Weekend Recap: Greetings from Kuwait!

view of downtown Kuwait City at sunrise

Hello dear readers! Greetings from my new home, Kuwait City! It feels good to finally be here. I can't wait to start exploring. Some observations from my first few days:

Positives: 
- The views of the water from our apartment were everything I hoped they would be. I could just stare out the window for hours.
- People here are much nicer and friendlier than I thought they might be. Its like moving from New York City to Charleston. A smiling grocery store attendant can throw you off. Although people seem to mind their business in public, which I like.
- There is a Starbucks within walking distance.
- At certain times every day you can hear the call to prayer from the mosques (of which there are many). Luckily the man who sings at the mosque near us has a great voice and I find it soothing to listen. They sing into a megaphone so you can hear in the surrounding street.
- The grocery stores are packed full of perfectly delicious things including a feta/cheese bar, raw nuts bar, as many dates as one could possibly eat, a whole aisle dedicated to yogurt, and a decent selection of produce. I also saw Vegemite (has anyone tried this?) and lots of American breakfast cereals and candy.
- There is more greenery than I expected.
- I met a girl who will show me where to get my nails and hair done (so important!)
- There is a family of kittens living in the bushes of the entry to our building. They're so cute I can't stand it.

Less positive: 
- They weren't exaggerating about the heat. It sucks the life out of me when I leave the apartment. I've heard it gets worse before it gets better.
- We can't get our boxes from customs until we get residency cards, which could take a month! I'm more thankful than ever that we have a furnished apartment but I was so looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and not living out of a suitcase after living in a hotel for two weeks.
- People, I'm assuming young men, race motorcycles down the street at 2am. every. night. (note to self: get white noise machine).
- All of the time is in military time or international time. So although I can read the clock, I have no idea what time 21:00 is. I'm learning...

I hope to share more with you soon about what its like to move to a foreign country as well as my road trip through the American South and what its like to live in a hotel!

In the meantime, I've also been busy finishing up the second issue of the magazine! I underestimated how much went into moving abroad so it took a little longer than I expected to do both at the same time. It's almost complete and I hope to have it available for purchase during the month of August. I'll give you a more firm date soon! Thanks for your patience as I navigate all this travel and change at once. :)

Shoe Love: Sophia Webster + Jackson Pollock

Sophia Webster via Net-a-porter

Surprisingly, the first thing that struck me about these heels is the construction. I love the stitching on the soles and the way the heels are attached to the rest of the shoe. I like the transition from satin to PVC and the little details that show the process of conception to real shoe. 

The second thing that stuck me is how freakin' awesome these are! I love the playful paint brush on the side and how I think more of 1980's graffiti painting than Pollock's work at all. I like that Webster took an inspiration and then made it something unique and all her own. 

DA+AH: The Line of Degas

Edgar Degas, Four Dancers, oil on canvas, c. 1899

On a recent trip to the National Gallery of Art I walked by a Degas painting I've walked by dozens of times. Something suddenly struck me about it. I stared at it for a while before realizing the intoxicating rhythm of the black line. It looks like it was painted as a finishing touch, after all the color and shapes were finished. The line completely energizes the subjects and seems as if he was painting it while listening to the music the ballerinas are preparing to dance to. He only uses it sparingly, bringing attention to the dancers and their movements. I think the painting wouldn't be as interesting without that line. 

Do you ever see something new in a work of art you've seen a million times? 

Exploring Wine: Hess Collection 19 Block Mountain Cuvee

Hess Collection, 19 Block Cuvee, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, 2010 $30

My rating for this bottle? I would drink the whole thing.

19 Block Cuvee is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Malbec, 11% Syrah, 6% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. The grapes are grown in the mountains of Napa Valley (Mount Veeder) that are noted for their steep slopes and volcanic soil. The harsher growing conditions stress the vines out and make them work harder. This leads to more flavorful grapes. 

"Oh damn..." was the first thing I thought when I tasted this wine and let it linger in my mouth. It is dark cherry in color and smells like cloves, cinnamon, and vanilla. Baked red fruit like cherries and black currants are the first flavors that touch your lips and tongue. Its not sweet but has a nice balance - slight tannins but a rounded, balanced softness. Velvety and delicious. 

