A Night of Good Will....

for Lebanon. Kuwait hosted a night of sharing handicrafts, food, and music with all of the sales going to Lebanon. It was held in the Salwa Al Sabah Theatre on the Gulf Road. We've never seen anything happening in this theater since it opened last year so it was fun to finally go inside. I went with some friends from school and took the opportunity to wear one of my new abayas and a red Thai scarf. Good thing I did because all of the embassies in Kuwait were there with everyone dressed in their finery representing their countries. The Amir made an appearance later on in the evening along with other important people, many of whom who were being followed around by all the photographers. It was the first time I've seen men in public singing and clapping together. Nice to see them out having fun. I took a picture of the Ethiopia booth where women were busy roasting coffee beans and creating a lot of smoke. Dressed up Arabic men were milling around serving Arabic coffee out of beautiful turkish coffee pots and offering dates that were filled to the brim in large baskets. It made for a late school night but was well worth the entertainment and excitement of a free public event for a good cause.

Traditional dress shopping at the Kuwait City souk.

"Men's traditional clothing is a floor-length shirt-dress, which is called a Dishdasha. It is usually white though blue, brown, dark green and black ones are common during the winter. Men also wear a loose headscarf called Gutra. This is usually white, though it may also be red and white check. The black head rope used to secure the Gutra is called Ogal.
Traditional women’s dress is an all-covering black cloak, Abaya. Women may also wear a burga, a short black veil which leaves the eyes and forehead exposed, or occasionally a
bushiya, a semi transparent veil which covers the entire face. The hijab, or Islamic headscarf, which conceals the hair leaving the face unveiled, is worn by many Kuwaiti’s and expatriate Muslim women."
Before I leave the Middle East, I thought it would be appropriate to experience the traditional woman's dresswear. Yesterday, Geoff and I went souk shopping in the morning. At this time of the day, the market is generally quiet with many the male vendors hanging out in front of their wares. We found some stalls selling abayas and I got brave enough to start looking at them and trying them on. Of course, Western woman trying on abayas and Western man taking pictures with his big camera makes for great entertainment for the locals.
All in all, it was a successful morning. I came home with not one, but two abayas, a scarf and a full face cover. Can you find me in the one abaya shop?

Gurgiyan Parade

We are halfway through Ramadan and the second weekend marks the time of Gurgiyan and witnessing the elementary school festivities. The pre-k through grade 4 children dress up in traditional Kuwaiti/Arab dress and parade through the middle and high school. There is drumming, music, clapping and lots of little kids showing off their fancy dresswear. Kids are excited because this is like their Halloween. They get lots of gurgiyan candy which is mostly a mix of peanuts and individually wrapped candies. Although, the younger ones are not fasting, it's interesting that this festival focusing on giving and getting candy falls right in the middle of Ramadan. I love the parade, it's fun, colourful, and brings joy to the day.