Oh bips..im in Kuwait

Yep, i made it. Its about 2 in the am here and im fighting off sleep so i can update this thing. Ive never kept a blog before, at least nothing more than livejournal, so i hope I can keep up with this thing while i am in Kuwait.

So, there is something unnatural about strapping myself into a giant metallic flying tube with wings and hurling yourself across time and space at 700 miles per hour , tens of thousands of feet up in the air, for several hours upon end. I just cant seem to put my finger on it.

-----Mars Volta Review----

So i woke up a couple times thinking i was going to die on the plane. Then i realized it wasn't the flight that was freaking my out but the massive amounts of Mars Volta I had been listening to. While their latest cd, 'Bedlam,' is a damn good one i have to admit it is damn creepy. And i did think to myself "why the hell did you bring this on a plane with you." Yep, for those of us familiar with the myth of the cd; ghosts powerful enough to last centuries and lure drug addicts from Texas to Israel to pick up an ancient boardgame at some yardsale pure madness, big enough to drive grown musicians to the brink of their careers and sanity.. and i decide to cram it all into my teeny tiny Ipod shuffle and listen to it for a couple hours isolated on a twelve hour flight. what was i thinking. And then with my earphones on i notice guitar riffs that echo each other perfectly going off in each of my ears, one about a quarter of a second behind the other, while the most punkyfunked out drums are blasting away at the middle of my brain and Cedric is being as hauntingly cryptic as he's ever been wailing about conventicles and sanctuaries and were those dogs barking?? im rewinding the songs and listening to them over and over again and im like...oh..thats why i brought it. Cuz I can listen to these guys forever, not know what they are saying, but still be wildly entertained by them. For better or worse nothing TMV has ever come up with sounds as dense as this Cd does. I cant wait to blast it in Kuwait and see what happens.

-----End shamelessly bad review of a CD I am too afraid to listen all the way to the end of-----

Ok..so Kuwait has been good so far. I have driven once and it hasn't been too bad. I only almost got into two accident which is great by Kuwaiti standards. The driving here is really insane, if i could buckle up twice i would. Stop signs optional, blinkers never used, 3 lanes turn into 2 without warning, roundabouts everywhere, gah..so confusing.

I got here just in time to see my Grandma off to Mecca for Umra (a pilgrimage to Mecca, but not Hajj) and i forgot how happy it makes me to see her. She is such a sweet old lady, i wish we could communicate better. I love how it feels like she has a million important things to tell me but doesn't seem to be in any rush to tell me them. And she seems so ok with how awkward I am at just about everything here...which is reassuring. Like, around her its ok that i don't know the language, the customs, understand the rules about kissing old people on the cheek and how many times and which order or who to pour tea for or anything. At the same time her presence commands custom and formality but with a smile and pat on the shoulder or a hug excuses it all. sorta like how she is my grandma i know i should call her "Mama'oda" and I do, but i also know its ok with her that i pronounce it horribly wrong. Grandmas are awesome.

Not too bad for a first post. Hopefully there will be more to come.