Categories
Gossip & Rumors

Teachers Working Illegally in Kuwait

teacher

Last month I read an article about teachers being deported after public authority inspectors started doing random checks at schools and finding out many of them were working on visit visas. I didn’t think of it much at first since I thought these incidents were taking place at random no-name schools around the country.

Last night though I found out from a teacher friend that some of the top ranked schools in Kuwait were being busted with one of the American schools in Hawalli having had 30 teachers deported. Another American school made 50 teachers not come into school for 3 days because they were expecting an inspection.

My guess is after the child sex offender was found working at a local American school, the government probably ran an investigation to see how he slipped through their background checks and realized that he was working here illegally. Obviously this is the fault of the schools but what I don’t understand is why they don’t get the teachers proper work permits in the first place. Is it to save money or are schools having visa issues like every other company in Kuwait?




Categories
Food & Drinks Reviews

New Restaurant: Haute Gourmet Hot Dogs

haute1

Last week I posted about a new restaurant that opened called Bao. Well the same owners opened up another restaurant right next door called Haute specializing in gourmet hot dogs. I passed by a couple of days ago to try it out and unlike my visit to Bao, this time I left disappointed.

The interior of Haute is pretty trendy looking with graffiti on the walls and lots of bright red everywhere. The place was empty when I passed by but it wasn’t lunch nor dinner time but somewhere in between. Their menu had 7 different hot dogs to choose from, they all used the same beef hot dog but each had different toppings. I like my hot dogs very simple so ordered the classic which came with just ketchup and mustard (KD2.000).

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When I first saw pictures of the hot dogs on their instagram page, I thought I would have an issue with the bun they were using. It didn’t look soft in the photos but in reality they were and they also turned out to be the best thing about the hot dog. The hot dog itself on the other hand was disappointing. According to their instagram, their hot dogs are smoked and made in house using the finest beef. But I didn’t like the flavor of it and thought it tasted very average. So for my hot dog fix I’ll continue to stick to Shake Shack for the time being.

Like Bao, Haute is located in Sharq near the Sharq Police Station [Here is a Map]. They’re also currently open from 4PM to 10:30PM. For more information you can check out their instagram account [Here] and here is a link to a clearer shot of their [Menu]




Categories
Food & Drinks

Rays One

rays

Speaking of abandoned places, does anyone still go to Rays One on blajat street in Salmiya? It’s been there for as long as I remember and even back in the 90s it was always empty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone inside and yet its remained open all these years.

Update: Just found the following snippet from the US State department “Weekender’s Guide to Life in Kuwait – 2007 Edition

RAY’S ONE RESTAURANT: This restaurant has a fish festival every Thursday and Friday serving a variety of fish cooked in a variety of ways – fried, steamed, grilled, smoked etc. During the week it serves an international cuisine.




Categories
Food & Drinks

Inside the Abandoned Kenny Rogers Roasters

kenny

A couple of weeks back while driving by the Scientific Center I noticed the fenced wall around the abandoned Kenny Rogers Roasters had come down. I decided that once I was off my crutches I would head there and try to see if I could get inside but it looks like I was beaten to the punch. Over the weekend the blog Life in Kuwait visited the location and shot some pictures and video of the inside. The place seems to be in much better condition than I expected it to be and it’s also a lot larger than I imagined as well. Check out the photos and video of the place [Here]




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

This weekend looks a bit quiet with not many events taking place. There is the Red Bull Car Park Drift taking place on Friday but it’s all the way on the 7th Ring Road. You also have two yoga events taking place, the Living Yoga Festival on Friday and the Yoga for Nepal on Saturday. Finally if you haven’t watched it before, Saturday night Cinemagics will be showing The Royal Tenenbaums. Check out all the events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Exhibition: Abolish 153
Mommy and I: Play Together
Rooftop Movie: Ship of Theseus

Friday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Culinary Event: Perfect Cakes and Frosting
Red Bull Car Park Drift
Living Yoga Festival 2015

Saturday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Yoga For Nepal
Rooftop Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums
How to House-Break your Dog

There is an interesting event also taking place on Wednesday at Bayt Lothan called Sidra Nights. It’s not on the weekend but figured I’d still mention it.

