Roasted Culveys in Kuwait - Dec 2010

It’s blooming Christmas again!! 

Surely we skipped a month or two this year? It seems to have come around so very quickly! But having checked Wikileaks for a government conspiracy on time theft and found nothing, I guess I just have to accept that time is simply flying by!

So for those avid readers of our blog, you will have probably just enjoyed Lyra’s concise summary of her and the kids few weeks in the UK this summer! That means I am picking things back up in September......

 September of course is Back to School time, or in Kai’s case Starting School time!!! Yes little baby Kai had reached that moment in his life where he had to don the uniform and head off to big school!! Now some may remember that Kai found going to Nursery a challenge at first, so we wondered how he would be on his first day at TES (The English School). 

Well all started great, Kai was very excited and of course he had India in year 2 for support. We drove them to school for their first day, and got there nice and early, Kai was very happy to see his friend Thomas from Learning Steps, and instantly made friends with another boy in his class Connor, this was easy! The only moment of unease was when he was asked to leave his bag in a row in the playground... Mummy had told him to look after his bag, so he insisted on standing next to it until the bell went! Then he trundled into class, gave us a wave and was off, amazing!! We did hear that he had a few tears over the week or so about missing his Sister at certain times but otherwise he is loving it!

Of course it was India’s first day back too, but, as she let Isobel’s Dad (Isobel was a new girl in her class) know, he didn’t need to worry as she knew everything and would look after her for him!! So that was that, India took to her Leadership role well, and was made part of the playground squad in the first week!

Once we’d been back a week, Lyra felt it was time to have a party, so out went the invites and it was just like nobody had been away!! Homemade wine, pot luck dishes, and a game of Buzz for those still standing in the small hours!!

Not long after the mob returned, it was my turn to disappear as i headed off for a week away in Ohio with our new Brand Bath & Body Works, the trip was good, work wise as well as a very fruitful trip to the Apple Store!! All topped off with an absolute nightmare trip home! First flight delayed about 5 hours, missed my connection, ended up flying to Dubai, and having to by another flight up to Kuwait, all in all it took over 28hrs to get home!!

Back on the school front, both were flying, Kai was awarded his class’s 1st Star of the Week, and Indi made it into Nemo’s, the swimming team, after two gruelling tryouts, where she proved style did matter, not just speed! Lyra also decided to get closer to school life and became class rep for 1M (Kai’s Class) and joined the Ladies netball club, and play’s every Tuesday. It has to be said, judging by the bruises, it’s not the gentile sport I thought it was, this is dog eat dog competitiveness!!

Of course it didn’t take long for the parties to start again for the kids too, Indi had a great time at Pizza Express with Aurilion, although she spent most of the time discussing things with his parents!! And Kai went to Aayan’s at the Kuwait zoo, which we all got to go, and was a really nice setting for a party, although, a bit warm!! It was at this party that Ly and I got to meet Kai’s first girlfriend, Chloe, we had heard so much about this young lady that it was lovely to finally meet her! We also met Mazan and Marcelle her parents and we’ve been friends ever since!!

Does anyone remember Padema, our long lost maid from Sri Lanka?? Well she came back!! Only 7 months later than she planned!! Luckily for her Karim, our great friend and play buddy of the kids was finally able to use his ‘wasta’, and a pile of used bank notes to get his UK visa, so he was off to Sunderland University meaning Padema, could come back and work with us again part time!

Saying goodbye to Karim was tough on us all, he had really become part of the family, the move England was great for him, and he is loving it, even in a foot of snow, and arctic temperatures! We keep in touch thanks to Skype and Facebook, but we are all looking forward to seeing him again in March!!

As you know India loves her ECA’s (Extra Curricular Activities) and as she was in Nemo’s, we really wanted her to focus on her swimming, so she and Kai did extra swimming on a Sunday. With all that swimming, Indi still fits in Rainbows every week, and is still loving drama in her Cool School Drama club! This year they are rehearsing for a grand performance of the Lion King!

In October, we had a first since we’d arrived, and that was a sit down Dinner with friends! Normally Lyra likes to invite about 30 people so it’s always buffet, but Michele, Werner, Katlin, and Ché, became our first sit down dinner guests, something that is yet to be repeated!!

