Simmons GSLIS: Dispatches from the Field

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

Today is my last full day in Kuwait – T & I bug out tomorrow morning early on the BA flight to London, then off to Boston and home. In the past week, we have visited with friends, hosted dinners and lunches, enjoyed the Embassy party hosted by John Berry, ate Christmas dinner at the AUK Diner (food was superb) and walked a lot. Yes, things get real slow here when the Eid and Christmas holidays occur simultaneously and everyone bugs out. I did take T to see the Red Fort in Jahra and the pink mosque out innowhere. Like many of you, she reads about these adventures but hasn’t been able to share… at least she has seen some of the interesting things Kuwait has to offer.

Last night, Ray & Dina hosted a small New Year’s party – small group, but food enough for an army. The mix of people I have come to appreciate so much – we were Yanks, a Brit, a Palestinian/Lebanese, a Chinese and a Kazakh – not sure how much of that I’ll be dealing with back home. I just dropped Marjorie Kelly off at home (3pm here), as we had her over for lunch. MK and I have seen just about all there is to see here in Kuwait – she’s been a fun traveling partner.

So, now I’ll finish this up, tidy up the office one last time, and head back home to finish cleaning the place up for Simon, Rena and Adam.

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Okay, time for some thinking about this whole experience.

As usual, you learn more about yourself than anything else when you live abroad. Some of it ain’t pretty, but, hey, you are who you are and you learn to deal with that. I know for me, as I get older, my tolerance level for anything less than maximum effort is close to zero! Performance is one thing – effort another. I see so many with so much talent who are on cruise control, yet they want something – grades, respect, rewards, whatever. These people move straight to my B list (it used to be called something else, but censors and all that). Give me a colleague or student who tries, gives their best – that makes such a difference.

Similar to Nigeria and Oman (previous overseas experiences), I know that I am resourceful enough to live just about anywhere. My facility with language is mediocre, but a smile and an effort to say a few words in Arabic (or Efik) works wonders. I have grown very fond of the Middle East, and hope some day that things settle down so that every day people get to live every day, normal lives (if I prayed a lot, this is what I’d pray for). I’m not nuts about Kuwait – too many people spoiled and expecting too much for too little effort – but I love exploring this region. We Americans have so little history, and I for one feel that a long history does affect how people view their world. New countries want too much, too fast.

As all you FOHers know, I have grown very fond of the Iraqis we have worked with. They live in hell! How they do it is beyond my comprehension, yet they maintain their dignity and sense of humor in the midst of everyday chaos. Some day, I’ll get there – I want to see for myself this amazing country, visit its wonders, and do what little I can to be of assistance. I love their perspective – they can differentiate between ‘governments’ and peoples – and thank god for that. In this region, we (the US gov’t.) have used up 100+ years of good will (even my dearest friends say this, including those very pro-American and educated in the US) – but, the people still like Americans – wow!!

Leadership! It scares me to see so little in education. Any d--- fool can manage, but so few can lead and inspire!! What seems to be true (remember, this is my personal perspective) is that leaders get in trouble because they lead – they get ahead of things, push issues and institutions, people. My own library mentor, the late Dick Palmer, was fond of saying “you can’t make progress and be comfortable!” The longer I live, the more I see this, and the more I fear that managers get rewarded and leaders get sacrificed – no wonder education is so PC, politically correct. It is okay to feel uncomfortable, to not have your prejudices confirmed, to be learning and not preaching…

I’ve been very lucky in my career, and each new place brings its pluses and minuses. One constant for me has been my good fortune to meet compatible and friendly people at each stop – can’t ask for more than that. I’ve also been lucky in that ‘locals’ have been willing to feed my curiosity and educate me about their area. Unlike many of my AUK colleagues, I think I’ve seen most of what Kuwait has to offer, from border to border, and I have some sense of its history and people. Lucky, indeed.

This diary – this is my 60th message – has been a personal indulgence, and you FOHers have been very tolerant. I hope it has been entertaining and informative for you. I know it has helped me gain some perspective on my time here, and it has kept me in touch with many of the people I’ve just mentioned above that I’ve known from each place we’ve lived. I know this is not the last time you’ll hear from me (eeeekkk, you say!) – but this type of entry only seems to make sense from this kind of distance. Perhaps an epilogue…

Ma salaama – goodbye for now!

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Nice dinner last night at Qasr Nakheel, Palm Palace. The evenings of sharing meals are a big deal here, as there isn’t much else to do and these serve as R&R sessions for us all. I’ll miss this gang – good people trying to do good work in an environment that needs a great deal of rehabbing.

The past few days quite a few students have stopped me and said “heard you were leaving, sorry for that, and good luck.” Several have also said I know you only know me because you throw me out of the library, but I like you anyway – sweet, I think. I don’t teach here, so my contact with students is mostly as “library hall monitor,” trying to keep the decibels down to a reasonable level. For the most part, the students here are like those anywhere else but less experienced in an environment where they are responsible for their own work and behavior - good kids, mainly, just in need of a little discipline and guidance.

Today is last day at work. AUK will close down for Eid and then a winter break. Several colleagues already have traveled, with almost everyone else bugging out – and why not! I’ll make the rounds later today to say “bye” – I’ll still be around until 2 January so I’ll be able to tidy up office and leave stuff organized for Amna.

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T arrived yesterday and is already on the go – surprise? Not!! She of course served as courier/Sherpa, so several people get some goodies – books, keyboard, etc.

My library colleagues are hosting a “goodbye social” for me today at 3pm in the Library – people to drop by and offer… okay, I’m prepared for anything, though expecting mostly some additional warm fuzzies!!

We will have a busy next several days – dinner at Kym’s tonight, concert and perhaps adult beverages tomorrow evening, a brunch (ours) on Saturday, followed by dinner at Ralph’s. On Monday, “the gang” of university co-conspirators takes us out to dinner at Palm Palace – last swan song before most folks bug out for the winter break. Oh, btw, the Eid holiday got even longer – government declared it all to start on Tuesday and not next Wednesday.