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events for the month click [Here]




Categories
Personal

2 Weeks, 2 Crutches

xray

So it’s been two weeks since my surgery and since I started using crutches. The first week of crutches was fun because it was something I hadn’t experienced before, and so there was lots of puzzle solving involved. But that novelty quickly wore off and I’m now finding crutches to be such a nuisance. One thing I haven’t really solved is how I can carry stuff while on crutches. I went to Sultan and bought some bananas thinking I could carry the bag in one hand while still managing to hold my crutches. That worked but what I didn’t take into consideration was the weight of the bananas plus the swinging motion would completely destabilize my balance with every swing. The stupid bananas were going to cause my crutches to fly out of my hand and I’d fall embarrassingly in front of everyone. Stupid bananas. I ended up taking the most gentlest and shortest hops back to my car and finally got there like 15 minutes later. A messenger bag would do the trick but imagine if I walked around with a messenger bag at Sultan filling it up with stuff. It would look like I’m stealing groceries so that’s not gonna happen.

On the other hand I have gotten very close to my crutches. They’re my mobility so they’re always right next to me. When I was at a restaurant last week the waiter was being nice and took and put my crutches near a wall away from my table as so not to bother me, I had him bring them back because I didn’t feel comfortable being so far away from them. People are so nice to you when you’re on crutches but it’s the pity kind of nice which I dislike. I have complete strangers passing by me and telling me “salamat” (get well soon) or “mat shoof shar” (don’t see evil). I’ve broken both of my hands multiple of times but no one ever treated me differently. It’s these damn crutches, not sure how I can make them look any less medical, I already have some cool stickers on them. When I see someone in crutches or in a wheel chair I don’t treat them any differently than I would anybody else because I know they don’t want my pity. I guess I understand, people are just trying to be nice but still, it makes me feel weak.

arcusairwalker

Yesterday I had my stitches removed and had some new x-rays taken. The doctor said I still have two more weeks in my cast before I completely remove it. It’s not really a cast, I removed the cast around 10 days back and got this medical boot called the Arcus Air Walker instead. It looks super cool, a lot less medical looking than a cast and best of all I can remove it and put it on myself. Made cleaning my wound (and leg) so much easier plus it’s the only way I can put on my skinny shorts. By the way if you ever need anything like this, crutches, braces, or things to make life for someone with a disability easier, there is a pharmacy in Kuwait Building Tower in Kuwait City (same building as Spaloon and Burger King) that has the whole basement floor dedicated to this stuff. I got my boots, crutches and a shower bag for leg from there, they’re called AlHuwail Pharmacy.

So anyway my doctor told me I don’t have to wear the cast anymore as long as I don’t put much weight on it yet. Since I’m super clumsy we agreed I wear the boot when I am moving around on my crutches but I can remove it when I’m sitting down. That was energizing news since I kinda had gotten demoralized a few days earlier. One of my clients is an ex Chinese Olympic gymnast and he told me that back in the day when any athlete broke a bone they had to be in a cast for three months. That obviously brought me down since I had hoped I would have to stay in the cast for a maximum of 6 weeks.

compex

The best news the doctor gave me is that I should start doing home rehab on my ankle, moving it around and such which is exactly what I wanted to hear. I have a little experiment I am planning to run you see, I noticed that in just two weeks my left calf muscle had completely weakend. That means even after I remove the cast I wouldn’t be able to walk normally or do normal things not unless my left leg got its strength back. So I had a theory, what if I did Electro Muscular Training starting from now? I tried it last month with the fitness studio 20Seven and it gave me a proper workout and my theory is it would keep my calf active and alive until I remove my cast. So I went online, did some research and ended up ordering the Compex SP 4.0. It’s one of the best and most popular brands for home EMT devices and use by crossfitters, cyclists and other athletes. I’m planning to work out my left leg, specifically my calves and ankles during this period in hopes that by the time I remove the cast my left leg would be stronger than if I hadn’t done EMT. I’m curious to see if it works. I’ll do a full review of the device in a month or so.

