The last few days of my life can best be compared to the following story.

When I was in junior high my parents took me, my sister, and one of her friends to Frontier City (our state’s version of Six Flags). It was a fun day, we were all having a good time and didn’t have to wait in a million lines because it was late Spring. We were having a fun morning and around noon decided to sit and eat an overpriced amusement park meal that costs as much as a steak at Chilis but is about as big as a McDonald’s kids meal. Anyway, we load up on chicken strips and fries and chocolate shakes and are feeling good and ready to hit the park for the rest of the day. We do some walking around and come to the ride that changed my life- the Tilt-A-Whirl.

One of the greatest rides, yet the cause of my demise. My sister begs us to go with her, so along with her friend I decide to ride. We prepare to get in, and my sister begs to be in the middle, even though her friend is already sitting there. I ignore her and tell her to sit across from me. Of course she grumbles but does it anyway. The ride starts and we start spinning mildly. Well, if you have ever been on one of these you know that each seat controls their own little wheel that lets you spin really fast and out of control, so I get that thing going. We are having a great time and we are spinning so fast I’m surprised we didn’t take off. About that time my sister starts telling me to stop because she isn’t having fun anymore, which of course being a big obnoxious sister these words are interpreted as, “More! I want more spinning!” So, I give the girl what she wants. She continues to tell me to stop and that her stomach hurts, yet I continue to ignore her and keep turning that stupid wheel. All of a sudden her face changes and this tiny 2nd grader barfs everywhere. Things came out of this little girl that were unfathomable. It was a mess and was everywhere. My stupid spinning didn’t help....at all… trust me…

That is the best way to explain what is happening here. Everything is a huge Tilt-A-Whirl mess. I don’t even know where to begin.

Yesterday I found out some really bad news. Supposedly I won’t be able to get a working visa until I am 23. That not only means that I won’t be able to work for the company that I really want to, but there is a good chance I won’t be able to work anywhere! The absolute earliest I could apply for a visa would be in Janurary of the year I turn 23. Do you know what this news means? If this really is true, Will and I may have to live with my parents that long.

Will told me over the phone yesterday when he found out, and I was really strong for him because I knew he was really busy. I was doing really well. I just sat at the desk with the phone in my hands. Breathing. Trying to tell myself I was going to be okay, but then I lost it. I sat on the bed and just cried. I feel so much frustration right now. Will and I have planned our financial future on BOTH of us working here for three years and going home and not staying here a minute longer. Things sure are shaken up now. We can’t live with my parents that long. I just sat there and cried and wondered what my purpose was and what God’s plan was for me, because as of now it makes no sense… I just have to trust. That can be hard when I actually have to DO it and not just SAY it. ...It was a totally emotional day. One of the worst in a very long time. I was a mess.

I am trying to stay positive because there is one last glimmer of hope, which I am going to cling to until I hear otherwise. I was contacted by another place for a job last week. I contacted that person and he was really busy, but he took down my number and was going to contact me about scheduling a meeting. I just hope he remembers. I hate placing my future in the hands of someone else, especially when they are busy and jotting my number down on a napkin. I don’t care though, as long as I can get a job SOMEWHERE and start working towards a goal.

So, that is my last hope. That is all I have job wise really until Janurary and maybe as late as my birthday. If I get the job I was talking about I will continue to be on my visitor visa and just leave the country every few months for a few days and get a new one, which is a pain but will SO be worth it if I can get a job and get our own place. PLEASE call me, guy, so I can start working!!!

I will keep you updated, I pray it is good news this week.

