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American lady living in Kuwait commenting on daily occurrances through her warped perspective. Her travels take us beyond the boundaries of normalcy. E-mail amerab@gmail.com. Twitter: @DesertGirlkwt
About Me
- Desert Girl
- American semi-Kuwaiti living, working, eating, boating, and observing in Kuwait. Born in America, but raised with Kuwaitis, I get culture shock on both continents. No one understands me, but my dog, and she still gives me strange looks once in a while. I do not accept payment for advertising; I won't entertain the thought. If I think your product or service is worthy of discussion, I will post about it. If I help you, you can send me pink roses. If you are interested in reading about the Bedoun cause in Kuwait, see my posts which are tagged "Bedoun Civil Rights Movement".
Life in the Desert
I danced in the desert,
I swam by the shores,
I spent warm nights under starlit blankets of silver,
I made friends from far-away places
I ate and drank and savored it all
I loved and was loved
What more could anyone ask for?
(Desert Girl, Kuwait)
I swam by the shores,
I spent warm nights under starlit blankets of silver,
I made friends from far-away places
I ate and drank and savored it all
I loved and was loved
What more could anyone ask for?
(Desert Girl, Kuwait)
Links
- AUSA Kuwait Chapter
- American Business Council - Kuwait
- American in Kuwait
- Arabic Course Offerings in Kuwait
- B&D Food Blog
- British Business Forum Kuwait
- British Girl Lost in Kuwait
- Corpwatch (Corporate Corruption)
- Crazy in Kuwait
- DG Info - FAQs 2014
- DG Info - 2008 Cost of Living in Kuwait
- DG Info - 2010 Realtors - How to find a home
- DG Info - 2011/12 Salon Picks
- DG Info - Advice for Teachers
- DG Info - Advice to Companies Seeking Sponsorship in Kuwait
- DG Info - How to Find an Apartment in Kuwait
- DG Info - How to make female friends in Kuwait
- DG Info - Kuwait Employment Packages: What to ask for/expect
- DG Info - Kuwait Information Guide (BLS)
- DG Info - Kuwait Places of Interest: Where to take a visitor
- DG Info - Kuwait Residency Visa Info
- DG Info - Kuwait's Job Market
- DG Info - Legal Obligations Before Leaving Kuwait
- DG Info - Marrying a Kuwaiti Man?
- DG Info - Places with Great Service in Kuwait
- DG Info - Ramadan Advice
- DG Info - Salon Picks
- DG Info - Sheesha Place Picks
- DG Info - Tours of Kuwait - Good!
- David Phinney
- Doggie Daycare Kuwait
- Expat Exchange (Kuwait)
- Expat Women
- Food Delivery Service in Kuwait (online!)
- Jewaira
- K'sPATH (Kuwait animal rescue)
- K'sPATH Blog (NEW!)
- Kuwait Flower (Online flower delivery in Kuwait)
- Kuwait Law: Contractors (Lawyer's Advice)
- Kuwait Music
- Ladies Who Do Lunch in Kuwait (Activities!)
- Lonelyplanet - What to do in Kuwait
- Ms. Sparky
- Nuzha Tours Kuwait
- Operation Homefront Charity
- PAWS Kuwait
- Transitions Abroad - Kuwait Resources List
- US Embassy Kuwait
- Weekenders Guide to Life in Kuwait (US Embassy)
Blog Archive
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2010
(193)
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June
(17)
- I miss my daddy
- Tony & Guy Salon, Kuwait
- Security Clearances to Obtain Kuwait Residency Visas
- Senseless Teddy Bear Murder
- Pink Eye Sucks Bigtime (The "Just Shoot Me" Post)
- I'm sure I'm brain dead
- American Express in Kuwait
- Kuwait: Infidelity in the Age of Technology
- Talent Search in Kuwait... Got skills?
- Transport Company run by American Woman
- Cool looking apartment
- Treatment of Employees in the Service Industry
- Kuwait is Shavin Heads and Takin Names!
- WTF is up with the weather?!
- Got a Question for Ya
- NBK Sucks
-
▼
June
(17)
25 comments:
well honestly i know a lot of companies that dont pay on time, but luckily for me I'm blessed to be in a company which falls in the few companies that do pay on time.
When I worked in Kuwait (2000-2003) with a joint appointment between the MoH and Kuwait University, every 3-4 months my salary was delayed, not processed, or mis-directed (wrong bank or bank account). This happened frequently to many ex-pats with similar appointments. Each time the problem happened, it was only through a very high level wasta connection that I was able to get the issue resolved. The fix never involved the proper direct bank deposit but a payment in cash or cheque at a government or university finance office (where the office employee was always "surprised" that the error had been made).
Business is slow; clients arent paying on time... fact is - our director screwed up our fantastic low overhead high revenue business!!!
Yep, work in Kuwait and thankfully, get paid on time. Perhaps make a poll on this? Great idea trying to get some stats on this.
Yes i do, but never got paid late, i usually get it only 2 days late cuz our company's bank is different than the one am using. I actually hate it when they pay us early before holidays !
... and a poll it is!
Well, I never got paid late. The place where I work is very professional when it comes to ethics and staff well being.
Anonymous 1:02 - Do they have any openings?
Stani Said: Ok maybe this is like not a really big thing. I mean as long as you are getting your salary right. I know a lot of people who don't get salaries in Kuwait. I came to know about this sad and sick fact while i was on a job hunt here.
And please this is Kuwait an oil rich country with tons of rich Kuwaiti Employer's. I bet you can't find cheaper Employers anywhere else in the world.