Still in October, the school had a long weekend, so we took advantage and whizzed over to Dubai to see friends. First stop was to the Mooney’s, India’s first love Liam, they were so excited to reunited after they left Kuwait in the Summer, we had a great night in the pool and Jacuzzi! I think we finally got out of the pool at about 4 in the morning, it was a fab night, and great to catch up with Tania and Mike (so much so we are going back New Year!!). Following that quiet night, it was time to head across town to Jumeirah and visit Pauline for her House warming party!! Pauline had stayed with us earlier in the year when she moved up to Kuwait with Alshaya, but 6 months later she got a great offer back in Dubai so up sticks again and headed back again!! Again, a fab night, really chilled, good people, good food (Pork!), good beer, and a chance to just chill with Pauline and Nick. Obviously we couldn’t just go to parties so we spent a day at Indi and kai’s favourite haunt, the Dubai mall! True to what is becoming a tradition, we went to the Aquarium, then headed out to the amazing dancing water, and had a lovely healthy dinner at TGI’s that had an amazing birds eye view of the fountains

Back in Kuwait, and the drama club, for big people was putting on Les Miserables, so we all went along and enjoyed the show, Kai found it too much and in 5 mins was snoring his head off, laying across, my, Lyra’s, and Indi’s old teacher, Jenny Johnson’s lap!! Despite Kai’s lack of interest it was an excellent performance. Following this Indi headed off to Charlies for a sleepover. Next day was the TES Halloween disco, so the kids got their best costumes on, Indi was a lucky black cat, and Kai was...a Power ranger!! Ly and I left them at the party as they were sleeping over at Charlies (again!) as we had to get our costumes on and head to the PAWS ball. A very civilised evening was had at the British Embassy, things only went off the rails on the journey home.... little did we know, but we had booked “The Party Taxi”, as jumped in the disco ball hanging from the ceiling started to spin, the flashing lights came on and ”The Love Shack” started booming from the stereo!! It was the funniest taxi ride we have ever had, we danced and partied all the way back! Our condition coupled with the fab journey certainly paid off for the driver as we all tipped him more than the ride cost!! Well that really got us in the mood, so the party continued back at home until the sun was coming up!! Who said we were too old to party!!?? Who said Kuwait was quiet and boring!!?? Not us!!!!

It was time for Bath & Body Woks to launch as we hit November so I headed back to Dubai to ensure all went smoothly and then brought the Brand team back to Kuwait for a tour of the market ready for the launch in Kuwait a few weeks later, To say it was a successful start up would be somewhat understating it! the store was flying from day one! exceeding plans by about 400%!! Yee ha!

Much to Kai’s excitement, Lyra joined his class for a day in November as they were doing bedtime routines, so Ly went in to read them some bedtime stories! Kai spent the whole time telling everyone, “that’s my Mummy” and battling his friend Ali, to get hugs from their love Chloe!!

Indi continued to adore being a Rainbow, they went off ice skating, and had a field trip down to the beach to celebrate 100 years of Guiding, The Vision Meeting. Kai joined them and kept running on the stage to pose during the raffle!!

In the presence of the British Ambassador and many other dignitaries, Indi and her drama class performed “Buzz” for the annual Hope Concert, Indi was a flower and the whole group did an amazing performance!! It has to be said though, that Kai also knew the words to the performance so he entertained the audience in the cheap seats ;-0))!! 

Kai’s class headed out on a field trip with Mum in tow, it was a morning at Fit 4 Fun, an activity centre where they learn, to jump, catch, balance, and climb. Kai really enjoyed it, he was a bit nervous as he is Mr Careful, but did most activities. The one he point blank refused to try though was the climbing wall, he was not attempting that for anyone!!

More action for the kids was the Nemo swimming gala, where TES, took on KES (Kuwait English School), what a great event, very well attended, and a brilliantly positive atmosphere for the kids to really go for it. Indi did well coming 3rd in front crawl and froggy legs (breast stroke) for her ability level, but then romping home in the back stroke by about half a length!! Amazing, and all done with her very elegant style too!!!

Now for some years, we have been threatening to go camping! In fact, we bought a tent when we were in Prague!! Yet, until recently, the basement was where it lived... So when one night while Indi was having a sleepover at Kaitlins, the big kids (adults) got talking... we decided that for 2nd Eid, we would head off into the desert in the 4x4’s and camp out! Now Werner and Michelle, are South Africans, so they were the experts, but we were excited to tag along!

A few days before,we had a practice putting the tent, didn’t want any embarrassing moments with Pro’s, then we packed it into the car, with a pile of blankets, warm clothes (really does get cold at night out there), enough meat to feed an army, and of course copious amounts of home made liquor! It was a blast! A beautifully clear still day, there was about 8 families, the numbers had swelled during a party at ours the night before!

