Wow, I can't believe that I have been in Kuwait for 10 months. Where has the time gone?!?! Well this my last post from Kuwait, I thought I would do a review of the past year, and of my most recent adventures into theater.
10 months ago I was crying my eyes out like a small child as I got ready to uproot my entire life, and everything I knew to move to Kuwait for my career. Don't get me wrong I was so excited to start this new adventure as this is something I have always wanted to do. But I was terrified of moving so far away from me entire life and support system. After a lot of tears and many long hours of travel and missed connections I arrived to start my life in Kuwait. It was blistering hot but I quickly adjusted and as most of you know I made friends fast.
Being the first music teacher here at AUSK was and is the coolest thing I have done in my professional career. Having someone trust you as a educator and an expert in what you do was and continues to be the most refreshing and exciting part of my job. I am respected and trusted which is wonderful.
The beginning of the year was a bit rough as opening any school can be, but with a little teamwork we made it happen. September came and went and flew by in a flash because so much was going on and were still getting settled. Once October rolled around we started to get settled and got into a routine, this was when I first got homesick. I didn't expect it to happen as I am a very adaptable person. But I just missed home and missing things like my mom's birthday and Thanksgiving was hard for me.
Once Thanksgiving came and went (which we did not have off from school) December was here and going for christmas was insight. Now If you have been reading my blog then you know that I told my parents I was not coming home for christmas and that I was traveling, when in fact that I was surprising them for christmas.
Needless to say my parents were very surprised and excited to have me home. It was way too short and the 10 days flew by in a flash. I arrived back in Kuwait in January ready to tackle the second half of the year with excitement.
My next big adventure came in February came as Kuwait celebrated Liberation Day and National Day. Some friends and I took an amazing trip to Jordan and saw some of the most beautiful sights. I had some amazing company and it was one of the highlights of the year. After spending 4 great days in Jordan we had to return to Kuwait.
As some of you know right before I left for Jordan I auditioned for Shrek the musical, and got a part in the ensemble playing Papa Bear and general ensemble. I had never auditioned and was super nervous but I have always wanted to do it. I had my first rehearsal after my Jordan trip and was welcomed with open arms. My birthday also happened to coincide right after vacation. Usually I would go to dinner with some friends, and then go bowling. This year I did go to dinner with some friends but it was low key and while it was a lot of fun. It was my first birthday away from my family.
So the last 3 months have been spent tutoring, having play rehearsal, and working. It has been a whirlwind 3 months and I can't believe that June is here. I have made some amazing new friends from the play and it was exhausting and tiring and fun and just a roller coaster.
Which brings me to the Shrek. I spent 9 days in a row in tech rehearsals and performing. We did 5 shows 2 weeks ago and 5 shows last weekend. There were so many complications, and long nights. Most nights I didn't en up getting home between 11-12. And still had to go to school the next day. The first 5 shows went well, and we even took 30 students from school to the show. They loved it and had so much fun. The last 5 shows went well also, and we capped off the run with a wonderful cast party.
Here is a link to a website of some pictures from the show.
http://stagedinkuwait.com/archives/2507/shrek-in-pictures/
Which brings me to present day. This year has been a lot of ups and downs, some good things and some bad things but it was definitely an adventure. I have 3 days of school left then I am off to London for 4 days with a friend before my final stop in NH for the summer. I can't wait to be home and see all my family and friends.
I want to say that I am so thankful each and every day for being given this amazing experience. I would of never been able to see all these amazing places and meet such wonderful people. Stay tuned for next post from the good ole U.SA. Thanks for reading!!!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Spring Break Part Deux!!
Ok so some time has passed so I thought that I would post part two of my spring break adventure's . Now let me see where was I?......... Ah yes here we go. After our lovely stop in Naples we took the short boat ride over to Palermo also known as Sicily. Now in Sicily we decided to do our own thing and not book a tour. We had no idea where we were going but by chance we encountered one of those hop on and hop off buses, where it does a loop of the city stopping at famous land marks and you jump off take a few pictures then hop on the bus again. It's really cool since we buses come every 7 minutes. So we did that around Sicily seeing all these beautiful places. Here are some pictures from the different stops.
At the end of the tour before hopping back on the bus we had the most amazing watermelon gelato ever!!! It was divine. We then went and had lunch... I know we did it backwards dessert before lunch. Then found an awesome little bakery where we got the most fragrant, and delicious canoli's. We then headed back to the boat for our Jaunt over to Tunis, Tunisia.
Our last day on the cruise was the day at sea. We had intended to sleep in and enjoy a nice leisurely morning.... Um hold the phone I don't think so. We had a mandatory disembarkation meeting at 9am which means we had to have breakfast earlier which means no extra sleepy time for Eric. So after the boring and somewhat informative meeting we decided to just lay on the deck and relax and enjoy the sun. We took a break for lunch and then we spent the afternoon playing Rummy and lounging. We did go to the talent show which was awesome and the people performing were great.
