Now while to some this is still crawling, compared to what I had last week...... this is light speed! I'd say about 80% of the internet access in Kuwait is via 3G connections, which is what I have now. I got the faster speed with is supposed to be maxed at 7.2mb, but at Buehring I'm only seeing between 600 and 800 or so. Out where I work, I'm pulling 4.2mb or so.
Sooooo....... now that I can post..... here are some answers to some of the questions people have been asking me.....
Where do you stay? Camp Buehring, Kuwait.
How far out of the Kuwait City is that? Not too far, maybe 40 minutes to the airport.
Where do you work at? Khabari Alawazem Crossing, Kuwait.
Where is that on the map? Do some research.
Is it a military base? Yes.
What do they do there? Military stuff.
How many people do you work with? A few.
What do you do there? Computer stuff
What kind of stuff do you work on? Computer stuff
Is it hot there? uh.... it's Kuwait. Yes, it's hot here.
Do they have camels? Yes.
Have you seen any? Not up close yet. Someone else took this picture.
Is there a lot of sand? Yes, we have a lot of sand here.
Are there any mountains in Kuwait? No. There are some bumps. These could be dead camels covered with sand, or they could be small hills. Either way, they're not very big.
Are there lakes/rivers/ponds in Kuwait? No. Just like Hollywood, there are no natural bodies.
Is there fresh water in Kuwait? Yes. Kuwait desalinates about 96% of their fresh water. The rest they get from wells.
Do they speak English? Yes. Arabic is the primary language, but English is spoken by most people.
Is it a modern country? Yes. Any type of store you can find in the US, can be found over here. I was in Ikea and Ace Hardware this week.
What kind of money do they have? Base 10, paper and coin.
What does that mean? OK.... in the US, we have dollars, in Kuwait they have a Dinar. Same thing. 10 dimes to a dollar, 1000 fils to a Dinar. So you might get a burger at Burger King for 3.65KD (Kuwait Dinar). You give them 4KD, and get back 350 fils in coins. All values are based on 10.... like the metric system. :)
What's the exchange rate? Right now it's about 3.55US to 1KD.
Are things expensive there? Depends on where you shop. At the malls (and they have a LOT of malls) it is expensive. It just depends....
Can you haggle? At the malls? No. Any place else, yes.
What are the roads like? If you mean the actual condition of the roads, for the most part the highways are very good, the secondary roads are decent, and back roads are OK. The older the road, the worse the condition. If you are talking about driving on them...... IT SUCKS. If you really want to drive here, you should be 40% rally car driver, 40% bumper car driver, and 40% crazy.
What do you do for fun? Movies, books, food, walk around, take pictures and the 'net.
Where do you eat? At the dining facilities on base or someplace in KC if that's where I'm at.
Is there alcohol there? No. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
What about pork? On base? Yes. Off base? See answer above.
Are there lots of contractor jobs over there? Yes.
Is the pay good? That's up to you to decide.
How can I get a job like yours? Apply.
Can I send you a resume? No.
Do you like it there? Yes.
Do they shoot at you/have you been shot at? No. Overall Kuwait is very safe. This is not like Iraq or Afghanistan.
Did they give you body armor? Yes. The Army supplies its contractors with it.
If nobody is shooting at you, why did they give it to you? Because someone might shoot at me if I were to go TDY to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Do you get to keep it? Only if I want to give the government a lot of my money....which I don't.
How much is a lot? I'm not sure. But a 3 with 3 zeros behind is probably about right.
Is it heavy? Yes. Depending on the configuration, it weighs up to 50 pounds or so.
Can you visit Dubai? Yes.
Is Dubai in Kuwait? No. Dubai is a whole different country.
What about the UAE? What about them?
Can you visit them? Yes...I just said I can go to Dubai.
The UAE is in Dubai? No, Dubai is part of the UAE. The UAE has seven member states.
Huh? Never mind.
What about Saudi Arabia? Yes
Jordan? Yes.
Abu Dhabi ? Look, I can go anywhere I want on my time off.
Israel? ...... OK, I can't go there.
Why can't you go to Israel? Because Kuwait wouldn't let me back in.
But you said.... Shut up, I know what I said.
Can you drive home if you want to? Sure, why not...
Do they have milk? Yes, but it tastes funny.
Do they have cars there? Yes. And electricity too.
How much is gas in Kuwait? I don't know. I use a gas card to pay. But it can't be very much.
Is it clean there? No. I've never been any place so littered as this.
I have a few more, but these are most of them.
I do have quite a few pictures now. I'll resize them and post some up.
So.... until next time!
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