So two more weeks and if everything goes to plan no more crutches.




Categories
Food & Drinks Reviews

New Restaurant: Bao – Steamed Bun

bao1

Last night a new restaurant opened up in Kuwait City called Bao that serves Chinese-style steamed buns (hence the name). Whenever a new restaurant opens up that brings something new to Kuwait I’m usually all over it which was the case here. I’ve had steamed buns before in Kuwait at Street by Al Makan, but to have a place that just focuses on them, even better.

The restaurant is cute looking with around 7 or 8 tables. They had just opened last night so there were only a few other tables occupied when I passed by. I looked at the menu and ended up ordering the following dishes:

Tamarind Drumstick KD2.700
Buttermilk deep fried boneless chicken drumsticks dressed in tamarind glaze.

Coconut Shrimp Bao KD2.000
Coconut crusted shrimp with sweet chili aioli and pickled cucumber and crispy carrot.

Brisket Bao KD2.000
10 hours slow cooked brisket with crispy onion, red chili and ranch sauce.

Sweet Potato Sticks KD1.000

They also brought me a complimentary salad to try:

Pomelo Salad KD2.700
Cubed avocado, pomelo, pomegranate, red cabbage, shredded cucumber and mint with crunchy edamame, tossed with a tangy sweet dressing.

bao2

The orders started coming out randomly with the brisket bao being served first followed by the complimentary salad, then the drumsticks, then the sweet potato and finally the coconut shrimp. I can’t fault them on that since they had literally just opened a couple of hours earlier, so obviously the kitchen still don’t have the timings down.

Everything was pretty good with the two bao’s I had ordered being delicious. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the salad, but I’m generally not a salad guy with only a very few salads I like anyway. Right now they only have 9 different types of bao’s to choose from but once the restaurant officially opens they’re hoping to have around 16. One thing I really wanted to try but resisted were their desserts. They had two kinds of bao’s available, one involved fried donuts and a vanilla ice cream glaze while the other involved deep fried banana drizzled with Nutella. Both looked very tempting but decided to save them for my next visit. I ended up paying KD10 including drinks and tip. I was pretty full but if I hadn’t ordered a starter I think I would need three bao’s to fill me up. So price-wise, I wish the bao’s were like half a KD cheaper each.

bao3

Bao is currently in their soft launch phase with their opening hours being from 4PM to 10:30PM. They’re located in Kuwait City near the Sharq Police Station [Here is a Map]. All the photos in this post were taken from their instagram page since the lighting at night wasn’t great so my shots sucked.




Categories
Law

Kuwait Law: Sexual Harassment

no

Girls, have you ever felt uncomfortable walking down the streets in Kuwait? Ladies, have you ever heard unpleasant comments at a traffic light? Women, have you ever received a shocking sexual image via email from a co-worker by “mistake”?

These are all common incidents that happen in Kuwait to women of all ages and backgrounds, from men (or sometimes women) of all ages and backgrounds. I know this, as I am a female! Please I beg you, please stop the “Dear Mr Fajer” emails, “Dear Fajer” is fine. These incidents can come in many shapes, sounds and forms as well. I have had a few cases recently on this very topic and therefore wanted to clarify the law to my readers and the options they can take.

Please note that this article is not about “rape” or “statutory rape”, I have written about sexual crimes in a previous post [Here]

This post is about sexual harassment.

