Snow in Kuwait! Well sort of....

Snow in Kuwait! Ok, hail in Kuwait, both are frozen water. It seems only the desert areas got this massive hail storm. I haven't read about it in any papers so not many people must know about it. The last time I was in a hail storm was 2008 and I had to find a tree to park under until the hail stopped.

Some pics outside the office.

I have a video, try to post it later...

New Job.. Yessssss!

Goodbye crappy job, hello new job! I got my greenlight today and start my new job on Monday woohoo. I really have neglected my blog but 12 hours a day/6 days a week cuts off creativity. It's so freaking hot and dusty and unfortunately we have to work out in it as no one really cares about our department. I got sand blasted today and it really hurt as well as getting sand in my gum. I'm so glad to go.

Back to Contracting

I've gone back to contracting. I've got schools to pay for so contracting is the only solution. I went back to a company I used to work for. It was nice to be back on base. I can once again shop for American stuff woohoo! Too bad we can't bring cars on, time to take the buses. I thought I was going to be in admin because that's what I'm good at and discussed with the admin DPM but once I do the in processing I'm told I will be going to the desert even though there were 2 openings in admin and the person they brought in was fresh from the states and knows nothing about Kuwait. Wow, thanks a lot.

I was put in the desert part of the base to track the incoming equipment. OMG! I'm delicate. Really I am when it comes to 120 degree weather in the open desert. So yesterday was my first day. No one advised me to wear sunscreen or wear long sleeves. Needless to say I got burnt to a crisp. I hate the sun and never go out in it. God made me white so I will stay white. I don't need skin cancer. If I wanted a tan I would spray one on from a bottle.

I also had on a red shirt so I just looked like a lobster. I was miserable. We were dropped off in the desert to track the vehicles. We were given a cooler of water that had no ice. We started at 8 a.m. and finished at 11. We were told we had no transportation back to the hut where our office is. I was barely hanging in. I was dragging along thinking I was going to die. I had a headache and was feeling sick. It was about a 35 minute walk back to the hut in the glaring heat.

We started walking. We don't have gators or any kind of internal transportation and the supervisor was doing another job so no car ride. The FN have gators and they have vans come and pick them up. Nice. I saw a white guy on a gator rolling toward us. I stuck up my hitchhiking thumb in hopes he would save us. He was a British guy and he gave us a ride back. My hero for the day.The a/c was out half of the day in the hut which meant no cooling down. I did start to tear up because I was in so much pain. I hid them under my sunglasses.

Everyone was like daaaamn! when they saw me. I was really sick. I came home and my family was shocked when they saw my face and arms. I took a shower and cried a little from the pain of the water hitting my arms. I thought about how the PM shot me down when I asked to be moved to the warehouse. The only thing he told me was that I should have worn long sleeves when he saw my arms. I've know this guy since 2005 before he was PM and he knows my husband, that's how I got the position and it was during the first phone call that I asked for an admin position and was told there would be openings.. I guess I thought he would treat me a little better but I learned real quick that's not going to happen. I had high hopes of working with the company and was happy when I got the job offer. But now my opinion has changed.

I found out a lot yesterday. There are people who are not getting visa 18 and the admin is really bad, yet they won't put me there even though I've done admin in Kuwait for over 7 years. They don't even pay as well as other companies and they expect the employees to get their own phone and lines, purchase work boots, hard hats and safety vests too. I had to wear some used hat that was too big for me. Yuck! There are also people off base who can't get their access badges, some for almost a year.

I'm still in pain now. I had a long sleeved shirt on today and my arms were still hurting. I don't know how I'm going to do it all over tomorrow. I was really disappointed to see no one really cared that I was in pain. They just want the job done. I'm all about working but when you feel you have no options and that no one really cares it makes the work days longer. I will head out tomorrow with sunblock, long sleeves, a hat and hope of surviving in the desert.

If anyone needs an admin person let me know lol

Second Sand Storm

Another lovely day in Kuwait. My mom and sister woke me up extremely early to let me know there was a sand storm coming and to tape up the windows. By 11 a.m. there was no sign of it so I gave up. I got ready to go out around 11:45 a.m. and there was the storm covering everything. So much for going out right? Around 3 p.m. the storm was gone and only sand remained.

You never know what to expect.

The storm covering everything.

Lovely view of Abu Halaifa...

Just enough dust to make people sick...

Muddy rain drops followed the storm.