We had what will be my last American Corner event yesterday afternoon, again with Chris’ students making a presentation on “Will Muslim Women Ever Be Liberated?” The topic had potential to be controversial, but wasn’t. The discussion danced all around the hard issues, and eventually evolved into a discussion about religion, the Quran, what is culture vs. religion, what lens people look through when they see ‘others’ and how hard it is to really understand any society without studying it in depth. All in all, the American Corner has (I trust) raised the bar ever so slightly for intellectual discourse on issues that are deemed ‘sensitive’ yet are essential to discuss if you really want an educated student (the jury still undecided on that score for AUK).

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Yin, Yang, Boomerang!!

What’s that, you say? That is me, beginning the ‘processing out’ process here in marvelously-undecipherable Kuwait. AUK has its own mini-bureaucracy – had to get each department head to sign-off that I wasn’t absconding with anything the university owns, including my desk (desk?), library books (and no, I didn’t sign for myself – was tempted to but…). This morning, I was escorted to an office in Kuwait City where my sole task was to tell the Labor Ministry official that “all was okay, no problems” with processing out – 5 seconds, tops. It seems there are many problems here, and this guy’s job is to ask just that – one wonders what happens if you say ‘yes’ and there’s a kafuffle… do you have to stay? Eeek!! Now, my residency visa will be cancelled and my Civil ID returned. I am on the road to exit-ville…

The past few days have been relatively quiet. Only one trip to Electricity Ministry to get my deposit back – a miracle (took 3 trips to get them to take the deposit in the first place). I am getting lots of ‘warm fuzzies’ from people on campus – nice to be acknowledged as a kindred spirit. I also dropped by the bank to deposit my ‘exit check’ – you don’t think I do this for fun, do you? NBK is an excellent bank – remarkably efficient, as one would expect and hope for in a country gushing with money from oil !!

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Amna back at work this morning – seems okay – life goes on… She will be Interim Library Director after I depart, so we’ll spend some time together so I can help her as much as possible before bugging out – 8 more work days!

So, what have you been up to, Harvey? Much eating, of course – dinner with Chris Gottschalk last Tuesday evening at the hot Thai restaurant – food gets your nasal passages unclogged. Chris is very dramatic – fun to be with. He has managed to stage one production here and has other good things going. Also ate out with Simon, Rena and the ‘duke’ Adam at the club they joined, the Al Corniche Club. This will be good for them, as it will get them out and about and have them meet non-AUK people – healthy for the mind. They have also been bringing over stuff for the apartment – they’ll move in the day we depart Kuwait. On Thursday evening, went to Embassy for fun – there was a DJ – food and of course adult beverages – vin rouge pour moi! On weekend, went with Marjorie to the annual Christmas bazaar sponsored by American Women’s Society. It is always a trip to find so much “Christmas” here in the Middle East – seems so culturally out-of-place, yet great fun. Of course, bought some ‘stuff’ – one has to do her/his bit. Shopping followed by (you guessed it) a buffet lunch at the newest Movenpick Hotel, right on the water – hey, life is hard here!! And yesterday, did the “clean the apartment trick” from top to bottom – ah, the joys, the excitement, cleaning to Arabic music, merrily dancin’ around the place, vacuum and dust cloth in hand – feel the beat, feel the clean (this guy is totally whacko, eh!).

Work – oh, yeah, that… The Dean finally did announce that Amna would be Interim Director – about time! The faculty Library Committee held its first meeting of the year – all pleased with the top-notch library service (humbly reported, of course). One long-term issue is the proposed design of a new building – book capacity scheduled to be 40,000 volumes – ridiculously small for a university! One hopes someone ‘gets it’ but hey, it won’t be my problem…

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8 a.m.: Bumping along towards the 18th when things come to a halt here for winter break. The university will close, as the 3-day Eid at the end of the Hajj month and the Christmas holidays converge together this year. Most folks are bugging out – they get 19 free days, a real bonus. T (who arrives here the 12th) and I will be staying put until we depart on 2 January. I’ve begun the phasing out process – as much bureaucracy to get out as to get in! And, our social schedule once T arrives will be jam-packed until the 20th – “we must get together before I go on leave….”

At work: We installed some DVC (digital video conferencing) equipment Sunday in our conference room, courtesy of the US Embassy Kuwait. This could be a real plus for AUK, both educationally and administratively, if used well. Yesterday, Chris and his students held another American Corner session – this one on “Understanding Islam – What Americans Don’t Know.” Chris slogs along, trying to get these students to think critically – small steps and worth the effort.

Posted by Simmons GSLIS at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Time flies when you are having fun… or not! I am now in my last month here, with three weeks left of work – seems odd some how – not good, not bad, just odd.

Yesterday was a pleasant day. Ray & Dina, John & Frances and I went to the island of Falaika, about 10 km off the coast, an hour boat ride. The weather yesterday was perfect – 70s F, very light breezes. Falaika is an island on which have been found Greek ruins, so it has a long history. On the ‘history of Kuwait’ in maps it is the first place identified in this area. Now, the island is pretty much uninhabited, post the Iraqi invasion of 1990. The Iraqis cleared the island of Kuwaitis, made it a military post and then, when run out of Kuwait, pretty much destroyed everything they could. The houses etc. are still left ‘as is,’ in ruins – a very spooky feeling, to be sure. Our day pleasant, though, as there is a small ‘heritage village’ and then one can take a ride around the island and see an ancient burial site and a camel farm.

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It is early morning, just before 8 a.m. when we open up the Library. Very quiet.
Temps in the a.m. these days hover in low 80sF – very pleasant.

I took Bill & Elaine Wadden out to Bait 7 for dinner last night. They had not been in this area of “old” Kuwait. Bait 7 has excellent food, and we enjoyed a pleasant dinner outside. The streets are all torn up, however – progress – harrumph!

I’ve been working on some “strategic planning” materials to use for our training session for the Iraqi LIS professors in later November. John Rutland (faculty AUK) has been helpful in sharing materials. With the exception of getting the 2nd half of the grant money shipped here, I’ve done just about all I can to prepare for this. I am hopeful it will work out well – how about ‘cautiously optimistic!’

