A walk by the seaside, Kuwait Corniche

I enjoy walking......and walking by the seaside...with the wind blowing against my face.....is so invigorating! The vast expanse of the sea.........makes me wonder.....of the unknown beyond and beneath. The air around smells of the seaweed which has been left behind after the high tide.... and is now, slowing turning rotten.

I see a couple of individual Arab women...........the young one, complete in a track suit walking briskly while chatting fervently on her mobile.....the other, older lady in hijab and as she walks, I spy her latest sneakers on her feet.

Then, there's the lone white guy, in shorts & music in his ears cycling away furiously. There are also these young couples strolling by. As I walk, I come across a couple of Ice-cream sellers - the ones on tricycles. Apart from the ice-creams, they also sell water & juices. In addition, there are also a few men just hanging around.... smoking ...watching people go by...

In the distance, I see the Scientific Center which is built right on the waterfront. It also houses the Dhow Harbour and has quite a few of the historic Dhows which are traditional Arab sailing vessels. The place is built in the shape of these Dhows. The view looks wonderful...can't resist....take my mobile phone out and shoot this picture. Beautiful!?

A Stranger's Just a Friend You Haven't Met?

Someone told me long ago........and I read it too, somewhere.....
"A Stranger's just a friend you haven't met." This is partly true, I would say.

I remember in my school days, it was a craze to have Pen Pals. I too had a couple and through many letters & photographs exchanged, they would come live to me and were no longer strangers....... they were my friends. Now, even in my day to day work life, I deal with people who actually I haven't met but through emails........sometime non-work related.. just venting out our frustrations........ chat over the phone......we are friends....... and not strangers!

Yes, sometimes.....through words.....writen or spoken....one can reach out.... A Stranger then.....remains no longer Stranger!

So go on....say "Hello" to the next stranger that you meet on your next travel. I have been fortunate to have met some interesting travellers with whom I am still in touch.....thanks to the internet!

Seeing "Lucy" in Addis

A group of us travelling from Johannesburg missed our respective connecting flights in Addis Ababa.............. and so we had no choice but to stay the night in Ethiopia. We were put up at the Hilton. Thank God! At least the stay would be clean, comfortable & safe!

The next day we had ample time to take in the sights of the city as our respective connecting flights was only late in the evening. After breakfast, Anne, a Norwegian girl who was on the same flight and I decided to take a walk down to the Ethiopian National Museum which was not so far away. I'm glad we did. The weather was lovely and the conversations along the way was very enlightening.

The Museum houses numerous relics and archaeological artifacts from prehistoric times but of course the most famous is the 3.5 million year old skeleton of "Lucy" which is supposed to be the oldest hominid ever discovered. This is housed at the basement.........probably for better protection? It was an awesome sight coming face to face with someone who lived millions of years ago.

Only that........... what we saw was just the cast/replica/copy of the real one. The real "Lucy" is safe in a lab.........somewhere in Addis.

Kuwait

It is in Kuwait especially that racism is prevalent openly and encouraged by the citizens who are really proud (of what? Heaven Knows) and think that they are the best in the world. The oil boom in the 50s saw that all citizens are provided extensively – free education, free healthcare and a guaranteed monthly salary! Over and above, they can take all kinds of loan and then have their Ministers in the Parliament pleading that the Citizens’ Loan be written off! ....Loans which were taken for buying luxury cars or going for a vacation to exotic places!

....sorry, got side tracked...coming to the topic in discussion....so you can see why the locals are so proud....all work is being done by the Expat workers while they lead an easy life! Therefore they think they are the Masters and the Expats are the servants! Majority of the workforce is from Asian countries where labour is cheap...........the domestic workers, public cleaners, drivers, shop assistants, etc. These are the people who are treated the worse! Even amongst the Arab nationals they categorize and look down upon those coming from the poorer countries....and are here trying to earn & make some savings! So much for equality....