That night we had our formal captain's dinner where everyone was dressed up and formal. It was nice to get dressed up one night. I have to say that overall I was not impressed with the food selection on the ship. Now look who this is coming from Mr.Selective when it comes to food, but I just would of liked more options. Friday morning we arrived back in port in Barcelona and getting off the ship was super easy and pain free. We hopped in a cab and sped off for our hotel. We had decided to spend a day in Barcelona before heading back to Kuwait. We arrived and checked into our hotel had a quick change and then headed off for the day in Barcelona.
Again we decided to do the hop on hop off bus as we enjoyed it in Italy. We first stopped at a chocolate museum which was neat. We stayed on the bus in Barcelona all day and only got off once or twice since it was a long route. One stop we did make was the Sagrada Familia. It was stunning and they have been working on this church for over 100 years and it's still not done so cool. We capped our day with a beautiful dinner in Barcelona close to our hotel.
Our flight home on Saturday was at 6:30am. Which meant we had to be up at 3am to be at the airport but 3:45ish. Well we stood in a line at the airport for like 45 minutes while the check in clerks milled around and got things "ready." After checking in we grabbed a little breakfast and we were off. The trip home was much less eventful, as we made all of our connections no problem. We arrived in Kuwait at... wait for it...... 9:30pm Yes you heard me right we traveled for over 12 hours to get home, and yes I had school the next day. So 4 exhausted Americans dragged ourselves through baggage claim and customs and back to our apartments in Kuwait.
Overall it was an amazing trip. I especially enjoyed being able to see all the different places. It makes me want to go back to Europe so bad and I am already planning trips in my head. So I hope you enjoyed part deux of the spring break adventure.
At the end of the tour before hopping back on the bus we had the most amazing watermelon gelato ever!!! It was divine. We then went and had lunch... I know we did it backwards dessert before lunch. Then found an awesome little bakery where we got the most fragrant, and delicious canoli's. We then headed back to the boat for our Jaunt over to Tunis, Tunisia.
Now I knew going to Tunis is was going to be similar to the middle east, but let me just say I was not impressed. We took the shuttle bus over to the Souk or Market as we call them in the U.S. We had a tour guide with us, and take us around this big huge souk. I have seem many souk's in Kuwait so I was not impressed. At one point we had some free time so me and my friends looked for a bathroom, which seemed like an impossible task. Well we ran into a gentleman who said he would show us the way. He was ducking, weaving, and going in and out of all these alleys. So we go into this store and climb to the roof where we use the bathrooms and take pictures of the market. The man then proceeds to tell us we owe him 10 euros for taking us and letting us use the toilet. I was so angry but what can you do? So we payed and he showed us the way back, which we almost got lost twice. Here are a couple pictures from Tunisia.
Our last day on the cruise was the day at sea. We had intended to sleep in and enjoy a nice leisurely morning.... Um hold the phone I don't think so. We had a mandatory disembarkation meeting at 9am which means we had to have breakfast earlier which means no extra sleepy time for Eric. So after the boring and somewhat informative meeting we decided to just lay on the deck and relax and enjoy the sun. We took a break for lunch and then we spent the afternoon playing Rummy and lounging. We did go to the talent show which was awesome and the people performing were great.
That night we had our formal captain's dinner where everyone was dressed up and formal. It was nice to get dressed up one night. I have to say that overall I was not impressed with the food selection on the ship. Now look who this is coming from Mr.Selective when it comes to food, but I just would of liked more options. Friday morning we arrived back in port in Barcelona and getting off the ship was super easy and pain free. We hopped in a cab and sped off for our hotel. We had decided to spend a day in Barcelona before heading back to Kuwait. We arrived and checked into our hotel had a quick change and then headed off for the day in Barcelona.
Again we decided to do the hop on hop off bus as we enjoyed it in Italy. We first stopped at a chocolate museum which was neat. We stayed on the bus in Barcelona all day and only got off once or twice since it was a long route. One stop we did make was the Sagrada Familia. It was stunning and they have been working on this church for over 100 years and it's still not done so cool. We capped our day with a beautiful dinner in Barcelona close to our hotel.
Our flight home on Saturday was at 6:30am. Which meant we had to be up at 3am to be at the airport but 3:45ish. Well we stood in a line at the airport for like 45 minutes while the check in clerks milled around and got things "ready." After checking in we grabbed a little breakfast and we were off. The trip home was much less eventful, as we made all of our connections no problem. We arrived in Kuwait at... wait for it...... 9:30pm Yes you heard me right we traveled for over 12 hours to get home, and yes I had school the next day. So 4 exhausted Americans dragged ourselves through baggage claim and customs and back to our apartments in Kuwait.