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The usual suspects ate out Thursday evening, but at a very swishy Persian restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel called Shahrayar. Excellent food, and as usual the chatter was fun. Ildiko, in honor of the one of the Hungarian revolutions, bought for all – a pleasant surprise. Did I say the food was excellent – yummmmmy!

Saturday, Marjorie and I decided to try and find the bridge to the island of Bubiyan, up towards the Iraq border. We had heard that you could see Failaka Island from the top of the bridge, so what the heck... One turns off the main road at Jahra (about 20 miles northwest of Kuwait City)) and heads northeast. The area is very uninhabited, and the further you get from Jahra the less there is - that is, with the exception of camels. We must have seen around 1,000 camels, many of which were albino. The camels all looked well-fed, so no problem with food. The road out to Bubiyan is being re-done in a way which is hard to imagine - a new, 4 lane highway with bridges and overpasses is being built, yet there is no there there - it is very strange, to say the least. Even if it is a military road, it is way overdone. Money and brains are often strangers.

We drove for about an hour and came across a pink (yes, he did say pink) mosque in the middle of nowhere (picture attached to this diary edition). Wonders and surprises are a large part of the joy of knocking about this region. We drove past the mosque on up to the military area near the coastal border, turned around and then went south a bit and finally found the bridge. But... it is now a military area, and you can't go on it. I tried, asking the armed guard if we could drive up or walk on it – “La, mafi, no,” he said. It could very well be that the way on up to Iraq for ships is via this channel, rather than on the east side of the island which is much closer to Iran - that could account for the military presence. Did I say surprises are fun - hmmmm. Anyway, the ride was fun, Marjorie good company, lots of miles of 'nowhere' to be seen - at least you had the feeling you were in a desert country.

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Last night, Marjorie and I went to AWARE'S program about Failaka Island. On maps of this region, Failaka was the first identifiable Kuwaiti area. Digs have found samples of Greek pottery, so the island has been of historical and academic interest. Last night’s chat was done by the son of the owner of the Tareq Rajab museums, Dr. Ziad Rajab. He spoke without notes – very well informed and engaging. His family has been visiting Failaka since the 1950s and they’ve seen great changes there, and especially so after the Iraqi invasion when all Kuwaitis were removed from the island and it became a military base. Failaka has up until now a long inhabited history. What was very nice was that they exhibited pictures from the 1950s and 1960s so one could get a flavor of the life there – pretty darn isolated and simple. The Kuwaiti government is schizophrenic about Failaka – develop it – leave it alone – make it a national park…

Posted by Simmons GSLIS at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I’m uninspired in starting up this diary after the return from Greece, but… let’s just call it post-vacation syndrome!

The campus remains fairly quiet. Now that we are back to a “normal” schedule, things have really settled down. Chris Ohan is getting his students all set for a series of American Corner events. He is having his AUK students interview American students about their perceptions of the Middle East, Islam, Arabs, the war on terror etc. – then they’ll report to their peers on what they’ve learned. The goal is to teach oral history/information gathering skills in a structured way. There will be 7 sessions – an ambitious project.

I’ve been making further plans for the Iraqi training program, which will now definitely occur in Amman, Jordan – the teaching will be on 18-22 November at ACOR. I’ll get there ahead of time and depart a couple of days after it finishes – taking care of all the business details. I’m also planning to take a brief trip to Beirut – AMICAL business and perhaps gather some useful information for the training program from my Lebanese counterparts – will be there first week of November. One thing for sure that I’ll miss is the travel that has come along with this job.

Last night the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah kicked off its cultural season with a lecture entitled “Masterpieces of an Unknown Iranian Metalworker.” The speaker, Professor Geza Fehervari, is the 85 year old curator of the Tareq Rajab Museum. Tonight on campus we are having the former president of Costa Rica, Jose Maria Figueres Olsen, talk about “Mitigating Climate Change: Our Responsibility with the Next Generations.”

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13 August 2007 – Monday

Hmmm, an entry sent off seems long overdue: Hana is back from leave, so it feels so much better at work. She said all okay in Lebanon – her family home is very close to the Israeli border in the south. She is one terrific co-worker with lots of talent and a first-rate attitude – AUK is lucky to have her.

Bill enjoyed the Tareq Rajab museum. For a private collection, it is amazing, and it is just one of the two museums he has opened (the other on Arabic calligraphy). Bill has seen very little in Kuwait, so I also took him out Saturday morning. The Dickson House was closed, but we got to see the place where replica shows are made, then he showed me an “antique” place not far from the Radisson Hotel. The stuff there not really antique, but interesting – almost all made in India, elaborate and funky – you have to have just the right house/space to make this stuff work for you.

New faculty should be here next week, so it will be fun to meet some new people and perhaps provide some settling-in assistance. I’m meeting the president of the British Ladies Society this morning to get 45 Kuwait Guides that they produce – these to be given by HR to new employees. The BLS Guides are great for practical things, including maps that actually get you to places.

News: Many of you know this already, but yours truly will be ending his AUK/Kuwait tour of duty very early in January 2008. There have been many high points in being here, and unfortunately many low points. The for-profit environment can and does clash with academics, and rather than whine about things, I’ll move on to new adventures. I’m appreciative for the experience, and yes, I’d like to work overseas again someday. The next 4+ months should be interesting, and I’ll help my library colleagues as best I can.

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8 August 2007 – Wednesday

More of the same, I’m afraid – quiet on campus one heck of an understatement. There are only a handful of students and staff around. I’m spending some time rearranging the book collection so that new books can fit in where they belong. This is not rocket science work, to be sure. I’ve also begun to plan for adding some new database services for September - this is going slowly, as I had forgotten about the only 3-day overlap of the work week with the rest of the western world. Communication is a challenge. And speaking of the 3-day overlap: Kuwait will join several other regional countries this September when it changes its weekend to Friday/Saturday as opposed to Thursday/Friday – should be helpful in many ways.

