My first weekend here in Kuwait I volunteered with the school’s Green Ambassadors Club to clean up a beach. It was great to hang out with the high school students in a relaxed environment. They reminded me of western students. They listened to rap, played on their phones, gossiped about classmates and teachers, and discussed the American boy who was suspended from his school in Texas for making a clock. That sure wasn't a great image, America. They were great to talk with and had good advice on restaurants to try and things to do here. The beach cleanup itself was tough. It was about 110 degrees, the sun was bright, and it’s Kuwait, so we had to cover up and not show too much skin. Continually bending over to pick up trash in that heat made me lightheaded. Someone from the American Embassy took pity on me and gave me some sunscreen (I haven’t found it here yet) and I guzzled some water before realizing that there aren’t a whole lot of public restrooms in this country… uh oh. There were none on the beach. I survived (in part thanks to the driver taking pity on me and letting me hide in the school bus for a 15 minute break in the AC) and, in the end, was glad I went. I love nature and being outdoors, but can't claim that I was a fierce advocate for the environment in the US. It seems more important here. People litter regularly in this country. It’s not weird to see people just drop trash on the ground in plain sight. Though there are technically laws against this, they’re just not enforced. Grocery stores use thick plastic bags and wrap smaller items in plastic before putting them in bigger bags. Many people use plastic water bottles and keep buying new ones instead of reusing them. Gas is extremely cheap here, for obvious reasons. A teacher at my school mentioned paying 2KD (about $7) to completely fill up her tank. So there isn’t much of an incentive to carpool to save on gas money. All of this makes me wonder, if I go back to that beach in a few weeks or months, will it be just as dirty as it was before we started cleaning? I’m interested to learn more about environmental education here, about desertification, the impact of the war on the environment, and public awareness of these issues. I hope to spend more time with the Green Ambassadors Club once I get my feet under me with everything else that’s going on at school. Experiencing the beach clean-up, and walking around Hawally my first week here was discouraging. The heat, sand, garbage, the abundance of electronics stores (Hawally is the technology district of Kuwait) are a depressing contrast to green, mountainous North Carolina. I found myself pining for Umstead State Park, where I used to go hiking with my brother. Two things saved me from homesickness this week. First, a second-grade teacher confessed that she felt the same way when she moved here years ago. She challenged me to go out with a camera and find something beautiful each day. Second, my assistant principal took me to her fitness club on the gulf and I felt truly comfortable for the first time in Kuwait. There was actually grass there! The trees, beach, and facility were gorgeous. Once inside the club, I could dress like I would in the states, a sleeveless top to workout in, a suit at the pool. I took a cardio hip-hop class and danced like a fool to American music with other expats. So all in all, the landscape in my neighborhood is a bit depressing, but I'm finding beauty here, and I know I've only seen a small part of Kuwait, and of this part of the world, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else is here.
1 Comment
Ajay from the Jaguar team 5th period.
10/4/2015 10:44:53 am
Hi Ms. Zappia! How is Kuwait?
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Jill Zappiateacher, grad student, bibliophile Archives
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