In a weird way, tonight was a little symbolic of my life right now. We went to Applebees for dinner and then came home. My dad decided to go across the street and get a hair cut while we went upstairs. We got in the elevator and as we got to our floor we all realized we didnt’ have a key, so we had to go back downstairs and wait for my dad. We went outside by the pool and just hung out. My sister jokingly made the comment that we should jump in because it was so hot. You guys have to know me- that is NOT like me. I have too many inhibitions to just do something “crazy” like that (especially in a place like this!), but for some reason I agreed. We held hands, ran, and dived in, clothes and all. (Will got a picture, I’ll have to post it when it is developed) It was the greatest feeling I’ve had in a long time. I just let go and went in. I felt this crazy freedom. It just felt good to do something different. How true for me. I guess I just need to dive in and trust God that the water is going to be perfect and all of this is going to workout- somehow and in a way that only He can do it.

It was freezing when we got out, and going into the air conditioned building was miserable. I took a warm shower and put cozy sweats on. I never thought I would say I was COLD here.

Anyway, that is the story of me right now. I am hoping I’ll get news tomorrow, but it may take a few days. I’ll keep you posted on this crazy Tilt-A-Whirl of a ride that is my life.

My sister and I had a good laugh today. We created our own goofy reality show called 2,000 A Day.

We were in the kitchen having sharing a package of pop tarts talking about how much we needed to eat healthier and start working out again (ironic since we are eating a package of oh so healthy pop tarts). This has been the basis of our entire relationship the last month I have been here. Since its been a few months since my surgery I can start working out about 30 minutes each day, so we agreed that is how we would start out.  So we finished our breakfast and decided that it was really dumb to share a package of pop tarts because they have a million calories in one and you are still left hungry. So we just made small talk in the kitchen for a few minutes and then were like, “okay lets just go ahead and eat something, dang it.” So we carefully weighed our options:

*We could split another “healthy” package of pop tarts and eat nothing until lunch

*We could stop where we were and have a healthy mid morning snack (it was 5 when we had breakfast, so our bodies seem to think its lunchtime at 10 in the morning)

Well, today we decided to keep “runnin’ with the fat girls” as my sister says. So we ravenously opened our second package of pop tarts and attacked them like we hadn’t eaten in a month. I told my sister when we were done, “ Okay, this is what we are going to do. I am going to close the door to the kitchen and lock it. Then I am going to hide the key so you we can’t get in. I will be the caretaker of the key today, and you can be the one to hide it tomorrow.” We both died laughing. She was like, “This could be a reality show. If you end up finding the key and getting into the kitchen, you have to cut your calorie intake in half the next day.” We had a good laugh. I guess you had to be there because it just doesn’t do the story justice in writing. I promise, it was really funny…

Well since we are on the subject of food, I almost died the other day when I was looking at our grocery bill. We went for just a few odds and ends. A recipe I wanted to make called for cheddar cheese soup, which of course they didn’t have. So my mom thought maybe we could try it with cheese whiz (I promise, we don’t always eat unhealthy- you probably think I sit around and eat chocolate frosting on crackers all day or something- I promise I don’t J). So we ended up getting it and I didn’t even think anything about it. Well when I checked the bill I saw how much the stinkin’ thing cost us! That jar must be considered a holy treasure or something because in US dollars it was 9 bucks! What a rip off. I never thought processed calorie packed cheese would require a loan. J

Okay, off with the food talk. Will and I went to the movie store to buy some more movies, and boy was that an adventure. I always thought that now that my sister and I were here all day we could venture to the beach across the street or down to the movie store- just as long as we didn’t go too far… ha ha yeah right. I was totally freaked out last night. My mom told us she thought the place was only about a block away so we thought we would just go ahead a walk since it was so close and parking in this country requires an entirely separate post. So we start walking… and walking… turns out it was not just a block away. On the way there, there was a car full of guys that pulled over next to us when we were walking and just came almost to a stop and just slowly followed us as we were walking. I was freaking out- but it gets even better. THEN a little white car jumps the curb where we are walking and just sits there, watching us in his rear view mirror. He just sits there until we walk past him and then he follows us on the curb for a while and then drives off. Guys- I am totally adding that to the list of the top 5 scariest moments in my life. Crime is really low because you can get body parts chopped off and stuff, but I still felt nervous. This lady I interned with back home lived in Saudi Arabia when she was a teenager and she told me that the guys there think totally different then they guys back home. Their minds are just totally different. I guess she was right. We’ve been out several times in public, but that has never happened. I think since we were walking on a busy street, just the two of us, maybe it was different. Kuwait is considered the most liberal country in the middle east, and many Arab women don’t even wear the full abbaya when then go out, but I think I might get at least the veil part if I’m going to go anywhere alone. I guess P and I won’t be going anywhere alone during the summer that’s for sure!