We got there mid afternoon, pitched the tents, unloaded a large stack of firewood, then jumped in the 4x4’s to do some “Wadi Bashing” (driving around the desert like a loony)1 Started off great, amazing scenery, the sun getting low, then the hills got bigger and steeper! Until we got to one that only half of us could get up! Many attempts were made at high speed but the deep sand kept getting the better of us, still persistence paid off as we did eventually make it up and could enjoy the great view. Trouble was it was getting dark fast, so we headed off in convoy to find a suitable way back down.... very quickly it was pitch black, Kai had thrown up in the car due to the constant bouncing, and we had a cliff face to drive down! I was a tad nervous it has to be said, but the other guys had done it, so I slowly nudged the car over the edge... oh my god, it was practically vertical, and I had to keep it straight, or it would be big trouble! Thankfully we slipped down like an old pro and was greeted at the bottom by flashing headlights and horns to celebrate! Anyway it was time to hit the camp, crack open the wine and get the Barbie going. We had a superb evening of swapping stories and enjoying the camp fire, and fresh air. Got a little worried when we started to hear some automatic rifle firing!! but it came to nothing, but did serve to remind us we were out in the wilds!!

(Can anyone still be reading this...?)

Once we had all collapsed, we had a surprisingly good sleep, and woke to another beautiful warm day, we nursed our hangovers while the kids ran riot and climbed the rocks. Lyra even managed to blow the cobwebs away by blasting off on the back of Wern’s Quad bike, sadly I had a dodgy pint, so was in no condition for that sort of excitement!! An amazing experience though and we can’t wait to do again!!

After a few quieter days holiday for the Eid break Lyra said goodbye to us for a week and headed off to the UK to attend a couple of courses and then cram in as much as possible (you know Lyra...). Now Lyra gave me a summary for me to use as a reference to write about her trip, but I actually think it is the perfect summary of her trip so here it is in her own

......Internet marketing was fantastic, met some great people and learnt so much. Then on to see Mum and all the friends and family in Northampton. Heyford straight away, great to see Mum’s recovery and seeming much better.  Then to Abs, spent most of the week staying at Abi's when I wasn't in the sessions for TM. Managed to get so much done, two sessions of the laser treatment that I'd paid for two years previously but difficult because of staying out of the sun. Had open house at Abi's on the Monday and met Auntie and Uncle in Lutterworth on Tuesday. Writing cards and admin on Wednesday when I got back and finally a quiet night with Abs. Thursday, last session with Sue, then laser treatment, Anita for Pizza Express, Quick shop around town and then Toys R Us with Dad. Back to ABs to pack and then over to mums for a night of more craziness -wrapping pressies, writing cards, Tesco delivery coming,. phone calls, admin and all this and a visit from Diane... Good job we can multi task!! Crazy morning of packing and realisation that I was WELL over limit - journey to airport good especially as big snowfall the night before and lots of accidents and roads closed. All ok though and luckily had lots of time for the nightmare to follow - £25 a kilo and over by at least 15 ;-(( The saga of Dad coming back etc and needing to strip down my bags, then plane being late, the massive queues for passport control at Kuwait and getting stopped on the way through for a bottle of soy sauce!!

Aren’t you exhausted just reading it!! Well while Ly was away, the kids and I took a trip up the Kuwaiti Towers, they are the most iconic landmark in Kuwait, and after nearly two years here it felt like it was about tome we took a look at them!! The kids loved it! Kai was especially fascinated by the photo’s of how the towers were attacked during the Iraqi invasion, for week after he kept asking about the naughty Iraqi’s!!

Once Ly was back it has pretty much full on Christmas build up.... I have lost count how many carol Concerts I have been to and Christmas bazaars! Indi’s year did a fun show at school that they had choreographed themselves! Not sure what it was about, but it was fun!! Kai had a great end of term party with his class. The Netball girls hosted a ball at the embassy, in the garden, and it rained!! Only a bit, it was actually nice and refreshing!

I had a few more travels to squeeze in, a few days in Cairo, Beirut, and Dubai, all good and useful for sneaky bacon and booze runs!!

And of course the parties, some organized other impromptu (more bailey’s Ly!!) and lots, and lots of shopping... Ly recently got her own discount card for Alshaya, and boy has she used it!! Pottery Barn have a framed picture of her behind the tills!!

I have my fingers crossed that Lyra took the opportunity to buy a unique pressie for me at our friend Annelies first public exhibition of her fabulous art!

Needless to say though, we are just about ready for Christmas in Kuwait, the wine is ready to be bottled on Christmas Eve, we are hosting that evenings Soire, then the McCulloch’s on Crimbo day, and Claire & Phils boxing day.... the only thing missing is the snow and ice, but judging by what we are hearing, you guys have more than enough of that for us all put together!!

Still before all that starts, Ly and I are celebrating 9 years of wedded bliss on the 23rd!! A nice dinner and movie is planned, a great way to prepare for a fabulous Christmas weekend!!

All that’s left to say is have a very Merry Christmas, and a Fulfilling New Year!!

Oh, and congratulations if you actually read this all the way through!!!

Lots of love,

Dan, and the Culveys....

P.S. We picked up a new friend a couple of weeks back.... Chrissy the mental kitten is currently jumping all over the desk as I write this.... I love kittens.... the little maniac’s!! More on her next time!!