We found the 'Little India' of our area where most of the population is Indian migrant workers and where the restaurants serve traditional Indian food and the little clothes shops sell colorful saris. We also found the area where the very poor looking Arab migrant workers seem to cluster (many Arab migrant workers have office jobs but some are really at the bottom of the hierarchy here cleaning the streets for example).
In one street we found the Kabul Restaurant - a tiny place with no tables, a small menu/price list written in Arabic on the wall and a friendly Afghan man serving up portions of hearthy take-away food to the neighborhood people (mostly Indian residents and taxi drivers who stop by).
(Kabul Restaurant - keeping the food hot)
I am never very brave when it comes to taking pictures of people I don't know. I always fear that they might think I am doing it with some bad motive or to expose them in their state of poverty or hard labor. I'm afraid they think I regard them as a 'tourist attraction' - although this is in no way the case. Anyway, I got K to ask the Afghan restaurant owner if he would mind me taking a picture and he was happy to oblige:
(The owner of Kabul Restaurant and his young helper)
(Posing for the shot - the Kabul Restaurant owner and his helper)
Across from Kabul Restaurant there is a small hole-in-the-wall place that we almost walked past without noticing it. It has no signs of any kind and it is so narrow that you could almost reach from one end to the other. Inside these men are baking large, round bread known here as Iranian bread. The temperature inside is almost unbearable with 2 large fires burning inside the ovens.
(The 2 men baking the Iranian bread and placing them on a table - when someone buys them, they will be wrapped in a newspaper sheet)
The dough is spread out (like a pizza) on the white round thing next to the oven - then placed inside the oven on the wall. As you can see there are 3 people working in this tiny shop - I wonder how that is a viable business. I am sure the rent - as well as their salaries - is low but at 20 Fils for a bread (7 US Cents/5 € cents/40 øre) you need to sell a lot of bread to make a profit...
(Working the oven)
(Iranian bread baking)
So in the end we had a lovely meal for KD 1.080 ($3.73 / €2.93 / Kr. 21.80) and there was food enough for 3-4 people. I know this isn't cheap compared to street food in many other countries but in Kuwait where life is expensive and prices quite high, this is a bargain!
(A very nice and simple meal - the bread is lying on the sheet of newspaper we got them in)
So, the owner of the Kabul Restaurant had asked us in his broken English if we would bring him the pictures. We figured that if he asked for them it would be quite impolite not to give them to him - so we had a few copies printed and yesterday ventured out to give them to him.
The humidity is really high these days - it feels like you cannot breathe when you walk outside - a bit like walking inside a sauna. We had left home little after 6pm so we were not allowed to drink in public for the first half an hour or so due to Ramadan. As soon as the call to prayer was heard (indicating that the sun has set) we saw the staff of many of the local restaurants gather outside to eat huge plates of food and drink large bottles of water and soda. It's the first time I actually see anyone break the fast.
We only walked for about an hour in total to reach the Kabul Restaurant and go back home but the humidity made it feel like we had walked for hours and hours (even if we were taking it slow). I think it was only 35-40 degrees Celcius (95-104F).
(The shop window of a shoe shop in Salmiya - humidity blurring much of the window)
(Sweating in the humidity)
It is an interesting time of day to be walking around - the streets are almost deserted and you get that feeling that there has been a nuclear attack and you are the only one left in the world. Then some time after the sun has set, people start to come out into the streets - but mostly migrant workers and other expatriates (most of the Kuwaitis are at home with their families breaking the fast and only come out much later in the evening).
More humidity:
(The office window in our building)
(The entrance doors to our building)
I know this is not charming in any way but this is what a small evening stroll will do to you (mind you, without sunshine and daytime temperatures):
(Off to the shower...)
(Off to the shower...)
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