Overall it was an amazing trip. I especially enjoyed being able to see all the different places. It makes me want to go back to Europe so bad and I am already planning trips in my head. So I hope you enjoyed part deux of the spring break adventure.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Spring Break Part one.....
If you have been reading my blog than you know that when I travel nothing is every easy. So I decided to only check one bag so If they lost my bags then I will still have some clothes. So the adventure started in Kuwait where we were taking three planes and 12 hours to get to Barcelona where our cruise was leaving from. Our first leg from Kuwait to Abu Dhabi was 90 minutes late leaving. We only have a 90 minute layover in Abu Dhabi, but thankfully since there was so many people on our flight to Rome they held the plane for us which was great. So since our first flight was late it caused our second flight to be late. So once we arrived in Rome we had to sprint through the massive Rome airport to barely make our last connection to Barcelona, but we made it.
Once arriving in Barcelona you will be shocked as I was when my one checked piece of luggage actually made it Barcelona. After a series of confusing trains we make it to the ship and board, which didn't take too long. First order of business after 12 hours of travel was FOOD!!!!!!!!! We settle into our rooms and relax before exploring the ship and dinner. Our first night on board was good, we went to a show which was less than impressive. Our first stop on the Journey was Marsaille. France. Instead of booking an excursion we decided to take a shuttle into town and just explore ourselves. We ended up going on a little train ride which took us too Notre Dame de le Garde which was beautiful check it out.
Then we had lunch at this charming little restaurant. You would think since I was in France I would eat french food but nope, I had Gnocchi which was to die for. After a long day of exploring we headed back to the ship for dinner. We were seated with a couple from Alabama which was great and ended being so much fun to sit with.
Our next stop of the tour was Savona, Italy. Instead of staying in Italy my friends and I decided to take an excursion and go back into France and go to Monaco and Monte Carlo. It was a 2 hour bus ride each way, but it was well worth it. Monaco and Monte Carlo was amazing!!!! We got to visit the famous Hairpin turn from formula one racing, which is the sharpest turn in the world for racing. We also got to visit the Monte Carlo casino which was beautiful. My friend Laurie who was traveling with us was unforunately horrible sick. She didn't know she would get sick and was throwing up sick all day, and was miserable sorry Laurie. Here are some pictures from the day.
That night we decided after dinner go to the chocolate bar on the ship. This beautiful italian man named Luca was performing on Guitar. He was amazing and we ended up spending the next 5 nights going to listen to him perform. It was one of the highlights of the cruise. I was even lucky enough to get a copy of his CD which is AMAZING!!!!!
The last part of this post will include our next stop on the adventure which is the amazing city of Naples. Italy. Now this is the highlight of all the cities for me. We booked an excursion to Pompeii. I know what your thinking Pompeii?!?! Yes I got to see the ancient roman city that was covered in ash by Vesuvius . It was completely and utterly stunning. We took a 2 hour tour of the city and then got to eat amazing Pizza. It was by far the best pizza I have ever had. Here are some pictures from the day.
So thus completes part one of the adventure. Part two coming to a theater near you real soon!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Magical March...
Now I understand I am well over due for a blog post. I apologize to all my faithful readers, I have been so busy (a good busy) that I have not have time to blog. So this will be a longer post to make up for that. I was sitting at my desk the other day and couldn't believe that it is already March!! I mean where did the time go? I remember in August saying that the year was going to be so long, but it has honestly flown by. I am amazed that I have already been here for 7 months and in just 3 short months I will be home for summer vacation and my first year in Kuwait will be gone. It has been an amazing adventure so far with lots of ups and downs (more ups then downs).
Back at the end of February I took a mini vacation with some friends to Amman, Jordan. I went with; Thelma, Laurie, Karla, and Martha. Kuwait was celebrating National Day and Liberation day so we got 5 days off from school. So we took the short trip to Jordan for some R&R. It was an amazing trip. We spent the first day settling in and going the The Citadel which is an ancient city with ruins. It was cold and windy but it was a lot of fun. We also had lunch that day at Hashem which has the best hummus and falafel in all or Jordan. They had no menus and only served 5 dishes it was one of the best meals in Jordan.
On the way home from The Citadel we took a taxi and we hit the jackpot because our taxi driver was in the lonely planet guide book. He told us he could take us anywhere we wanted during the week in a van and he would give us a cheaper price than our hotel we were staying in. So we took a chance and used him for the following day.
