Day 7: Alanba Newspaper

!سلام

I can't believe it was a week ago today that I left the States for Kuwait. Sometimes it does not feel like we've been here that long, but when I think about all of the things we have already done, it seems like we've been in the Middle East for weeks.

Today we had class and then visited an Arabic newspaper in the afternoon. On our way we stopped in front of Kuwait Towers to take a couple of pictures. Kuwait Towers are signature structures of Kuwait, and the plan was to go up inside of them because there is a view deck and a restaurant. Unfortunately, the towers are currently under renovation (as are many things in Kuwait, apparently). I got some good pictures though, so close enough, right?

Pretty cool, I must admit

Trying not to look too awkward...

Next we arrived at Alanba Newspaper, a daily Arabic language newspaper in Kuwait. We met the managing editor, Mohamed, who gave us a tour of the building and discussed each different department and its responsibilities. It was really cool, especially since I don't think I've ever actually been in a newspaper office before. A lot of the offices were really gorgeous. We ended the tour downstairs in the printing room, which was really neat:

Tomorrow's paper!

Paper supply: so many trees...

Next to the printing room, there was a room with about 30 or more ex-pat workers in an assembly line, adding the sections of the paper together. They were all standing and looked very surprised to see us. I was a little shocked. Apparently, they work 13 hours a day, from 2pm-3am. I cannot imagine doing the same thing (folding papers), for 13 hours, standing the entire time. If the ex-pats are staying in Kuwait to do these jobs, it makes me wonder how bad the jobs in their home countries are.

After the tour we sat and drank tea with Mohamed while we waited for our glamorous Holiday Inn bus to pick us up. Mohamed was so great, and we will hopefully be going out to dinner with him sometime next week. He also invited us to write a piece for the paper, and promised to publish it in Alanba. I might take him up on that! While we were drinking tea, an employee went into the main hall and did the call to prayer, right in the middle of the office. It was absolutely beautiful - we had not heard it live before. Mohamed made an interesting comment; he said that he thinks that these types of things are becoming too public in recent years. I have to admit that even I was a little surprised that this live call to prayer took place right in the office.

From there on the night was free, so the group headed to the Old Souk. It was a lot different being in the Souk the second time, and I felt much more comfortable. I think the Souk is by far my favorite place we have gone so far. I haven't been able to capture any good pictures of it, but I want to give you an idea of what it looks like, so I'm stealing some pictures from the internet to help me explain:

There's the orange jumpsuit I mentioned previously...

So much food! We are often offerred samples, which is fun!

Dates!

There is just so much to do at the Souk, I feel like I could spend years in there. I love all of the different people; Kuwaitis, ex-pats, everyone is there. We are stared at all the time, but I think I might actually be getting used to it. People are just so friendly (and yes, I know many of them are trying to get me to buy something, but still) and many who are just shopping themselves or sitting and drinking tea shout "Welcome to Kuwait" or "Welcome to the Middle East!" I feel like people, both Kuwaitis and ex-pats, really appreciate that we are here and that we are clearly interested in learning about them and their culture.

Around 10pm we caught 2 cabs and headed back to the hotel. Our cab driver was from Bangladesh, and we tried to have a conversation with him, but he wasn't very interested in talking to us, or so it seemed. He said a few words and then turned the radio up very loudly, to an American music radio station. I hadn't realized that I hadn't listened to American music in almost a week! How strange.