For fun and R&R, again not much happening. Bill Wadden and I had dinner this week (Bill is GUST’s continuing education dean) – that has been about it. I’m taking Bill to see the Tareq Rajab museum tomorrow – he has yet to see it and it will be something to do. As noted in previous entries, there is lots of down time when working overseas – read, watch old movies, eat, walk, eat, shop, eat – ah, the joys.

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5 August 2007 – Sunday

Wow, it is quiet on campus – there are very few faculty around and very few students. The 2nd summer session ends in a couple of weeks. All three of my colleagues are out, either on leave or at a conference, so work is me and two student assistants.

There is a snag with the Iraqi training program that is supposed to happen the first week of September. For some reason, Kuwait has ‘closed’ visas for Iraqis – none being issued at the moment, and of course no explanation as to why (though one can surmise many reasons for this) and no idea if/when they’ll ‘open’ again. This could mean cancelling the program, which would be too bad. I did talk to an Embassy person in Baghdad today, and there remains the possibility of doing the program later. One can only hope – “inshallah” the word of the day!

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3 August 2007 - Friday

Yours truly is back in Kuwait, the land of hot, hot, hot! Official temperature is 48C or 118F !! Unofficial has been up to 53C or 127F – yipes!!

I had an excellent leave. I began in June by attending the annual American Library Association conference - good to be amongst the chosen again and to see the continuous new technology developments. Post the conference, I headed home to Massachusetts where Terrie had begun the process of moving to our new house -- we now live about 200 yards from our previous house. While home I gave two talks on "Life in Kuwait" - one at Simmons' library school and one at the local Rotary Club - both went pretty well, I think - I trust I conveyed some of the complexity of life here and in the region - 'complex' is one heck of an understatement!!

All in all, it was a busy leave - got in some golf with ol' friends, had dinner with Fulbright Board folks in Boston and enjoyed the greenery of home - not bad at all.

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6 June 2007 – Wednesday

Well, finals have begun and the campus has gone quiet. We have killed thousands of trees with all the printing going on in the library and the computer lab – ‘for free’ printing brings with it lots of waste, which is too bad but inevitable and for the moment not changeable here.

Past few days have been okay. On Sunday evening, Rena & Simon organized a dinner for Abby & Kurt – just them and Marjorie and me (plus baby Adam). We ate at the Burj al-Hammam which is right on the Gulf – good Lebanese food, great views, excellent company.

On Monday evening I participated in a conference call with Iraqi Library Group Advisory Committee members. Simmons was hosting the call, and as is wont to happen, I could not get through on the announced line – one can not use 800 numbers here – go figure. I finally got through – late – and was able to chat about our program this coming September. What continues to worry me is the still and ever-more-rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq. Will anyone come in September? Is what we are doing making any sense, given the circumstances? We will of course keep moving forward, hopefully…

Later today Abby, Marjorie and I will trek off to the border area. Abby & Marjorie want to see this area as it fascinates us all – we’ll be careful, of course – those two women – tall, blonde, attractive – do stand out.

Small victories – got my tv in my apartment fixed – the man even came by, found the place and did his thing very efficiently – yeah!!

Tomorrow evening I am working from 5 – 8 pm. Two of our three part-timers are on leave, so I’ll relieve our third, Ms. Ajitha. After that, there is a dinner at the SAS/Radisson for those faculty that are departing. We are losing some good folks and they’ll be missed.

Well, will send this off now. Hope this diary entry finds you all well. The daily temperature on my patio at 6am is now regularly in the low 90s F. Temps in the sun are running around 105/110 – it is remarkable how easy one gets used to these temperatures.

Be well!

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2 June 2007 – Saturday

I’m back in Kuwait now, first day of work in a couple of weeks. The place is nuttier than usual – people way too hyped up. Perhaps it is end-of-year craziness – let’s hope so. Finals officially begin Monday and students are scurrying around to get work done – anxiety abounds and nerves on short-edges for the moment.

My nearly two weeks away have done wonders for my attitude. The week in England visiting first Michael & Jill Brookes and then touring with Willie & Neville Custance was absolutely delightful. We got to see some areas that were new to us – Chipping Camden in the Cotswolds and the Derbyshire area (visited Chatsworth – nice shack if you are a lord). Good food, too, and lots of adult beverages – yeah!!!

The AMICAL conference in Morocco was excellent. Ifrane is 50 kilometers south of Fes (which is pronounced with a soft ‘s’ – a feZ one wears on one’s head – FeSSS is a place to live in). If you are interested in which institutions are in AMICAL, take a look at www.amicalnet.org – we are a remarkably diverse group. We are also a remarkably compatible group – 18 institutions using the American model to teach, yet keeping their own spirit and character. Yours truly is now chair of the NomComm (nominating committee) and the SusComm (sustainability committee) – we’ll elect officers by the end of June and then we and they have to figure out how to keep AMICAL alive after grant funding runs out.

Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane is very pretty. One feels like you are in Switzerland vs. Morocco – the area is very hilly and the weather is cool evenings (need a sweater and jacket). I’ll be sure to include a picture of the Library with this report – you’ll see what I mean by the Swiss look and every building on campus has the same look. The library folks there ran a great conference – excellent logistics, good food and lots of it, nice facilities, neat road trips (to Azrou and Fes) – a fairly young staff excepting the director and all very competent. The conference went well, too, as librarians, IT staff and faculty all keep focused on learning and how to partner to make it better.

One last word about the Moroccan experience in that the souk in Fes is incredible. It dwarfs the Khan Khalili in Cairo, which I had thought massive. The souk is also in the medina, the heart of the old city, so it is a real warren of streets, alleys, paths. The medina is very old and one gets the sense that you really are in a different world when you are among shops, houses, apartments, food stalls etc. This souk is the best I have been in so far if you like the idea of getting lost and exploring things that are foreign to your own background!

Posted by Simmons GSLIS at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted on behalf of Harvey Varnet.

