Fingerprint Day & Wasta

Day 12

Tuesday, September 20^th, 2011

In order to get your civil i.d. in Kuwait you must go through quite a process. I am extremely fortunate that the school helps with the logistics of this. If not, fingerprint day could have potentially been my undoing!

We had school (of course!) and were to be on the bus by 2:15. We left around 2:30 and were at the location before 3. The school had an appointment for us on that day and time since June. Please remember the June part!

We arrived and there was hardly anyone there. It was a large, cold room in a creamish-yellow color. Not very inviting or attractive! The one guy who appeared to be working had the girls sit in one section, and the guys in another. Okay, fine. No big deal.

Soon the area we were in started to fill up. And then the overflow area filled up. It was after 4. Soon the guys in our group were moved to the back area. From what I heard, the air wasn’t working so well back there, and it was miserably hot for them. Quite the contrast to the girls who were freezing!

The girls and I were sitting right next to the fingerprinting area. A little after 4 a group up guys walk up and get in line going towards that area. I was sitting next to Colleen, an elementary school teacher from Canada. She was talking to the guys, asking them where they worked and where they were from. One was chatting right back: they were from the states and worked in Forest Services. I looked at him and said, “There’s forests in Kuwait?” He laughed at me. See, his Kentucky accent was so thick I thought he said forest, when in reality it was Force Services. Oops.

He eventually got through the line and he came back out towards Colleen and placed his hands on both of her cheeks. When they do fingerprinting here, they don’t mess around. Your hands are basically black. Yes, this man who we called Chuckles literally left his mark on Colleen’s face! The expression on both of their faces (hers especially) was hysterical! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I was trying to help her clean it up, but I was laughing so hard it took me awhile!

He left, and came back over and gave her some candy and apologized. He also shared with the rest of us. Then he left again and I told her that he was seriously flirting with her. I mean, it doesn’t really change from when you’re a kid, does it? When a guy likes a girl they like to tease her and pick on her. She didn’t believe me. Either that or she was too embarrassed to admit it. Pretty soon Gloria walked over and handed Colleen a piece of paper. It had Chuckles’ phone number on it. I love it when I’m right!

While this was hilarious and a great distraction from our first hour and a half of waiting, there wasn’t much to do other than to avoid the creepy (and I mean creepy) stares of the other people, all men of various nationalities, waiting for their fingerprints. I was extremely happy to be in a large group.

Remember how I said we had an appointment and were there before 3? Guess what time we finally started getting our fingerprints done? You’ll never guess! It was after 6. 6!!!! There were over 40 of us! This is where the wasta comes in. Wasta is your level of influence in society. Native Kuwaitis have a higher wasta than non-natives. Members of the Royal Family have a higher wasta than everyone else. Then it somehow works its way down. When we were hired we were told that teachers were revered and looked up to. Our experience at the Ministry fingerprint place definitely proved otherwise! The guy that took us there was negotiating with the other males about whose wasta was higher and who was allowed to go first. The fact that we had an appointment meant diddly-squat since the wasta was more prevalent.

Can I tell you that that was an extremely long and exhausting day? We didn’t leave until after 7. It was after 8 when I got home. Need I remind you all that that is now my goal bedtime?

Extremely Interesting Sight That I Need to Learn More About:

On the way home we drove through a few side streets that had bakala’s and restaurants on them. I saw two tiny (bakala’s are usually really small) bakala’s that had cages with live chickens in them. Yes, live chickens. Who buys live chickens from a bakala? Are they egg-laying chickens or eating chickens? Do the people who buy them kill them, or do the people at the shop kill them? I have no idea!