Article 191 of the Kuwait Penal Code states:
– Any person that sexually harasses another through hate, threatening or deceiving shall be punished with up to 15 years of imprisonment
– If the victim is related to the harasser, or is under his/her upbringing (example uncle, aunt, teacher, domestic worker so on) then he/she shall be punished with life imprisonment
– If the victim is under the legal age, not mentally stable, unable to know the nature of the act, then the harasser shall be punished with life imprisonment

Article 192 of Kuwait Penal Code states:
– Any person that sexually harasses another without hate, threatening or deceiving shall be punished up to 10 years of imprisonment
– If the victim is related to the harasser, or is under his/her upbringing (example uncle, aunt, teacher, domestic worker so on) then he/she shall be punished up to 15 years of imprisonment

What do you do if you are in this situation?
– If you are not 21 years of age, please speak to an adult you trust, this doesn’t have to be a family member, it can be a teacher, a friend’s mother or anyone else that you trust (you can also email me, I promise everything will be kept confidential).
– If you are an adult, please email me or go to the nearest police station.

Please note that this does not apply to online harassment, there are other departments in Kuwait that can find the person online and assist you, and they are very professional and no one will judge you. I will be discussing this in more depth in a separate post next week.

Before I end this post I would like to request your help. I recently received a few reports about a man on the loose in Salmiya that is sexually harassing minors. If you have any information on incidents of this nature in the Salmiya area, and you are willing to share, please email me urgently as this might help us put this man away and save other children.

Thank you.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.




Categories
Information Shopping

Avenues Phase 4 Updates

The Mabanee 2014 annual report recently got released and with it some updated information on the Avenues Phase 4 project:

– There will be two hotels not one, a five-star hotel and a four-star hotel
– The final new districts are: Arcadia, Electra, The Forum, The Grand Plaza and The Cinema
– Grand Avenue, Prestige and the Souk will all be expanded as well
– The new opening has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2018

Mabanee, the mall’s owning company is also building The Avenues Riyadh, The Avenues Khobar and The Avenues Bahrain. The total Phase 4 expansion will be adding 400 new stores to the Avenues, taking the total up to approximately 1200 stores. I honestly have no idea what else is still left to open, we pretty much have everything already as it is.

Check out my previous posts on the Avenues Phase 4 [Here]

Thanks Khaled




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

The weekend is finally here and there are lots of interesting things to do. Three musical events are taking place this weekend, you have Outlandish and A Night of Dreams taking place Friday and the Zade Dirani concert taking place on Saturday. There is a Fitness Retreat that is being held on Thursday and Friday which looks like fun. Finally if you know how to knit then pass by the Secret Garden on Saturday for some Yarn Bombing. Check out the full list of this weekends events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Urban Culture Week
Exhibition: Abolish 153
Fitness Retreat
Rooftop Movie: Ida

Friday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Urban Culture Week
Fitness Retreat
Culinary Event: Perfecting Gnocchi
Inter Gavel Clubs Contest 2015
Outlandish Live
Red Bull BC One
A Night of Dreams

Saturday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Yarn Bombing at The Secret Garden
Workshop: Mommy & I Play Together
Paleo Taste Night
Rooftop Movie: Calvary
Zade Dirani Concert

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events for the month click [Here]




Categories
Videos

Fight during a shareholders meeting

Frankom just shared the video above on his blog and I just wanted to highlight one thing. Just keep your eye on the two cops in the video who do a fantastic job at breaking up the fight. [YouTube]

chair




Categories
Activities Sports Things to do

Activity: Stand Up Paddleboarding

sup-kuwait-1

Last Thursday before hurting my ankle I was supposed to go paddleboarding with the local Red Paddle Co distributor so I could write about it. That never ended up happening but I figured I would still post about paddleboarding since it’s a fun activity for those looking for something to do in the summer.

sup-kuwait-2

Red Paddle Co are the world’s number 1 inflatable stand up paddleboard manufacturer. The advantage of an inflatable paddleboard is pretty obvious, when you’re not using it you can pack it away in a small bag and store it or if you want you could take the board with you when you travel. I tried paddleboarding for the first time two years ago and I had a blast. It’s a full-body workout and great for your core strength, cardio and balance.

sup-kuwait-3

The local Red Paddle Co distributor offers boards for rent and for sale. The cost for renting a board is KD25 per day (12 hours). They also sell 5 different board models and their prices range from KD345 to KD349. This includes the inflatable paddleboard, the paddle, pump and travel/storage bag. If you’ve never gone paddleboarding before they offer a 30 minute introductory session with basic instructions.