13 May 2007 – Sunday

I’m back!! Got in this morning at 6 a.m. from the USA via London – long flights and boring, boring, boring. Took a shower and headed off to work, which is where I am now at 4pm.

The campus seems ‘wired’ today – lots of things happening, many of which have been troubling. Apparently someone leaked a letter to the press detailing our shortcomings and naming names, etc. – not pretty. As one might suspect, the university administration was less than happy about this (can you spell ‘furious’) and wired may perhaps not be a strong enough term. Then I’m told there have been some interpersonal difficulties – hmmmm, is the end of the academic year in sight – why, yes, it is, thank god! All this and the Board is here for its summer meeting – remarkable how things can get charged up and stay that way. Perhaps the steadily increasing temperatures will force everyone to bury her/himself in an air conditioned cocoon and things will settle down – one can only hope . . .

For those who asked, all is okay on the home front. Terrie as usual is doing yeoman’s work on ‘stuff.’ We have bought another house, directly across from Jennifer, which is smaller than our present house and hopefully will be easier to take care of in our senior years. The new place needs some work, of course, so annual leave in July will find me focused on house tasks.

Now, off to rest, do laundry, run errands, say goodbye to Lydia for a bit as she heads off to Russia (Siberia) for some language training and generally try to catch up. I’m back here for a week, then T & I will be in England for a week before I go to a conference in Morocco. And, yes, Jim Matarazzo, they do pay me to do this job – gottaloveit!!

16 May 2007 – Wednesday

I was hoping things would quiet down, but, silly boy, that is not the case . . . Folks remain wired and the level of tension is way too high . . . I had a nice chat with Nizar Hamzeh. He has taken the dean’s job – he’s a good man and I’m hopeful his formally taking the job (he has been associate dean yet doing the job without formal authority) will help settle some things down. He has one heck of a task in front of him as we need to get ourselves organized in so many ways.

I took Ildiko out shopping again for furniture Monday evening – she is good company and an excellent bargain hunter. She lives right behind the campus, and she has moved from 6th floor to 10th floor – she has a very nice view overlooking AUK and right out to the Gulf. She bought a desk, office chair, a small dining room set and a bookcase. All she needs now is a sofa and she’ll be all set to hunker down for a spell.

On campus, we are hosting the 2nd Liberal Arts Conference with the majority of presentations being done by AUK faculty. This year, though, some others are presenting, from GUST and ACK and KU – that is welcomed as these connections are valuable. The conference is a 2 day affair, with Ralph as major domo – he is very organized and focused and on top of all the details.

19 May 2007 – Saturday

On Wednesday evening, the Student Government Assn. called for a Town Meeting to discuss “issues” with the administration. I did not attend, as there was no agenda. One of the main issues is that we will soon have graduates in two majors whose degrees are not ‘licensed’ by the PUC. As you might suspect, no license means your degree is ‘problematic’ at best, and students pretty darn upset – can’t blame them – can you spell “e t h i c s.”

I had a very social weekend. Ate out with the gang on Wednesday evening, visited Rena, Simon and Adam Thursday morning (Conerly gave Adam a swimming lesson), and had a lovely dinner with Lynne & Howard Garmany and their friends Thursday evening (no AUK folks, so a very different evening). On Friday, I joined Abby & Kurt who were showing around a colleague of Abby’s from San Antonio who is here in Kuwait doing presentations – her name is Pat Burr. Breakfast first, then a tour of the Tareq Rajab Museum.

Weather report from Kuwait – dust, thick dust – no, very thick dust – no, very very very thick dust! The air has been white from dust for several days now – worst since I’ve been here. Temperatures in 90s F now every morning – do people really live here?

Once again the diary to go a-snoozing while I am away – I know, you’ll miss me. :)

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2 May 2007 – Wednesday

Dinner last night was at Baalbek, a Lebanese restaurant (now there is a surprise) very close to AUK – 5 minute walk. Michael Herb, a faculty member at GA State in Atlanta and here on a semester Fulbright, gave a talk at 5pm on “Democratization in Kuwait and the Gulf.” It is interesting to compare the various Gulf countries, their governments and their relative successes – wonder how Gulf nationals feel about having the navel examined every day by so many others – hmmmm…

1 May 2007 – Tuesday

Happy May Day – workers of the world unite!!!!!!! In this region, there are still many countries that celebrate May Day, just as we did before the beginning of “pc-ness” in the USA.

Last evening I had dinner with Shafiq, our Afghani colleague who is leaving Kuwait in a week or so. He is very interesting in that his life story is mind-boggling to me but he is very casual about it. At 18, he left home because he didn’t want to be absorbed into the Russian system – walked for 20 days into Pakistan, then found work. Because he has a gift for languages (he taught himself English), he was able to do translation work for the Mujahadeen fighters (and US spies) who were the being supported by us, the USA. He eventually got himself to Saudi Arabia (in and of itself a story) and got a BA degree in Persian Literature with a minor in English – studying all the while in Arabic, not his mother tongue. Got himself married by asking family for a suitable bride – he is both remarkably resilient and very traditional. Now, he finds himself in Kuwait without a job, his family shipped off to Cairo, and he goes back to Kabul to try and sort things out. Amazing! My, what you can learn…

On a very much lighter note, tonight I am hosting all of the in-country Fulbrighters for dinner. There are 6 here, and all nice people and mostly young (only one mid-career person). It’s my chance to ‘do something’ for a Fulbright program that helped jump-start my interest in working overseas (Nigeria 1979-80). And, by ‘hosting’ I mean paying the bill at a nearby restaurant – heaven help them if I cooked!

We have been having serious dust storms of late. Last night was ugly – very windy and dusty, and as the temperatures rise you feel like you are being blow-dried – very un-cool.

30 April 2007 – Monday

I forgot to mention that we started training another Kuwait University LIS field work student. Zabihullah is Afghani and about to finish his masters degree. Similar to Shafiq, he is multi-lingual and very smart. It seems Afghans have a reputation of being more than survivors, which makes sense if you consider their former environment. Zabihullah will be with us for 40 hours. It appears KU likes to have us as one of their preferred field work sites.

