying up all day just make sure your body catches up. So, of course, we picked a night flight. We landed in Kuwait at around 9:30 PM. Due to the lethargic movement of the luggage, we didn’t end up leaving the airport until nearly midnight.
Lucky for us the school sent someone to pick us at the airport (Can you say fancy?). The first thing you notice when you step one inch out of the airport was THE HEAT! It was like stepping out of a sauna and into an open oven. The heat was stifling and immediately made your eyes hurt. I am unsure if this was because we were in a parking garage or if it was truly that hot but at that moment I was worried. Like shit, what have we done choosing a destination like this? Cause if it’s damn near 100ยฐF AT MIDNIGHT what hell will the daytime bring.
Snapchat of the degrees from the plane when we landed | Kuwait | MeetTheWards.com
We piled all of our stuff into their truck and we were on our way. Our apartment is only 8 minutes away from the airport so it was a less than scenic ride. What I did notice immediately was that there were trees and plants coming from the ground but there was no grass. Just sand. In my mind, prior to coming, I thought all I would see was desert with no foliage whatsoever so this kind of intrigued me. I’m not 100% on how they keep these plants alive but they looked real so there must be some method to the madness.
Coming Home
Once we arrived at our apartment complex, I would say I was pretty impressed with our living accommodations. Although we had seen where we would be living online there is always this underlying fear that things will not look how they were presented online. Fortunately, things were better than they looked online. We love our apartment. It’s probably one of the biggest we have lived in together and the best part is that it is FOR FREEEE so in reality, it was going to be nice either way lol.
Who Needs To Sleep Anyhow?
We tried to unpack a little bit and promptly went to sleep. Then at 3 AM SURPRISE! There was singing or praying, I’m not really sure which. And it was loud. Reaching right into our bedroom and snatching us out of our slumber. You see, we arrived on the holiday Eid, and our apartment is centered between not one but two Masjids (mosques). It was as if the two centers were having a competition against each other about who could be louder lol. We resigned that this was probably just for the holiday (4 days) and wouldn’t last long. After they finished we went back to sleep. While they sang/prayed for 3 straight hours that night we would soon find out that this would be a regular occurrence. People of Islamic faith pray 5 times a day. Although not for 3 hours at a time. At this point, we hear the 3:14 AM call to worship but it no longer wakes us up, we find it easy enough to sleep right through it.
Since we didn’t fall back asleep until around 7 AM (midnight EST) there was no stopping this jet lag train even if we tried. We didn’t end up waking up until 4 PM (9 AM EST). We followed this exact pattern for 3 straight days with no luck of sleeping more than an hour prior to what would seem was our 7 AM bedtime.
Finally Leaving The Bed
On the 3rd day, I demanded we see some of the city prior to us starting work. We ended up going to see The Kuwait Towers. It was about a 15-minute drive into downtown Kuwait City. As we reached downtown it was as if we had entered a whole new world. A world of wonder and amazement. The architecture that you see in the Middle East is always very futuristic. If you have ever been to Dubai you know exactly what I am talking about. It’s similar to that but on a currently smaller level. The buildings on this side of the world always seem to have funky shapes and twists and turns that we just haven’t seemed to master in the states.
Near The Kuwait Towers
The only buildings visible from our apartment are old and unimaginative, so I was quite impressed with downtown. As you approach the Kuwait Towers you are immediately awestruck. Especially since we got there right around sunset. The towers are a sight to see.
The towers are situated right on the beach. Although it was hot we had not expected the sheer amount of people who were there to be in the water. It’s good to know we are not the only people affected by the heat. Everyone was with their families truly enjoying the waters by moonlight. Right behind the towers, there was a water park and while we didn’t go in it seemed to be brimming with people even at 7 o’clock at night.
Right next to the water park there was a Ruby Tuesday’s and of course we had to have dinner here because we can’t help how American we actually are. Haha Turns out the venue and menu are pretty identical to home. It’s so American they were playing Nicki Minaj and 50 Cent, nearly the entire time we were there. I can’t say if that was for our benefit or not, as they were playing Arabic music when we arrived.
After dinner, we took a nice warm (read: hot) walk along the boardwalk and enjoyed the atmosphere. Near the Gulf, the weather was much more tolerable and you could probably sit and hang out for a while before feeling the need to find solace in some air conditioning.
We Did Come Here For Work
On the 6th day, we started working at our new school. I am teaching Kindergarten which is ages 3-4 here and Mr. Ward is teaching 4th grade. More stories to come on that later. If you are interested in making a lot of money by teaching abroad check out our guide.
The Avenues Mall
We also had a chance to visit the famed Avenues Mall, which is right around the corner from our house. To say this mall is huge an understatement. The Avenues is the largest mall in Kuwait and actually has a pretty cool concept. Each part of the mall contains a different neighborhood. My favorite part would have to be the Grand Avenues. It resembles what looks a high street in Europe. It makes you feel as if you are shopping outside on an “Avenue” with its open concept. There are so many options for western stores and food in here it is ridiculous. We found Taco Bell, Shake Shack, IHOP, Applebees, Cheesecake Factory, Wendy’s, Johnny Rockets and so much more all within the food court. The most heartwarming food we found in Bangkok was McDonald’s, which we, unfortunately, ate as late night snacks almost every night ๐. I didn’t want to be disrespectful, so I did not take too many pictures inside the mall.
Although we didn’t do much, overall, we had a great week in Kuwait and are looking forward to seeing what this year has in store for us.