The local distributor also arranges group SUP sessions where they paddle up or down the coast and every now and then head out by a boat to one of the islands. On their last trip they went to Umm Al Marradim where they got to explore reef from on top. So if you’re interested in a fun summer activity, try paddleboarding. For more information check them out on [Instagram] and [Facebook] or call/whatsapp them on 94422593.




Categories
Information

Shipito US Mail Forwarding

shipito

At the moment my two favorite mail forwarding companies are Aramex and MyUS. I use the Aramex Shop & Ship service for packages that I am not in a rush to get and I use MyUS for packages that I need ASAP. The way these mailboxes work for those of you who aren’t aware, a lot of online stores don’t mail products outside of the US. With a US forwarding mailbox you order stuff online and mail it to your US address, then your packages gets shipped from that mailbox to your address in Kuwait and you just pay the shipping cost. Makes online shopping a lot easier.

A few weeks back I got an email from another US mail forwarding company called Shipito. According to the original email, Shipito are the biggest mail forwarders to South America and Europe and they’re hoping to become the same in the Middle East. To try out their service, they offered to ship any package for me that weighed up to 10KG. 10 freakin kilos!! I was ordering a MacBook Air around that same time but I was like nahhh, that wouldn’t really be taking advantage of their offer since it’s so light. After a bit of online shopping I realized that all the winter gear was heavily discounted because the season was over so I decided to order a snowboard, snowboard bindings and boots. They were 2015 models and were selling for 40% off at Backcountry (a really great store btw), so I decided to order them in hopes I would still manage to get some snowboarding done before the summer. That was obviously before I hurt my ankle last week.

myorder

I roughly calculated the weight of all my snowboard gear and it was going to be around 10KG, so I placed the order and shipped it to my Shipito mailbox which they had setup for me. Shipito provides you with three different US mailboxes to use each with their own advantage:

Minden, NV
The biggest Shipito warehouse. More storage (six times bigger mailbox capacity for free storage compared to California, or double of Oregon). 180 days storage for Virtual Mailbox (other locations offer 90 days). Lowest shipping cost for USPS, FedEx and DHL.

Tualatin, OR
No sales tax in Oregon! Save on 7-9% expensive purchases! Full service location. More storage space for your Virtual mailbox and shipping rates slightly higher than in California.

Hawthorne 2, CA
All shipping methods available. Consolidation available. Low shipping cost and fast speed due to proximity to LAX airport. Russian Post available. Lowest price for Airmail.

Clearly the biggest advantage Shipito has over Aramex and MyUS was the fact they have an Oregon location which means you don’t pay taxes. When I ordered my Macbook Air from the Apple Store, I paid $87.43 in taxes when I shipped it to MyUS mailbox. If I had shipped it to Shipito’s Oregon address I wouldn’t have paid any tax whatsoever. I placed my order for the snowboard gear and two days later it reached my Shipito mailbox.

snowboardgear

Once a package arrives to your Shipito mailbox, you have the option to have 10 photos of your items taken before they ship it (costs: $2.5). My packages arrived in two shipments so they took 20 photos in total and emailed them to me. They then gave me a bunch of options to help cut down on shipping. First thing I wanted to do is consolidate the two shipments into one. Then I had the option to completely get rid of all the boxes to cut down on shipping cost, or to keep the product boxes but have them repackage them so they can minimize the space used, or to leave everything the way it is. Since I needed the product boxes incase I needed to return an item, I had them redo the packaging. They did that and also sent me pictures of the whole process by email. Finally the package was ready to send and they gave me the following carriers I could ship with: DHL Express, FedEx Priority, FedEx Economy, USPS Priority Mail, USPS Express Mail, Airmail Economy, TNT Economy, TNT Express and USPS First Class International Parcel.

wrapped

I chose DHL Express and a couple of days later my package had arrived to my doorstep in Kuwait.

