KUWAIT IS THE LAST OF THE ARABIAN GULF COUNTRIES left for us to visit as Americans, completing the category as they say on Jeopardy. This, and the fact that our onward flight leaves from Abu Dhabi, are the only reasons we decided to come here. Kuwait City is upscale and pricey, dusty and glitzy and full of luxury cars and giant SUVs with nowhere to go. The office buildings resemble modern sculpture more than traditional skyscrapers, especially at night when they are lit up like Christmas trees.
Keeping the architecture clean
It isn’t especially pedestrian friendly and it is hard to match up the actual streets with the map. The only sites highlighted on the map are shopping malls — cafe life and shopping seem to be the main activities in Kuwait City — and we couldn’t locate the Museum of Islamic Calligraphy on the map. Dozens of people gave us directions but since only one in three residents is from Kuwait, they weren’t of much help. The majority of population, who are from India, Pakistan and the Philippines, know only the route from where they live to where they work.
Lulu and Dhay point Connie in the right direction
Finally Lulu and Dhay, two students who had studied in the US got us pointed in the right direction. We got as far as the National Library where we met Abdullah from the Ministry of Youth. His friend actually knew where we wanted to go, still more than a mile away. By then we were ready to surrender and we returned to our hotel.