Last night I spent a delightful evening with Ildiko, enjoying a very nice Lebanese mezza at Awtar Libnan (eating outside) and far-ranging discussion. As noted previously, Ildiko is Hungarian and a product of U.C. San Diego. Her field is communication theory, and she is very bright. AUK is probably wise to hire people like her, as the living conditions here and especially the salaries are very good for eastern Europeans. She has made a rapid adjustment to AUK and Kuwait – nice to see.

It is now 10 a.m. We just had a small electrical fire upstairs at one of the 4-station computer banks. Yours truly blasted it with the fire extinguisher. The post-fire situation was almost comical: every security guard turned up, as did most of our campus services staff – lots of kafuffle. The data port cabling did not burn, so we got lucky there as that would have put out all 16 computers instead of just four. The cleanup is going on now – fire extinguisher stuff gets all over the place very quickly. I did say something about it being never dull, didn’t I !!!

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28 April 2007 – Saturday

Yours truly had a quiet weekend. As usual, cleaned up the apartment Thursday morning – cleaning to the music of Alissa (Lebanese) and the BeeGees – talk about eclectic! I took Bill & Elaine Wadden out to Midas for some furniture shopping, then to the souk in Kuwait City – Mubarakiyya. They really enjoyed the souk, and as you FOHers know, so do I. We finished the evening with Thai take-out food – all very pleasant.

Yesterday, I took Marjorie out to Ikea. There is a new, huge mall now, called The Avenues. It is mostly the same shops as everywhere else, and it has attracted crowds – lots of folks hanging out – there are 3 Starbucks in this mall, plus two other coffee shops. Kuwait – caffeinated – oh, yeah!! In the evening, I shared pizza and a movie with Kurt & Abby. We watched a smalzy Disney movie about pack dogs in the Antarctic.

One of the challenges in working overseas is being able to deal with lots of “quiet time.” Each person has to find her/his own rhythm, what they like to do – read, write, shop, eat, whatever. Kuwait is pretty boring physically, so just wandering about has its limitations. There are still a few museums and crafts places that I have yet to find, so I’ll pursue these as the weather gets hotter and hotter.

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25 April 2007 - Wednesday

The weather here has taken an ugly turn with heavy dust in the air the past couple of days – all very gray and breezy. The temperatures, though, rise steadily – welcome to the desert and the Middle East.

On Monday evening, Abby’s “leadership” class put on a huge Fashion Show here on campus. There was very serious political pressure to quash it – the conservative elements had a hard time envisioning a show that had both men and women at it and both as models. Our own president refused to attend – what kind of moral/supportive leadership is that? Abby persisted, the class did what it had to do (set the auditorium as a runway, got sponsors, sold tickets, organized seating etc.) and the place was packed. The models did a great job, and the sponsors came through with cool clothing for this generation (we squares would never wear the stuff – ah, old age creeps in…). This was an excellent example for the students as to what is possible when the common goal is the focus and not one’s own self-interest. It also is an example of pushing the envelope a bit, which is what universities are supposed to do – thank god some here aren’t afraid to push…even though we in the west would consider what goes on here incredibly tame.

Last night Nizar had a few folks over as we celebrated Conerly’s birthday. As I’ve noted before, we are an amazingly diverse lot – American, Lebanese, Iraqi, Hungarian – all enjoying adult beverages and each other’s company. It is always a pleasure to hear what academic plans people have, even under challenging and difficult circumstances. Good faculty are worth their weight in gold – hard-working, caring, focused, pushing students, writing. I am always amazed at how inept administrations can be in dealing with faculty – universities are indeed curious animals.

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Posted on behalf of Harvey Varnet

14 April 2007 – Saturday

Well, classes are back in session and everyone seems to have benefited from the week off for Spring Break. All four of us are in the office – me, Amna, Hana, Reham. One of our evening colleagues, Ajitha, has yet to return from India where she organized a wedding for her daughter – otherwise, all on track. The classes end on May 30th, so not all that long before the semester is over.

One odd weather-related thing to report: On Thursday, we had an actual hail storm here! Go figure!! The sky was a white-out and for about 15 minutes it hailed liked hell – very odd and very surprising. Apparently this has happened before, though it is rare. We have had rain almost every day for a week.

Terrie got into a cooking frenzy and made an enormous amount of food for our Friday brunch. She can cook, that is for sure, and she loves to entertain. Joining us was Shoma and her mother Ruma and father Anil, Margaret Combs, Ralph and two of the Kostopoulos kids, Lydia and Andi. On Friday evening we trekked up to floor 11 and had dinner with Larry & Barbara Dawson. They also had another Canadian couple over, Bernie and Ellen – we do manage to eat well here.

Tonight I will try to find the site that LIAK (Library & Information Association of Kuwait) has in Kuwait City. It is in an old school building – with no street addresses or numbers; this will be a challenge. (However, it is near the souk, I am told, and I am a “souk maven” and know this area fairly well.) I have convinced the US Embassy here and in the UAE to send up Helmi Noman from Abu Dhabi who will talk to LIAK on Tuesday evening about “intellectual property and copyright and the internet.” Helmi is very dynamic, of Yemeni origin, and he knows his stuff. Working with LIAK has been a challenge – very laid back group – let’s hope we have an audience for Helmi… Ah, the ol’ inshallah spirit reigns supreme!!

15 April 2007 – Sunday

Well, it was a good thing to hunt out the site for Tuesday’s speech. With no street signs or addresses, this proved to be quite the challenge. The school is very close to the souk – it is a nice, old renovated place and LIAK is lucky to have some office space there.

One spin-off benefit of traveling to the souk often (Mubarakyia) is to find new areas of it. T & I discovered a whole new underground section we had never seen before – a series of many shops under ground level. Now I’m even more curious to go a-hunting to see what else I’ve missed.