So would I use Shipito again?

Obviously my first experience was great since I didn’t pay for anything but since I have the mailbox already setup with them I would probably use them again. For one thing they’re great when ordering from the Apple Store. I placed an order for an Apple Watch and it still hasn’t gotten canceled by Apple so I think they ship to Shipito mailboxes. I tried previously with both my Aramex and MyUS mailboxes and both orders got canceled. Plus you don’t pay tax, that has to be the biggest advantage. Shipping cost on the other hand varies. Aramex is by far the cheapest option but also the slowest. Shipito vs MyUS is more difficult to calculate because MyUS now doesn’t charge based on volumetric weight but on actual weight (up to a certain size). So if its a big box MyUS will probably be cheaper. But if it’s a smaller box Shipito is cheaper. For example a 25x25x25cm box weighing 1KG would cost $47 with Shipito but $52 with MyUS. So yes I would use my Shipito address again mostly when ordering small electronics like laptops, cameras and other items that don’t come in a large box. Also expensive items I would save a lot on by not paying any tax.

If you want to find out more about Shipito you can visit their website [Here]




Categories
Personal

My First Surgery

Last week was a pretty eventful one for me and it all started Monday morning when I headed to Khiran for my wakeboard session. I spent the first half of the session doing jumps and the second half learning to ride switch. Just before the session was over I figured I would perform some more jumps and thats when I messed up. I got a bit over confident and rushed into a jump and ended up taking off wrong and then landing nose first into the water. The board immediately sank into the water and then snapped back out again aggressively which is when I felt an instant pain in my ankle area. Right away I knew I was hurt and so I took off the board and swam back to the boat before heading back to shore. When I got to shore I picked up my board and gear and started walking towards my car. I could barely put any weight on my left leg without feeling pain but I kept heading towards the car since I just wanted to get home. While leaving Khiran I found a bakala van so I pulled up and bought a bag of ice which I then used to ice my ankle while driving back home. It was around an hour drive to get home and a painful one. By the time I got home my ankle has swollen up to the size of a large mango I googled sprained ankles online and how to treat them and started following instructions. I didn’t think it was too bad, figured I might need 2 weeks or so to get all better.

fracture

A few hours later I decided to head to a doctor. While reading about ankle sprains online I realized there were three levels of sprains and my symptoms didn’t really fit under any one of them. So I visited a doctor so I could find out exactly how badly sprained my ankle was. I headed to International Clinic and saw and orthopedic doctor there. He made me move my ankle a few directions and it didn’t seem like I had any muscle problems. So he told me just to be safe we should do an x-ray. I had an x-ray done and when I got back to his room he was like I have some bad news, you’ve got a fracture. I was like whaaaaaattttt?? He was like not only do you have a fracture but you need surgery, we need to insert two screws to connect the dislodged bone back to your ankle. I was in complete shock and became sad and depressed. Right away in my head I was thinking that means no more wakeboarding, it means no more gym and it means I wouldn’t be able to go snowboarding in Sweden the following week. I just imagined myself sitting on the couch for a month pigging out on junk food and gaining like a zillion kilos. I told him I needed to get a second opinion and he completely understood that. We wrapped my leg in a half cast and I headed home.

halfcast

I was sad and upset for like an hour before my mood and feelings about the whole thing completely changed. I basically had a little chat with myself in my head. I asked myself what do I prefer? No extreme sports but also no injuries, or would I rather have fun and enjoy life but every now and then get injured? I obviously prefer the later and right away my mind started working trying to solve various issues. How will I go grocery shopping? Simple I’ll order my groceries from Saveco since they deliver. How will I shower? How will I do my laundry? How can I make breakfast? One by one I found answers and solutions to all my questions. I didn’t want my fractured ankle to change anything in my life. I figured I can even continue to go to the gym but I would just weight-lift while seated or lying on my back. I accepted my injury and started feeling so much better about the whole thing, I started looking at the injury like a cool scar and I was kinda proud of it.