I still don't understand the simple fact what these guy's loose by paying up to people who have done work.Maybe someone should start Human Rights head quarters in Kuwait City, They'd probably take years to solve cases in Kuwait.
(...had to truncate. I can't post specific names on the blog. Sorry, Dude.)
No prob's DG, I understand.
No, my company is a very large company and we allways get paid on time...
My wife's salary is consistenly late. Employer blames the bank, bank blames the employer, then they high five each other and go have tea and shisha together.
I am lucky to have an American employer. My salary is always a day early, minimum. They understand that they way you treat your employees, is the same way they will treat your business.
Candlestick brought up an important issue: "They understand that they way you treat your employees, is the same way they will treat your business."
I'm a sales person representing my company (not my exact title, but I'm sent out to promote it). If my company is treating me like crap, how can I possibly say good things about it? I'm not a liar and even when I do, it is written all over my face.
I can't understand why Kuwaiti companies (and I am speaking from personal experience through the companies I have worked for/with) can't understand how progress is achieved. Like, why wouldn't you look at other companies who have positive case studies on productivity? It has been shown that happy employees are productive, engaged, and loyal employees. The are, indeed, a company's most valuable asset. Not a truck or a crane or a few computers, but HUMANS.
well, at least way better than working in US or europe , taxes etc etc ..no wonder most of westreners running to middle east for work , q8ti ppl themselves cant find jobs nowadays and ur grumbling about delaying ur salary ...delay once a year not a big deal.
Anonymous 1:18 - it happens every month. In the US we have laws that prevent that type of thing - and they are immediately enforced - not a year later or more in many cases.
I am still mulling over the pros and cons of paying taxes. Seems to me that there are a lot of advantages in countries where you do pay taxes as well.
Guess what ? I work in a Bank and they pay me whenever they feel like. My rent is due by the 23rd of every month but the great people at my bank pay me any time from the 27th to the 31st of the month. =( no freakin laws here !
Well then you must move OUT of Kuwait and quit complaining...there's always an up, and down side to not paying taxes...and people are here for a reason......and so are you sweetheart!.....The accents and passports rule up in this hole..
Yo CrackDaddy -
The reason I am here is because I love this country - and did a few things back in the day (90-91) when Kuwait needed help from outside (maybe you did too.... right?). I can complain all I want because it is my blog - from my perspective - and I just so happen to be American. This blog is based on an Americans perspective. If I were Kuwaiti, then I might complain equally about the same problems that many people - not just Americans or Westerners - are facing.
And there just so happens to be one or two Kuwaitis complaining about the situation in Kuwait also. You might have seen some lately in the media.
So, here is my advice: write your perspective about how we should get "OUT" of Kuwait on your own blog.
Hahaha, 'Yo crackdaddy'... you are toooo funny DG. I'll chucke about that one all day. Boy does that shoe every fit.
Apparently he's mistaken you for a US contractor who might be interested in a ride in his bright purple Impala with 24 inch rims and 5 televisions.
Americangirl - Technically I am a US contractor.
I have a feeling CrackDaddy hails from the Indian Subcontinenet and feels that Westerners get an unfair advantage here. I don't argue that. However, it is what it is and he has a choice to be here or not also.
Oh, I'm gonna be here long enough to see the change baby!...count on that.. albeit, its your blog and you can cry if you want to...
Yes, I AM from the subcontinent;
Yes, you DO have an unfair advantage; and,
No, I don't care that you do;
But hey, where in the world can a person afford a BMW, on a receptionist's salary?, Say it with me nah - "Q-8 Baby!".
But whoa hold the phone "You did something back in the day"? Ergo, you were in the US army during the 90-91 musical in Kuwait between the US and "I"raq? or are you just being American about the whole thing - "We freed Kuwait"?
...cause that was the new corporate marketing branding scheme by "Uncle Sam & Co." (pvt. LTD)...
But yeah love the blog!
CrackDaddy -
No, I was not with the US Military. I volunteered with a group of Kuwaiti women to come to Kuwait with field medical/trauma team, and I ran a non-profit company to assist Kuwait in DC. I know how to shoot a gun, but that's about as military as I get.
(Not that I have to justify my existence in Kuwait to you or anyone else.)
I believe that if the Allies - NOT just the US - hadn't come to aid Kuwait, none of us would have jobs here. We would, however, have had the option of working in the 19th Province of Iraq.
Personally, I do not know of any Western receptionists driving BMWs (maybe you do?) or any other luxery cars here. I am also of the belief that with hard work, anyone can afford any car that they want. There are people with lesser-paying jobs who are creatively financing luxery vehicles.
I don't think you have been reading my blog very long or you would have known all the above and more, but hey - thanks for the compliment.
Sorry about that big chip on your shoulder. Maybe you can do something to shake it off.
On Feb.08,2010 and Feb.09,2010 we received the salary of month nov 2009 and dec 2009.
Jan2010 and Feb2010 was recd. in april.
And Mar2010 and April2010 just received last week.
Lets see may be we will get salary of month May2010 in Aug2010, and maybe June2010 in oct2010.
There are people living without salary for 4-5months even. So alhamdolila we have job and somehow getting salary.
Oooh my fault. I wasn't aware you work on a US govt. contract. I thought you were employed permanently by a local company. Which would obviously make you an employee and not a contractor. Now I am really shocked to know you deal with pay delays. I'm so sorry to know US companies are getting as bad as the local ones when it comes to pay. Such a shame.
AmericanGirlinKuwait - I'm employed permanently by a Kuwaiti company and I work on a US government contract. Regardless - we still don't get paid on time.
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