Shoe Love: Kuwaiti Sandals

As our move to Kuwait approaches I can't help but fantasize about the types of shoes women might wear there. I imagine lots of open sandals worn with breezy kaftans or demure abayas. I imagine sandal shops filled with possibilities and cobblers ready to make something just for me. There might be days where a simple shoe would do, but then others where something a little glitzy will be in order. I'm really looking forward to finding out!

Some of my favorites on Net-a-Porter, clockwise from top right: Musa, Ancient Greek Sandals, another pair of Ancient Greek Sandals, Oscar de la Renta

The Airport Wine Bar

While traveling, I often find myself having a glass of wine at an airport wine bar in a city I've just become familiar with. On one of my trips I had to wait several hours for my friend's flight to arrive, so I decided to write about my experience as it was happening. In order to protect the people employed at this particular bar, I have not mentioned which airport or the name of the bar. 

This is the unedited edition, and a little glimpse into my mind...

The menu describes the Alots Las Hormigas, Malbec from Mendoza Valley Argentina as “Blackberry-Medium-What a deal!” and charges a reasonable price, as the description announces, at $8.50 a glass.

I’m not sure what I was expecting besides blackberry, medium, what a deal. Surely I was just appreciative that there was a wine bar open on a Thursday at 2pm. Then again I was at the airport and such bars are usually open even in the wee hours on a Monday morning.

My fellow bar companions spread themselves out almost evenly at every other seat. Couples or friends sitting next to each other and strangers with at least one empty seat between. Most of them are middle-aged single women drinking flutes of something bubbly. All with noses buried in their iPhones or books and none interact with each other as if they have no peripheral vision. There are two men next to me –four empty seats between us - discussing the labors of their daily jobs. I keep hoping they will gossip but they strategize instead. Sometimes they talk about the weather or sports. They are in their 40s. They ask to “settle up” when they want their bill. Two women on my other side are also sitting together and equidistant from me as the men. They ordered red wine and no food. They sit facing towards each other, talk slowly and don’t make that much eye contact. I can’t tell if they are tired, not that close or forced to be together. Maybe they’re sisters, maybe they’re gossiping.

The airport wine bar I’m bellied up to is located in the main terminal of the airport. It is dead center in the middle and open to passers-by, which is how I estimate they get most of their business. It is an alternative to waiting at Starbucks. People are caught one by one, as if by a fisherman’s hook, as they meander by.

There are three men manning the bar. One, flamboyantly gay, blond and in his 20s, is in charge of the food. After the rush leaves he wipes his forehead like a damsel from the civil war and says, “all that food!” He comments to his co-worker who is a middle-aged man, slightly out of shape. He wears a button up and khakis, versus the other two who are in all black with fake pilot epaulettes on their shoulders. I assumed he was the manager when I approached the bar. He seemed nervous to talk to me and had to ask me what my order was several times while clumsily fumbling with the computer, which was in clear view. He seemed to lack the memory and confidence of a bartender. Or at least the ones I’m used to dealing with. Lucky for him, I didn’t mind, I wasn’t in a hurry.

He tried to flirt with the female customers, not in an inappropriate way, just friendly and slightly nervous. The third bartender seemed to know his way around the most of the three. He was also in his late 20s, maybe early 30s and blond. He efficiently cleaned the back of bar while taking orders and drying wine glasses with a towel. I was curious to know what he thought about this out in the open set up and his colleagues. These three men seemed to get along, but also seemed unlikely to interact as friends in any other point in their life and it made me miss having co-workers.

During the lull between rushes – when I ran the front of shop for a pizza place – we would flirt and gossip as we cleaned the place and started preparing for the next rush. We had the convenience of privacy so that if customers were assholes or we ran into someone we didn’t mean to see (read: ex-lovers) we could rant about it afterwards without their knowledge. Most kitchen staff has this privilege. As I sat and ate my salad rushes came and went. The three men quietly gossiped as they did their between-rush chores. I daydreamed about the wild variety of customers they might serve on a random Thursday afternoon. Did they have regulars? Did they care? Did they have server jobs somewhere else?

The Calma Tempranillo/Graciano from Rioja Spain was described as “Red berries-roses-earthy spices-vanilla and cocoa-smooooth” also at $8.50 a glass. No wonder people think winos are assholes. It sounds like we just throw random words at bottles. “I love lamp” would have made just as much sense. These descriptions read as if you’ve already had the bottle then go about formulating a judgment.