The next day I headed to Seef Hospital for a second opinion. I saw the doctor there and he told me the exact same thing, I needed surgery and two screws. I tried to schedule the surgery for the same day but we ended up scheduling it for the next day 8AM. I didn’t want to wait, I just wanted to get it done with and start the recovery process. I asked about the brand of screws I was going to get inserted. I figured if they’re going to be in me I wanted the best screws available. He told me I was going to get two titanium Stryker screws which were some of the best, I tried googling reviews funnily but obviously didn’t find any. I noticed the color of the screw online was purple and was going to ask him if I could choose the color I wanted but decided that might be a bit too anal of me.

view

Wednesday morning at 6AM I checked into my room at Seef Hospital. I had such a beautiful view but really wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it at that moment. I never had a surgery before, this was going to be my first one and I was going to get two screws drilled into me. I was quiet and emotionless. Whenever I am in a situation where I should be scared I instead feel nothing, no fear or anything, I just become quiet and didn’t care that I was having a surgery in an hour. Anyway to cut it short, I ended up having the surgery and it went well. I spent the morning falling in and out of consciousness because I was so sleepy. I wasn’t in pain and I ended up checking out later in the evening around 8PM. I hadn’t told my friends or anyone about the surgery, I just wanted to go through it alone and I found the whole process very therapeutic.

screws

I’m now moving about normally although very slowly because I’m using crutches. Crutches by the way are such a workout, I was worried at first that I was going to end up turning into a couch potato but because the crutches are such a workout, I’m actually feeling fit. I’ve customized my crutches with stickers to try and make them look less medical. I’m still eating healthy, I just cheated with my last meal before surgery by having a burger but since the surgery I haven’t cheated at all. I’m taking a break from my gym this week but will hopefully start going back next Saturday. The doctor told me I can start putting some weight on my ankle starting from next week so thats good news. The most difficult thing I’ve been dealing with is making my bed every morning, it’s such a slow process using crutches but I’m getting it done. I’ve also been doing laundry, ironing and the dishes all while standing on one leg. My right leg is definitely going to bulk up over the next few weeks,

crutches

One thing I’ve noticed is I hate the way some strangers look at me with pity because I’m on crutches. It really bothers me because I don’t want anybodies pity, I’m doing just fine and I can take care of myself. I noticed Sultan Center Shaab have a wheel chair and a motorized scooter at the entrance for those who need it. It’s an extremely nice gesture but there is no way I would use them. I don’t want to feel helpless or weak so I would rather exhaust myself hopping around with crutches then take a wheelchair or scooter. I noticed whatever I do, I try not to show any weakness, even when I went to the hospital for my surgery I went and stayed in my gym gear. When I’m hopping around with crutches… I always have a smile on my face. The psychology behind all this has been entertaining.

sultan

I’m finding this whole experience with my ankle and crutches to be so educational and interesting. I am so not bothered by my fracture at all anymore, in fact what it’s done is slowed my life down, something which I needed to do anyway. I have been feeling so much more relaxed and less stressed since I hurt my ankle last week. I’m also having fun solving all these puzzles of trying to do stuff with crutches and one leg. The doctor said I can remove my cast after 5 weeks and then I can then start my rehab. I think time is going to fly by pretty quickly.




Categories
Movies

A new kind of cinema censorship

censored

The scene above is from the movie Mad Max, seems the censors are now airbrushing some scenes with revealing clothing. Not sure how I feel about this, on one hand its better than completely cutting the scene, but on the other hand it’s still censorship and that sucks.

via @HHajyah