17 April 2007 – Tuesday

Yesterday afternoon we had one of our most successful American Corner events. Dr. Andy Terrill of the U.S. Army War College spoke on Iraq and Iran and US foreign policy. Andy is brilliant! His position is the General Douglas MacArthur Professor of National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. He knows his stuff cold, and he has been involved in discussions about this part of the world at the highest levels (he was an advisor to the Iraq Study group).

We emptied the main floor of the Library and had him stand in the center with students on 3 sides. The session went extremely well, as Andy has both an ability to present a balanced point of view regarding US foreign policy and interests and then present his own thoughtful and thought-provoking viewpoints. If I were to sum up his presentation, it would be “pragmatic” in the Teddy Roosevelt don’t let ideology get in the way of international relations approach (his patience for ideologues in foreign policy was extremely thin – you guess the rest…). Some times things just work well and this one certainly did!

18 April 2007 – Wednesday

Last night I was at LIAK (Library & Information Association of Kuwait) for a lecture on intellectual property, copyright and the internet by Helmi Noman. Helmi is a US Embassy employee in Abu Dhabi and I convinced the Embassy here to bring him up to speak to LIAK. Helmi knows his stuff, is dynamic and engaging, and is fluent in English and Arabic. The audience was small, as LIAK did PR way too late, but… the presentation was first-rate and it allowed me to get to know some of the LIAK people better. Always good to make more in-country connections.

Tonight we’ll have dinner at Shoma’s with her and her folks. Ruma and Anil will celebrate 50 years of marriage soon – they are nice people and good company. T is off to show Sita Higi the Sears store this morning and then to tea with Kym Suffi this afternoon at the English Room at the Sheraton – all so very proper. Tomorrow evening dinner with Ralph and others at Mughal Mahal – ah, this is the tough life.

Yesterday we learned that our Dean for Admissions and Registration is leaving AUK. He (along with his wife who runs our Student Success Center) is heading off to Qatar (where they are doing great things in education). This is yet another defection: our finance executive director leaves in August, we have had no academic dean for a year+ now, no admissions director since last August, and then this one. In addition, several faculty is leaving and most people I know are job-hunting. AUK could very soon be at a critical juncture in its life very soon…

22 April 2007 – Sunday

There are themes in these messages – food, food food and “the travails of AUK.”

Last night T got into her hostess mode and we had Sita & John, Larry & Barbara and Elaine & Bill Wadden over for dinner. John is a US foreign service employee and Bill is dean of continuing education at GUST (the Gulf University for Science and Technology). It appears GUST suffers from the same challenges as AUK – not always good to know that, I’m guessing.

On Friday, T had George & Zoe in for lunch, along with Ralph. George & Zoe are departing AUK at the end of this semester, so T wanted a chance to say goodbye. The good part of working overseas – meeting so many new and wonderful people and the travel. The bad part – saying goodbye so regularly… What, you can’t have it all – harrummphh!!

23 April 2007 – Monday

In to work very early, as I dropped T off at the airport this morning. The apartment seemed way too quiet upon return.

We took a walk over to the tailor’s last night – took them half an hour to turn around a sewing request by T – service service service! We then sauntered over to the local gold souk where T had seen a bracelet she liked that afternoon. Being the incredibly clever guy that I am, I suggested she look at it again – yes, Mother’s Day is fast approaching – and we got it for her. Yes!!

Well, FOH friends, time to send this off. Here’s hoping you are all well. The ‘warm’ season has begun in Kuwait – 90s F during the day and each morning the patio is at 80F – no problem keeping that complexion glowing!

Best to you all!

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11 April 2007 – Wednesday

It is the last day of Spring Break week here at AUK. The campus is very quiet, as one might expect. Amna and Hana are here at work with me as we do odds ‘n ends to keep busy. Reham is taking the week off to be with her children, both of whom are quite young.

Amna and Hana had a great trip to the ACRL Conference in Baltimore, after which they spent a couple of days at Dartmouth College. This trip opened their eyes to the size and scope of librarianship in the USA – it has broadened their outlook on this profession in all the right ways. One always hopes that colleagues benefit somewhat by your presence on the job, and at the very least I know that supporting this type of travel and growth has been beneficial in both the short and long-term for these two fine librarians.

I just came back from doing the Library’s budget presentation for next fiscal year. I’ve been doing budgets for forever, so this one no different than any others. I do find it interesting how little people know about how a library actually runs, which I suspect is not to our credit as librarians. It does look like we’ll add another staff member next year to work the evening schedule. This will go a long way to providing better student support, and I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to find a local hire that has the right skill set and, more importantly, the right attitude (as in likes to work).

As noted previously, Terrie & I along with Kurt & Abby spent 5 days in Oman. What a great trip! The Omani people are so gracious and hospitable – Kurt has taken to calling it the world’s standard for hospitality. Isam, our host, was fantastic at keeping us happy and busy. We stayed at his family’s home in Seeb, just beyond the airport – it is a very lovely home, groomed grounds and a nice swimming pool to boot – hard duty, not!! He also loaned us a very nice van to get around in, and yours truly didn’t get us lost at all. Our itinerary included dinner at his family’s home (twice), a boat trip down the coast, a wadi bash into the interior near Nakhl (which was very vertical and a new place for me & Terrie), a tour of the interior including Nizwa and Jabrin fort and Misfah (like walking though the pages of National Geographic). We also toured around the capitol area and just had to shop at the Muttrah souk, always a must for an Oman visit. Isam had several of his work colleagues help us, and our thanks go to Yaser, Mohamed and Abdulkarim – all nice young men and now new friends as well.

The semester cranks back up on Saturday, with just a month and a half left for classes. I imagine we’ll start getting very busy soon, as papers will need to be written, databases searches conducted, works cited, pages proofread – all part of the job. The academic year does have its own rhythm.

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2 April 2007 – Monday

It is just after 11 a.m. at work. I am alone. Reham has just left for the Gulf Chapter of SLA’s annual conference in Bahrain. Amna and Hana are in the USA. We were able to send them to the ACRL/Baltimore conference and now they will spend a few days at Dartmouth College, gleaning from their library colleagues there what information they can. So, I am all alone with student assistants – it’s good to do this once in a while (he said optimistically).

