Word.

So,
Today is the first Saturday of September,
which would usually mean that hordes of students will be attending school again.
A traffic-congesting nightmare.

I left home at 7:03,
was in Bneid el Gar at 7:14,
wondered how the hell i had gotten there with nary a tap of the breaks,
and decided that this was really a Friday in disguise.

Passed by the exit i used to take for school,
and saw the cars and students waiting for the light to turn.
How was it i was almost never late to school?
My body betrays me.
I seems incapable of taking my orders anymore,
which makes me want to hit it repeatedly with a tape dispenser.

I couldn't believe that i was that early,
like it was a cosmic joke or something.
And like any junkie that feels the need to cover for thier insecurities,
i decided to indulge in my very own version of crack: The Sultan Center.
(and to the boy who thought i was American, and who wanted to stalk me in TSC Sharg, 7ayaak yuba, you can be my TSC sugar daddy. But you do realize that me and your brother have been friends for like, ever. By the way, my sister & cousins say hi :p)

After driving through the parking lot of Sharg,
and realizing how it's one of my favorite scenes (i'm sorry, but soug sharg is only like, the most beautiful mall in the q8),
i decided that damn my addiction,
this day is too beautiful to be spent inside!

So i drove.

I've never been to the financial district,
and finally saw the Stock Exchange with my own eyes.
Astrud Gilberto was singing in that beautiful language of hers,
and i've realized that no matter how hot i think Portugese is,
i'd really rather not be anything but Kuwaiti.

I'm very proud of us as a people, you know?
Financially,
i'm very indebted to The Families that had conglomerates since the 1920's.
Now that's old money.
And that money built this country.

I didn't want to get lost downtown like i usually do,
so i stuck to one road,
and waved at buildings where i knew my friends worked
(until i realized that it's Saturday, and they're in the private sector).

I took the road back to the Gulf Road,
and drove towards Shuwaikh.
That area is nice, man.
And that oil building,
one of the K's, or P's, or C's, or O's, or any combination of those letters loomed over the sea.
It looked awesome.

Someone who lives in Shuwaikh says that everytime they go back home they swear that the air smells different, like a fermenting dumpster.
That reminds me of when Kathy Griffith said that "once the plane door opens in Kuwait, you realize that the country smells like one big fart".

So while this post obviously has almost nothing to do with work,
it does,
becuase when i finally decided that enough was enough (like Mbarikiyyah needs to be visited at 7:30am),
i drove to KNM,
only to realize that Hani had lied.

I don't have to start coming in at 8 until Tuesday,
when the Big Boss Man comes back.

Which, of course,
leaves plenty of time to get acclimated to this new surge in traffic.
And if traffic surprises me again,
(ie: being non-existant),
then there's always another 'tour Kuwait at 7:30am'.

My advice:
go to work early,
and drive around.
you might smell like a dump,
but damnit if you just won't fall in love with this country all over again.

Until then,
-me.