An Afterthought On The National And Liberation Days

During the long weekend (25 - 28 February) we also took the time to walk along Al Soor Street - the innermost ring road around the central part of Kuwait City. It's a couple of kilometers long and in a few places parts of the original wall that surrounded the city can be seen - or at least the reconstructions of the city gates that were destroyed during the Iraqi invasion:


(An old city gate, Al Soor Street)

The walk also offered a nice view of the Kuwait City skyline:


(Kuwait City skyline at dusk)


(Another city wall gate along Al Soor Street, high rises in the background)


(The Liberation Tower at dusk)

We walked into the city center after having done the entire ring road, had a bite to eat in the souq and used the last chance to see the light decorations on many of the government or large corporation buildings in downtown:


(The Liberation Tower dressed in red, green, and white)


(Buildings in downtown, displaying flags as well as the number of years since independence from the British and since liberation from the Iraqis)


(The Kuwait Stock Exchange displaying the '26' for the 26 February Liberation Day)


(See the '49' in the background - celebrating 49 years of independence from the British)


(Close-up of '25' displayed on the front of the Kuwait Stock Exchange)


(Another office building displaying '19' and '49')

On a different note: this must be the first time we have seen an electrical socket in a curb (we are standing on the pavement looking towards the road and a green area with palm trees)... Well, I guess they need power to light up all those decorations...



We also finally got to try the local item on McDonald's menu here - the McArabia. It's not bad but certainly not great either compared to the food you can get here. Idea is not bad though: flatbread with chicken and salad - made like a shawarma.



And in Kuwait you don't get regular ketchup with your fries - ohhhhh no, you get FANCY ketchup!! :-) (Maybe someone who speaks Arabic can help solve this mystery?)


(Fancy ketchup with your fries?)

All in all we had a very nice long weekend and I'm happy we got to see how the Kuwaitis (along with many of the foreigners who live here) celebrate their national and liberation days. I do hope, however, that with time there will be something else or more going on than just spraying foam on people and cars - something displaying the Kuwaiti culture and heritage that can be difficult to spot in between all the American style malls and Western restaurant franchises.

According to Arab Times Online, the holidays resulted in 11 people dying in road accidents, 13,821 citations being issued, 724 cars and 68 motorbikes being compounded. In addition, 143 people were treated - 46 hospitalized, 97 treated on the spot. Of those hospitalized, 26 cases were due to quarrels (Arab temper, I guess), 6 due to road accidents and 14 due to tumble and fatigue injuries in various sites including the Gulf Road (where they were spraying the cars - but with the efforts they put into it, I'm not surprised to hear of the fatigue cases).

(Source: http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/150231/reftab/96/t/11-die-13821-citations-issued-724-cars-68-bikes-seized-in-24-Feb--27-Feb-bash/Default.aspx)

Let's hope next year will be more peaceful (although I doubt it).

There Is Something In The Air...

Kuwait and the Kuwaitis are warming up for a double celebration next week: The National Day on February 25 and the Liberation Day on February 26.

The National Day celebrates Kuwait's independence from the British in 1961 when Kuwait declared itself a sovereign and independent state. Actually this was on 19 June 1961 but when the ruler Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem who was responsible for the independence (and much of the evolution of modern Kuwait) died in 1965, the National Day was changed to the 25th of February which was the day he had ascended the throne in 1950 - in order to honor him.

Liberation Day on February 26 marks the liberation from Iraqi occupation in 1991.

Those 2 days turn into a 4-day weekend of celebration and we have heard that people gather in the streets everyone wearing the colors of their national flag (or simply the flag itself) to celebrate two rounds of freedom, so to speak.

Already last Saturday the first decorations were up:


(A mural on the NBK (National Bank of Kuwait) building in downtown Kuwait across from the Grand Mosque - celebrating 49 years of independence from the British)


(A painter painting a heart-shaped Kuwaiti flag on the facade of a commercial building in Shuwaikh Free Trade Zone last Saturday)

On Friday evening the weather was relatively clear and we decided to go take some pictures of the preparations for National Day and Liberation Day.

This, though, is the view from our rooftop:



The Kuwait Towers are being given a fresh coat of white paint for the upcoming celebrations (2 out of 3 are done already). The biggest tower has a folded Kuwaiti flag hanging just under the big sphere - but not unfolded yet):


(Kuwait Towers getting ready to celebrate)

The Kuwait Towers are probably the best known landmark in Kuwait. They were heavily destroyed during the Iraqi occupation but the only sign left of that is a small photo exhibition inside the towers. The largest one (187m/613Ft above sea level) holds a revolving platform and some restaurants/cafés whereas the middle one is a water tank holding 1 million gallons (3.79 million litres) of water. The small tower controls the power to light up the two bigger towers:


(Kuwait Towers by night)


(Kuwait Towers by night - and the Kuwaiti flag waiting to be unfolded)


(Close-up of the mosaic on one of the spheres)

From close to the Kuwait Towers there is an excellent view of the coastline:


(Bneid Al Ghar coastline - with some apartment towers lit in green and red (and I guess the unlit part then counts for white))


(View of Kuwait City skyline from the coast - the tower to the far right is called Liberation Tower and is lit in red, white and green (although difficult to see) as is the office building on the far left - all in honor of the upcoming National Day and Liberation Day)

We also got a good look at this office building lit up in almost its entire height:



Of course we had to venture closer to see it:


(Night view from Dasman Square, central Kuwait)


(Up close - you can count the windows on the right hand side to get an idea of just how big the thing is)

Private families are also decorating their houses - some of them with over-sized flags covering the entire front of the house, others with light decorations and pictures of the ruling family. We haven't been able to take any pictures of that yet, but I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities, so stay tuned...