I have great respect for my library colleagues – they are workers who try hard and while each one of us has different skills, we do seem to complement one another. Some of the saner moments while I am here at AUK occur in the library, working with these fine people. It is a pleasure when I can help them broaden their backgrounds by attending conferences and workshops. This will be perhaps one of the few legacies I leave behind – not bad…

It is the week before Spring Break, so there are lots of students in the library using computers, databases, etc. We spend a lot of time helping them with citing sources. To this end, we show them a cool tool called < http://www.citationmachine.net > - good for anyone citing a paper using MLA, APA or Chicago style manuals. This is the “Google generation” and this source is easy for them to get used to… Yes, we teach them “to fish” but we need to feed them along the way…

As noted in previous diary editions, we plan to bug out this Wednesday for Oman again – can’t wait. It is striking as to how different each Gulf country is – each has its own deserved reputation. To me, Oman is the gem in this region – this opinion shared by many who have been in the Gulf for a while.

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30 March 2007 - Friday

Today was one of those days that didn't seem real... I was at the Iraq/Kuwait border today. The road to the border (Abdali is the Kuwait town) is long, straight and empty once you get past Jahra, just north of Kuwait City. The land rises slowly as you approach Kuwait, and alongside the road all you see are bedu tents, goats, camels, and not much else...a bit eerie. The land is scruffy, yet it is a traditional pathway for herding and grazing. At one time, borders in this part of the world were very fluid, and what are now called Iraqis and Kuwaitis and Saudis and were then bedu all trekked about in the desert on their own, seeking food for their stock of animals.

At the border, the guards were very helpful. One spoke some basic English, and he summoned a young man who was more conversant. While waiting for the young guy, we all had a half-nodding, gesturing, smiling chat with tea served. When the young guy showed, we had a chat, and then he invited me in to the compound/border area for a meal - - why not, says I, so in I go. We were served a plate of rice big enough for a family, some beef stew and some chicken - way too much food for lunch, but when in Rome (or the neutral zone), what the heck... I must say it felt a little surreal to be so close to Iraq. (As an aside, some of the land on the Kuwaiti side of the border used to be Iraq's, so I have actually been "in Iraq" if that counts.) After our brief lunch, I walked out on my own. The area is very quiet on a Friday, and I had this feeling I was in a movie, strutting out of the bad country into the freedom of another exotic place - I know, way too Romantic. The drive home went quickly, again with camels and many goats hovering near the road. The weather getting a bit hotter now, so the road had that kind of "hot sheen" whereby it seems to disappear as in a mirage... "Ok, Action: cue goats, camels get to the left, set up Bedu tents, spray road with water to create mist..."

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3 March 2007 – Saturday

Our visit to Oman was like going home again after a long absence. We were sooooo warmly greeted by Khalifa and Shamsa, who are the perfect hosts – “our house is your house.” Our first day was a wadi bash organized by Asya and Harith et al. into Wadi Abayid, just off of the Batinah coast. We had a feast, enjoyed the bash, enjoyed the old friends who came along and all the new ones we met, helped a van get out of the water after it got stuck, and generally had a great time.

The next day Fatma’s husband Zain took us for a local tour – new Grand Mosque (magnificent), fish souk, Muttrah souk (the oldest in Oman capital area), old Muscat and generally showed us the sights. Zain is a very nice man who is in the travel & tourism business – we enjoyed his company very much. That evening, the “Boston ladies” had us over for dinner. At one time, Fatma, Tarfah, Izdihar, Nadia and Hannadi all were in college in Boston and we sort of kept an eye on them and provided the occasional home-cooked meals on weekends. Fatma hosted the dinner, and we so enjoyed re-connecting with these young women, all of whom seem to be on a track to be very successful.

On our final touring day, Harith took us for a quick visit in the a.m. to Sultan Qaboos University. I have to admit I am proud of what I did there as far as the library construction is concerned – it still looks good, and the campus is lovely. We then joined up with Asya and went touring around again – capital area, the area where we used to live, the new marina area for a seaside lunch and then off to the Dive Center for seaside coffee and dessert – ah, the hard life.

Our final evening was again with Shamsa & Khalifa as they hosted a dinner party for us and their friends. It is hard to describe how warm and caring these folks are – they are the epitome of Arab hospitality, and we are very lucky that they are our friends.

Oman is truly the gem of the Gulf, and the Omanis are the best-kept secret – kind, decent people, well-educated, savvy, concerned with the success of each other and their country. We got the royal treatment from Khalifa, Shamsa, Harith, Asya, Fatma, Zain, the Boston ladies and everyone we met or re-connected with – we are indeed very fortunate to know and on occasion get to visit these wonderful friends! (And, we get to do it again in April, as we’ll return with Kurt & Abby and expose them to our friends and Oman.)

Upon returning to Kuwait, we kept Tom & Joan busy touring about. On Thursday we trekked out (with Kurt & Abby as well) to the Kuwait Camel Racing Club. The day was very windy, with dust storms and the area for the club is way out of town. It took us almost two hours to find the place, but well worth it. The races were fun – sparsely attended – and an interesting ‘event’ to add to one’s “what have you done lately” conversation…

Yesterday, T took Joan (and Abby went along) to the Friday Market – shop, shop, shop, the Kuwait national sport. In the p.m. we had tea with Zoe and Kym Suffi and her mom and two cute daughters.

So, that’s the social whirl for the past week or so – busy, tiring on occasion, and lots of fun. We know Tom & Joan got to experience some things most folks won’t, and we know they’ll have a different view of this part of the world – inevitable, once you’ve been here. We miss them already.

Do you work at all (often asked by Jim Matarazzo)? Well, yes – work these days has been relatively quiet. The semester has settled in to its routine after the celebratory holidays. We’ll begin hosting American Corner events this week (one on “truthiness” and the media), working with students on their assignments (I taught a session last Wednesday) and generally going about our day-to-day work. AUK is putting on several events this week for International Week – speakers, fashion show, films.

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