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Friday, December 03, 2004
Kuwait City
We took a pretty uneventful trip down to Kuwait City, or near there. It was a beautiful day and nice to get out and see the area a bit. It’s really quite desolate around most of here though, very little even in the way of shrubs and stuff. We passed these housing developments that were really impressive. They’re basically like rowhouses, except HUGE, like 80,000 sq feet per or so, 4-5 stories high and in cool pastel colors and hues. Each is pretty distinctive too in terms of architecture.
Apparently, Kuwait is so rich in oil that if you’re a national and marry another national, the government builds you one of these places. Oh, and you get $60-90,000 (figures vary) per year in oil money, just for being Kuwaiti (although you need be third generation to get any of this). As if that weren’t enough, most workers here are from elsewhere (our dining facility staff, for example , are all Pakistani and some sort of Asian) and the local Kuwaitis host say a dozen or so of these cats, then take 25-40% of their paychecks. So most Kuwaitis don’t do a damn thing for work. Not bad, but the downside is that you actually have to live here. Ugh.
Apparently, Kuwait is so rich in oil that if you’re a national and marry another national, the government builds you one of these places. Oh, and you get $60-90,000 (figures vary) per year in oil money, just for being Kuwaiti (although you need be third generation to get any of this). As if that weren’t enough, most workers here are from elsewhere (our dining facility staff, for example , are all Pakistani and some sort of Asian) and the local Kuwaitis host say a dozen or so of these cats, then take 25-40% of their paychecks. So most Kuwaitis don’t do a damn thing for work. Not bad, but the downside is that you actually have to live here. Ugh.
Posted by: Unknown / 12:04 PM 
