Trip Day One (1)

Arriving in Kuwait you notice from the sky how unbelievably flat and dry the region is, there are no hills or lakes to speak of whatsoever. Getting out of the plane the heat hits you instantly, average high of 116 degrees in summer! I get out of the airport and hail a taxi, in classic Kuwait white, the driver was a South Eastern Asian migrant working in Kuwait, part of a large migrant group in the country acounting for almost 70 percent of the population. I asked him to show me around the life of a migrant so he took me to the Bneid al-Gar suburb in Kuwait city about 20 minutes from the airport, this is is were a large concentraition of the migrants in Kuwait City live. A large portion of the population in Bneid al-Gar is Iranian so we went to a small Iranian shop and got Chelow Kebab that we ate while walking down the street. The suburb feels completely different to the rest of Kuwaits lush newly paved roads, and high rises, this felt more like the rest of the muslim world with small corner shops, satellite dishes and old cars.

The suburb as you can see is near downtown Kuwait City the central hub for work and play.

Kuwait City (2)

In the center of Kuwait city I spent a few days to admire the modern monutments and lavish lifestyle created by mass oil wealth in the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X471KemMLug

Kuwait is an amazing city in that some areas on the coast a similar to a European Mediterranean vacation hotspot, where other areas look like the downtown of a commercial district in the United States, but the city still contains areas of importance like the Grand Mosque completed in 1986. Some areas of the coast seem too close to home, new cars and modern fashion with the hijab taking you back to realizing this is not America or Europe. That is the thing about Kuwait that is the most fascinating, the mix between culture and modern development in a predominantly muslim country like this traditions are still woven deep into society but the people are sill willing to progress. They retain both an Olive Tree and Lexus.

Remains of the Iraq war (3)

Kuwait and the people there seem to be very Pro-American, mostly from the Gulf War we defended their country from the invasion of Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussien. I traveled to the Al-Qurain House where the the memorial and museum for those who had fallen in the war is held. Mostly everyone there were Kuwaities, remembering the war in 1991. There are more monuments around in Kuwait City like an Iraqi tank and at the Ministry of Information a walk through political display dipicts the Iraqi occupation. This has set an alliance in the Middle East for the United States and in currently the two help each other like in American fight against ISIS.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-the-air-war-against-isis-60-minutes/

The United States is using airbases they have been granted access to in Kuwait to launch attacks on ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Shi'ites (4)

The estimated Shia population ranges from 300,000 to 1.3 million, so I wanted to experience this big part of Kuwait culture. I went to the Imam Hussien Mosque, the largest Shia mosque in Kuwait. Despite the bombing at a Shia mosque earlier this year the divide seems to not exist in Kuwait between Shias and Sunnis, because the whole country is so diverse in many ways. This is what I enjoyed so much about Kuwait, the diversity of the population gave a different perspective than in other arab countries. Kuwait is a very secular country with a large population of muslims and few minorities because of the secularism minority religions are not persecuted or singled out. This makes a fantastic environment for learning about all religious sects without hate or fear.

Kuwait (5)

The reason I chose Kuwait for this trip was it is situated in the most diverse region of MENA, the culture in Kuwait is a melting pot of Iraqi, Persian, Suadi Arabian, and then on top of that migrant cultures from asia. Kuwait also has interesting history from British Imperialism to the Iraqi invasion. This gives you a better human connection with the people of Kuwait, one you would not see in most of the MENA. It is also a location of significant western influence from the United States and Britain, this gives it a more relatable feel for a first time MENA traveler. On the journey I was able to learn about the Shia Sunni divide as Kuwait sits between Shia Iraq and Sunni Saudi Arabia, cultural influx in the gulf states were migrants come for work and why they come, and finally got to see first hand the differences in culture and government in MENA and the West.