The first full day was spent going to Madaba city of Mosaics, Mt.Nebo, and the Dead Sea. It was a long and exhausting day but was so cool. My favorite part of the day was floating in the Dead Sea. It is so salty that you naturally float no matter what it's a really weird sensation but so cool. The Dead Sea is also the lowest point on earth. After floating in the dead sea for a little while we got covered head to toe in this special mud that is mined from deep in the ocean and supposedly has healing powers. So we got covered head to toe in this mud let it dry then went back into the dead sea to wash it off. It was really neat. I still can't get over the fact that I got to float in the dead sea so cool. Here are some pictures of the things from day one.
Day #2 was dedicated to Petra which is one of the seven wonders of the world. It was in the southern part of the country and a 3 hour drive to get there. Needless to say we left very early. We made a few short stops along the way and made it to Petra around noon time. We immediately paid for our tickets and were off on our way. We decided to pay for a tour guide to get the full experience. The tour/ trail is about a 2 1/2 hour walk each way. It was all downhill going which meant all uphill coming back. The tour was great and we had an amazing tour guide and who we had a lot of fun with. On they way back they offer carriage rides which we happily payed for and cut our commute time back in half. After arriving back we had a 3 hour car ride home....(gross I know) most of us fell fast asleep as we were exhausted from all the walking. Here are some pictures from one of seven wonders of the world.
Friday our last full day in Jordan was spent going to a couple places. The first stop was this hill where you were standing in Jordan but could see Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. It was so surreal and cool to be one place and to see all those countries.Take a look Israel to the left, Syria to the right and Lebanon way off in the distance.
After that we made a few more stops a couple at different ancient castles. The last stop was Jerash the most well preserved ancient Roman city in the world. It was really cool and nice but you could tell our group was exhausted and while it was great to see by this point it was 3pm and an ancient ruin is an ancient ruin is an ancient ruin.....lol
Since returning from Jordan I have started rehearsal for Shrek the musical. I was cast in the ensemble as a couple different characters. Papa Bear, Duloc Villager, and a Rat in the tap dancing scene. We have had a couple of rehearsals and it is so much work but I have met some amazing new people and we are all having a great time. More details to follow with this.
Also last Thursday was my birthday. I am now officially 29. It was a pretty good birthday, I got to talk to everyone in my family. It happened to be my friend Karla's birthday too so a bunch of us went out for dinner at the olive garden. It was a lot of fun and nice to celebrate with friends.
Lastly I have decided to paint my apartment.... I know I'm nuts to be doing this with so much going but hey I like chaos I live for chaos. I am painting my entrance way/ dining room/ living room a soft grey and my bedroom a greyish blue. The entrance way has been completed and so has the dining room. Next up will be the living room which is a big project. I will post pictures once it is completed.
Well............I guess that is all for now. Life is good and things at school are good and I am feeling pretty settled in here in Kuwait. I can't wait to see what the next chapter in the adventure is. Stay Tuned!!!!!!
Back at the end of February I took a mini vacation with some friends to Amman, Jordan. I went with; Thelma, Laurie, Karla, and Martha. Kuwait was celebrating National Day and Liberation day so we got 5 days off from school. So we took the short trip to Jordan for some R&R. It was an amazing trip. We spent the first day settling in and going the The Citadel which is an ancient city with ruins. It was cold and windy but it was a lot of fun. We also had lunch that day at Hashem which has the best hummus and falafel in all or Jordan. They had no menus and only served 5 dishes it was one of the best meals in Jordan.
The first full day was spent going to Madaba city of Mosaics, Mt.Nebo, and the Dead Sea. It was a long and exhausting day but was so cool. My favorite part of the day was floating in the Dead Sea. It is so salty that you naturally float no matter what it's a really weird sensation but so cool. The Dead Sea is also the lowest point on earth. After floating in the dead sea for a little while we got covered head to toe in this special mud that is mined from deep in the ocean and supposedly has healing powers. So we got covered head to toe in this mud let it dry then went back into the dead sea to wash it off. It was really neat. I still can't get over the fact that I got to float in the dead sea so cool. Here are some pictures of the things from day one.
Also last Thursday was my birthday. I am now officially 29. It was a pretty good birthday, I got to talk to everyone in my family. It happened to be my friend Karla's birthday too so a bunch of us went out for dinner at the olive garden. It was a lot of fun and nice to celebrate with friends.
Lastly I have decided to paint my apartment.... I know I'm nuts to be doing this with so much going but hey I like chaos I live for chaos. I am painting my entrance way/ dining room/ living room a soft grey and my bedroom a greyish blue. The entrance way has been completed and so has the dining room. Next up will be the living room which is a big project. I will post pictures once it is completed.
Well............I guess that is all for now. Life is good and things at school are good and I am feeling pretty settled in here in Kuwait. I can't wait to see what the next chapter in the adventure is. Stay Tuned!!!!!!
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