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"Kuwait
Series" - by Gaylan King
Contents:
I've been walking a great deal. I sometimes walk in the heat of the day- it doesn't seem to bother me much and there's normally a little breeze by the water. Last weekend, in mid- afternoon, I walked along a beachside park filled with large palm trees and green plants; it was very nice. Kuwait, one of the richest countries, has great civic projects and pride, and is very clean. Both adults and children were enjoying the water; there were dogs and Frisbees. Upon closer inspection, I saw adult men and young boys and girls in the water, but no women. It must have been a dry 110 degrees Fahrenheit, but there were women, fully robed and faces covered, under small beach umbrellas, watching their families swim and be cooled by the lovely green water! Occasionally, they would pull the face covering away from under their noses in hopes of a cooler breath of air. They do the same thing in restaurants, with every bite. My friend, Gilda, who is a Christian Arab, not Moslem, reminds me that, "They do that to themselves!" Her business partner, a female Syrian architect, Inas, who is Moslem says, "I've read the Koran many times but it does not say anything about this kind of covering up." Either of them could be mistaken for a European and neither of them understands the covering phenomenon. There is a unique building on the waterfront, called The Science Center, which houses a museum and IMAX theater, among other things. This building looks like a large, graceful sailboat because of the placing, everywhere, of very large sheets of specially treated white canvas that appear to be sails. The effect is stunning; I've seen nothing like it. We often go there to walk in the evening and there are hundreds of Kuwaitis doing the same thing. The women go there to exercise and may be wearing good tennis shoes, but the majority of them are covered, head to toe. It is like being around people who are being punished for some unknown sin! There is a food court with the best Cappuccino, ever. It's excellent, even in the heat, if you take it along with a bottle of cold water. I was standing in line at a Sporting Goods shop last weekend. When I made my purchase, seeking some odd number of cents, I pulled out a handful of coins and muttered that I couldn't quite distinguish the Kuwaiti coins from the U.S. coins. A tall, very distinguished, well-dressed man next to me said, with very little accent, "The U.S. is good; we're glad that you are here!" He then smiled and shook my hand and left. This is a friendly city. We all know that the "crazies" can get in and around, but the Kuwaitis treat Americans with respect and I find them to be very enjoyable, and I'm getting to know a few of them. The base, Camp Doha, has been strangely quiet as we await the next onslaught of people coming down from Baghdad. Their replacements pour through here, also. Most of the troops on Doha, today have not seen combat and are waiting for orders to go North in one of several capacities, i.e. peacekeeper, policemen, border guard, target for "crazies"; Oops! Scrub that one. We all know that the killing continues. The Iraqis are fortunate that I am not the commander in Baghdad. The commanders of the newly arrived, not-yet-blooded, small units stay up late thinking of ludicrous ways for their troopies to stand out in this sea of heroes. The most common sign is heavily starched desert fatigues (we must look sharp, being cooled doesn't count!) and very awkwardly bloused pants into boots, a hot, high maintenance way to try to look military. In addition, their gear is immaculate and unused. It's wickedly fun to watch them hang around, all uncomfortable, with no stories to tell. Their time will come. Moreover, there are just enough of the 20-something-year-old returnees around, who'll never be young again, to keep things interesting by contrast. These experienced young men are like lean, serious-eyed wolves just returned from some distant feast. They still hear the drums; they're not their mother's little boys anymore. Our next generation of combat leaders has been born! As the heat sets in for the summer, the town takes on a different rhythm. Everyone wants to swim; there are small house parties and luncheons. You'd be amazed at some of the very green neighborhoods here and the wonderful apartments in brand new buildings. I have a friend who invites me to swim in his rooftop (12th story) pool. It's the best view in the city with water on two sides. The sun sets early here (by 7:00-ish P.M.) because of our latitude, so I only swim on weekends (Thursday - Friday)-so far. I am meeting new people from a number of countries and few of them have anything to do with the base. Practically none of them even remotely match their stereotypic images and it's wonderful to see all of the different ethnic and religious groups function as friends in these times. I recently met a woman from Morocco (this was literally the evening of the bombing there) who recalled growing up with Jews, Christians and Moslems, all in the same neighborhood or building. They acted as one people; they intermarried, they were Moroccans. This all ended, forever, when the terrorist groups began their murderous operations. Kuwait's relatively open society must mystify its fundamentalist neighbors and I admire them for that. Kuwaitis look on in amazement as the majority of the Arab World continues to admire and support the terrorists and their cowardly acts, even as they call for peace. There are difficult times ahead for all of us and the only safe solution is to track down the terrorists and destroy them, no matter what or where!
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Iraq
5 - June 30, 2003 -
The hot weather is just seriously
starting but this place, though hot and sometimes
dusty, is fascinating and compelling. It can also be
very beautiful. 