KUWAIT, A FORMER BRITISH PROTECTORATE, is a new country, achieving independence on 25 February, 1960. Which is how we stumbled upon the National Day celebrations, a day of picnicing along the parade route, of kids with water bazookas dousing each other, a military fly-over and evening fireworks.
National Day Parade
National Day Parade
Everything — and everyone — was decked out in the green, white, red and black colors of the flag of Kuwait. Well, not everyone. Many of the women wore the traditional black burnoose with only a slit of eyes showing. They didn’t wish to be photographed but they had no problem with posing their kids for us. And we were part of the attraction. One little girls stopped dead in her tracks, looked up at Connie and said, “Awesome!” We ran into Abdullah and his mates at the Ministry of Youth tent who invited us in for coffee and snacks and a safe refuge from the kids with the water guns.
Zain, Abdullah and Ali, Ministry of Youth
The parade was to begin at 3 PM, then 3:30, then 4. By 4:30 when the cold wind from the Gulf became too much, we retreated to the hotel. We watched the fireworks later that evening from the comfort of our room.