The two wines listed after the Calma are JC Vizcarra Tempranillo, Ribero de Duero, Spain and Monte Bernardi “Retromarcia” Sangeovese, Tuscany Italy. They are described as, respectively, “Dried Cherry, Leather, Perfect for Food” and “Dried Rasberry-Tobacco-Dry” and after that Pertimali Sangiovese/Cabernet, Tuscany Italy “Dried Blackberry-Dusty-Dry” I assume these all taste like what I’m already drinking and wonder if “dusty” and “dry” would be a good combination or if I would need a glass of water and a margarita after drinking it.

A new couple sits down where the two men sat previously. They are boisterous and “knowledgeable”. They are in their 60s and three hours early for their flight. They decide to park it and make friends with the nervous one, as I now call him in my mind. They introduce themselves to him, and he warms up, even cracking a joke. His name is Tony. He also works at Carrabba’s (which is across the corridor) and I wonder if the others do too. He reveals to them that he has been working at the bar since 8am (I told you airport bars open early!) and was so tired. He said this in an apology for forgetting their order. He eventually got it WAY right when they wanted to order pasta from the restaurant and he took their order and had it served to them at the wine bar. A service I’m sure he went above and beyond to do.

The couple gave Tony very personal information. They assumed he was their friend and they monopolized his time. They will be here for at least two more hours and I suddenly want to tip Tony more than 20%.

After listening to them talk for a few minutes. The man confirms he is 65. Tony is 42. The man assumes Tony is a sociable person and now they are BEST friends.

A new man sits down and also befriends Tony. I wonder if I am unapproachable and sip my second glass. The older man says, “this reminds me of a bar in New York” to the new man. The new man feigns recognition.

My friend texts me a link to @pornforwomen’s instagram feed and a joke about John Hamm. I end up laughing out loud.

Tony’s shift is over and he is relieved of his new friends. My friends arrive and I close my tab.

Exploring Wine: Greek Style

Back in May I was invited to a fabulous wine event at Zatayna sponsored by the Greek Embassy. It included a wine tasting of over 40 Greek wines followed by a three course lunch paired with four wines in each course. I hadn't really tried Greek wine before but after the event I definitely feel comfortable ordering it at a restaurant or picking one to pair with outdoor summer grilling.

Some of the wines I tried tasted like the salty Aegean Sea and I imagined drinking them on a white washed porch with grilled octopus (because I eat that now). I wouldn't understand a single word of Greek spoken all around me, but I wouldn't care because the sun would be warming my skin and the sound of the sea would be soothing my soul.

Here's an intro to Greek wine and a round up of my favorites for summer sipping.

Greek wine got an early start in the ancient world as early as 2500 BC. You can see wine represented in Greek art, architecture, archeological evidence, writings, and philosophical writings from that time, as you're probably familiar with. But modern Greek wine production is little related to the ancient days, besides the varieties of grapes, and didn't gain much commercial traction until the 1980s. Over the last century this was mostly due to political unrest following WWII and the Greek Civil War (1946-49).

There are ten growing regions with over 300 indigenous types of wine to explore - this is not including cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc, and other European grapes also grown in Greece. Some of my favorites from the event were the white wines Assyrtiko from Santorini, Moscofilero from Mantini, and Vidiano from Crete. The red wines generally weren't as good as the whites, but I really liked the Foundi Naoussa 2007 Xinomavro that was paired with a spit roasted lamb shoulder (I mean!!). Most of the wines were soft, crisp, fresh, and some were lemony. Perfect for pairing with regional seafood and small plates with piles of tzatziki.

1. Kourtaki Retsina, Moschofilero, Mantini $8.00 *
2. GWC (Greek Wine Cellars), Nemea, Agiorgitiko $13.00
3. Sigalas, Assyrtiko, Santorini $25.00
4. Kouros, Patras $11.00
5. Galvala, Assyrtiko, Santorini $15.00
6. Costa Lazaridi Amethystos, Blend (Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Asyrtiko) Drama, Makedonia $15.00

*We didn't try a traditional retsina at the event, but I tried it at home. More notes on this regional specific wine next week!