so how do you like kuwait -and how is that student of yours who had anger management problem i prayed for him
Salam
Thank you for praying for him and for asking again! Alhumdilullah, he has been doing better - I even convinced him for the next issue of the school newspaper (I am newspaper advisor) that he should write a short piece on tips for controlling anger, especially for teen-age boys.
I have been keeping him in my prayers daily, as I know he is a good-hearted boy who just needs guidance and support. I think if everyone took the time to add 1 person to their prayers everyday, think how many prayers would be floating around for people!?
As for living in Kuwait - I really like it, although at times there can be a lack of things to do in free time. I used to go bowling a lot in the US, and they do have bowling lanes here (quite a few, actually), but they are frequented mostly by teen-age, 20-something young men, and while I am not opposed to going out to places that are mixed, I just don't like being so greatly out-numbered! (for instance, if there are about 100 people at the bowling lanes, there may only be about 15 women, mostly mothers who aren't bowling anyway, just watching their kids). Kuwait is HOT HOT HOT about 4 months of the year, but the rest of the year has fabulous weather and i enjoy that!
I like that Kuwait is quite Islamic (it is not perfect, but has good intentions), and while the government does it's best to keep Kuwait morally up-right, it is not always so. A couple things that bother me about Kuwait - 1, total lack of responsiblity for pollution, littering, recycling, or generally keeping the world a healthier place to live (there is trash EVERYWHERE!!); 2, there are too many Kuwaitis who believe that money is the answer to every question and the solution to every problem (not all Kuwaitis, of course, but there are enough to make it a problem - money and status gained from having it is more important to many than anything else); and 3, the blatant, legally-allowed discrimination, especially toward people from poor Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan - those areas and others similar) and Africa. It seems especially strange to me that poor Asian Muslims are treated worse than than anyone else - even those who openly "have no religion". Kuwait really has almost a "caste" system (and you will see this in many of the Gulf countries as they import workers from all over the world to do their jobs) - my school had a Muslim couple from Canada (born and raised in Canada their whole lives) who happened to be Pakistani by descent, and they were treated like crap by the Kuwaiti students (my school is 99% Kuwaiti students), to the point that they were basically forced to quit or be fired.
BUT, in general, as a white-Westerner, I am treated well and very lovingly by all Kuwaitis, including my husband's family (masha'Allah, the old ladies all love me and tell me I am cute!!). I have never had any problems here other than everything taking forever! We joke that "When in KuWait, U-Wait!" The government is bogged down and not very efficient - it drives Western business people crazy!
I would talk more about it being Islamic here, but there isn't much to say. You are free to be Muslim or Christian here (the government has built 2 areas with churches for the expatriat workers) and they would much rather you go to church than not practice any religion. Hindus are accepted into the country for working purposes, but when the Hindu temple was destroyed during the Iraqi invasion, it was not rebuilt. There are nearly 1000 mosques in Kuwait (they pride themselves on this fact) but if you drive around at prayer time, many of them are nearly empty except on Friday or Eids or Ramadan. :-( The goernment has a section that makes sure there is no pork or alcohol in the food/drinks imported and sold here (this doesn't specifically say though, if meat was killed in a halal way) so at least when you eat, you don't have to worry about what is in your foods. There are also several private groups that work to teach about Kuwait and Islam to foreigners without prostelitizing, and that works to get everyone friendly with each other.
In general, as a country that has people from literally all over the world living and working here, I think they are doing pretty good. If they just get to cleaning up the garbage & get to recycling, share more of their wealth with more unfortunate people, and get to the point where all people are treated equally, it would be as close to a true Islamic country as you could find!
Thanks again, I appreciate your thoughts and prayers for Aziz! If you want to know more about my personal insights or experiences in Kuwait as a Western (pasty-white!) Muslim, just ask!
Lana