Check out this video I put together to show you how our week went. In the video, you will see our new house and a little bit around town.
If you still have questions about our new home feel free to check out Frequently Asked Questions About Kuwait
You can also keep up with our hashtag on social media #MeetTheWardsInKuwait
Pin this! Our First Week Living In Kuwait | MeetTheWards.Com
Ugh…Jet lag. The struggle is real! In reading your post, we realized we don’t know very much about Kuwait. We certainly didn’t know there was Ruby Tuesday “in country”!! I assume all of the American restaurants are due to the military presence, but it still seems kind of weird. At any rate, you’ve got us intrigued to learn more about the country, and to see what you find when you conquer the Jet Lag beast. #TheWeeklyPostcard
Yes there are soooo many American restaurants here. Most of which you canโt find in your home city. Some popular spots include IHOP, Johnny Rockets, Cheesecake Factory, and Applebees lol trust me I am just as surprised as you are. Thanks for stopping by ๐
Your so lucky to live in Kuwait, I’ve been wanting to go there. hopefully one day I will. enjoy your stay.
Thank you. I hope you visit and enjoy it ๐
Whaoooo
Honestly did not believe this
this great but did not believe whatnl my eye is seeing
very nice post thank you
Welcome to Kuwait. We call it the second Saudi Arabia from the Middle East since beer and wine cannot be purchased on any public places
Lol yes very true
How fascinating. I would love to hear more about how you two got your teaching gig. For a while I was looking at teaching in the middle east and noticed they almost all preferred married couples. Have you already covered that? Following now so I can be up to date on new posts ๐
No I haven’t covered that but it’s a good idea. I will say that Kuwait is quite liberal and most of the people who work at our school are single with maybe 3/4 married couples. I would say if you are looking in Saudi they probably would want married couple just because of the culture and don’t want any of the problems (like dating) that a single person might bring. I would say look for jobs here.
Nice blog! Umm, u should be used to the HOT coming from Thailand….. must be worse, huh
Soooo much worse Steph. In my mind I was thinking Thailand will prepare us for this. I was wrong lol. It’s soooo dry. Your skin instantly hurts hahah
What an adventure! You are brave to endure that heat and live there. We enjoyed our last two trips to Dubai but went from airconditioned hotels to train stations, shops etc. I certainly couldn’t live in Dubai or Kuwait.
Yes I totally understand. There is a lot of walking here so imagine this heat on your skin walking to the store lol
Jet lag CAN be pretty awful! I’ve found that taking melatonin before I sleep when I’m jetlagged helps me get a better night’s sleep and adjust easier to the time change.
I use that if I really can’t sleep on the plane or it’s an extremely long flight (15+ hrs) but it doesn’t seem to work that great for me lol
Amazing read Mrs. Ward!!!!!! Keep it going! We may not be there with you but your details makes us feel like we are!
Thank youuuu! ๐
DId you get to go into the water?? Will you have to get a burkini (is that what the swimsuit is called?) I don’t know how conservative Kuwait is, so I hope you will talk about that as you spend more time there ๐ Be safe, looking forward to following along.
Now that I think about it, no I don’t think people were really covered up. But I also wouldn’t go as far to say that people were in bikinis either lol
I didn’t get in the water cause I didn’t even know that was there and was wearing long jeans lol. Kuwait is a little moderate but they don’t require their people to be covered up so while you do see people wearing the burka/niqabs it is a choice to wear it by them. Many choose not to wear anything and dress like westerners
I have a hard time with jetlag too! I find that I just have to power through it there is no other way. So nice that you have a beach and waterpark not too far. I would be spending as much time as possible in the water there given the weather! Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard
A lot of people frequent the water ways and it is easy to see why. The weather has barely dropped below 100 since we have been here lol
I read somewhere that for every hour of time difference, you take one day to adjust. So I think the jet lag you’re experiencing is fairly normal! Plus it’s usually worse when you fly eastward, for some reason. I love the photo of the Kuwait Towers!! I’ve never been to Kuwait but I met a girl from Saudi Arabia and she told me all about her mother’s failed efforts to keep a garden, so I’m surprised they have trees! They must water them regularly or something.
Yes probably so much water! And I haven’t seen sprinklers on so I have to assume (you know what happens when you assume) maybe they are receiving water somehow from underground but honestly I don’t know hahha
I live in Singapore so the heat won’t be a problem for me! :p Always wanted to visit Kuwait and now I’m definitely going to add that to my list! I totally agree about jet lag. Plus I can NEVER sleep on planes so landing at night is perfect to try and sleep it out.
Hahaha that’s what I taught since we lived in Thailand but no hahaha it’s a dry heat so it feels much hotter than the wet heat in SE Asia.
Uuuuh I remember feeling the stifling heat of Dubai for the first time on a layover – it just doesn’t seem to ever cool down! I hope you get accustomed soon, sounds like a busy first week!
And imagine it’s hotter here than Dubai lol I’m not sure if you ever get used to the shock of walking outside ๐๐ but fingers crossed I do
Interesting first week you had! I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the mosques competing against each other when I was lacking in sleep! Glad you got through it though! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!
Haha yes quiet interesting! Lol thanks for stopping by
This made me laugh because a few years ago, I moved to Yemen and had some of the same experiences! I still remember the heat when I stepped off that plane at 4:30 AM, as well as the call to prayer waking me up several times throughout the night for weeks!
Hahaha it was soooo hot. I honestly couldn’t believe it.