The other day my mom, sister, and I were sharing a piece of carrot cake that we had gotten after lunch. This cake is my sole focus. It has my full attention. Nothing is going to get in the way of me and this cake. I turn into an entirely different person when it comes to sharing dessert. The lion in me comes out. It’s like an aniamal eating her young or something- you may see me on Animal Planet one day. Its like I have a time limit or something, and I not only have to eat the fastest but I have to eat the most. It’s quite entertaining for onlookers I would imagine. The way I see it, everyone is on their own when it comes to sharing a dessert in this family.

So I’m elbowing my sister for more fork room and proceed to tell them how great cream cheese frosting is on carrot cake. I then go on this two minute tangent about how every year Brian (Will’s brother) has a red velvet cake for his birthday and how great cream cheese frosting is on red velvet cake. “Everytime I eat it I sit and try to figure out what flavor red velvet is. I just can never figure it out!”

My mom and sister simultaneously put their fork down, look at eachother, and start laughing. “It’s chocolate cake with red food coloring, britt!” No way! It can’t be! I never think,” This tastes like chocolate” when I eat red velvet. Will someone help me decipher the flavors I experience! AGH!

So anyway, when Will gets home my mom tells me to go ask him (who has no concept of cooking) what red velvet is. “Chocolate cake with lots of red food coloring.”

I feel so deceived! What’s up with that!? What’s the point? You add a fancy name and red food coloring to a simple chocolate cake and it becomes an entire different entity!

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Anyway, I didn’t feel like creating a whole new post for the unexciting events to proceed, so I thought I would just attach them to my ramblings of cream cheese frosting and superficial chocolate cake.

We didn’t end up going to the Contiki because it opened at 7 and we were hungry by 5:30. We ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was the coolest I had ever seen. Its an all glass pyramid, so you have an incredible view no matter where you are. Its right on the gulf, so it was really pretty.

Friday wasn’t much more eventful. My mom ended up having to work because her boss had a heart attack , so it was a lazy day. It was “take your family to work day” for me! Ha Ha. They were able to see all of the exciting and wonderful things I do while I am here “at work” and they are gone (really working).

I am bracing myself for my little sister’s finale to school and her constant company this summer. This sounds silly, but I have a system and schedule down while I sit here and do nothing and wait for a job. I have a feeling my system is going to need a little tweaking with her here… a LOT of tweaking I should say. I think my whole plan is going out the window as we speak.

She is my best friend. I’ve known her her entire life for cryin’ out loud! However, I have a feeling we are going to kill eachother. I forsee many entertaining blogs on the way about being locked in an apartment with my 15 year old sister. Cabin Fever in the air? I think it’s already hit. Hard.

I am already having visions of the many arguments we will have over the computer- our only access to outside life form! I wouldn’t even know people live in Kuwait if it wasn’t for going out on the weekends! Computer sharing will be interesting.  I think it is going to become the thorn in our sides. Shes already made comments about being on it all day, so it am biting my tounge. For now blood in my mouth is better than her blood on the floor. I hope its not that bad. I like my sister and would feel bad about locking her on the balcony so I can maintain my schedule. ha ha

Enough about my uneventful past few days.

I got my pictures developed and they turned out great! My dad is going to scan them for me today, so I should have them up tomorrow or the day after!

