Modesty and Islam in Kuwait

Kuwait is a Muslim country; Islam is the official religion of Kuwait. You must dress modestly. Let me rephrase that, you must dress in a way that corresponds with the Kuwaiti opinion of modesty. Some women will be in the black abayas, wear head coverings or be completely veiled, but it is not required. For me, I think, that will mean capris and short sleeve shirts. Your knees and your shoulders must be covered. 

Women vote and drive in Kuwait. One site said, there are more women in the labor force in Kuwait than anywhere else in the Persian Gulf. 

Alcohol is not allowed in the country. There will be a call to prayer 5 times a day. There are Catholic and Christian churches in Kuwait and there is freedom for foreigners to worship, but the churches must be registered with the government. Unrecognized groups are reportedly free to worship in private.

Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims. During Ramadan no eating, drinking, or chewing gum is allowed in public during daylight hours. Yes, for the whole month. If you are guilty of any of these things you can be thrown in jail. I will most likely not experience Ramadan in 2014 because it will occur during summer break from school.

Kuwait seems to have beautiful beaches.

So, what do beaches +Kuwaiti dress code =?

Swimming is allowed but you must go in fully clothed.
From what I've gathered there are public beaches and private beaches. They both offer separate women's only days. There are also private beaches where you can wear a 'normal' swimming suit.

So, I either go in the water in my capris and t-shirt or opt for a private beach. To be honest, I rarely swim at the beach, but walk along the shore, get my feet wet and read a book under an umbrella. Nonetheless, I plan to experience it all; visit the public beaches, go to a private beach and check out a women's beach day. Maybe I'll even swim fully clothed. 
For the record, I do not plan to buy the above swimming suit.

An American School in Kuwait?

Practice Compassion. Make a Difference. Learn for Life.  I can get behind that mission statement.

That mission statement, educational excellence and a community focus are a few of the reasons I made a 2 year commitment to teach 3rd grade at this school.

From what I hear, the school is run, in many ways, like a typical school here in America. I will be a general classroom teacher (as in general 3rd grade NOT an English teacher). It's a large school that is taught in English. There are 6 of most grades. So, I will be 1 of 6, 3rd grade teachers. They follow Common Core standards.  I'll even have an interactive whiteboard in my classroom. I'm told the student body is made up of approximately 25% American students, 40% Kuwaiti, and 35% of students come from various Arab, Asian and European countries. This is one of the schools where employees of the American Embassy and American Army base, in Kuwait, send their children. The teachers are native English speakers. 55% of the teachers are American.

There are a few things that will be different though. The work week in Kuwait runs from Sunday to Thursday and the school day goes from 7:00 am-2 pm. Also, students pay to go to this school and they wear uniforms. 

Excited to embark on this new adventure, scheduled to begin August 17th.

Interesting Facts about Kuwait

I wasn't sure if I was going to write about the school or the country next. Then I found out they have Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's.

I am finding out a lot about Kuwait now a days. I'll share a few interesting things I have discovered.

Kuwait is one of the wealthiest countries, per capita, in the world. Figures vary, but I've seen it placed a little below the U.S. and a little above. Some sources place it as high as 5th and as low as 15th, richest nation in the world. Kuwait is just a hop, skip and a jump away from United Arabs Emirates and Qatar which are always placed at the top of that list. Most of Kuwait's monetary wealth comes from oil. Which must be why fuel is only 80 cents a gallon.

Kuwait is also a country of foreigners. Less than half of Kuwait's population is Kuwaiti.

So, when you combine the number of foreigners with the wealth, evidently, you get lots of shopping and eating options. Besides the two tasty eateries above, there is Gap, Banana Republic, Ikea and H&M. There is even Sears, Ace Hardware and J.C. Penny's.

The whole country is slightly smaller than New Jersey and almost 4 million people live there. I'll live in a suburb of Kuwait City, right on the coast. It is in the desert and it is hot there. Currently, being winter, the high is 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. But, for several months of the year the average temperature is above 100.

Blogging is a Strange Thing

Blogs are strange things. Does anyone really read them? I admit I seldom do. On one hand, It's hard to believe anyone would not be interested in what I have to say because it's so interesting. On the other hand, it is hard to believe anyone would want to read what I have to say(or understand it).

Like I said, I don't even read blogs(I do read).

So, with all of that said, this blog is mainly for me. For me to feel like I am somehow sharing what I'm learning; for me to practice communicating.
If you are interested in my experiences, follow along. 

A Nebraskan in Kuwait

Well, I'm not there yet. I'm preparing to go to Kuwait.

I will be teaching 3rd grade next year at an American school in Kuwait.

So how did you get a job like this? Well, since you asked, (or rather since many people have asked)- I attended an international job fair.

I knew I wanted to teach elementary school overseas. So, when I saw there was going to be a job fair in a neighboring state, I signed myself up. Fortunately, a fellow recent graduate asked to join me.  We packed 3 interview outfits and headed to Iowa. Around 600 teachers attended the fair, along with representatives from 125 International Schools.

Long story short, I was offered a position at, what seems like a good, school in Kuwait. Kuwait was not in my top 10 initial choices, so I knew little about it before I began prepping for my interview.

It was one of those times when you just know. I had many incredible encounters with superintendents and principals from other schools, but this one just felt right. I believe moving to the Middle East to teach is the right thing for me, right now.