I think I may have to officially give up on experiencing any type of enjoyable Kuwaiti culture. I have tried. Really.
I heard about the camel races through a few of the teachers who are members of the AWARE (Advocates for Western Arab Relations) center. I decided, why not? What else was I going to do, sit in my apartment or visit yet another mall? So, off to the camel races I went.
We arrived at the AWARE center at 11:15. Cool. I thought we were leaving at 11:30. Nope. The buses didn’t load until 1. Then it was a 45 minute drive into the Kuwaiti desert. At least the buses were nice – like a big touring bus. When we arrived, we were ushered into a building. Silly me, thinking I was going to be sitting outside in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert freezing. It’s been around 40 lately, which is nice, but I had heard that it would be freezing out in the middle of the desert. Guess what the temperature was? 70. Yeah, not cold. Thank goodness I had dressed in layers!
The building.
When we arrived at the camel races we found out they didn’t start for another 45 minutes. We wandered around outside and took some pictures. I had mine taken in front of a camel. I’m having a hard time getting on one – this one at least looked like he was being treated better than the one at FAILaka island.
We think that the smoke cloud in the center of the picture is burning garbage. We think...
The girls!
Once we heard that the camel races were starting, we went and stood by the track. Then we heard they had started. And then we were looking and looking to see where in the heck they were. When you’re looking at the race track, they start at the far, back right corner. So far back that you don’t see the camels. Eventually you see the trucks.
That’s right. The trucks. The camels used to have small male jockeys on them. Then they stopped doing that and used small male children. Then they had to stop due to human rights violations and the danger and such. I mean really : ) - Now they use these little robot things. The cars drive on a track next to the track that the camels are on so they can control their little robots. Freaking ridiculousness! If you’re standing outside by the track, you don’t see the camels until they’re almost right where you are due to the fact that you can’t see very well, plus they blend in with their surroundings. :) The trucks are pretty easy to spot!
The trucks driving beside one of the racing camels. I think these are film trucks.
Please note that the poor things were foaming at the mouth. Literally. I don't have a picture of a side view, but it literally ran down their necks.
The robot! Okay, they were kind of cute if you take out that whole idea of them being used to whip the camel so it would run faster.
After the finish line!
After the first race I went back inside because I did not bring any sunscreen with me because I thought it was going to be cool and overcast like the entire previous week – you’d think I’d learn. Inside there were couches and comfy chairs to sit on and watch the race. There were even large TVs where you could sit and actually watch the race because they had trucks with cameras following the camels. That was alright, except for the rude people next to us who let their children run wild and scream. Oh the joy.
The tv screen where you could see the race.
There were maybe a few Kuwaitis there, and they were mostly the ones who were racing their camels with the robots. I was quite surprised – again, I should really know better. Did you know that you can’t bet in the Middle East? Only in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi…now I can’t remember. Sorry – blame my memory on my mother.
We were only at the races for an hour and a half. We loaded back onto the buses and headed out to a Kuwaiti farm. Believe me, it is nothing like a MN farm. I would call it more of a hobby farm, but it’s not even that cool. The one we were at was a plot of land, cement blocks surrounding it, with a few buildings. No big deal. I asked one of the AWARE people what kind of farm it was supposed to be since I had never seen one even remotely resembling this. She said it was probably a fruit farm due to the number of palm trees. WTF? A quick Google search shows that palm trees can grow coconuts, acai berries, jelly palm fruits, saw palmetto berries, and various types of dates (thanks wiki answers, and ssshhhh! Don’t tell my students I used it!). Coconuts I figured, but the rest is news to me. Strangest farm I ever saw!
A Bedouin-style tent at the farm.
A peek inside the tent.
I was talking to a teacher about it the next day at school. She said she always enjoys watching the new hires try and experience the Kuwaiti culture and it’s usually right about this time they all give up and realize there isn’t one. She said to appreciate the culture for what it is: a great place to get spa services, good restaurants, and shopping. I would like to add that there is also the bonus of a great location to travel from. Le sigh. I really did try. I think I will now spend my weekends in my apartment on my couch with a pot of coffee and a book or a movie. Oh who am I kidding, I'll probably try something else. I heard you can get certified to scuba dive here...
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