Better get going. Happy Saturday. <3

I hate jeans shopping. I really do. Its like I spend 5 hours looking, I get all hot and start sweating because I am trying on pair after pair without luck, which in turn makes me frustrated and in a bad mood for the rest of the day. I hate going to the mall for jeans. Its a big wardrobe committment. They are a major part of the “collection“! I hate it so much. I don’t know why, but I really do…

Yesterday and today I felt like I had been on a neverending, quest for jeans, but instead it was just for a normal, inexpensive, cute pair of sunglasses. Easy right? Hah.

I desperately need a good pair of sunglasses because of the blaring sun and risk of damage to my eyes, so the search began…

Last night we went to 2 malls. P and I found tons that we liked- but they were on average about 90 KD, which is almost 300 US dollars! I honestly believe that Kuwaitis have never heard of The Limited or the Loft, or even Old Navy or Target for cryin’ out loud! Nothing is for “normal“ people here! We couldn’t find normal people sunglasses at all. They were all Gucci and Prada, and blah blah blah.

First off, if I am going to be spending that much money- I’m not going to be wearing it on my eyes! P and I went home in shock that we couldn’t find a single stupid regular store.

So this morning my dad remembered that the airport has a few decently priced sunglass shops, so we headed off! When we got there, Will had to exchange money so we could go shopping.  This is SO depressing. He traded $100 US dollars and got a little less than 30 KD back. It’ll make you sick how much their currency is worth. You have to donate a kidney just to buy a few things at the grocery store. Anyway, back to glasses shopping…

We went to two places that had awesome glasses like we had seen last night, but they were still pretty pricey. So, we went upstairs and found another store that had some nice ones that were a lot cheaper than the ones downstairs, but they were still too much for me. So when I was about to give up and my family was starving and lagging behind P and I because of how long we had taken, I found “the“ store…

It actually had super cute sunglasses for really cheap (for Kuwait anyway). I found an awesome pair for only 6 KD and they are totally UV protected and everything. They are hideous (I know I am using awesome and hideous in the same sentence to talk about how much I like my sunglasses, but those are the two words that come to mind)! They are huge and glamorous. Will has been calling me “Nemo“ all day because he felt like he was staring at a fishbowl. What a goof. I’m hoping to get some pictures up in the next week or so so you can see where we live and make fun of my sunglasses too.

So that was our “adventurous“ day of sunglasses shopping. I don’t even want to think about how much I am going to hate jean shopping after this extravaganza…

Thank God for online ordering.

I’m battling some kind of yuck.I don’t feel sick, I just have some scratchy, yucky something in my throat. So, for this reason I suffered an anonymous embarassing moment today!

Today is my sister’s 15th birthday (which is crazy to me that she is that old)! I told my mom I would get up early to call her favorite radio station so they would announce her birthday on the air. Well, bad news for me, they had already aired them- BUT they would air hers if I sang her happy birthday!

-pause-

Just a sidenote- Singing in public is my BIGGEST fear, no lie! I would rather walk a tight rope on a 10 story building than sing in front of an audience, so that wasn’t much of an option!

Okay, so I was like, “I can’t sing! I’m sick!” And they said, “We’ll sing with you.” So, because I love my only sister dearly, I sang her happy birthday for thousands to hear- with a terribly scratchy throat. My sister called after they had played it to tell me how sweet I was and how special I made her feel… and then she said, “ You didn’t tell them who you were, did you?” I was feeling the love at that moment.  Thanks sis. Now I have to join the Witness Protection Program or something for my terrible attempt at Happy Birthday.

Tonight Will and I are going over to my mom’s house to celebrate my sister’s birthday. I’m most looking foward to the turtle cheesecake she picked out… and watching the Apprentice after she opens her presents! We got her a cd case, the girl has a thousand and they are everywhere!  I think my mom got her a digital camera, and her biggest present is their trip to Kuwait in 2 weeks to visit my dad. I suspect my dad will call sometime tonight, which will be nice because my main communication with him is email. It will be like 2 in the morning there, but at least we’ll all get to pass the phone around!

Have a great evening!