Kuwait

We haven't been in the middle east in awhile, so our next stop is Kuwait, the tiny little country on the Persian Gulf between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A tiny oil rich country of just under 7,000 square miles, it's size is somewhere between Connecticut and New Jersey. But, really, what put it on the map, besides the oil was the Iraqi invasion of 1990. 

Kuwait might have become a country less than 60 years ago, but the people go back over a thousand years to the Dilmun Empire. As one of the oldest civilizations in the Middle East, the Dilmun Empire was an important trade center, located on the route between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. 

While Kuwait still has it's share of old world markets, and dhow harbors, they are also throughly modern with contemporary architecture, and some of the best museums in the middle east. But beyond the buildings, Kuwait is modernizing in a different way. Women's rights and liberalizing trends are over taking a country . 

Our landmark is about the architecture, however, with the Al Hamra Tower. Located in the capital of Kuwait City, the skyscraper took 6 years to build and was completed in 2011. It's the tallest building in Kuwait, and the tallest carved concrete skyscraper in the world. The 1,358 tower was included in the best inventions of 2011 by Time Magazine. 

But, Al Hamra Tower isn't the most famous tower in Kuwait. That distinction goes to the three Kuwait Towers. The blue mosaic design is meant to reflect the look of a historic mosque. They house everything from a water tank to a restaurant. 

But perhaps the most important towers in Kuwait is the 33 blue and white striped water towers strategically placed throughout the country. Kuwait has no lakes or reservoirs, and as a result is the only country in the world with no natural water supply. The water towers are designed to collect as much rainwater as possible to help the people who live in the arid desert. 

Kuwait packs a lot in it's tiny little size. Tourists and Citizens can enjoy the beaches, take in the museums, or play a round of golf.  Looking for the best shopping destination will likely lead you to The Avenue's Mall. It's the largest mall in Kuwait, and one of the biggest in the middle east. With over 800 stores, it even features an IKEA (plus a whole lot of electronic and clothing stores). Restaurants are everywhere, but don't expect to get a drink. Alcohol is illegal in Kuwait, it cannot be manufactured, imported, or even served (less than 15 countries in the world are 'dry', and Kuwait is one of them). 

Speaking of resturants, Kuwait got it's first McDonalds in 1994. It was so exciting 15,000 people lined up to get their Big Macs and the drive-thru line reached to 7 miles long. 

If you want to visit Kuwait, it'll be pretty easy even if you don't speak Arabic. English is taught in schools from first grade, and it is widely used and spoken in Kuwait. Even the traffic signs are bilingual (in both English and Arabic). 

The boys also liked the use of robot camel jockeys.  In 2006, child jockeys who had been used for centuries by the Bedouin people to race camels for entertainment were replaced with robots. Some are even designed to look like real humans. 

And Kuwait's Lesser Egyptian Jerboa was also pretty popular with Hayden who really likes when we learn about some weird animal in various countries. The Jerboa is a little rat that has strong back legs and tiny front legs like a kangaroo. At night, they are spotted jumping all over the desert, and can run as fast as a human can ride their bike. 

The boys made their Kuwait postcards. We had one sent to us from Kuwait, but it never made it here. I'm still holding out hope for that one and the one from South Africa. 

Calib's included the McDonalds, schools teaching English, oil drilling and the water towers. 

Peyton put all kinds of the things we talked about in line for the opening of McDonalds including a jerboa, and camels being run by robots (I voted for his for creativity!) 

And Hayden's featured the Al Hamra Tower, robots, water towers, and the Iraqi invasion (he drew the Iraq flag from memory, which I found impressive). 

Kuwait's dinner featured Baba Ganoush (which is super fun to say), along with bread and carrots for dipping, Middle Eastern Style Roasted New Potatoes , and Persian Meatballs with Dried Cherries and Pistachios. Our fruit was strawberries and bananas. 

For dessert we had Kuwait Elbah (which is a vanilla custard with saffron which rose to the top and made it look super pretty!) 

This was one of the meals when I picked it out, I was super excited about it. It all looked awesome. 

I was disappointed when it only earned two spoons up. 

But, those spoons were me and Asa, and they were spoons WAY up. I would eat this meal, the whole thing, again, and be very happy about it. To be clear, the boys didn't hate it. They loved the potatoes, they all asked for seconds. But, they weren't big fans of the meatball. It did have a lot of the cherry and pistachio flavor, but I thought it was really interesting. (And shout out to sprouts for letting me buy 2 tablespoons of pistachios and 1/4 cup of dried cherries so I wasn't stuck paying too much for more than I wanted). 

The dessert was hit and miss with the boys, but I loved that too. I think it just wasn't sweet enough for them. But for me, I topped it with a tiny bit of whipped cream and enjoyed my whole serving. 

I think this was just a lot of 'grown up' flavors. I try and remember that even when the boys pick at their dinners, they are doing pretty well not complaining about all these weird meals, and they're learning a lot a long the way. 

But for me, this meal was up there with the Palau Shrimp, the Albania Qofte Piqum, and the San Marino Piada Wraps as one of my favorites.  

We colored Kuwait in with a dark green dot between blue Iraq and yellow Saudi Arabia. 

You might have noticed Kuwait is number 123 out of 196. After the location of the correct 193 countries (thanks DRC), we talked to the boys and decided we should do 196 countries. Though not recognized by the UN, we already had Vatican City Day. So, we'll add in Kosovo and Taiwan, and bring our total to 196. 

So, here we are adding to our countries. What can you do? It's only two more. 

123 down, 73 to go! 

Next Up: Cyprus (sort of, we did the country yesterday, but we won't be doing the meal until lunch next week).