there was an interesting discussion between a couple of friends of mine about the state of health care in kuwait. one of the guys was complaining about how bad the public hospitals were and how incompetent they're getting. another guy (who happens to be a surgeon) agreed that overall the situation was not so good, but mentioned that the public governmental hospitals were still much better then the private ones. i know, a few people were surprised to hear that but he continued on saying that medically, the public ones were much better. the private hospitals, among many other reasons, dont really have to answer to anyone and that their main aim was, after all, making a profit. his example of why this was true was that almost all private hospitals in kuwait refer all their high risk and very complicated cases to government hospitals, cuz they are not capable of dealing with them.


at the end it made a lot of sense, especially since it came from someone who knows what he's talking about. is it true? i dont know but if we think of it, where does most of the effort in private hospitals go? is it in providing the best health care or providing the most comfortable and luxurious hospital stay? is it true that there is a 7,000 KD per night room at the new 7ayat hospital? last but not least, would you rather, alah laygoola, when facing life and death, would you rather be in a hospital where their main concern and responsibility to the government was to get you back on your feet or would you rather have designer sheets and a coffee shop in the lobby?

on a side note, i just got a msg saying that those 4 poor bangali's DO have bird flu! alah yaster

we have to admit that we live in a country where it is very difficult to be inspired to do great things or pursue greatness. our whole lives are laid out for us, either the government or your family pays for everything you need, and all that is expected in return is to behave well, do what is expected, and basically become a clone of who your parents are. that is why i believe that we are lucky to see an occurrence of a person bred from our culture that pursues greatness in their life, and we should praise them and encourage them and most of all thank them for reminding us how to get inspired to do great things!

Name: Maryam
Location: St. Petersburg, RU
A Kuwaiti girl simply dreams of being an astronaut and be the first Kuwaiti, Arab, female goes to the space.
a few days ago i received a text message from an sms news service which said that a kuwaiti girl was accepted into a russian university and is on her way to becoming an astronaut. it was then that i remembered i once passed along this blog http://q80girl.blogspot.com/index.html
it's the blog of the kuwaiti woman living in russia, following her dream.
thank you maryam for inspiring us today, and good luck on your journey and wish you could reach your goals and fulfill your dreams.

bored kuwaities

a while ago a friend of mine was telling me how he hated life in kuwait and how boring it is and that there was nothing to do and he couldnt wait to find some chance to leave, i agreed to some extent that there is less to do in kuwait then most other places, but that it was still not as bad as it seemed. i told him that to survive in kuwait you need to find yourself an obsession, something that will occupy your time, energy, and thoughts.

anyways, after saying that, i began to think what we do to pass the time, what obsessions keep different people sane in this place, so i decided to list some of my addictions and the choices of what kind of person you could become in order not to be bored all the time, so here goes:

1) the dowaniya addict:

this is your average joe, this kinda guy seeks simple pleasures in his life. his days are long and mostly frustrating, so he chooses to wind down in a dowaniya, a place where he can simply relax, put his feet up, and be in the company of friends and like minded individuals. other traits of this individual is being completely and utterly addicted to winning eleven. for those of you who dont know, winning eleven is a soccer game played on the sony playstation. believe me when i tell you, some dowaniyas are built ONLY for playing winning eleven, and the patrons of these dowaniyas can go for up to 6 or 7 hours non-stop. variations to the dowaniya for the average joe is el-gahwa, a sheesha place. on some occasions he likes to leave the comforts of the dowaniya and go have a ras or rasain of m3asil 3anab or saloom, this is true especially when the weather is nice or when a soccer game is on.

2) the starbuckian:

this energized individual truly needs to get out and breath. he needs to stimulate his senses visually in order to feel satisfied. likes the hustle n bustle of the crowd and enjoys a bit of gossip. staying 3 or 4 hours in a starbucks is the norm for this guy, and has to go to both choc bars at least once a week. other traits of this individual include always finding a way to pass thru the second ring road "shari3 el 7ob" where ever his destination might be. other alternatives include being seen at starbucks solidair or the starbucks in leicester square.


3) the t.v. fanatic:

this guy is very imaginative and likes to be inspired by bigger then life things, hence watching the tele. he finds normal everyday life dull and doesnt believe there is much excitement around, so he turns to the creative minds of the writers and directors from a far for entertainment. complimentary items that are needed to feed this addiction are a couple of external hard disc's and a very high speed internet connection so he can download and store all the t.v shows and movies he can find. also a big screen plasma or projector adds to this experiance. (this character is very similar to the dowaniya addict and, in some cases i have observed, can be both at the same time)

4) google's baby:

if your reading this then you know what am talking about :P

well i guess these are the most common ones, let me know what u guys think