The Daniels here and now: May Holiday : Kuwait trip 2017

10 days in Kuwait with family was precious, nostalgic and probably the last time I will see Kuwait. My parents plan to retire in the next year or so. So we decided to meet during the spring break with Mithun and the family too. And it was also going to be my first time seeing Nora my niece.

It was a mad rush in the airport with the first day to the start of the holiday , with the immigration counter looking like a fish market . No lines, no movement , no airport officials. We thought we missed the flight but we made it and 2 minutes later like a bus leaving the bus stop the flight crew shut the door and took off just as we buckled up.

It was beautiful to see the lights from the night sky. Kuwait lit like a jewel in the desert. We landed with my parents , uncle and aunt welcoming us. Other than one of the luggages getting lost all was well. A couple of hours later Mithun , Ria and Nora landed . The apartment was bustling with 4 kids, and 6 adults. And oh ! it was glorious.

It was the boys luggage that went missing. So that meant they didn't have any clothes to wear, other than the ones they traveled in. So off we went shopping for T shirts, shorts, underpants, socks within a couple of hours after landing. And of course the luggage landed at home in the evening. At least I was finished with shopping for the boys. Now I didn't have to think of shopping at all.

We had a lovely time visiting family, friends. Showing Ria the pearls of Kuwait. The kids got to spend the day in Kidzania , a indoor real life place with shops and places of work, where they got to earn money and make things, buy things. We window shopped and had lunch at the food courts and dessert at the Cheesecake factory.

Of course, I made sure we got to eat all our childhood Arabic food! It tasted just like I remembered.

One of the highlights was visiting my Dad's factory. I hadn't seen the place all these years. Like never. And I got to see it for the first time. It was about 100 km from where we stayed , the spring and the factory is located close to the Iraq border. I have always heard of the different places in the factory, seen the machines on photo. And when I saw the bottle being made and water being filled it was emotional.
I think I shed a tear when we drove out further away from the factory to see the location of the spring water. And when my Dad made the phone call to switch on the tap, fresh spring water just poured down. Unfiltered sweet spring waters of Kuwait!

Before we left I got to sit at my Dads chair at his office, just like any girl would want to do! I have been wanting to do that for years! My boys each took their turn to sit on the chair, as well !

Straight from there after stopping at home for lunch and packing up , we went to the Kiran islands for a couple of days of a getaway. I have never experienced such good weather in Kuwait. We could sit outside on the lawn , with the beach a few meters away. The kids were in and out of the waters and played outside the whole day. The last time we went there I was 5 or 6 years old.

I also got to visit my Sunday School. And as expected , I had to get up to the podium. The kids sang their hearty welcome song to me and the boys. David loved it and was enjoying every moment of the attention. It was a blessing and an honour to visit the ladies prayer group. They have been there praying for me when I was a child, when I moved to university, got married, during all 3 pregnancies, delivery and as these boys grow up. And now they continue praying for me and my family .

A lot of good memories that I will cherish forever. Farewell to my childhood home!