Cultural Awareness

The only way to get off this post is to either go on official business or to go on an MWR trip. Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) puts on a cultural awareness trip every so often that includes a trip to Kuwait landmarks, a mosque, and local shops. To get on the trip, you must first take a 2-hour class offered every Saturday. I went this morning and enjoyed it.
A Lebanese man who served in the the Lebanese Army before coming to American 10 years ago was our instructor. He schooled us on everything from how to interact with Kuwaiti women (basically don't interact with them) to how to politely refuse a glass of hot tea to how not to get arrested during the month of Ramadan. During this month, muslims fast (no eating, no drinking - even water) during daylight hours. If you are walking downtown and sipping a soda, the local police are going to grab you and put you in the tank until you cough up $700.
A Kuwaiti woman, dress from head to toe in a black "habaya," including a face-covering "hijab" headdress also spoke to give us a woman's perspective. Some of the soldiers call women dressed all in black "ninja ladies," but the reason they wear all black is that it effectively hides what's underneath from the prying eyes of strange men.
The "ninja lady," she gave her real name but I'm not going to publish it, also was very appreciative of what the United States had done to liberate her country in 1991. It was nice to see someone appreciating our country and her soldiers instead of shooting at them or trying to just make a buck off them.